mamadrama

Hmm, I've actually been seeing it the opposite way. I've been interpreting his actions as being overly complimentary of Jackie while almost gritting his teeth week after week with Rayshun. On this night he definitely pushed her, but I see it as him getting behind the team member who might actually do well in the finals.

There's something about it that's bothering me, too. While I like the realism, Roseanne has always tried to portray life for the "common people" as accurately as possible, it seems a little unreasonable to me that the whole family would be this bad off and that they haven't tried something "new" to improve their situation. I guess it's realistic that some people really do seem to never get that break and that there are generations that stay in the same boat, but think it's just as realistic to show that someone in the family HAS achieved a modicum of success. Let Darlene be successful and watch how that impacts the rest of the family. If there's one thing about poor people, it's that we are resourceful. Although Roseanne finds creative ways of paying the bills, or not paying them, they still seem to be stuck in the same rut that they were in 20 years ago. Moving Becky in would be a good start.

Yes, I get that we don't know what we are capable of until we're in that situation. Before my little boy died I used to say things like, "Well if I lost a child then I'd..." But, of course, it's a lot different when you're in that situation. I was a travel writer based in Bosnia after the war. I've rented rooms from many people who found themselves under siege during those years, met with folks whose children were killed by snipers, stayed in buildings that were pockmarked by so much shrapnel that you couldn't tell the original color. It's realistic to know that you can't know how you'd react if you were in that situation yourself. However, as a fiction writer now, I like to think about hypotheticals and I enjoy hearing other people's ideas, realistic or not.

As a hardcore horror enthusiast, agreed. Torture porn shows actual torture for the sake of entertainment. If this were torture porn, we'd have seen them holding down Ofglen 2.0 and there would've been an extreme closeup of the knife going into the tissue. With the burning of the arm, the camera would've been up close and personal and not only would we've seen the burning flesh bubble, they'd have cut that arm off and played a little volleyball with it. This is hard to watch but it's fairly mild and most of what happens has been left to our imagination. Even Emily's "surgery" was only hinted at. There does need to be some kind of light. We're going to need a reason to breathe sooner or later. People get worn out with bad thing after bad thing after bad thing happening. That's one of the reasons why I, as a devoted Walking Dead fan, stopped watching the show two seasons ago. I love zombies and apocalyptic shows but I need to see folks enjoying themselves from time to time.

I like this analogy. I am curious, and not in a snarky way at all, what you think YOU might do in this situation? I'm honestly just curious because I've been trying to put myself in that situation and think about what I would do but I can't come up with anything. I can come up with lots of things that I wouldn't do, but am having trouble with a line of action which makes me think that there may not be one. It's passive, but waiting things out for a bit and getting everyone around me into a false sense of security until I could do something might be the best bet. Where I feel frustration on June's behalf is that it really does seem like she has to wait on someone to "rescue" her. Without a good sense of the new infrastructure, without knowing anyone in Gilead who could provide safe housing, without having a way to store provisions she's kind of stuck just hoping someone will "rescue" her. That sucks.

It's become a catch 22, too. I live in an economically depressed area that's considered one of the poorest parts of the country. More than half of the people who live here are on some kind of benefits. Jobs are scarce. A recent part-time position at our local library scored more than 200 applications. Take into consideration that our county only has 2,000 people to begin with...People say that those who are struggling should "just move." But with what money? If you're broke then you can't afford to move to another town, set up shop, and job hunt for several months. Find a job before you get there? Maybe. but even people with college degrees are struggling at the moment. Someone with a high school diploma, GED, or even a basic BA with limited experience is going to be hard pressed to find a company that will pay to relocate them. People get stuck and it's particularly hard on, as you say, a woman of a certain age-especially with limited education and mostly blue collar work experience.

I can't explain the fertilizer but as someone who has spent time on welfare programs (Food Stamps and Medicaid)...The "working poor" sometimes still qualify for benefits even though they're technically not unemployed. When we received benefits, both of us were working-my husband as a college professor literally made less than the people working at Starbucks thanks to the way the university kept getting budget cuts every year. Cable/internet came as a package deal for us that was less than $60 a month. To have internet alone it would've been $65, to bundle them was cheaper. Did we need internet? Yes. We gave up our cell phones to eliminate the big bills and used Skype instead (from $150+ a month to free on Skype). Rather than going to the movies for entertainment, we found films on You Tube and made "movie nights" sitting around the laptops. The big thing, though, is that my job required internet access. Without it, I didn't work. Honestly, we'd have been better off if I hadn't been working. Without my job we would've qualified for more benefits. I enjoy working, however, was embarrassed to be receiving government benefits (even though we paid into the system), and was trying to build a business. Few things are as embarrassing as sitting in that office every month, filling out more paperwork or having the person in line behind you at the grocery store monitoring everything you put on the conveyor belt to make sure that you're not ripping off the "taxpayers." Ironically, we were looked upon as having "good" jobs for the area. Lots of people were worse off than us, we were lucky. I eventually built up my business enough that not only were we able to get off of Food Stamps, but we were able to purchase a vacation house. Like I said, we're luckier than most. I wasn't sure that I liked this episode at first, but the more I think about it the more I'm warming up to it. I definitely enjoyed the warm moments between DJ and Dan. Like others, though, I am not sold on Harris. She has her mother's attitude down but none of the wit or heart.

I agree that June should be a little more aware about how her desires (desires to leave, desires to rebel, etc.) affect others. I also agree that she is a little short-sighted and should be thinking long-term. Where I give her a pass is that I don't think she truly knew how awful the world out there was until her failed escape escapades. They were holed up in that cabin for a long time-even Luke didn't seem to know about the small towns that had been wiped out. Her reaction at the Boston Globe showed that she didn't know that had happened. In the Red Center, they were fed info as needed, and most of it was propaganda. Then, as a Handmaid, she's gotten relatively little news. I am sure that she knew that things were "bad", because even sequestered folks should receive some kind of news at this point, but it all may have been a hypothetical until she saw Omar's body. Going forward she might make other choices. I also agree that the people in the resistance chose to help out so those decisions are on THEM as well. Omar's wife and child are definitely victims in all of this because it doesn't seem like they were given choices at all (she may not have known about her husband's activities). June did throw herself at the truck and demand that Omar take her somewhere but, in that moment, he was her only connection to the people who were helping her and she panicked. Omar took a risk by taking her to his house, just as he took a risk by being in the resistance to start with. One of the good things that I think this show does is offer up imperfect characters in a horrible world. They don't always react the way we want them to, they're not even always likable, but they're totally human.

Ha ha, really. Some other writers have made parodies of it. She eventually took it down yesterday but enough people downloaded it that it's never going away. I am mindblown at how crazy that shit was. I mean, it was seriously bad.

Luke's gonna be sticking her in a rocking chair up in Canada to bring forth "June's" gifts once she gets up there.

The previous handmaid had scratched the equivalent of "don't let the bastards get you down" in Latin into the wall. It appeared to me that it had been sanded over. I wondered if Offred felt like that was her fault, too. Another instance of her betraying the "other woman."

More and more I am finding myself wanting to see more, and know more, of Serena Joy and Aunt Lydia. To me, those women are the complicated and interesting characters. I swear I could watch an entire season of the downfall (or uprising, depending on how you look at it) of both, but especially of Serena Joy. The fact that she was a "regular" woman with a "normal" wardrobe, sexual desires, a JOB, and political activities and is now basically relegated to a prison of sorts-and one that SHE helped create-fascinates me. And though Aunt Lydia pisses me off to no end and scares the beejesus out of me, I LOVE how complex her character is. I don't see her necessarily as "evil." She reminds me a lot of someone of the women around where I live. Their religion, or how they interpret their religion, dictates that they act in a certain way and yet their humanity comes through from time to time and tries to overshadow that. I think that Aunt Lydia truly believes in what Gilead is doing and honestly thinks that she's doing the best by "her" girls. And yet, she's smart enough, and human enough, to know that she's also basically just fucking with them. I think a part of her likes June, and I think she'd throw Serena Joy under a bus (or have someone else do it) before she let her hurt June. Yet, at the same time, she relishes her controlling position and believes in the doctrine enough to go along with whatever fucked-up things that the society does to the Handmaids. Fascinating.

Ha ha. And she uses stock photos. Fool doesn't even have "cover models."

At about 30 minutes in it get super weird(er). She stares at the screen for a solid minute and then starts talking about stuffed animals.

Oh you guys! Shit is going down and getting real in Authorland today. New author, different drama... Any of you heard of a writer named Faleena Hopkins? No? Neither had we. She apparently writes romance novels with the word "cocky" in the title and last week she signed papers with the copyright office to trademark that word. She has since sent out I don't know how many cease and desist letters to other writers who have that word in THEIR titles. My writer friends are up in arms, some having legitimate fun (I'm going to trademark the words "haunted", "billionaire", and "vampire") and some getting pissed off. And then there's this video. At about 2am, this woman decided to reach out to those who are "bullying" and "attacking" her. The result is glorious. 1 1/2 hours of a crazy woman absolutely losing her shit. It's amazing. Some of my writer friends have created drinking games around it. (Take a shot whenever she says "brand" or "fan.") The delusion is strong with this one.

I just wanted to say that your profile picture makes me smile. I lived in Bregenz when the program was The Masked Ball and I used to walk down to the waterfront and look at the stage almost every day. :-) I took my own pictures of it and now when I see other people's, it's like a little "in" thing. (my picture isn't as good but it still has the 35 mm timestamp, ha ha). I don't really know who I am rooting for this time around. Tonya, I guess. I WANT to root for her. It gives me anxiety watching and listening to her, though. I keep thinking that she's going to say or do something that's going to be really dumb. She really does kind of have that foot in mouth disease thing going on, and yet I still like her. Or, rather, I feel sorry for her.

*sigh* I was all over the place with this episode. My husband kept darting in and out of the room and he did a lot of wincing. Jurnee - Kiss - Okay, so I agree that she doesn't necessarily "connect" but I like listening to her and I like HER. She lacks the charisma but that may come with time and age. I'd rather listen to her than watch some of the others. Gabby - I Hope You Dance - Big Leanne Womack fan here (the rest of her catalouge is stellar) and, to me, she always sounds effortless. Gabby, on the other hand, sounds strained. I hate that Carrie Underwood-style screaming that so many of them do. It makes my own throat worse. I guess I have next week to look forward to... Michael J - I Would Die For U - Hadn't heard of this song but his performance was fun. Cade - Who Will Save Your Soul - Yikes. My husband walked through during a particularly sour note and he actually jumped a little. I told him it eventually got better. And it did. Sort of. Catie - Oops I Did it Again - Someone else upthread called it-she is not a singer, she's a comedienne (or a performer). It's fine to have fun with music, it's even fine not to take American Idol that seriously (I always liked Bo Bice's kind of tongue-in-cheek approach to the whole thing) but she is crossing a line of being disrespectful. The schtick is not doing it for me, dawg. Caleb - Amazed - Caleb has that kind of bland, nondescript voice that a lot of country men have today. He'd probably do fine on the radio. I hate this song, though. Maddie - Nothing Compares to You - Love this song (poor Sinead, someone keep her off social media) and loved Maddie's voice on it. She's the only one I'd buy a whole album from at this point. Michael J - My Heart Goes On - I am so sick of this song that nothing outside of changing the entire tune would sound anything more than karaoke to me. Cade - Jungle Love - Sheila E. was the best part of this. Gabby - How Come You Don’t Call Me Anymore - I preferred this one over her other song choice. The one thing I AM really digging about her is her new hair extensions. She looks a lot better now that her hair isn't slicked down onto her head. Jurnee - Back at One - It was okay. Just okay. The performance was boring, her voice is nice. Catie - Manic Monday - It's fine if you forget the lyrics but, for God's sake, RECOVER! Hell, Pryor Baird basically adlibbed Dolly's "9 to 5" over on THE VOICE the other night. When you get caught like a deer in headlights, it makes the whole audience uncomfortable. Maddie - If it Makes You Happy - After some of the other performances, this was like a nice warm bath with a handful of chocolates, Caleb - When Doves Cry - I actually enjoyed this. What the hell is wrong with me? He's one of those pretty-bland boys that I hate about modern country (looking at YOU, Luke Bryan) singing a song that I love and I actually enjoyed it. Huh. I'm with everyone else about Prince's music being used.He did like cultivating new "talent", but I'd have to say that his family was more than eager to sell out to whoever is paying right now. It makes me sad. I am not a Carrie Underwood fan. I think she has a decent technical voice but it always sounds like she's screaming, to me, and every song sounds the same. If she wants to show emotion, she just sings louder. There are some women like that around where I live. They have technically good voices but give them 20 songs and though they'll hit every note, every single one of those songs will sound exactly the same.

I feel really out of the loop. I need to catch up on all my show gossip. So I finally finished the first book in that Appalachian series (the one where the folktales and urban legends come to life in the small town) and now I am branching out to something completely different. Any Mists of Avalon fans here? I wanted to take a famous story and rewrite it from the women's perspective like Bradley did with King Arthur. I wanted to pick one that has relatively few details, but one that everyone knows about. I decided to go with Eve. It's been a lot harder than I expected.

EDSer here myself! And I was also in Linda's group. Good Lord, what an ambassador for our condition. I often share the video clip of Linda walking by the flowers and screaming because the color purple makes her dislocate.

It was Phillipe Candeloro. Sometimes he did a BRAVEHEART routine, other times a pirate one. He was very nice looking back in the day.

Off topic: In 1996, North Carolina was having some kind of ice skating palooza. It was a bitterly cold, snowy March and I was 17 years old, accompanying my mother on a conference in Asheville. Her conference cronies were the only people checked into this massive resort. It was creepy, quiet, and very Overlook Hotel. After 3 days of total boredom, I was hanging out in the lobby at around 10pm one night a couple of limos pulled up. As the doors opened, I watched in fangirl excitement as the following filed into our lobby: Oksana Baiul, Viktor Petrenko, Kristi Yamuguchi, Paul Wylie, Dorothy Hamil, Todd Eldredge, Tara Lipinski, and more. (The tall guy with the long, black hair. Can't remember his name but he was gorgeous. He bought me an apple juice.) We spent several hours hanging out in the lobby. Still one of my fondest memories.

My 11-year-old son is currently trying to raise money to buy himself a laptop. Yesterday he told me that as soon as he gets one, the first thing he wants to do is "join your snark forum." I often read the comments aloud to him. He idolizes you ladies. ;-) I told him he'd have to wait a few years but that I'd gladly keep filling him in on the juicy bits.

The Nick situation continues to bother me. I'm an author; I get having characters that intentionally aren't very well developed so that the viewer/reader can focus on the "A" characters. That's not my problem with Nick. My problem, like you said, is with the actor. There's a fine line between a nuanced performance and not giving the audience anything at all. I also find his scenes flat and uninspiring. Except for a couple of scenes from last season, and only a couple of them, I mostly see a huge lack of chemistry between Max and Lizzie. That leaves me questioning the show's motives. Are they MEANT to have heat and chemistry but I am just not seeing it or are they NOT meant to have it (and therefore just turning to each other out of desperation/boredom/curiosity) and what I am seeing and feeling is exactly what the show wants me to see and feel?

So I am one of those people who usually think people are overreacting on social media posts. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. With that being said, you absolutely did NOT overreact on that one. It WAS disgusting. If it hits MY hinky meter (usually the last to go off) then there;s definitely something wrong. Thank you for alerting authorities to it. (See? We said all along that Druzy was doing God's work...)

OMG. Not that it makes much of a difference, either, but she never even looks completely clean. WHY must these people be so trashy?