adore

Clare living in the Big Brother house would be... amazing.

This is an excellent point. Watching these younger women behave like children is such a turn-off. I'm a fair weather fan mostly because of it.

Same. I look younger with lighter hair for sure. In Valerie's case, it seems to have the opposite effect. She looks much older (to me) as a blonde.

Unfortuately, it goes without saying that the majority of the women apply because they have an irrepressible need for attention and/or validation. I would like to think there a few sincere ones who show up to find a future husband and are focused on things like compatibility, aligned ideology/religion/philosophy, etc in addition to attraction. Maybe they are a bit misguided (delusional?), but it's nice to root for someone.

My parents have a huge height difference and they find people who make comments about it insufferable. These girls don't seem to mind.

Haha! She is such a champion for the people! What a warrior.

I really liked Abigail. I was watching the season preview and didn't see her on any of the highlighted romantic dates. I hope this doesn't mean she leaves earier than expected (and the newbies and crazy drama queens dominate for several weeks!).

yes. the erasure of distinctive features in exchange for this weird, rounded off, overripe face that bears no resemblance to the old one is so depressing. i hate how injections can start off as "enhancement" of natural beauty, but then turn into a high maintenance self improvement project that goes on for years. a lot of naturally beautiful women have become so vigiliant about tweaking every little thing and small changes are just part of a normal biological process. I get that aging is difficult and ageism is rampant (ugh). I just wish there weren't ten iterations of one person's face, esp when less attractive people would LOVE to have the original verison. : (

I can no longer recall Ed's face, but I did think it was charming when he got lost and spent a leisurely evening witih Chris. He seemed more relatable and endearing after that (I get lost in Target, so he has my empathy!). I think I'll miss these moments most from this season. What happened to Spencer? I wanted him to tell all!

I couldn't get through Confederacy of Dunces and stopped about seventy pages in. I loathed every moment spent with Ignatius Reilly and couldn't find any humor in his ridiculous whining. A few of my friends who enjoyed it are from the south (and the most ardent defender grew up in New Orleans). I really loved the first half of East of Eden, but I wasn't as invested in the second generation Trask family and lost interest by the end. Big Steinbeck fan though!

I truly cannot imagine Ben carrying a show. Sometimes his awkward pauses suggest that he's being thoughtful and wanting to make a good impression, but maybe that's giving him too much credit? Also, his flat affect disturbs me. He doesn't seem "present" and having several women vying for his affection would probably disorient him!

I agree with this. It's inaccurate for me to say I disliked her because I feel I didn't get to know her enough to like or dislike her. She has this cheerful, bubbly facade that distracts from any content. It's hard to explain. She supplied a lot of uncontroversial filler ("It's A LOT" x infinity) and affirmation to the men , but I don't know any more about what makes T tick than I did week one. Disappointing. Alas, reality tv?

Yes, seems like a part of the Bravo franchise! Matt is a very nice looking guy.

Her speaking voice drives me crazy! She reminds me so much of Kim Kardashian. Maybe that's why I can't warm up to her? It's this grating valley girl/little girl way of articulating things. I miss Brendan. Really dull finale. Hope Bachelor is better!