30 Helens

I was rooting for Abagail. If not for that failed “all in” DD, she would have been a force to be reckoned with. Luck was just not on her side. Today my husband, unprompted, said Liam looks like an Alfred E. Neuman bobblehead figure. I feel seen.

I avoided everything about the GOP convention, so I didn’t see the people with bandaged ears. (Although in retrospect, I do remember hearing something about it.) It makes me think of The World According to Garp, when all the idiots cut out their tongues so they could be more like their idol. Now, if only that trend would catch on in the GOP…

1/5 (Vonnegut). I clearly neglected to eat my Breakfast of Champions last week. I forgot to post, so I missed the whole conversation about smash cake. I’ve seen pictures of babies with cake all over their face, but I never knew it had a name. I just thought it was messy babies being messy. (And I don’t think it’s cute, either. It just makes me want to grab a washcloth and start wiping.) So instead of a smash cake, how about a tasty smashburger? It’s designed to go into faces, not all over them.

I know people have been comparing him to Young Sheldon, but is anyone else getting Alfred E. Neuman vibes from the current champ?

Lol, I had the same reaction. “Enjoy your stay! Sorry about the stink!” (My husband agreed with @marny that it was more of a spa thing.) I will say, I’ve walked in to a few hotel rooms where those could have been useful…

Stupid sexy Flanders. Now I’m sad Steven is gone. Anyone who brings a sense of humor even to his Jeopardy wardrobe is ok by me. She had to get her curiosity from somewhere…

Color me shocked that some men shave their balls. That sounds like the worst possible place to deal with stubble and/or razor burn. I fortunately don’t have to deal with this, but for me it would be Nair or nothing. The cat frames were ridiculous. Way too expensive for what is basically a novelty item. And then the logistics… you’d have to hang them in places where the cat could easily jump up and down from both sides, so a single frame might dictate the arrangement of your furniture. Also, unless it’s fixed very tightly against the wall, the cat won’t use it as a scratching post. Even slight movement would put them off. So that means big screws into studs, which further restricts placement and leaves big holes. The only way this might work is with a cheap poster-type frame. Then people won’t be too mad when they end up throwing them away a few months later, on their way to buying a nice scratching post.

That’s the extent of my knowledge, as well. And that he was played by Rex Harrison in a musical. I had no idea for FJ. My guess was The Man in the Yellow Hat. (Hey, he liked monkeys!)

Thanks to both of you for bringing back a long-forgotten childhood memory of silly putty/comics transference. I loved doing that. That also reminds me of the time my family went to visit my maternal grandmother in a different state. My mother had a fairly contentious relationship with her mother, so she was proud to show off her 8-year-old child who read books from the adult section of the library and had aced her IQ test. To her dismay, my reading selections for that trip were the Oz book series, and I spent a great deal of time with my egg of Silly Putty and the Sunday comics. In my defense, the Oz books were pretty awesome. I guess I could have toned down the Silly Putty activity, though.

At first, all I could come up with was, “Oh, that guy! Or maybe that other guy!” but I came up with Vonnegut in just the nick of time. (The other guy was Heller. The clue sounded like something Vonnegut would write, but possibly also Catch-22. I’ve never read either book.) When it’s Austen, I always think of Pride & Prejudice or Sense & Sensibility. (I guessed the wrong one.) I’ve never read either of those, either. What is wrong with me? Same here. But I’d forgotten about it until I came here. The name “Dondi” was familiar, but all I could think was, was he named after an elf? I thought maybe he was one of Hermie’s friends. 🤷🏼‍♀️ See, kids, this is what happens to your brain when you watch cartoons instead of reading classic books. That was surprisingly horrifying.

That Ruff Liners dog was so chill. Just napping in the back seat while everybody else yapped. I live in a leaky old house with two dogs, so I know all about indoor air pollution. A few strategically placed portable units do the trick for us, though. And for many people with newer houses, central air conditioning will do all the filtering they need. I don’t see that product taking off. I did a lot of shopping for protective seat covers before buying my SUV, and there were a TON of products like Ruff Liners on Amazon. Still are. If he really holds a patent for that style, he’s going to spend a lot of time and energy swatting back the knockoffs. I was interested in getting some door liners like he offers, but my car manual said not to get anything that’s inserted into the window channel because it will destroy the factory tint. The socks are cute, but there are a ton of knockoffs of those on Amazon as well. I also worry about small business owners like her who source from China. (I assume Ruff Liners does, too.) I wonder how long it will take for the new tariffs to knock them (and many other Shark Tank alumni) out of business. Big companies may be able to absorb some of the higher costs, but small businesses will have little choice but to pass them along to the consumer. And nobody’s going to pay $45 for a pair of nylon socks.

2/5 Wailing Wall and Winklevi How about some twin fruit bowls?

I realize Dubai is all artifice and fakery, but it’s aesthetically beautiful fakery. It’s like the entire city is a sculpture. I want to dress myself as a boy and just wander around. I especially want to do that deep dive. I am fascinated with underground cities, so the idea of exploring a submerged underground city is very, very cool. What was up with the weird Lego man, though? I wonder what would have happened if Jeff had just left his arm between those closing train doors? Would a sensor have made them pop back open, or would he have lost an arm? Clearly he didn’t want to take the chance (because he’s sane like that), but I bet he wondered for a long time after. Sad to see that team go. This leg, Ana showed she can be just as nasty as Jonathan when given the opportunity. Those two deserve each other.

How insane is it that he took a pay cut to move from mail carrier to teacher? Not saying mail carrier isn’t a worthy job, but teachers are so undervalued.

RIP Mai. (Yeah, I gave them a portmanteau. Whatchoo gonna do about it.) In my fanfic, they would have been chasing each other around the jury house, at least. Farewell, Sai. You were a hot mess, but I enjoyed you. I was ready for Chrissy to leave, but then she dared to go where no Survivor player has gone before, by pointing out that the Emperor has no clothes and by the way, honesty and integrity are bullshit concepts in this game. And now I kind of love Chrissy. I was also ready for Shauhin to go, with his cocky certainty that all strategic activity revolves around him, but then he had to go and get all endearing with the comp-side singalong. (We do that at my house, too, but only with the theme song: Odie odie odie ah hah, odie odie oh… etc.) He can stay as long as he continues to amuse me. Besides, cocky David is much more annoying. Now Cedric can go overanalyze every jury move, and make sure the other jurors meet his standards of behavior. That should be fun for them.

How to screw up an easy FJ (yesterday’s version): See actors’ names, assume an award is involved. Oscars no, Emmys not yet.. what acting award is related to a street? Oh, it must be Broadway! At least I redeemed myself by getting today’s right away. (I watched both shows back to back, so I didn’t have to bear the humiliation very long.)

0/5. What can I say? Today I watched the movie Flow, which may have influenced my choice of donuts.

Tom already rejected my dish that incorporated three special ingredients (bars, cars, guitars). Some guy in a spaceship seemed to like it, though.

I would, but I don’t know. That is, I know but I don’t see. Now I see but I don’t know. I know but I don’t know. You know?

Damn. That name sounded familiar to me, but I couldn’t place it. After all, it’s been five whole days since I saw Wicked. Who can remember that long? I guessed hobbit. Boo for me.

I love this analogy.

This is what I get for watching 0 shows live and zipping through all commercials on my DVR. All I know about Yellowstone is it’s a western (not appealing to me) and it maybe stars Kevin Costner? (Appealing to me once upon a time, maybe.)

I forgot to mention: If you see an advantage in the weeds, run towards it. In the most direct path possible. Don’t look for another more circular path that will allow you to bypass some trees or whatever. So dumb. I was also surprised to see so much milk dissing. I know people don’t drink as much milk as they used to, but is milk consumption so uncommon that it’s reached the point of weirdness? I never drank a gallon a day, but in my younger days I always drank milk with meals. Now I drink wine with meals because come on. But I would support anyone who still chooses the moo juice.

Yellowstone flitted through my head, but I thought Montana was too far north and the Godfather reference threw me. Maybe if I’d ever seen the show I would have guessed it, but I haven’t and I didn’t. The Bruce Springsteen ignorance made all three contestants Dead To Me anyway. Mose would be ashamed.

I don’t like Sai. But I am still rooting for the Sai/Mary Frenemies alliance. I will hold on to that hope until one of them is gone, and you can’t stop me. However you want to categorize it, ripped alpha males banding together is not a new thing. And please stop with the “honesty and integrity” BS. That is definitely NOT a thing, new or otherwise. It’s just something contestants like to tell themselves so they don’t feel so bad about lying to their friends. Or their “family”. <eye roll> I felt bad for Star tonight. Granted, giving away an idol is not the smartest move. But to have that gift recipient (Eva) not even include you in their post-merge alliance plans? So very cold. I’ve said it before, but I hate mud challenges. You can’t tell anyone apart once they’ve been mud-dipped, which makes it hard to follow the action and even harder to root for anyone. And I don’t understand why they aren’t given the opportunity to bathe pre-feast. Watching muddy people use their muddy hands to shove mud-tainted food into their muddy mouths is not an appetizing sight. Just let them rinse already.