lasu

But she's not a housewife. She has the same job Cassie does.

She did. When she buys herself a new dress and chess set, we later see her wearing new saddle shoes.

Like I said, it's probably the most commonly broken rule in AA. When I was in the program, I didn't date at all for nine months and then I badgered my sponsor into letting me date. And I was considered a model child in AA, and I still couldn't make a full year. Just because someone isn't working a program with complete perfection doesn't mean they aren't working it with honesty. Not everyone follows every rule. My sponsor wasn't thrilled that I went to my high school reunion about 2 months into going into AA. A person could have pointed at me and said, "well, she just isn't taking her sobriety seriously." Which, wasn't true. I did take it seriously, but I also didn't want to miss out on something important to me. Life still happens even when you're in AA.

FWIW about not making big changes, AA recommends you don't make big changes or get into a relationship for one year (though trust me when I say this is probably the most broken suggestion in AA), and according to her, Braunwyn has a year sober.

I'd have to go back and read the article, but I don't think she meant that was kissing Tamra as much as the producers interviewing her about it and how she felt about it.

No, I can kinda squint and see it now that you say it. He still looks like The Situation the most to me though.

I can never get over how Juicy came out of jail looking exactly like an old The Situation. It's weird, yo.

Not this that is particularly here nor there, but the 22 year old in question threw herself a "Hot Girls" party. It's definitely disappointing to Kandi out without a mask. I think of her as one of the most sensible of all the housewives, so to see her out like that and over something as dumb as Lil Wayne's daughter's 22nd birthday is sad.

If Braunwyn has gone to AA for over a year and hasn't gotten caught with a drink (I'm looking you, Countess Lu!), all for a storyline, I'd actually find that the most interesting thing about her so far! Honestly, I hope she and her family figure out something that works for them, and brings them all as much peace and joy as possible. Life's short.

I think like cosmetic surgery, you tend to notice the bad. But as I've learned more about wigs, I've learned I never know when I'm seeing a good one, just like I never know when I'm seeing good cosmetic surgery. Extensions are the same thing - look at Brandi over on OC. Her extensions have always looked like trash. It's not good if you know it's there. Whew, I wish I lived in this area. There is nothing in my area that is going down in price. Well, at the moment, you might be seeing a slight dip. So if you just bought your house here six months ago it might be worth a smidge less than you paid for it, but it's going to bounce back. I was just talking to a friend who bought his house a zip code over for me 5 years ago for $150K, which makes me want to cry. His house is valued at over $250K, and you couldn't get a 400sf studio for $150K anymore. My zip code the AVERAGE home sale is $675K. It's one of the biggest reasons I'm still renting - I can't afford to buy where I want to live. And, as mentioned, I live way below means with no surprise bills - even my utilities are all included so even my electric bill isn't ever a surprise to me. It's been lovely and worry free, but now I'm aggressively saving to buy, because I'm single with no kids, so it's starting to scare me I have virtually no accumulated wealth. But as a lifelong renter, I surely understand there are pros to that as well.

Ugh, I hope Erika isn't the "other woman" to a married man. I would pay way, Way, WAY more of the onus on him, he's the one breaking his vows, but I would be disappointed. That said, it seems like a game a telephone that didn't even originate from a credible source, just someone who supposedly works in the music industry and "despises" Scooter Braun. And I can't see Erika going to a sex club in a serious way. I could see her going as Erika Jayne as someone to be admired in practically her natural habitat, but Erika herself? Going to a sex club for sexy times? I have trouble buying it. I also don't know if it fits with how I think of Erika for her to not only be the other woman, but also the OLDER woman.

I 100% believed it was real, and 100% had no conception of the fact it was going to be what it was. I think if Elizabeth had just said this will all blow over in two months, we be identifying with her rather than being annoyed. It was that she said that AND that Big Pharma was behind the whole thing that had me rolling my eyes at her. There was a point where I was advocating hard AGAINST masks (because at the very start they said don't) so there have been points I have been completely wrong, but I don't that's the same as wearing a tin foil hat.

Also, I think one has to remember Alma *asked* for 10%. She could have exploited the hell out of Beth, taken all of her winnings. I'm fairly certain at that time it would have been perfectly legal. It seemed like all she expected was for the expenses for the tournament to come out of Beth's winnings. And I got the impression once she did get the 15%, she paid all their bills out of that, and did things like buy Beth the Bulova watch out of that percentage. While it was clear Alma enjoyed the luxuries Beth's winning provided, it was also clear (to me, anyway) she didn't feel entitled to Beth's winnings.

I don't think either of us are wrong. One of the reasons I'm a renter is I appreciate the fact that if my AC blows, it's someone else's financial problem to get fixed fast, and in the past, when I needed something cheaper due to life happening, I was easily able to make that happen. And of course, if you buy a house you actually can't afford (such as the house Juan and Robyn were looking at, I'm not arguing THAT house would be a financially sound choice!), it doesn't make sense but that would be true whether or not you owe money to the IRS. My point is more that it can be a financially smart decision to invest some of their money (which a house they can afford, including repairs and taxes, would be) while still paying down a different debt.

Normal people watch this and want to buy a chess set. I watched it and started looking for saddle shoes. Sadly, they seem to be too expensive for a whim. Has Netflix started releasing their numbers publicly? I think Netflix claims whatever it wants to help push its shows, going back (to when I started giving them side-eye, no telling how much longer) to Birdbox. Netflix has a nice self-fulfilling prophecy - they claim EVERYONE is watching show X, and then we all watch show X. I don't care; I've normally enjoyed the shows its pushed on me.

I think Gina said she is still in court ordered AA, so it actually makes sense to buddy up and go together. And it's actually quite common to go out to lunch or dinner after an AA meeting. Sometimes a really good meeting makes you feel great and a million times better than when you walked in! It's frustrating to see that so many people still think there is only one type of alcoholic, the kind that drinks every day, all day, physically addicted, obvious drunk. There are all kinds of alcoholics, and it's not uncommon for someone who is an alcoholic to be able to quit drinking during a pregnancy. Same as chain smokers will quit and start right back up again. It's frustrating, not because I think people who only know about the one type of drunk are assholes, just misinformed, but it can be really problematic when someone like Braunwyn says, "I'm an alcoholic," and people respond, "Nah, I don't think so." I know people probably don't think that happens in real life, but it does, and it can be dangerous. People can be VERY resistant to someone changing. Another way to put it: when I decided to go to AA, I told one of my close friends, and she was really shocked. "Lasu, do you think you're an alcoholic?" "I do." "Do you think *I'm* an alcoholic??" And we both cracked up. Because even though from the outside looking in, our drinking was almost identical, but I had a problem and she didn't. As far as the tequila goes, I know when I was in AA, the only thing that bothered me was champagne, though it wasn't even my what I primarily drink/drank. I had more issues being around champagne than anything else, and it's what eventually led me to leave AA, because AA didn't have room for moderation, and I wanted a glass of champagne on my 40th birthday.

I also doubted Mr. Wheatley had been paying the mortgage payments anyway. I think Alma had, out of her 15%. So to him, it was just maintaining the status quo and not having to be bothered to do anything. I would honestly watch an entire other series on the Wheatleys, especially Alma.

That's really good advice. I can wear the shit out of my pony now, because I've done it so many times (although I seem to be utter incapable of simply saying "thank you" when I get compliments on it. I have some compulsion to tell anyone it's not real), but I've only worn my halos when I was out of town. I need to chop one, because I've had trouble finding halos in shorter lengths. I really want added volume with just a little extra length, not end up looking like I'm about to let my hair down a tower for my suiter to climb. On topic: while going to look at giant mansions on tv while owing nearly $100K to the IRS is truly terrible optics, it might actually not be terrible financially. Not a giant mansion of course, but aren't they renting right now? As a renter myself, it is just throwing away money. No matter how much they owe the IRS, they still have a housing cost. So, if their interest rate with the IRS is low (and it likely is and stopped accruing once she entered into a payment plan), it could be very smart to still purchase a home while paying off that debt. It would actually be fairly dumb to make paying off the IRS debt their first priority, provided they never miss a payment on their payment plan. And, I certainly could be misremembering, but didn't Juan and Robyn lose their money because it was stolen from them? That it happened more because they put their trust in the wrong person, versus just blowing it all?

His fight with Nia is what is rumored. MTV seems to be trying to cut ties with casts with problematic pasts. This isn't confirmed, but Jordan and Nia spoke out about that fight (with her supporting him) at the same time Dee and others were getting axed. I don't know that he's officially banned, but we don't know Kenny and Evan are "officially" banned either.

I have very rarely cared if a storyline is real or false, but Gizelle's is really bugging me because of her girls. My parents divorced before my memory started forming, so I really identify with her girls. At first, I thought it was just the same as I would have felt; I would have HATED my parents dating, but that's because it would have collided my worlds and it's like, my mom was mine, my dad was mine. They have no business with each other as far as my younger self was concerned. But this honestly just feels beyond that. They seem to have a real distaste for their dad that goes beyond their parents dating, and it's very uncomfortable. If Gizelle is truly doing this just for a storyline and has zero belief deep down this is real, then this may be the trashiest thing I've seen on these franchises. I ain't been to Morehouse, ain't been to no house, no degree much less a pedigree. But if my mom talked to me in private the way Dr. Wendy's mom did, we would have issues. If my mom talked to me the way Dr. Wendy's mom did on camera, we would be done. I may not have much, but I don't have anyone trying to take credit for what I do have. I desperately want to play more with wigs. I have a clip on pony (I'm wearing it in profile pic, but I don't think you can tell), and I have JUST starting playing with halo extensions. I have a couple of full wigs, but I just can't balls up to wear one in public. I even have a really nice lace-front that I'm too scared to cut, no matter how many youtube tutorials I watch. I think the halos may be as daring as I get. Which is lame. Also, does Candiace still have her extension line? I wonder how she felt about Karen slapping her name on a competing product.

OK, so I rewatched the whole thing, and I had in mind how much everyone was bothered by Beth never thanking Shaibel. I think on rewatch it makes more sense. Yes, he taught her to play chess, and that was a huge gift. But, from her point of view, after she got in trouble, she went to Shaibel and basically asked him for help. She told him she wished they could play more, and he literally just turned away from her. Now, I totally understand he probably had a lot of reasons for doing so, starting with the fact it could look highly suspect he was spending time alone in a basement with a little girl. So after that, it's implied they never speak or play chess again. We saw him come to watch her leave when she was adopted, but she didn't see him. From her point of view, I can see how she would probably feel abandoned and let down by him, and even though he taught her to play chess, I could see her leaving the orphanage with less than great feelings towards Shaibel. Yes, he gave her the $5 but no note or anything, so again, no reason to think he really cared (from her point of view; she probably thought to an extent he owed her. From our point of view, we know $5 was probably a LOT of money to him). But when she went back, and saw all the clippings, I think that's when she realized he truly did care about her, and that's what made her allow herself to admit she cared about him too. I think that's why previously she had only said she was upset because she didn't pay him the $10. It's very difficult to admit you care about someone who you don't believe cares about you back, and releasing that dam helped her let a lot of hurt and anger go. It was the second gift he gave her.

I was kinda surprised to hear it. I hadn't heard the rumors Tori cheated on this last challenge, which actually surprises me even more. She's apparently not afraid to get a cheater image on tv (...she has cheated before on this show, right?). I'm actually side-eyeing her a little bit - I can't help but wonder if Jordan getting apparently banned has anything to do with it. I could almost see her wanting to be part of a reality show couple more than wanting to be part of a couple with Jordan.

I don't think anyone has said Candiace isn't a brat with a slick mouth. It's not unacceptable to suggest she watches what she says to people. It's unacceptable to say if she doesn't, she deserves violence. I don't understand why it's not acceptable to say Monique was wrong to get violent.

So much this! People seem to think that it makes complete sense that getting hit was a consequence of running her mouth, but that Monique shouldn't have any consequences for assaulting someone. To mean, if it follows that you might get hit if you run your mouth, it makes sense you might go to jail if you hit someone. Or you might get sued. Or you might get stabbed, who knows? Or shit, I might be a secret ninja with a loud mouth because I know you don't know I can drag you all over this room. DRAG ME, lol.

I don't think that Cleo was hired to set Beth up. It doesn't make sense - she was Benny's ex, and she had known the other two chess players for a while too. I didn't get the impression Cleo was jealous or resentful of Beth, either for her chess skills or the fact she had more recently bedded Benny. If anything, I think Beth had a bit of a crush on Cleo - she petted her hair when she first met Cleo, which is the same move she does when she meets boys she likes, and she picked a special dress to go to the bar. It could be a platonic crush, but I think that, along with the fact she's an alcoholic, is what led her downstairs. Cleo? I think she's just a party girl and isn't there to remind someone to go to bed if it's important. I just don't feel like the Russians sabotage her fits with the theme of the series, which is that she sabotages herself.