faraway

I'm not sure what I think about this guy. I do feel very bad for him and for all he had to endure in the foster care system and as an adopted child who was given back to the system. David's struggles to lose weight are all the more difficult when he hasn't had the love and support to teach him how to love and take good care of himself. Some of the things I wonder about are: -Where are the other kids who he was adopted with? Was he able to form a bond with them? -Why did the neighbor, who was a police officer (or had been a police officer?), just take notes about what was going on at the 10 day party when the parents were gone? Why wouldn't he call the police right away to break up the party? The teens could have destroyed the house; someone could have died. That doesn't make sense to me. -Was his 13 year old birth mother really a cocaine addict? That whole story really didn't make sense. 13 is a child- this is a girl who was sexually assaulted by someone. There has to be more to the story than David gave. Would he even know that much about his mother? Did she ever try to get him back? What about the rest of his birth family? -He stated that he made the decision to leave school with a 0.0 grade point average. Would he have had the luxury to make the decision to leave school on his own or would he have been removed by the school at that point? I question a lot of what he said. David right away reminded me of certain inmates that I have worked with. On the surface, he is personable and enjoyable to be around, smart and sensitive to other's moods. But, underneath there is something else going on that isn't positive. Robin was very off and their relationship was cringe-worthy. It seemed like Robin doesn't have children (does anyone know?) and didn't know how to treat David as an adult child. Their interactions were very odd.

If nothing has changed over the past few months with the sisters, TLC should not renew. I have enjoyed watching, seeing the goofiness, cheering them all on, but at this point, it does feel like the show has been reduced to being just a money-maker for the family. Besides the money, I assume they also like being in the limelight and on social media. As I watched last night's episode, I tried to see the happenings through the viewpoint of the family grasping at what they can do to keep the gravy-train chugging along. I don't like any of them much so maybe it is too easy for me to be critical. It is weird to me that the family rallies around Tammy so much, no matter how terribly she treats them and herself. It seems fake to me- like all this "love" is just to present a positive picture of the family and keep the show going. I don't see the love between Tammy and Amy, or any of the other members of the family that they are always going on about- to me it is all just empty words. They also seem very enmeshed with each other, maybe as a result of whatever trauma they experienced growing up. These people should forget about making money from social media and/or a stupid TLC show, and start working on developing "richer" lives for themselves and their immediate families. Tammy needs to dig deep and somehow find the strength and professional help to change her life without guilting her family into giving up large chunks of their own lives for her.

The “homeschooling” didn’t look very rigorous or professional. That bothers me.

I don't understand why Brit and Marc are putting this story line out there when they have kids to raise and be an example for. Is the money really worth it?

The mother looks like she may have had a stroke. Maybe?

I believe Social Security payments taken around age 62 are about 70% of the amounts at full retirement age. People retire early for all kinds of reasons.

I love that lady- she has been through the mill and she seems very real. She isn't faking her feelings.

Regarding Sonja’s date- I do not think it is normal/usual for people, old or young, to discuss medical issues the first time they meet. Most older men and women know this. We aren’t clueless. :) That guy was a big dud.

Whether interns get paid or not depends on the field they are in. For example, human services interns might not be paid, but interns in a tech field probably would be. At least this is the way it used to be!

RHONY conversations are not the most interesting, no matter which episode or season. None of the ladies has the knack of engaging others in an exchange of ideas. They don’t appear to have a real interest in anything besides materialism and surface ideas, including Eboni. And then, If all else fails, talk about penises!

I liked Eboni a lot more before this episode. She was being preachy at the dinner party. Of course if her talk didn't go on for too long, big deal. What was shown of the party might have been misleading- they may have had more fun than what was shown. Her interaction with Ramona was unnecessarily confrontational. On the other hand, Ramona could have discussed having a female vice president even if she didn't vote for her. I'm surprised that Ramona couldn't agree that this is a good thing for our country. It may have been that the pain of losing the election was too painful for her.

I want to watch this episode again because I was multitasking while it was on and didn’t pay close attention. But a few comments about what I remember: I went to school for art (a long time ago) and didn’t think anything was weird or strange about having a life drawing session! I anticipated that it might be interesting to see what the housewives would do to create an artwork observing a male body, especially since Victoria is an artist. But the model, Victoria, and the ladies made a mockery of a traditional art activity. Victoria gave no direction before the activity. The male model allowed himself to be touched and did not carry himself in a professional manner. The ladies acted like this was a voyeur activity and then only drew his penis from what I saw. I agree with those who asked-what if the genders were switched? As it was, the session gave the wrong impression about those who do nude modeling for artists and artists who draw nude models. As a “white” woman, I have no problem with discussions of “race”. I like to see different types of discussions on the show. I want to hear how people feel in different situations. I want to see the women arguing a little bit. However, no one was listening to anyone else! It was a great example of how not to talk about important matters. Everyone was guilty in the clip that was shown. I like Eboni so far. She isn’t perfect, but who is? I give her a pass, especially since she is new.

I thought it was odd that Luann bought Sonya the same blouse in the same color she bought for herself. What kind of gift is that? If she really wanted to do something for Sonja she could have said - pick out whatever you want and I’ll get it for you. Also- note to Leah- Sonja stating that Lu looks better in the blouse is not “self loathing”. I think that is what Leah said. The color black and the style was much more flattering on Luann than Sonja- it’s ok keep it real.

Such truth out of Puppy- I’m impressed.

I think Kenae was going for an Academy Award with that performance in Dr. Now’s office. I don’t think the doctor was buying it.

I was surprised that she and her husband looked pretty much the same at the end of the episode, even through they had both lost weight. The daughter is well on her way to having a major weight problem, and she seemed so blank/emotionally checked out in her interactions. I kept thinking that the unemotional effect that all of them presented might have been due to the cameras, but who knows. I’m glad there was some success, but it was hard to cheer for Carrie. The only time she seemed “real” to me was when she went into work, said a quick hi, and showed off her fast keyboarding skills. It was gross that she had all that food around her keyboard and computer, though.

What bothered me about Samantha was her disingenuousness. She seemed very fake. She appeared to be repeating a script that she thought we all wanted to hear. At times her daughter seemed to have trouble containing a laugh or smile, like she was in on the joke or the scheme. Something was not right about this episode.

Samantha is a big faker- I don’t believe her tears or her words.

Instead of expending energy moaning and groaning she should be concentrating on helping herself and the EMTs!

She was an adorable little girl.

I do not see Ari as suffering from "anxiety"- I see her as immature and not ready to be living in a foreign country, not ready to be physically separated from her parents, not ready to take care of a baby, not ready to be married. IMO, she just doesn't have the best personality. She reminds me of myself when I was younger! Explaining away her problems as "anxiety" is too simple. Hopefully she will grow up fast, gaining the ability to do the right thing for herself, her baby and her partner. ETA- I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder when I was younger (younger than Ari), so I know how horrible it is to have one, but I don't believe what she is manifesting is anxiety- or at least all anxiety.

Most of the parents on this season are annoying but when I put myself in their places, they don’t seem so bad! I would be beside myself with heartache and pain if one of my adult children were in a situation like those on this show. Luckily, my kids have too much common sense and have made better life choices (just my opinion).

Yes, Ramona is a clueless, hypocritical narcissist, but please stop yelling at her, ladies. It won't do any good.

One thing that has bugged me since I watched the episode is the part where Luann and her writer were talking about Luann’s growing up and how they had to buy shoes at Payless. First of all, the fawning over Luann by the writer was a bit over the top, but I do understand- this is a job for her and she has to be subordinate to Luann. It is disturbing though to see a grown woman (Luann) expect to be fawned over- I guess that is what happens when a person is as privileged as Luann is. Secondly, is getting shoes at Payless a bad thing? As my parents would have said, “You’re lucky to have shoes!” I really don’t understand why shopping at Payless is such a horrible thing.

News for Ramona: super high self esteem is not always a good thing.