Bastet

I've seen one reading, "Honk if you're an impatient asshole."

The crappy pizza?

That's what I'm laughing at - that's just not the style of home there. It's not just the lack of proximity to the water, there's nothing about it that's beachy -- it's a suburban desert, filled with look-alike homes and strip malls. A style of any kind, other than '90s/'00s over development, is hard to come by. Cape Cod or anything "beachy"? Good luck with that.

Wait, wait - what? Valencia, CA? And someone wanted "beachy"? HA! Valencia is a cookie cutter den of blandness and HOAs north of Los Angeles, and there is absolutely nothing beachy about it -- not its climate, certainly, and not its look in terms of how the homes and strip malls are styled.

Free speech refers to the First Amendment prohibition against the government suppressing or punishing most speech. It does not mean the speaker will be immune any consequences; the idea is for the government to keep its hands off most speech, letting it go out into the "marketplace of ideas" where it will be accepted or rejected by those who hear/read it based on its value. Nobody arrested Roseanne for her racist remark; she, a private citizen, posted what she wanted to post, and ABC, a private company, fired her for it. No free speech rights were violated.

That she married a guy she'd known for about five minutes, in what started out as a joke, diminishes that somewhat for me. Sure, they're old, but not ancient; they're not going to drop dead in less time than it would take them to figure out they like each other and have good sex, but don't actually want to be married. It's not like she can't come back home, but she changed her whole life for a man she barely knew. That's not exactly the happy ending I want for Dorothy.

I like their Feliway one, too, especially the defiant way he keeps scratching on the couch and the fact he's peeing on the wall.

Same here. Between that and Wil Wheaton's lead blanket analogy ("One of the many delightful things about having Depression and Anxiety is occasionally and unexpectedly feeling like the whole goddamn world is a heavy lead blanket, like that thing they put on your chest at the dentist when you get x-rays, and it’s been dropped around your entire existence without your consent"), I've been nodding my head all over the place the past few days. Allie Brosh, of the fantastic blog and then book Hyperbole and a Half, wrote years ago about depression in a way that also may help those seeking to understand what it can feel like: Adventures in Depression and Part Two

Heh. Angel!Baltar, or whatever the hell he and the equivalent Six are supposed to be, said, "You know it [doesn't like that name]," which does provide a partial out, at least, that whatever metaphysical force the show ultimately proclaims exists, it's not the cylon god Six prattles on about. But the religion shit is still by far the worst part of the series for me. I recently watched it through again (I wasn't going to until I watched The Plan, but I couldn't wait), and I still loved it, but I got even more aggravated with all the god talk* -- and when it came to the stuff with Baltar's cult this season, I had to fast-forward through most of it, because it was truly unbearable the second time around. Same with Head!Six; I like the other Sixes (and I love the "wake up and smell the psychosis" version of Head!Six for the short time she's there), but I had to skip over a lot of Head!Six, because it's just a steady stream of sex, God, the one true god, sex, God's plan, sex, God's love, God, and "our baby." SHUT UP, HEAD!SIX. It was so interesting a concept for Baltar to conjure up an imaginary version of her after the attacks, seeing her not as a typical subconscious (as we saw when Caprica Six had a Head!Baltar who called her on her shit), but as someone who validates his actions by saying he's actually part of some grand plan for good. That is so Baltar; his guilt and narcissism exist in equal measure. But, in execution, it's a lot of ugh, with great moments in between where she tell him like it is. *One of the greatest things about this show - maybe only second to Laura Roslin - was the way it explored big ideas and asked questions rather than giving answers, so - especially under the characters' circumstances - it could have been very interesting to pose as a recurring question whether there is some sort of fate determined by a higher power or whether what happens is entirely due to the combination of actions we choose to take and chance. But "My god is better than your gods," for four fucking seasons, is not interesting, and to have that viewpoint even partially validated in the end is a big problem for me.

I agree. Last year, I was in a bad mood intermittently for a month because my favorite TV character died. If I can get that worked up (something that surprised the hell out of me) over the death of a fictional character, I am in no position to judge someone having a strong reaction to a real person's death just because they didn't know her or him personally. I wouldn't have anyway; when Myrna Loy and then Katharine Hepburn died, I was genuinely sad. Shed tears upon hearing the news, pulled out tapes (this was a while ago, after all) and books to revisit their work, thought about them in the days to come, etc. There are other artists whom, like with those two, I like their work and even more so like what I know of them as people, having things they've said and done really resonate with me, and I thus know I'll also have more than the, "That's too bad" reaction to their deaths. I've never had as extreme a reaction as some people have had, and maybe I never will, but it doesn't matter -- people, their work, words, and actions, can touch us deeply without us knowing them personally. We can thus mourn their loss. There's no point in looking down on that, but whatever; it's just really tacky to dismiss it to their face (or "face" when it's happening online).

Her, or the gardener she hired if she didn't feel like it? If someone doesn't want a yard - they don't garden, they don't hang out outside, so what's the point - I get that, but the notion that being a single woman makes yard maintenance more of an issue than it is for any other homeowner strikes me as odd.

I do, too. A lot. I don't like any of their songs, but that one I actively hate. Actually, I like The Joker if I'm in the right mood for it; if I'm not, it bugs me.

It's Jimmy's room, so the other kid is a friend or brother in there playing video games, but he's not there the rest of the time - when Jimmy is spraying his room with Febreeze, when the mom comes in, etc.

Yes, three different guys. First is the kid of the woman who has Liberty Mutual's roadside assistance and thus got his flat tire changed in the middle of the night (Paul Stevans), then the two stranded kids who don't know what a lug wrench is -- the one talking to his dad on the phone (Nik Dodani) and the friend in the background (Bryan Burton). I don't see resemblance between them so as to cause confusion, but obviously others do. (iSpot lists the actors, and going to each one's IMDb page to look at their pictures confirms they have it right.)

Actually, that was not immediate at all (for Jackie, yes, but Jackie was in a better financial position); Roseanne's instinct was not to risk it, to simply pay bills with it. She and Dan had that great talk while lying in bed, one so many people have had and that they'd had before on a smaller scale, about using it for expenses now versus taking the chance on something that could help them long term. He did not have to miss holidays and such in order to make enough to support the family (either the first one or this one), he chose to spend that extra time away from home, which was Dan's beef with him and the root of his warning to Crystal that she was going to wind up in exactly the same place his mom did.

Piss up a rope, Val Kilmer. If your physical illness got so bad that your life utterly sucked and no end to that suffering was in sight, so that suicide was or seemed to be the best of the available bad options, would you want people bloviating on how you should have embraced life and endured because of reasons? No? Then shut up; it's not any different if it was mental illness that brought Bourdain to that place, and, whatever your personal relationship, you don't know what his mindset was (obviously pretty bad since he, you know, killed himself). I'm so sick of the "Well, I have chronic pain, and I manage without anything stronger than OTC meds/didn't get addicted to the stronger stuff, so those who do otherwise are weak," "I'm battling/dying from a terminal illness, and I'll cling to every last minute, so those who opt to end their suffering are losers who gave up," "I've been depressed, but wouldn't ever put my loved ones through my loss, so those who commit suicide are selfish assholes" pontificating that one way of dealing with awful, debilitating circumstances is morally superior to others.

It just depends on their sensibilities, and how those they report to respond if they do say, "Hey, there's a real issue here" (there are bad HR departments, and there are good but hamstrung HR departments, that can both lead to nothing changing), but it's great that you are going to put it on record and I'm sure your soon-to-be-former coworkers appreciate the effort, since you're now in a position to do what they can't. Congratulations on the new job.

I buy her saying "homo" and not meaning any offense by it; this was a time when many people, particularly of her age, not familiar with LGBT folks thought of "homo" simply as a shortened version of homosexual rather than understanding it's a slur (like how, ten or so years ago, you could hear a main, "good guy" character on prime time [Olivia Benson, L&O: SVU] use the word "tranny" in the midst of arguing for the rights and respects due transgender people, because to her - and the writers - it was an abbreviation rather than a slur). I think it's more likely she'd have said gay than homosexual/homo, and obviously they took her down the latter route instead for the joke. But I do find it believable she'd have said homo as easily as she'd have said homosexual.

I love that Faith Salie piece; I think of it every time vocal fry is discussed. That Poshmark commercial woman's voice, though -- it needs its own description, because there's a lot going on there, every bit of it annoying. If given a choice between being trapped in a room with her or the "Johnsonville Brats are made in the U.S.A." woman, I'd choose death.

Scott was the probate lawyer Roseanne met when Dan died (whom she then introduced to Leon), according to the original series finale. (We saw her meet him earlier than that, and he was already engaged to Leon when she did, so what we saw was the book version of Scott [and what we saw was the book version of Leon, when in reality he was a stodgy conservative].) So, since it now turns out Dan didn't die, and the original series wasn't a book, I guess Scott doesn't actually exist.

Here's Eric Ripert's Facebook post:

With several comments here about the importance, far beyond food, of Bourdain's work, I want to share this tribute by John Nichols in The Nation, with the subheading "The chef and author demanded that we consider the humanity of so many who were misportrayed by the rest of the media." It begins:

Someone replied to her, saying, "Valerie Jarrett wants Israelis and Jews chased into the sea, and she'll celebrate," and Roseanne promptly retweeted it. So, yeah.

Yeah, he loved the kids and was fairly reliable with the support payments, but when it was just him, he preferred to bounce around doing whatever he wanted, and see the kids so long as his visitation schedule didn't interfere with something more fun to do. He was also the "Well, Daddy lets us do x,y,z" Fun Dad. When he got into a new relationship (in which he was disappointed that she wasn't as good at the have my favorite meal prepared perfectly and on the table when I get home type of stuff as Mary Jo had been), then he was all about wanting the kids to come help him play happy family.

While we're thinking it to death ... So let's say the ad had Dorothy's name and phone number (and the willing to do anything for $8/hr text). Creepy Toto guy, the busload of Greek sailors, and the "I'll give you four dollars" guy saw the ad, and called the house asking for Dorothy. All three times, one of the others answered when Dorothy wasn't in, so they asked to take a message. The callers all indicated they were responding to her newspaper ad. The roommate, instead of offering to leave a message, said Dorothy will be back in X time, so come on over to [address] and talk to her then. Problems? On one hand, this works if Rose answered each time, because she's Rose, but then on the other, when she said - in response to Dorothy accusing her of failing to place the ad - "Six people called when you were out," she'd have followed that up with something like "and I set it all up; they'll be here any minute" and she didn't. Okay, let's say it was someone other than Rose. Why would anyone else give out the address rather than simply taking a message? Regardless of who answered, why would whomever called on behalf of the Greek sailors not ask then how many drachma there are in eight dollars, rather than that being a surprise? So, okay, let's say the address wasn't in the ad and no one gave it out over the phone. Yes, while most owners of phone numbers were listed in the phone book then (you could still opt out, it just wasn't as common), that was by the last name of the person whose name the number was in. So, even if Dorothy included her last name in the ad, that still doesn't work -- with one line for the whole house, with that house owned by Blanche dating back to before they moved in, her Blanche's name is presumably on the utilities and the roomies just pay her their share each month, so "Zbornak, Dorothy" wouldn't have appeared in the phone book (similar to how looking up a wife's name wouldn't yield a listing back then, if the phone was in the husband's name, but at least there you had the shared last name and maybe even the husband's first name to figure it out, yep, that's it). Well, then, let's say the address was in the ad. Thus, the interested guys just showed up. Problems? Even in the '80s, who the hell published their address (Rose was just copying what Dorothy had asked her to post - she simply did so in the wrong category - so the answer isn't just, duh, Dimwit Rose) in the paper (at least in Miami rather than Mayberry)? But, if the address wasn't in the ad, and Rose didn't say she'd fielded calls and invited people over, why wasn't Dorothy "how the hell did you get here?" instead of, "I didn't expect people to actually come here; I just figured that I would be going to them" when folks showed up? So, despite all logic - shocking on this show, I know - to Dorothy it's not odd that they have her address.