Bastet

"Funeral flowers" is the unfortunate association. I had a yellow one randomly pop up in my narrow side "garden" (which is just a bed between my house and my neighbor's driveway), which is otherwise all rosebushes, so someone around here must grow them.

I never look at my missed call log, so I obviously don't call back anyone who didn't leave a message. Nor would I want someone calling me back if I didn't leave a message (not that they'd know I called, as my number does not show up on caller ID; all they see is "private caller," so that could be me or anyone else whose number is private). If I don't leave a message it's either because I decided to send an email instead, or it was something that was only relevant if they happened to be around at the time I was calling, so there's no point in mentioning it since they're not. Either way, there's no need for a return call.

Not full time; he's based in Japan (for business), and has an apartment there. That's what Hiromi was talking about with wanting to move back to Japan - to have more time with him, and with her elderly mother - but not feeling able to because of Elena. Elena lives in a group home, not in their Los Angeles home, but they spend time together and she wants to physically be there for her. Speaking of that, I wonder if Elena comes to their L.A. house more now that she's doing better in general. (In an earlier season, we learned that Elena quit coming to her parents' house on weekends when they moved, because she was uncomfortable with it being a different house than the one she'd lived in.)

In Japan and NY? Yes, that's him. We've seen him before, too.

Yes, when she saw him with one of his customers. A woman came in (speaking Spanish, but when he replied to her he included a couple of Spanish words but gave all the important information [e.g. dosage instructions] in English, which always distracts me) needing something to help her sick child, he gave her some medicine and recommended a doctor if the kid didn't improve. Blanche told him he is a hero.

When we played this game in the X-Files forum, we did episodes on a season-by-season basis (and, after the first season, had two games going at a time, because it was taking a while; e.g. we were voting on the season two list of episodes at the same time as the season three list) and then after we had all nine lists done, we did an all-stars game where where the list consisted of the top five of each season, to come up with our favorite of the series.

Probably not long, although I've never asked her. I suspect the opportunity just presented itself.

Vote off: Sam Ranking the rest: CJ - 1 (by a country mile) Toby - 2 Jed - 3 Leo - 4 Josh - 5

I believe my evolved impression of John is simply a function of us getting to see more and more aspects of his personality as the show went on -- he hasn't changed, I've just been able to see so much more of him than the delusional rapper aspect they focused on at first, so there is much I like about him in addition to that part of his personality that bugs me. But, with Elena, I think she has changed a lot. She needed medication for issues that had nothing to do with DS, and by getting that help, she's a different person. The timing coincided with the tail end of a long process of change Hiromi has been undergoing, and the two of them were able to make dramatic progress in their relationship.

As the show got started, I didn't much care for Sean or Elena individually, but I liked their friendship from the beginning. As we got to know them more, seeing additional aspects of their personalities, I warmed to John, but it wasn't until Elena got the medication she needs that I went from regarding her as someone with an interesting life story whose personality means I can only take her in small doses to someone truly enjoyable to watch. So, fast forward to now, when I like them both individually - despite that fucking booty song, which I could happily go my entire life without hearing again - and their friendship is even more lovely to watch. It's one of my favorite parts of the show. What would have stunned me even more to have been told after episode one is how much I like Hiromi. We've been given some good insight into her life, and she's changed just as Elena has (and the two needed to go hand in hand). They've come so far, and it's beautiful. What a situation she's in -- her husband is based in Japan for business, so he's only in their U.S. home, where she's based, part time. Her mother is in her final years, and she's already lost her father and brother. But, even though Elena lives in a group home rather than with her, she doesn't feel she can return to Japan. Cristina delightedly plopping on her couch to watch TV that first night in her apartment just radiated that "This is mine!" feeling a young person has when they have their first place. It was fun. I also liked her telling her brother, "Move your butt" (to help pack up her stuff) and him saying, "I did move it, to here" as he sits in a chair in the yard. I liked Hiromi asking Joyce if she discusses John's future with Mr. Tucker and Joyce saying, "No, I just tell Mr. Tucker what I'm going to do." I liked Kris telling Megan she needs to be careful with other people's hearts while her own is healing. Otherwise, I could have happily done without that entire storyline. Sean and his family bug the ever-loving shit out of me, and never more so when it comes to his "babe" obsession, so this is not at all up my alley.

Not hot at all; they're sweet peppers. They're often stuffed with something, so that may be the type of recipe you're looking for.

I'd be even more reluctant to rent out my RV in their shoes -- you have the same I don't want people using my stuff concerns, the same general issues where some people don't have a lot of respect/care for short-term rental property, and then on top of that the fact you'd have a lot of people without any actual RV knowledge trying to drive and use the thing when they don't know what they're doing. That's great on taking the kids to all 50 states. We covered a lot of them in my parents' motorhome and went to quite a few others via plane, and I had a jacket onto which I'd sew a state patch for each state we visited. (Filling in with my own travel as an adult, I've been to all but Alaska, and I'll go there someday.)

Yep, that happened to my friend in high school, too. She came in downstairs after staying out far past curfew with her boyfriend, crept through the dark house up to her bedroom without either of her parents popping out of their bedroom, thought she'd made it, and suddenly the light turned on to reveal her mom sitting on her bed saying, "Your goose is cooked." As you can see, we still talk about it to this day. Probably because it's the sort of thing that happens far less often in real life than on TV; we joked then and now that her mom had been watching too many family sitcoms.

Oh, that'll go over well. ;-) My votes: Fitz Charlie (I struggled with this one bit - my first of the game - but despite him having the larger role and being there longer, I still like Mrs. Landingham more than him)

No to both, which is why they moved to Australia (her father's homeland) when Elena was a child. (I'm not sure if growing up in Australia was ever mentioned on the show, but I remember the poster who knows most of these people noted it back when the show premiered and we saw how Hiromi's long struggle to accept Elena instilled the sense of shame Elena was struggling with.)

Many people who love sports, many people who loves sports movies, and many people who are moved by the depiction of being a hard-working underdog with decent skill and serious passion for something paying off despite the odds all get why that hilarious movie is also incredibly emotional when "The Indians win it, oh my god, the Indians win it!" I disagree with pretty much every opinion you've expressed since the "favorite book" discussion began (shared love of artistic expression being such an intimacy, I can't imagine not being interested in what - among all genres - moves a prospective partner or thinking they should choose only more-popular examples when making their list, and the whole female books/male books thing, complete with reference to things "no normal man" is likely to have read, is something with which I disagree even more strongly), but this erroneous blanket statement really stood out to me.

I made some pork tinga (minus the potatoes) in the slow cooker, so tonight I'm going to make soft tacos with it (topped with some queso fresco and avocado). I have a lot of tomatoes from my garden, so the salad will be a tomato salad with some scallions and avocado, with a lime-cilantro dressing.

Woo hoo; all my disliked characters are now gone. Right now it's still easy to pick from the rest, but I think it's going to get hard in a round or two. Margaret Fitz

Yeah, she wanted a baby "of [her] own," as she put it. It's only hinted at in the film, with the "I think it would help things a lot/I see" exchange in that same conversation between Shelby and M'Lynn, but in real life their marriage was already in trouble; having a "band-aid baby" was part of her motivation. I've been trying to think of any (non-documentaries) that I've seen, either, because when the issue of movies being outdated because the things their main characters died from would no longer kill them today, Philadelphia and It's My Party immediately sprang to mind but I got distracted by the two that were mentioned.

Will Bailey Ainsley Hayes Donna Moss

I got the steak and veggies episode today. I'm not much for flank steak, so wouldn't ever bother with that two-step cooking process, but it probably worked to make it something actually edible as a steak. (Slathering them with compound butter wouldn't hurt, either.) I don't like ratatouille, either; I hate eggplant, but even if made with all vegetables I like, I just don't like the texture as I don't like stewed vegetables (I like my vegetables to still be crunchy). That $230 carbon steel pan was, indeed, pretty, though.

I thought for sure I'd be the first person voting for Donna; she's up next for me -- not on my list of disliked characters, but down at the very bottom of the rest, so first on the block once I get to those.

I'd held off on voting for characters I don't know, but with Danny out, there are only two characters left I dislike, so I'm going give my third vote to Santos rather than dipping into the "those I like less" pool. But I'll put him last. Will Bailey Ainsley Hayes Matt Santos

I love NOMA, too. Good to know about the Cafe du Monde coffee; I've been there for beignets (of course), but I don't drink coffee. Nor does my mom, but my dad does, so I will pass that along. We have a pharmacy museum here; my mom and I went recently, but my dad has never been there. So I'll mention that; thanks (everything else was already on my list). They'll just be on foot/using public transport, so I don't know how far they'll venture out. I've always skipped the WWII museum, as that's not my thing, but it comes recommended from several people, so that's on their list. The Southern Food & Beverage Museum sounds interesting; I will tell them about it (and stop in myself if I make another trip).

@Lisin, I'm so sorry to hear about the sudden loss of Zooey. I'm glad she was at home with her people, but very sad for your family's loss. Condolences to @Mindthinkr and family as well on the deaths of all those poor chickens. I'm glad to hear, however, that your big-boned cat's blood glucose is at a normal level.