S09.E04: Pretty Ugly

[Lisin]

Things. Screeching. Wine. Train wrecks. Loving Life. Living Green. Fake Tans.

[Irritable]

As I'm trying to transition myself from TWoP to PTV, I may end up posting the same things to both sites.  I'm just not ready to let go of TWoP until that last gasp has gasped, and it looks from the level of activity here that I might not be the only one hanging on until the last possible second.

 

I would be too embarrassed to announce in the middle of a conversation with a group of people that someone had just used a word that was WAY TOO BIG for me to understand.  Tamra, the word was only 3 syllables, and I think the rest of us learned it in the 6th grade...please try to catch up.  Despite what you think, you didn't just make Heather look bad by pointing out her "snooty" vocabulary, you only succeeded in broadcasting your own tragically limited vocabulary.  I would have made a mental note to look the word up later so I would not find myself in that same situation twice.  But then, I have time to look up things because I'm not spending my free time complaining about how awful it is to go to a gathering and have to look at people who are not dressed in their most aesthetically pleasing attire.  She really seemed to have missed the whole point of the party, or maybe she has a deep-seated fear of attending anything where she can't rely on all the smoke and mirrors of breast-revealing, strategically tailored and structured apparel designed to make her look better than she actually does.  Death, taxes and ugly Christmas sweaters are the great equalizers.

Shannon and David's situation is certainly awkward.   When they came back to the rose petals on the bed, and she reached back for his hand, but by the time he saw it and reached for hers, she was already pulling it away...that was an almost beautifully symbolic moment that showed in a nutshell that they both are still willing to try, but are just a bit out of sync.  I would have rooted for them a lot harder after seeing that if I wasn't so disgusted by David not only telling her she "needs" breast implants, but also by him explaining WHY she "needs" them, and doing so in front of the cameras.  Honestly, she took that shit a lot better than I would have.   Now I get why she wished she was drunker, and wasn't so much into the whole sex thing.  Who can have fun, uninhibited sex with a partner who just told them that?  Gross.

I always fast-forward past any Tamra-Eddie scenes, especially if they are out to dinner.  I want to fast-forward past Brooks, but I can't seem to make myself do it, and I always end up feeling a little nauseated afterward.

[Lisin]

The Tamra vocabulary thing really bothered me too because not only did she FREAK out about the use of a (in my mind at least) fairly common word but then it seemed to take them 10 minutes to explain the meaning to her. 

[MMLEsq]

On WWHL last night, they played a game where Andy Cohen would say a word and Dr. Drew would have to guess whether Tamra would know what the word meant.  IIRC, she only really knew one word.  She claimed that she knew what one other word meant after Andy told her what it meant, but before that she hadn't been able to spit out any kind of definition.  I wish I could remember what the words were -- none of them were particularly hard or unususal.  I know one was fortuitous; another was impertinent (which Tamra thought meant important -- hee!). 

[SuzWhat]

I came here to post that Tamara needs to STFU about her poor vocabulary (among other things) only to find Irritable said it WAY better than I ever could. A. Men!

Then I read the subsequent posts to that one and was ecstatic. I've found my people! A perfect amalgam of snarkers with a flair for vocabulary! Well done!

Edited May 7, 2014 by SuzWhat

[BluEyes1220]

New poster here and I'm glad to be here. I've come over from TWOP but I only lurk there more rather than post.

 

I have to comment on the Tamara vocab thing as well. I didn't know what the word Heather used meant. I have never even heard it in a sentence before, but that's just me. I wouldn't have stopped conversation, though, and made a big deal out of it. I would have either figured it out by the context of the conversation or Googled it later on to find out what the definition was. Heck, she could have even gone and asked Eddie and maybe he would have known. She just made an ass out of herself and made herself look completely stupid.

[Lisin]

That's kind of my point @BluEyes1220, I'm not upset or even shocked she didn't know it, but the fact that she acted like it was a crazy idea for anyone to use it and freaked out about it for so long! It made her look like an idiot. 

 

The whole thing about the sweaters and not liking the "ugly" thing bugged me too. 

[Ubiquitous]

Then I read the subsequent posts to that one and was ecstatic. I've found my people! A perfect amalgam of snarkers with a flair for vocabulary! Well done!

"Can you use 'amalgam' in a sentence?".

 

I found it odd how strongly Tamra fixated on the UGLY party of "ugly sweater party".

[Muffyn]

If only Tamra would focus on fixing the ugly parts of her personality.  

 

There have been times when I have asked admitted I didn't know the meaning of a word in a conversation.  However, this has always been when I could not infer the meaning from the context.  Also, this has occurred when I have been speaking to an expert in a field in which I am not very knowledgeable.  Of course, I was trying to clarifying meaning so I could stay actively involved in a conversation at an intelligent level.  Not something Tamra has ever tried.

 

I had this on and kept turning it down.  Why does Tamra have to screech?  Is she part screech owl?  She just shrieks over top of everyone and laughs her phony guffaw, enjoying her own supposed humor.  

 

I had a friend that is not very bright.  She would sometimes ask me for definitions of words.  Later she started criticizing me for using words she did not know.  Also, she would chose to words incorrectly.  I would correct her (kindly and not in front of others).  She would then implore, "Why can't I use the word the way I want?"  When she would then use the word incorrectly and someone else would correct her, she would be in tears.  So, when Heather corrects Tamra, that is what I think of.  The only difference is Tamra would never be embarrassed to be corrected by someone else.  She is proud of her ignorance and crassness.  

[TVFan17]

I get a sleazy vibe from David, for some reason -- he bothered me from the first moment I saw him on this show.  It's the same kind of vibe I get from Brooks and that I have always gotten from Mario (Ramona's husband, over on RHoNYC), except that I think that Brooks and Mario are somehow better talkers or more charming in some way, so they can get away with it.  David seems to be lacking any semblance of a personality, and when he does say something it's inconsiderate or rude.

 

Not that I think Shannon is easy as pie to live with.  She seems like a handful -- high maintenance, shrill when she wants to be, critical, all of those things.  Still, I think she could do better than David.

 

Tamra has always struck me as more of a street-smart person than a book-smart person, but I never realized that she had such a limited vocabulary -- to the point where she makes Heather out to be the bad guy because Heather wants to speak and converse in an intelligent way.  

 

My sense of Tamra's issue with Heather is that when Heather corrects her or uses words she doesn't know, it reminds Tamra (maybe subconsciously) of Simon.  Simon used to correct her, control her, tell her what she said/did/wore was wrong, etc.  I think that Heather's intelligence is threatening to her because it taps into the way Simon made her feel about herself at times.

Edited May 9, 2014 by Sherry67

[tulip555]

I absolutely agree, Sherry 67

[walnutqueen]

"Can you use 'amalgam' in a sentence?".

 

 

"The mercury in your amalgam fillings has poisoned your brain, Tamra."

Edited May 9, 2014 by walnutqueen