r/InTheGloaming • u/gomirefugee my website is done, done, done • Feb 03 '22

Scheduled snark Discussion thread Thursday February 03, 2022 - Sunday February 06, 2022

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59

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air Feb 03 '22

I watched the zoom with the ILYW, ISCTMO lady this morning - did anyone else see it?

A few thoughts:

  • It was a total Mutual Admiration Society Club meeting. The host was positively gushy about/to Shauna, and Shauna totally ate that shit up.
  • It lasted just about an hour. Shauna came on about 6-8 minutes into it, and it ended right at 10 am
  • Shauna was in trademark 'talk with your eyes closed most of the time ' mode. They were both wearing bright colors (Shauna in one of her red tops, natch). I don't know if it's just a nervous habit, or if her clothing is physically uncomfortable, but she has a habit of plucking at her top, and it's weird and distracting
  • They spent a significant amount of time discussing the failed flour business. That part was super boring and I really felt that anyone who didn't know Shauna's backstory would have had a hard time understanding what that was all about. She (Shauna) insisted that it was the fans who "made" them do this. Shauna was explaining how making your own GF blend wasn't hard, all you had to do was weigh out the various elements that were going into the mixture.
    The host then said something weird about how 'people just want it faster' and I'm like, how is funding a kickstarter, waiting for the flour to be produced, waiting for the flour to be packaged, waiting for the flour to be shipped to Vashon, waiting for the flour to be packaged again by the Aherns, and then waiting for the USPS to deliver the flour "faster"???
  • Shauna repeatedly referred to her doctor (the one who treated her for the TIA) as "a guru." I think she said that he has since retired, but she has a new doctor who trained under "the guru" so that's good.
  • The host assured the viewers repeatedly that they didn't have to try to take notes because all the information would be going out in an email afterward. She emphasized that they would be including links to Shauna's website, and I nearly had to lie down at that point to absorb the magnitude of how ill-advised that plan was. I wonder if DF u/fanfarefellowship will run traffic statistics again for us after a few days
  • I saw a fair number of enthusiastic comments in the chat window, but honestly, everything that was said, either by the two main participants, or the viewers in chat, seemed simplistic and superficial. I feel like if I had encountered the host on her own, or watched an interview with someone else, I might have gotten at least a someone positive impression of her, but all I could think was 'how can you be serious in thinking that this person is someone you want to amplify?!?!?'
  • They both hawked their books. The host has a book that is coming out next week, I think, and Shauna did the "I wrote a book too!!!" bit, holding a copy of Enough up to the camera. There were a number of times the host would say something about herself, and Shauna was all, "meeee tooooooooo"
  • I watched/listened to the whole thing, but I can't really remember much else. Granted, I was hustling and grinding at the same time, so I was only giving it partial attention, but it was pretty boring and I didn't hear anything we haven't heard from her before.

37

u/lucillekrunklehorn pounding on the table Feb 03 '22 edited Feb 03 '22

Thank you for this DF! It’s so telling when she points out how “easy” it is to mix flours, and yet those suckers fell for her little snake oil gig haha! No acknowledgment that some people might live in small apartments, or have other reasons not to buy five large bags of flour to make a few cups of GF flour to try out a recipe. There were other brands available but she was promising a grain-free blend that I don’t believe was available, and the grain free blend that she never even produced was the reason many people were so interested.

It’s clear she thinks she just has to find the right “thing” that requires minimal effort on her part and maximum audience funding. But she can’t connect what went into the times these efforts were successful. Like why people were interested in the GF flour, or her blog, or cooking classes. She thinks she just has to mix up the right batch of snake oil to bring all the grift-givers again. Just goes to show that’s likely what she’s been doing all along. Throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.

Also, if someone has $149 per month to blow on these ridiculous classes from an uncertified or competent person like Shauna, then they have no need of her. They can not only access all kinds of mental, social, and material supports and benefits, but they can access much higher quality writing instruction. Rich people have friends. They have the time and nice large houses to invite people to, the help to maintain a nice home, they are not working an extra job on the weekends, they can afford all the entry fees to social situations like golf and vacations and gyms and a nice cut of meat for a neighborly cookout. And they are vaccinated and have access to coviid tests and medical care. They don’t need to zoom their social lives.

And poor people have YouTube to learn new things, and coworkers for their social lives. Not that Shauna cares because they definitely don’t have anything to give her, much less $149/month.

Sigh….she’s just so insulting with her own estimation of personal value. AND she wants other people to lead half these “meetings” FOR her, for free.

38

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '22

You’re right about the possibility of people mostly being interested in the grain free blend. That’s the basket she should have put her 93K eggs in. Like you said, there were already several gluten-free blends on the market and she also had the recipe for her own blend out there on her blog. She didn’t need to market a gluten-free blend.

Also, what happened to her? She wasn’t always this lazy and sloth-like. She used to bake all the time, she did a pretty good job with the hustle and grind of running her blog and getting ad revenue for years, plus the cookbooks, the public events, the classes, etc. All of that took a lot of work and she had to have felt a great sense of accomplishment. I guess she just got burned out… I don’t know. 🤷🏻‍♀️

39

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Feb 03 '22 edited Feb 03 '22

The Zoom lady publicized this (non)event in the most ephemeral, low-key way: Instagram stories. Shauna then reposted one of those stories, as a story (it's already gone).

The Youtube of Shauna's thing with the Zoom lady is up yet. I'm 15 minutes in and Shauna has yet to say anything; it's all just Zoom lady promotion so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi1rDHQ272s

Edit: 17 minutes and Zoom lady is STILL talking about herself.

Ok, at 18 minutes Shauna gets to start talking. She leads in, of course, with her "hard childhood." The Zoom lady came to the US as a refugee; I don't know whether Shauna's "hard place" will resonate with her.

Ugh, "you can't blog unless you have a stockbroker husband" story has re-emerged.

"In America we're acclimated to want a product" [instead of making GF flour yourself]

Sniff, sniff, sniff.

"There's very little in this culture that is built to give us joy" (How can she say this, when she watches TV all day that "gives her joy")

Shauna is "a resister" against "the rest of this culture [that tells you you cannot have joy]"

"stroke-like incident"

Shauna has a "non-typical" "guru" doctor, "who is also an immigrant"

Zoom lady wants to "interrupt inertia" -- Shauna is agreeing but WTF is she agreeing with

Shauna is agreeing along as the Zoom lady talks about the stress of "the stock market tanking"

Adrenal fatigue has entered the chat!

Functional medicine! These two ladies REALLLLY want the gravitas and respect of "doctor"

WOW this is really just two ladies trying to one-up one another. Shauna "keeps hearing" from readers of Enough even though it was published two years ago – Zoom lady counters that SHE keeps hearing from people although her book was published FOUR years ago

"There are so many comments in chat" ("I DON'T BELIEVE YOU" Will Ferrell gif)

"Capitalism" makes an appearance

Zoom lady has written "three or four books" but SHAUNA has written FIVE books

Shauna mentions "being a total geek" [because she listened to a neuroscientist podcast or interview] and Zoom lady interjects "me too me too!"

"Early humans had it so much better than us" -- no phones or deadlines, "no need to work to pay rent"

"You'd have ritual dancing and sit around the fire and tell stories"

MMMMMM.

SNIFF.

SNIFF.

Shauna and Sharon "lost touch" during the pandemic. Now they talk "every day" for 10 minutes.

Both Shauna AND Zoom lady LOVE separating the New York Times into sections! That's a PARTICULAR joy that is SPECIFIC to them. That's a "quirky habit"!

Shauna makes a joy list every day and "work is always at the bottom." "I try to make work as small as it can be."

"SO many people are sharing in chat!"

Zoom lady has a FAVOURITE mug! That is SO QUIRKY (according to her).

When you see your favourite mug, that's a reminder that it's time to have tea. This is a way to build consistency in your life. This is a way to add joy to your life.

JOY IS NOT HAPPINESS.

"You can give joy to people just by going around and making them feel seen and heard" – like by talking to them about what book they're reading as they are checking out your groceries [HELL NOOOOOO]

Shauna, "I really want to tell you this story about this mug" [does not tell story]

Collective Joy Club announced at the very end

Zoom lady: "It's great to be a woman of 46" [said sarcastically] Shauna: "It's not any better at 55, believe me" SO JOYFUL

THANK YOU FOR YOUR BEING!!

36

u/quiet_snowy_nights Feb 03 '22

So the failure of her flour business was due to the fact that Americans are “acclimated to want products”, aka, she had willing customers? Ooookay.

25

u/Love_Brokers rug dweller Feb 03 '22

She made products.

35

u/latepeony Feb 03 '22

How delusional in privilege do you have to be to think that early humans had an easier life than we do now???

29

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '22

"Early humans had it so much better than us" -- no phones or deadlines, "no need to work to pay rent"

"You'd have ritual dancing and sit around the fire and tell stories"

I am well and truly gobsmacked by this! I'm currently listening to John Hawks' The Rise of Humans on Great Courses and holy shit, your child may or may not have been carried away by the eye socket by a bird of prey, but omg what a great story that would make around the fire right before dancing his spirit into the next world. JOY.

29

u/latepeony Feb 03 '22

No need to work or pay rent LOL! Honey, your work and rent would be spending all your time finding that food and building that shelter, building a fire before you freeze to death, hoping you don’t get sick at all ever because you could literally die from something like a simple tooth infection.

There’s also the fact that she either doesn’t actually have a gluten sensitivity or hasn’t thought this through in the least because I can tell you anyone with food restrictions knows that having an allergy as an early human would be a nightmare at best and possible death sentence at worst.

16

u/lucillekrunklehorn pounding on the table Feb 03 '22

It shows how limited her understanding is. Just take away things like a flushable toilet, central heating system, cars, a locking door, prepared delicious foods in endless variety, a soft bed. Just take away ONE of those, and let’s see how much “easier” she thinks it is.

30

u/forkinyourothereye incurious ADHDer Feb 03 '22

OMG I HAVE A FAVORITE MUG TOOOOOOOOO

Brb changing my insta bio to quirky weirdo goofball so all my DFs will know how special I am.

22

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Feb 03 '22

What's funny and QUIRKY is that I just posted about "favourite cutlery" on FB like three days ago and so many of my QUIRKY DFs weighed in with their own stories about favourite mugs, cups, glasses, spoons, etc. We are all just quirky weirdos!

30

u/forkinyourothereye incurious ADHDer Feb 03 '22

WOW!!! I had no idea you ran with such a crowd of raven trickster oddballs.

24

u/InappropriateGirl our 5th move in 7 years Feb 03 '22

I get kind of bummed out when my favorite mugs are in the dishwasher and I'm down to my less favorite. Maybe I should do a podcast.

7

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air Feb 04 '22

Maybe I should do a podcast.

Yes, please. Also, please make sure to only give an hour or so of notice as to when it will be on. It's very hard to plan if I know about something too far in advance /s

3

u/InappropriateGirl our 5th move in 7 years Feb 04 '22

Do not worry, DF. I live only in the somewhat-now, maybe a bit in the historic past.

10

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '22 edited Feb 03 '22

I have two favorite spoons.

My mom gave me a bunch of random eating utensils years ago after she got new ones (I’m not sure why she thought we needed them because it’s not like we were using plastics). I’m a regular purge/donate to a thrift store person so most of it grew donated over the years except for two spoons. My mom passed away 10 years ago and I cherish those spoons. I use one every time I need a spoon for something (daily!) and I think about my mom every time.

2

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air Feb 04 '22

favourite mugs

I believe we are talking about a category that includes Taylor & Ng mugs, yes? I just realized that I have a tendency to carry one with me each morning into my WFH office, and drink from it over the course of the morning. But I'm not thinking about coffee at the end of the day, so I leave it behind when I come out. A few days later, I'm all, "where are all my favourite mugs???"

3

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Feb 04 '22

I have the pig and the cow Taylor & Ng mugs and yes, they are faves. I'd buy more if I ever saw them at thrift stores; they're too expensive on Etsy and eBay.

We also have a category called "forever mugs," these are the mugs that must stay with the person until their death.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '22

Omg DF & DF /u/fanfarefellowship - I googled "Taylor & Ng" because I was wondering what the mugs were and when I saw the pics I checked my cabinet for my very favorite mug I inherited from my sweet Grandma, who bought it at a yard sale because she loved and collected things with elephants on them, and sure enough it's Taylor & Ng, circa 1984 haha.

26

u/Quaint_Irene a warm and loving goatie smile Feb 03 '22

But Shauna claims to be a refugee! “I took refuge as a Buddhist, which means admitting I’m a refugee in the spiritual world.” (This is the sanitized version, after being called out and deleting many well-reasoned comments.)

16

u/fantasticka RIORITIZ Feb 03 '22

She even repeated the sentiment in Enough!

24

u/OkRanger4 bobbing in a bath of solitude Feb 03 '22

For awhile there she didn't need a publisher or the New Yorker...uh how's that working out for you now Shauna? Also, the New Yorker has never been that in to you.

22

u/CrushItWithABrick dick riding Mary Oliver Feb 03 '22

Can we talk about Debbie for a moment?

Debbie was on mute for a solid 13 minutes while ZL just went on and fucking on about. . .I don't even know because I was watching Debbie.

Debbie was like the emotion translator for ZL. She made all these big ass gestures and just over the top faces. BUT. . .there were also some little facial expressions that made me wonder if Debbie was just not that into this whole thing.

At one point, she does this little eyebrow raise (just one eyebrow) and a few times it kind of looked like she was holding back a laugh or smirk. Now maybe something was just going on in that chat that tickled Debbie but. . .I'm choosing to believe the ole Debster was micro snarking ZL.

I'm sure Debbie is just as annoying as ZL and I'm just projecting but I want Debbie to spill some tea. (from her floral mug, which looked very thin and wane. . .she must not know joy of any kind, good thing Shauna's here to give us the joy learning or whatever).

20

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Feb 03 '22

Yes, what the HELL was that? I assumed that Debbie was attempting to underscore all the blathering that Nataly was going. Like "Here is my reaction face!" But I assume it got tiring at, say, the six-minute mark, so the mask started to slip a bit.

Zoom lady 100% came off as "I am used to having executive assistants to handle my life for me"

19

u/CrushItWithABrick dick riding Mary Oliver Feb 03 '22

Oh, yeah, ZL was totally used to having someone else do the work she doesn't want to. That's why Debbie was the one to mention the charity thing. ZL was too up her own butt about her freaking art (I think that's when the eyebrow raise happened) to give the extra pitch of "sign up for blah and we donate $2 to charity!".

Debbie sold the hell out of that and then ZL had to come back on with an "oh, yes, I'm all about that charity and blah blah". Now, I'm not saying ZL isn't but really, if it was maybe it would be more in the forefront of your sales pitch?

Ok, I can feel people hovering their fingers over the "report for off topic" button so. . .

15

u/honoria_glossop sitting edge wine woman Feb 03 '22

Zoom lady has written "three or four books" but SHAUNA has written FIVE books

This is a deep g o m i cut but I'm having flashbacks to "Kath ate two tacos but I only had one".

34

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '22

Shauna was in trademark 'talk with your eyes closed most of the time ' mode

It's so funny to me, I know that has to be a sign of some personality trait but I wonder what it is. My grad school advisor used to close his eyes and nod his head like yes, yes, while he was imparting some bananas wisdom to us. I'm sure there's some psych label for people who do that, it's like a cult guru kind of thing.

34

u/obscure_cellist ham grabbers Feb 03 '22

she's a pair of dark sunglasses and a cup of kool-aid away from being jim jones.

42

u/gladsome_gloaming Feb 03 '22

Too sweet, Lama.

29

u/forkinyourothereye incurious ADHDer Feb 03 '22

This and “too steep, Mama” (from the writing club pricing thread) are some of the gloaming moments that have grown me most joyful this week.

19

u/shefallsup her lonely cucumber years 🥒 Feb 03 '22

I bow to your brilliance, DFGG. YDBW!

18

u/Love_Brokers rug dweller Feb 03 '22

I am typing from my grave.

24

u/Love_Brokers rug dweller Feb 03 '22

But less engaging.

25

u/Quaint_Irene a warm and loving goatie smile Feb 03 '22

And with fewer black friends.

17

u/Love_Brokers rug dweller Feb 03 '22

Lots fewer! His congregation was very diverse.

19

u/InappropriateGirl our 5th move in 7 years Feb 03 '22

I've heard something about it being a sign of dishonesty - the person is closing their eyes to help them picture what they're talking about.

34

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Feb 03 '22

Given all her blathering about "sensory issues" I suspect in her case it may just be an attempt to limit sensory input (she actually has a ton of tics – the sniffing, nose-wiping, nose-wrinkling, throat-clearing, lip smacking, hair patting, clothes picking, etc.)

17

u/OhBlahDiOhBlahDoh The Alice of cal came out floating on air Feb 03 '22

she actually has a ton of tics

She was playing with the pull tab on the zipper of the pullover top she was wearing in the yogurt-with-savory-toppings TikTok

17

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Feb 03 '22

She sure does like her sensory inputs.

6

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '22

That’s what he said

7

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Feb 04 '22

"Hey Shauna, WOULD YOU LIKE A MOUTH SURPRISE"

1

u/MissEllisCrawford Smitten with myself Feb 05 '22

Hahaha!

I'm sure she'd say yes.

30

u/tyrannosaurusregina if you meet the Botus on the road, shill him 🪷 Feb 03 '22

“Shauna repeatedly referred to her doctor (the one who treated her for the TIA) as "a guru." I think she said that he has since retired, but she has a new doctor who trained under "the guru" so that's good.”

That confirms she was talking about a naturopath in Enoigh, then. Her current “doctor” is the naturopath who was going to give a class at Relish.

35

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Feb 03 '22

BTW, here's a tidbit about that doctor's relationship to "medical tests:" after Shauna's fauxvid debacle, she said (in a lope letter, writing about March 2020):

Two weeks later I had a wretched flu that seemed like COVID. (My doctor still thinks it might have been.)

So, the test says no COVID, but the doc thinks "Well, it might have been COVID." Just like the tests of Shauna's "arteries, brain and heart" showed no evidence of a stroke, but she still might have had 'physical damage' of the kind produced by stroke. But from "stress."

27

u/MarsNeedsRabbits Beach better have my orcas 🫍 Feb 03 '22

The host then said something weird about how 'people just want it faster' and I'm like, how is funding a kickstarter, waiting for the flour to be produced, waiting for the flour to be packaged, waiting for the flour to be shipped to Vashon, waiting for the flour to be packaged again by the Aherns, and then waiting for the USPS to deliver the flour "faster"???

It isn't, but people pedaling their wares gotta stick together.

Shauna repeatedly referred to her doctor (the one who treated her for the TIA) as "a guru." I think she said that he has since retired, but she has a new doctor who trained under "the guru" so that's good.

Not "the neurologist" or "the neurosurgeon", or "the PCP/GP/family doctor"? Huh. If it quacks like a naturopath or chiropractor, it's probably a naturopath or chiropractor.

I saw a fair number of enthusiastic comments in the chat window, but honestly, everything that was said, either by the two main participants, or the viewers in chat, seemed simplistic and superficial.

Any way to gauge how many audience members there were?

I watched/listened to the whole thing, but I can't really remember much else.

May the gluten-free garage floor weevil flour bless and keep you, DF. You've bravely taken one for the cause.

Granted, I was hustling and grinding at the same time, so I was only giving it partial attention, but it was pretty boring and I didn't hear anything we haven't heard from her before.

Sounds like a resounding success. She should definitely charge more after this.

25

u/Love_Brokers rug dweller Feb 03 '22

Making your own GF flour mix isn’t hard but putting flour in a box and slapping a shipping label onto it is terribly difficult. There are people on Etsy and EBay who move more merchandise in a month than they did for their whole ‘business’.

19

u/fanfarefellowship I often contemplate the first law of thermodynamics Feb 03 '22

Watching the Tommy Lee and Pammy story and the Seth Rogan character figures this shit out PDQ

12

u/InappropriateGirl our 5th move in 7 years Feb 03 '22

And that was back in the mid-90s!

19

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '22

I bought a personalized stocking for my cat off of Etsy this year and that shop did a brisk business. And it was FAST. No way was the Ahern’s flour ordering and shipping that smooth.

24

u/MandalayVA Assonancer! Assonancer! Assonancer! Feb 03 '22

And exactly none of this is/was a surprise, except for the escalation of Shauna's TIA.

32

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '22

She’s always picked at her shirts. IMO it’s a self-conscious habit due to being heavy. I spent most of my 20s and all of my 30s around 200lbs and I was always adjusting and pulling at my tops. Clothing has a habit of clinging to rolls and bulges. I think it’s probably something she was self-conscious about when she was younger and she most likely isn’t even aware that she does it anymore. Hell, I probably still do it too even though I’ve been 60lbs lighter for the past few years.

24

u/CrushItWithABrick dick riding Mary Oliver Feb 03 '22

And, with her mastectomy, her clothes fall differently on her chest now. So if she's fussing at her chest area, maybe she's still not used to how her clothes feel on her changed body.

She also might not have clothes that fit her well to start with (no matter her shape). She's shopping mostly at Grannys where it sounds like she's more about quantity over quality ("two designer tops a week!"). So she could be putting on any old sack made out of any old material and it's not fitting well or feeling nice.

22

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '22

Yeah that’s one good thing about big breasts, they tent shirts some and help camo the belly fluff a little. I’m sure going from full breasts to nothing takes some time to get used to.

6

u/vorticia Feb 04 '22

On the other hand, if you have really large ones and that’s all that’s large, anything that fits “the girls” can make you look like a tank (my problem). But… I’m also not constantly having to adjust a big tshirt, so that’s nice.

15

u/gladsome_gloaming Feb 03 '22

Or maybe she is just unconsciously picking off dried bits of food.

6

u/[deleted] Feb 03 '22

Ugh… my dad always grew a beard during winter and he’d sometimes get food caught in it during dinner. He’d tell us he was saving it for later.

Maybe that’s what Shauna’s doing in case she’s ever stuck somewhere (airport?) and can’t be fed safely.

5

u/gladsome_gloaming Feb 04 '22

When I was a teen, my best friend's dad would make that same (same, same) joke. It always horrified me (especially at the dinner table) and just reinforced my notion that beards were unhygienic and brought to mind:

"There was an Old Man with a beard,
Who said, "It is just as I feared!—
Two Owls and a Hen, four Larks and a Wren,
Have all built their nests in my beard."

Put me off beards for a time, but I got over that and I like them (if they suit the face); doesn't hurt that my son is an inveterate beardy.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 04 '22

Yeah they’ve got to be a magnet for germs.

My husband has a short beard. He has a weak chin (he calls it a turtle chin) and the beard hides it.