This site isn't about who should win, who will win, who I'd be friends with, or who is cute. It's about watching hamsters: which ones are doing what and why. Which are fun and which are dull. If they aren't entertaining, get rid of 'em! More to come, bookmark & come back! .. that dingo

Diane: You know what, I don't care anymore.. if anybody wants to get mad at me, ok
Diane: I'm tired of getting mad at myself about it
Nik: Don't
Drew: Don't
Diane: Adria, Natalie.. and Marvin, he hates me for some reason, and then Karen walks out and takes a shot at me
Drew: You know Karen - that was meant for me as much as anyone.. I told her I'd tell her if anything's going on
Diane: I am not a bitch!
(they laugh)
Diane: Ok I can be a bitch.. I mean, I have a big mouth and everything and I can be a bitch.. (something about her dad).. I learned what I had to do
Nik: You take it too hard when everyone leaves.. it's a game
Diane: I had promises to everyone in this game and none of them were to her
(Cowboy finally takes advantage of Diane taking a breath)
Cowboy: For what it's worth, I'm glad to be here
Diane: All right, final four
     
Diane: Putting Jase out was easy, putting Scott out was easy
Diane: I'm gonna go hang myself.. if I'm not back in 5 minutes (singsong voice) come and get me
Diane: Diary if you're listening, I'm ready.. I need to talk about how people need to be playing this game
Diane: When my dad cheated on my mom for a year, I could put myself in his shoes and understand why he did it
Diane: If you all wanna backdoor me this week, I'm ok with that! And I'll kiss every one of you on my way out
Diane: Cowboy, I'm really happy you're here, and I'm happy you're happy you're here
Cowboy: I don't know if I'm happy or not.. shit!

Diane: Are you putting me up on the block tomorrow? We never officially..
Drew: What do you mean? That's the plan!
Diane: I know it was but..
Drew: That's what we talked about all week!
(Cowboy joins)
Diane: I wanna be true to my word with Nakomis.. basically I don't want to win the veto.. what if I accidentally win it and don't use it - what kind of story do I use? I don't want her to think she's being backdoored.. why would you put me up? You're supposed to be all head over heels with me!
Drew: I put you up last week!
(they practice speeches, what they'll say for nominationss, veto.. bla bla blah)
Diane: Just as long as we get her out!
Diane: Cowboy, you gotta sit down, you parannoy the hell outta people when you pace! Go get some damn cards or something
Drew: What should we talk about when she gets out here?
(Diane leaves)
Drew: Ok Cowboy, this week I'll probably be hanging around Diane a lot, again.. we don't want Diane or Nakomis to be suspicious.. you & I have to be soooo cool this week
(Nakomis and Diane rejoin.. they're all drinking, and gloomy)
Nakomis: Karen will be ok, she'll see our good bye messages
(Diane's expression betrays everything about her good bye to Karen.. I don't think Nik notices)

 
It took me awhile to catch on, but once I did, I was hooked. I didn't really follow her much for the first month or so, cuz she was always yakking on & on for days with someone, and there was always something more entertaining going on elsewhere. But then I started to notice a couple things putting these episodes together: nearly every screencap of her looked amazing - she is an incredibly photogenic person - and she was everywhere.

I started watching her closer then, and discovered she was meeting everyone on their own level - no easy task with this diverse group - and she was also listening to each of them. And complimenting them, and encouraging them, supporting them, and doing things for them. None of the others were doing any of this - no more than occasionally anyway - they're all too self-absorbed.
     
Sure, she bitched about most behind their backs - so do we! - but she was usually right on target. She was usually commiserating with whoever she was bitching with - which is good strategy for this game - and more importantly, she was usually bitching about someone's behavior rather than the person's worth, which is why she could go back to that person and be all friendly again. She saw the good stuff in all of them, along with the not so good.. something we could all do a little more of.

She was ridiculed by many internet fans for her constant cooking and cleaning, baking and eating.. but I never heard any of the hamsters complain. She was like Mom: always providing, always caring, not asking for much in return, and usually taken for granted. And she freaked out a lot, showing us she was human too. She was genuinely funny, and warm, and she was on a par with even Marvin when it came to raunch, giving us some of the more memorable - and steamy - moments of the season (don't pretend you didn't listen in on that!)

She saw something special in Nakomis and took her under her wing, guiding her all the way to the final four, without taking any credit for it herself. Karen's concern for the girl who's not quite as confident as she seems is genuine: she singled her out on her 'Early Show' appearance, saying 'Nakomis has a heart of gold,' something I think Karen can recognize when she sees it. But she was incredibly empathic with all of them, and that's something every human responds to.. and it can't be faked.

All these qualities made her a brilliant player of this game: she was on everyone's side as far as they were concerned - and that's what matters - without having to make a big pinky or any other kind of deal about it. Her diaries showed us that she was a lot more on top of things - and a lot brighter - than she let on to them. Her only mistakes were in not using offensive maneuvers when she could have (and should have, game-wise, but I think not doing so makes her a better person), and in not realizing soon enough that the horny kids in the messed-up romance had been left alone too long.. and that they weren't quite as dumb as they seemed.
   
Karen's a talented artist - her piggy and quick Nakomis sketch showed us that - but visit her site linked at the top of this page to see some of her professional work. Click on the 'Karen and' section when there: she's already met more famous names than the rest of these celeb wannabe's ever will.

I have no doubt Karen would have won against anyone if she'd made it to the final two, and I'm sorry she didn't. I'll miss her but I'm grateful I got to know her a little bit.. I wish her and the wonderful Laaaaarrry nothing but the best.