Bill Murray Comes Back To Woodstock: A Photo Blog

The Residents Of Woodstock, IL. Were Stoked This Past Weekend, When They Received A Follow-Up Visit From Local Hero And International Comedian And Dramatic Actor Bill Murray!

*Update: the commercial Mr. Murray was filming in Woodstock is linked below*

*Below is a photoblog of some of the up-close and personal action, credit to my best friend and candid photographer, Carrie Callery.*

Why all the fanfare, you might ask (particularly if you’re not from Woodstock)?

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/this-looks-familiar-bill-murray-spotted-in-woodstock-where-groundhog-day-filmed/2208228/

 Well, it appears that Mr. Murray made an impression on the locals with his kindness, his attitude of gratitude toward the town of Woodstock, Il., and his folksy and down-to-earth ways.

I’m sure his killer sense of humor didn’t hurt, either.

Coupled with the fact that Bill Murray is an absolute icon, AND with the box office numbers and critical acclaim “Groundhog Day” was met with, it’s easy to see why residents of Woodstock fell for Bill Murray while he was in the area, filming.

 Mr. Murray, a local hero, and legend to the residents of Woodstock Il., since Groundhog Day started filming in 1992.

 While he was [apparently] going through a fair few personal struggles at the time, that didn’t stop Bill Murray from showing his kindness to the residents of Woodstock, and, because of that, throughout the passing years, Woodstock hasn’t forgotten!

Every year since, from the beginning of the holiday season to just after Groundhog Day in February, Woodstock, Il. shows it’s appreciation by opening up the iconic Woodstock Theater for free showings of the classic movie.

 Observant viewers may notice some of their most beloved features from the historic Woodstock Square featured prominently in a variety of scenes throughout the movie.

 It appears that Mr. Murray was back on the Woodstock Square not for sentimental reasons, but to shoot a very special Superbowl Jeep commercial, that Woodstock area viewers might like to keep their eyes peeled for, this Superbowl Sunday.

 Woodstock, Il., and McHenry County, within which Woodstock resides, is pleased to be able to work once again with Mr. Murray.

 As a Chicagoland native, myself, I too am stoked that Bill Murray came back to Woodstock for this project.

 Having Mr. Murray back in Woodstock, Il. has not only bolstered the local economy but has created an absolutely bustling atmosphere at some of the Woodstock Square’s most popular sustainable local businesses, including Mixin Mingle, Double Yolk Cafe, and Ethereal Confections!

                                    (Local event hall/party space rental business, Mixin Mingle)

Visit Mixin Mingle at: https://www.mixinmingle.com/

Local chocolatiers and artisan coffee shop, Ethereal Confections:

Visit Ethereal Confections on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EtherealConfections

thedoubleyolkcafe.com

With the way folks respond to Mr. Murray’s presence, it would be understandable if those who live elsewhere thought this was the only significant event in Woodstock’s long history, but history savvy Chicagolanders know that’s not the case!

 Woodstock is an important historical landmark in United States history. That’s right! Sleepy little Woodstock, Il. was home, for awhile (to be exact), to Eugene V Debs.

Woodstock is the seat of McHenry County.

 It has hosted actors of renown at it’s historic opera house, including local actors and transplants alike. Geraldine Page, locally born actors Orson Welles and a young Paul Newman are just a few of the actors who got their start on the Woodstock stage. Welles formed and continued throughout the years to support the Woodstock Players, which allowed students of the Goodman School some much needed professional experience. Dick Tracy's creator, Chester Gould, also moved to the Chicago area, making Woodstock his home for a time.

Woodstock, Il. is also iconic for its labor organization history, particularly since the old Woodstock Courthouse and jail was home, for a time, to early railroad organizer, Eugene V Debs, who was sentenced to jail time in 1894 for inciting a large-scale strike of all union railroad workers working on any trains in which there were Pullman cars present. This strike was mainly in solidarity with workers who demanded a living wage and were being denied that by George Pullman himself after Pullman cut their wages by one-third.

Visit Patrick Murfin's (Heretic, Rebel, A Thing To Flout) blog post on the subject at the link below: https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrExdzV5TBeD3IABpijzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBtdXBkbHJyBHNlYwNmcC1hdHRyaWIEc2xrA3J1cmw-/RV=2/RE=1580291669/RO=11/RU=http%3a%2f%2fpatrickmurfin.blogspot.com%2f2017%2f10%2feugene-v-debs-honored-in-woodstock.html%3fspref%3dpi/RK=2/RS=qQpOrfzI3mk7iEGIH1VQJ2OQiek-

  At the time, and mainly due to Mr. Debs’ involvement in the matter, President Cleveland’s hands were tied. Since the railroad was the main impetus for mail delivery and the postal service had been all but shut down during this broad railroad strike to ensure workers’ rights, the president declared that all trains MUST run, and he sent federal troops to ensure that they did.

 During Mr. Debs’ trial, Clarence Darrow acted as his attorney. Woodstock Sheriff George Eckert, however, moved as he was to follow the letter of the law, agreed with Mr. Debs and offered him comfortable accommodations, even allowing him to dine with his own family upon occasion.

 During his...er...extended stay in Woodstock, Mr. Debs received distinguished guests, like the chancellor of Germany and the governor of Colorado, and other well-known labor leaders, including Victor Berger, who, during his visit, offered Eugene Debs a copy of the book “Das Kapital,” by Karl Marx. Acclaimed journalist Nellie Bly (around the world in 80 days) also visited Woodstock to see Mr. Debs during his six-month jail sentence.

 Eugene V. Debs was beloved by the hard-working citizens of Woodstock, and was, it is said, carried all the way to the train station by its people, once his sentence was served. Whether this was, strictly speaking, factually true, we may never know, but the story is quite powerful.

                                              (Credit: Heretic, Rebel, A Thing To Flout)

 Eugene Debs credits his stay in the Woodstock jail as the reason why he became a democratic socialist (or, strictly speaking, at that time, a “social democrat”). Sadly, this wasn’t Debs’ last visit to the Woodstock [McHenry County] Courthouse and jail, as, in 1919, Debs’ outspoken criticism of WWI landed him back in the courthouse to serve out yet another jail sentence.

 With Woodstock’s history of hard-working residents and their love for those who they felt represented them, it makes perfect sense that they would embrace Bill Murray for his art, his down-to-earth sensibilities, and his contributions to Woodstock’s local economy.

Photos of Bill Murray during his Woodstock, Il. visit, photo credit: Carrie Callery:

*The full commercial: https://www.facebook.com/1242624643/posts/10216001689015371/?d=n

 If you’ve enjoyed the photography in this blog post, I’d love for you to visit local photographer Carrie Callery on Facebook (Carrie Callery) and Instagram: https://instagram.com/carriecallery?igshid=11vm594l56av8

 If you’ve enjoyed the historical information in this article, I’d like to recommend that you check out “The Historic Woodstock Square: An Illustrated History Of The Woodstock Square.” You can download this beautiful and interesting historical record of Woodstock, Il. for free at https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Historic_Woodstock_Square_Sesquicent.html?id=fF5VQwAACAAJ

I also used the following historical piece on Woodstock, Il. as well, to help fill in the blanks in my personal information: https://www.realwoodstock.com/whats-real-1/2018/1/3/the-legacy-of-dick-tracy

Woodstock Public Library: https://www.woodstockpubliclibrary.org/library/page/library-history-timeline

McHenry County Historical Society:

https://mchenrycountyhistory.org/

I also highly recommend taking a gander at Mr. Patrick Murfin’s blog: “Heretic, Rebel, A Thing To Flout,” at https://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrExdzV5TBeD3IABpijzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBtdXBkbHJyBHNlYwNmcC1hdHRyaWIEc2xrA3J1cmw-/RV=2/RE=1580291669/RO=11/RU=http%3a%2f%2fpatrickmurfin.blogspot.com%2f2017%2f10%2feugene-v-debs-honored-in-woodstock.html%3fspref%3dpi/RK=2/RS=qQpOrfzI3mk7iEGIH1VQJ2OQiek-

So You Have A Dollar: How To Start Saving, Building And Repairing Your Credit Like A Boss

Well, it's that time of year again...

The time to start getting our finances together, preparing for taxes, and recovering from the financial black hole that was the holiday season!

 But don't fear. Your girl is here to keep you in top of the line makeup, gorgeous shoes, and rolling in dough (er...well...at least to help you to feel more confident about your finances and to allow you to buy whatever you need in life and retire in comfort and style, but that just doesn't sound as fun, now, does it?)!

Before we get started, I want to make sure that you have an opportunity to listen to the corresponding podcast episode, which features all of the information we are about to discuss. You can find it at: 

https://www.spreaker.com/show/dominique-does-life

There are several apps and platforms which I use and recommend to my coaching and lifestyle consultation clients via my nudge coach platform (yeah, yeah, shameless plug, but I do this to help folks to realize their ambitions and meet their needs, and it's free, anyway), I would encourage you to sign up for today, at: 

https://my.nudgecoach.com/TRINITY19

I'll talk more about actual investing and the strategies, platforms, and purchases I recommend in a later podcast episode and blog post, because for now, I want to focus on starting with a dollar in your pocket (or in the cushions of your couch, cause let's be real, y'all know that's where your dollar is sitting right now. Check. I'll wait.) and building a lifechanging savings, along with excellent credit, with minimal time and energy output.

Below are the platforms I recommend. If you like free money, I have included my links to each platform I recommend, which, if you use them, will earn you free money upon sign up. It's as simple as that. 

 Acorns:

 *Acorns is a wonderful app that allows you to [safely, securely, quickly, and easily] connect your checking account, and whatever credit and debit cards you use most (I suggest connecting all of them) so that you can save money every single time you make a purchase.

  *Acorn allows you easy access to all of your information if you need to withdraw money or make a change to the status of your account. They even have a good customer service team to help you out.

  *Acorns basically takes money from your checking account every time you make a purchase, and puts it in either a conservative, moderately conservative, moderate, moderately aggressive or aggressive fund of fractional investment shares, according to your personal needs (it’s a breeze to set up!) and preferences. You have access to that money at any time and can withdraw it whenever you like (allowing for several days for the selling of your fractional shares, and bank transfer time, according to your bank’s policies). If you leave it in, it will mature and you will start seeing growth. Obviously, the more money you put in and the more money you leave in, the more growth you’ll see.

  *The money that is taken from your checking account each time you make a purchase with a linked credit or debit card is called “Round-Ups.” You can take a break from adding money to your acorns account at any time (though I don’t recommend it), and you can even decide whether you’d like to increase your roundups or leave them as is. I normally set my roundups to 10x. That means that if I have bought a coffee at the corner coffee shop with a linked credit or debit card, and that coffee costs me $2.69, my roundup would be $.31 initially, but when I increase it to a 10x roundup, I’m putting $3.10 into my acorns savings, which is then invested by the acorns app, which makes money from said investment. Whether you’re interested in putting $3.31 away each time you buy a coffee, or whether you’d like to stick with $.31, it adds up! I’ve saved around $14,000 doing that, over the past five—almost six years. That money has gone to medical costs and to paying bills I need to pay off, and it has helped me to improve my credit immensely!

  *In addition to roundups, you have the option of opening up an Acorns Spend account, which essentially allows you to move money from your checking account to your acorns spend account to budget for expenses. This is an added extra that you get to decide whether you’d like, of course, as nothing on the Acorns platform is mandatory, and all of your options can be changed by you at any time, according to your needs.

  *As if that wasn’t enough, you can also (and I highly recommend that you do!) open up a Roth IRA through Acorns. For those of you who aren’t familiar, a Roth IRA is a tax-free savings account that you add to on a regular basis. I add at least a few dollars per month to my Roth IRA through Acorns. It’s simple and painless to set up and maintain. The money stored in that Roth IRA becomes available for you to use, after many years of savings. 

    *Once you reach  59.5 years of age, as long as your Roth IRA has been held for over five years, you will have access to that money without taxation, and by that time, you’ll have saved up a substantial amount of money that will really help you out since, by then, you’re likely to be thinking about retirement. 

    

    *Now, you CAN withdraw money from your Roth IRA at any time up until that point, but if you are not yet 59.5, and/or you have not held your Roth IRA for at least five years, you will be required to pay taxes on the amount that you withdraw, so while it is there for your use should you need it, it’s always best to wait until you reach the age of requirement to go ahead and use that money.

    *Roth IRAs have a yearly contribution limit of $6,000 if you are under the age of 50, and $7,000 if you are 50 or older. The beauty of Roth IRAs is that you CAN have more than one!

  *Another feature of Acorns that I’d like to discuss is the found money feature. Many companies want to reinvest in you, and they do that through the found money program, which, in essence, is similar to the affiliate programs I share with all of you on a regular basis. If you sign up with them and/or make purchases with them through acorns, they will invest either a set amount or a certain percentage of what you spend back into your acorns account.

  *And the BEST feature of all that really sets acorns head and shoulder above the crowd, in terms of investment and savings apps, is that YOU don’t have to know most of what I just told you in order to make and save money! Acorns does it all for you! Just set it and forget it!

  *Remember when I said that if you have a dollar to your name right now, you’re already well on your way to investing? Well, that’s true! Use my acorns link here in the description of this show, and in the description of this Facebook event today to receive $5 when you sign up, using my link! If you don’t use my link, you will not have access to that free $5, so please use my acorns (below) if $5 free sounds good to you! I will also receive $5 when you use my sign-up link.

Acorns sign-up link:

https://acorns.com/invite/9HX6Y4

Stash:

 

*Stash does nearly the same things that Acorns does, with some notable differences. I highly recommend that you diversify and increase your savings by way of signing up for Stash as well. Use my link (below) for $5 free, just for signing up!

  *You can set your deposits and forget them, with stash. While it doesn’t work on a roundups system like Acorns, you do get to invest in a portfolio that the Stash app maintains for you, based on your preferences and financial ability.

  *You can also get a Stash spend debit card, which will, similarly to the acorns Spend Smart card, help you to budget more effectively for expenses and leave you with some extra spending money

  *I also highly recommend that you set up another Roth IRA with Stash, which you can contribute to the same way you do with Acorns.

My link:

https://get.stashinvest.com/dominiq_r8mz3

Self:

  *Self, previously known as Self Lender, is a mechanism for savings AND credit improvement.

  *Self.inc allows you to open up a self lender loan. The amount, and the period over which you make payments is totally up to you, based on your personal preferences and finances (to yourself—the money is saved for you by self.inc in a maturing CD account, until the future date at which you finish making payments into the account, and then the money is given back to you in a lump sum, for you to do with as you please).

  *I pay $25/month for two years into my account with Self. You can set up your monthly payment as a direct deposit, or you can log into Self.inc every month and make your payment.

  *Self.inc reports to all major credit bureaus because this savings strategy essentially acts as a loan to yourself, to which you are making monthly payments, through the Self company. Your credit score can improve massively. Mine went up something like 83 points so far, and I’ve only had my Self.inc account for about 8 months.

  *It’s also great to know that by the time that you’re done making payments, you will receive a direct deposit (or a check, based on your preference) of the entire lump sum of the money in the account you’ve been paying into. That’s why I believe that Self is a critical savings and credit-building strategy, which I recommend to all of my clients. Use my link below, to sign up for Self today!

Get $10 when you use this link to sign up:

https://self.inc/refer/13151620

Robinhood:

*I want to focus on savings today, rather than investing, but I highly recommend that you use my Robinhood link for a free share of stock today when you sign up for Robinhood! I also recommend that you start out your portfolio with 3xETFs, which we will talk more about in just a minute.

*Robinhood is an optimal investment platform (low charges for those who want to buy single stocks, do smaller transactions, etc).

*Robinhood is an investment platform, for new and experienced investors alike. It features a full capability website, and a really comprehensive app for your phone, tablet, and smartwatch

*Benefits of 3xETFs in Robinhood portfolio:

  *3xETFs are wonderful tools. They allow you to not have to constantly track your portfolio. You’re almost guaranteed a substantial gain, and you’re not going to incur the fees and guesswork that go along with investing directly in companies.

  *With ETFs, you’re investing in a sector, which contains multiple companies, and your money isn’t tied to the success or failure of just one company.

  *The rewards in a 3xETF are threefold. That means more bang for your buck and a bigger return on your initial investment.

  *If you don’t like one 3xETF, it’s really simple to decide which of the other 3xETFs you’d like to buy instead, as most sectors have just two possible 3xETFs to invest in: a 3x Bull ETF and a 3x Bear ETF.

  *3xETFs are easy to understand and track, and often come with high yields.

  *You can fund Robinhood with your checking account. The money you make and the money you transfer to Robinhood arrives reasonably quickly.

  *Robinhood is a secure, highly rated platform.

Additional Life-Saving Credit Building MUST-DO:

*I’d also highly recommend checking out the following blog post below, which will guide you through the process of disputing items on your credit report. Sadly, one-quarter of all Americans report inaccurate dings on their credit reports, which negatively impact their credit scores (this is likely to be happening to many more of us than just 1/4 of the US population, though the 1/4 statistic reflects the people who have found out that there is an incorrect mark against their credit on their credit report and decided to take action. This data comes directly from the FCC). Here is the 411 on how to take a look at your credit report and see what incorrect information within may be negatively impacting your credit score. This happens one of two ways: either said incorrect information is added to your credit report because of simple human error, or, more likely, said information is incorrect because debts are sold off to multiple debt collection companies, from the company that the debt originated with, which often time makes for multiple strikes showing up on your credit report when there is just one strike that should be reflected. This is why it is extremely important that we are all diligent about checking our credit scores and disputing any false or incorrect charges.

https://www.creditkarma.com/credit-cards/i/dispute-error-credit-report/

My Robinhood Link (for a free stock upon sign-up): 

https://share.robinhood.com/dominim1300

Okay! Phew! That was a lot! 

If you've got questions, I understand and I am happy to answer them below, or when you connect with me through my free Nudge platform (see above). Please don't hesitate to ask!

How To Work Productively With A Toxic Person

How To Deal With A Toxic Person In Your Professional Sphere

By: Dominique Miller
(Trinity SS Wellness/Dominique Does Life Podcast&Blog)
http://www.dominiquedoeslife.com

For a personalized coaching plan, please reach out at @be_well_trinity on Facebook, or simply join my coaching platform for free at: https://my.nudgecoach.com/trinity19

When I studied martial arts,​ I learned a key piece of information, which has really assisted me in building a platform of ​successful action against toxic people and narcissists.
The guiding principle of ​Hapkido​ is to ​never use your power to start fights,​ but to ​end them decisively,​ while ​conserving energy​ for a prolonged conflict, yet planning for a short victory (i.e. expect the best, but plan for the worst).
In essence, we ​use the other party's strength, size, skill and expertise against them​. The good thing about doing this with a ​narcissist​ or other ​toxic person​ is that:
* they ​think​ they have way more expertise than they actually have,
* they ​do not possess empathy or compassion, while we do,
* they ​cannot​ correctly ​engage​ their ​critical thinking​ ​if they even have those skills to begin
with.
* We will ​use their perceived strengths​,​ which really ​only exist in their own minds,​ and ​our own ability to think critically ​against them​.
* We deflect ​the effort and energy they expend​ and reroute it right back at them, to get them winded and back them into a corner without seeming in any way aggressive (see: ​the law of threefold return​).
* This isn't to spare their feelings,​ this is to ​allow them enough rope to hang themselves. I​ talk about the​ 3P's​ aka​ The​​ Ned Flanders Approach, in my podcast, Dominique Does Life, on the free Spreaker podcast app (you can weigh in live, via the live “chat” section of the free Spreaker app), Spotify, Google Podcasts, Podbean, iHeartRadio, iTunes Podcasts, and wherever else podcasts are available.
* You ​NEVER​ publicly accuse ​toxic folks, narcissists, sociopaths or other cluster b’s​ or potential cluster b’s of anything. It's ​always​ best to use the ​3P's​. I personally have made many of these mistakes myself, in addition to witnessing clients who have inadvertently committed them. In so doing, I have, personally, epically fouled things up, by making ​public accusations, threats, and talking about how things the toxic person has done and/or said have affected me​; I have ​never, however, fouled things up while engaging​ 3 P's/The Ned Flanders Approach​--same goes for my clients.

* ​Present facts, never feelings
* ​Always​ (​publicly​) give the toxic person the ​benefit of the doubt,​ even if, privately, you know—or strongly suspect that they are absolutely full of it.
* ​Never​ ​engage in a back and forth with the toxic person
* ​Always​ ​allow them to explain themselves and talk themselves into a corner​ to those who are listening, and then meet them with ​inquisitiveness​.
* ​Never​ allow the ​toxic person​ to ​initiate a victim role​, or to ​save face
* ​Never​ bring up a ​personal impact their behavior has had on you.​ They will turn it back around to ​them being the victim​, and you will get ​nowhere​ with that.
* ​They have already been building up a narrative behind your back--don't give them the opportunity to do so to your face.
* Oftentimes, ​this narrative has to do with discrediting what you say by bringing up your supposedly unstable emotional state.
* ​They ​WANT​ you to appear angry, a bully, and emotional. You can ​never​ let emotions come into play. Save those for later on at home, when you’re alone or with your very closest, most trusted loved ones who will support you.
* ​If ​you have to bring up ​something they've done wrong, please ​keep in mind that they are already ten steps ahead of you​ with their "​I'm the real victim here/so and so [insert name here, possibly your own, possibly somebody else's, possibly several names--what matters is that things are never the toxic person's fault] is crazy, lazy, or abusive" narrative.
*​This is important​ ​because ​people you need on your side (ie people you're trying to save from harm from that narcissist or toxic person) are listening, ​and no matter how much you tell those people flat out that ‘Ed the narcissist is a fraud,’ you will always look like ​chicken little, saying the sky is falling, until they see things for themselves, due to the ​groupthink​ that ​even people on the fringes of the toxic person's network are likely a part of.
* ​Public shaming NEVER​ works​ on a ​narcissist​ ​or toxic person. ​It will only backfire on you. * ​Your time is better spent by engaging the critical thinking of those around the toxic person or narcissist, leaving emotion and appeals to conscience out of it completely.
* ​While the effect of counteracting their narrative is great, that should never be your only goal.
* ​Building ​your own narrative​ is key ​(see above, re-engaging people's critical thinking) * ​Your goal is to build the narrative of objective truth
The 3P’s/The Ned Flanders Approach: * ​The 3 P’s:

​

* Polite,
* Positive
* Persistence

* ​What does this look like?
* ​Being politely inquisitive (listen to my podcast for specific examples)

* ​Being positive and remaining offhand and simply inquisitive, helpful and concerned​—remember, ​we are playing to an audience and an effect—at least a portion of this audience has been exposed to brainwashing and groupthink.
* ​Making sure you ​NEVER​ answer the toxic person’s accusations
* ​Responding to any accusations with calm inquisitiveness​—like a teacher to a child​ (​ex: “Gosh, it sounds like you’re very interested in talking about x. I can appreciate your enthusiasm and would like to invite you to turn that same enthusiasm toward the meeting we’re having right now. Moving on to agenda item b: is there any discussion?”​ This even goes for when the ​toxic person​ ​name calls, puts people down or begins going off on a self-aggrandizing, vaguely related or even a totally unrelated tangent)
* ​Responding​ ​to any name-calling or attempts at character assassination or self-aggrandizement with calm, polite, positive inquisitiveness.​ You needn’t be smiley or act like a suck-up—just a ​simple “gosh, I notice you speaking when Al was speaking just now. I’d like everyone to have a turn to speak. Al, you have the floor. Go ahead...Or...I can understand why you might be feeling passionate. Even so, I’m going to have to insist that we speak to each other without engaging in name-calling. Let’s turn some of that passion toward item 4 on our agenda (then keep speaking firmly and just loudly and quickly enough to telegraph to everyone that you won’t brook nonsense, doing so assertively, even if the toxic person continues to attempt to speak over you. R​emaining calm and turning your eye contact and every iota of your focus and energy off of the toxic person​ and on to your co-workers/meeting attendees, and showing signs of paying attention to, and being interested in what they have to say—sometimes simply holding up one finger like you would with an errant child works in addition to this technique, but be sure to use that little added extra ​ONLY​ with ​genuinely toxic people,​ and only in select circumstances.)


* ​What the 3 P’s or The Ned Flanders Approach is not:
* ​Doing a touchdown dance
* Getting in anyone’s face
* Rubbing the fact that we are right in the toxic person’s (or anyone else’s) faces 
* Being emotional
* Behaving erratically
* Interrupting
* Wrestling in the mud with the toxic person
* Going by the toxic person’s rules/fighting on the toxic person’s home court 
* Playing defense/defending/explaining yourself
* Allowing the toxic person to dictate topics of discussion

Death Incorporated: Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Sera, Sam, And The Rest Of The Fam

 Seraphina taught Sam to walk--a moment which Nina captured in a home movie. She taught Sam how to get the most out of his Halloween costume during his first outing trick-or-treating in their upper-middle-class neighborhood. "Hit the big houses first," she said, "the ones with the lights on and the decorations up. They'll be the ones with the good stuff--you know, the full-sized snickers bars and the big bags of m&m's." Nancy warned Seraphina, with a sardonic look and a half-smile, that two-year-olds didn't need to be eating full-sized snickers bars OR large bags of m&m's, but this did not deter Seraphina in the least from leveraging Sam's cuteness and her own never-give-up entrepreneurial spirit in order to procure the best candy.

 Life continued on like this for several years. Sam turned five, and Seraphina turned fifteen. The two were inseparable. They went everywhere together and seemed an unstoppable team. 

 When Lucas Mitchell had bullied Sam on the fifth-grade playground, Seraphina snuck out of the house one night with the intention of scaring Lucas while he was in bed, and then threatening him until he promised never ever to hurt, bother or upset Sam, either on the playground, or anywhere else, thank you very much, but to her consternation, found instead that Lucas had discovered his Dad's adult tube account, which he was watching with both zeal and ardor. The next day at lunchtime, Seraphina snuck out of her high school campus and paid a little visit to the elementary school her brother attended, which happened to be practically next door, smartphone in hand, a smug, yet determined look on her face, as she marched up to Sam and dragged him only semi-willingly up to Lucas Mitchell, who, as it turns out, was very capable of crying and wetting his pants on the playground, in addition to having a desire to bully other children for much more minor infractions of the elementary school social code. From that day on, Lucas never bothered another soul at recess, and even became friends with Sam, although Sam was slow to accept said friendship.

  Life was good for the Arrington-Wu family. Balance had been achieved, and they had, in Sam's colloquial terminology "leveled up" to the point that it seemed all of the families in the surrounding houses were jealous, at most, and admiring, at least, of the Smith-Wus.

 But in the fall of that year, things, as they tend to do, changed. Seraphina thought she was used to change by now, but, as it turns out, change can reach out and punch people right in the gut when they are least expecting it. Nancy, it became clear, had found a lump. It wasn't a big lump, but it was cause for concern. One Thursday morning, Nancy sat the family down at breakfast. She was going in for a biopsy. Sure everything would be fine, Nancy and Nina reassured the children.

 But things were not "fine," and Seraphina, as an almost-adult, resented being told that they would be. This was a point she would bring up often with both of her parents, but especially with Nina, who had reassured her to the point of repetitiveness that Nancy would, in fact, be fine. Nina's assurances, along with her confidences, however, started to crumble, and Seraphina's anger grew, while Sam seemed to spend all of his spare time with his Mom, cheering her up, reassuring her, and sending her videos, texts, and gifs to make her smile as she proceeded from surgery to chemotherapy to surgery to radiation treatment, and then back to surgery. Seraphina avoided spending time with Nancy. Seraphina was furious that Nancy had reassured her that everything would be okay when she knew it wouldn't. Seraphina even went so far as to reach out to her father, whom she hadn't talked to in years, to see what he could do to help. She expected to be met with ignorance, disdain, even derision. After all, she hadn't seen, nor talked with the man in many years--since he had moved away on business, but that was the arrangement he and Nancy had made, and he had built his own family. Seraphina, much to her dismay, was met only with kindness and understanding, which irritated her even further. Why was it, she wondered, that adults always told the truth to each other--talked behind their kids' backs, rather than telling them the truth upfront? Keith had not only commiserated with Seraphina upon the occasion of her first phone call to him, but he had, annoyingly, been video calling her on a weekly basis. He even dared to show off his family in these calls. Seraphina began to resent the sad looks his wife and children had when they sat with him or inconspicuously in the background during these chats. As Nancy's health declined, Seraphina stopped picking up the phone. She didn't need someone else pretending to tell her the truth. She didn't need anyone pretending to love her or spending time reaching out to her that they would probably rather spend doing anything else. Seraphina was nobody's burden.

 And so, the days and weeks of this continued. Sam, at Nancy's bedside, Nina trying and failing to connect with Seraphina, Grandma and Grandpa Wu phoning in from whatever Pacific Island their retirement boat, the Megumi, took them to next. 

And then, one day, Nina showed up at Seraphina's school, Sam in tow, sad look on both their faces. Had something happened to Mom? Seraphina wondered. And how was it that Sam had been told about this before she had? Adult always lied. It was, in Seraphina's view, basically their job. Nina held Seraphina's and Sam's hands as she told them they were going to see Nancy in the hospital. Things weren't going well, and Nancy had been in and out of consciousness that day. The hospital staff had said to come right away.

 This, as it happens, would recur and recur more times than Seraphina could count over the next few weeks, with the hospital chaplain stopping in for a visit upon occasion, and the Rabbi from Dad's old synagogue even putting in a few appearances. It was chaos--an oddly predictable chaos, that Seraphina's family had been thrown into.

 As the days passed and Seraphina's friends and teachers became more and more concerned, Seraphina grew distant, signing up for any job, title or activity that would take up time. Seraphina had always been a bit of an overachiever, but these were the acts of a person drowning in heartache and sorrow. Sera had to escape. She had to have an outlet. 

As the weeks wore on, Seraphina stopped going with Nina and Sam when they would visit Nancy at the hospital. If Nina was so convinced Nancy would get better, Seraphina would just see her then, and then they would have it out about lying to her own kid--her partner-in-crime about important things. Before Nina and stupid Sam, they used to talk about everything. Why should that change now, just because Nancy was sick? Nina was inconsolable--even to Sam, who spent every extra minute with her, trying to keep her spirits up. Sam was such a little sellout, Seraphina thought, always wanting to be liked--loved--always wanting everyone to be happy. Well, Seraphina wasn't happy, and she didn't need any of that. She would deal with reality, take things as they were. She wouldn't sugar coat things and pretend everything was fine when it wasn't.

 One day, as luck would have it, Nina and Sam turned up at school for a second time, without notice, asking that Seraphina be excused for the day. Seraphina's stomach dropped, but that initial reaction to this news, which couldn't be good, was outrage. How dare they come in here and interrupt her life AGAIN? Didn't anyone even care that this was the day of the student council elections? Did anyone even bother to check?

 Seraphina told Nina and Sam the same, after storming into the principal's office to see them. "Go!" she said. "You don't care about me! She won't even know I'm there! I'll see Mom when she gets better." Rounding on Sam, "you don't even care about Mom anymore! Why don't you go comfort your precious Nina? Clearly, she needs a hand to hold. And when Mom, dies, maybe YOU can marry her!" 

 Seraphina stalked out of the principal's office, taking care to slam the door on the way out. 

 Feeling a little bit bad, and needing somewhere to go to calm down, Seraphina pushed her way into the nearest girls bathroom. To her embarrassment, she found Gretchen Silversen and her clique of vultures nested around one of the sinks, in mid-gossip.

 "I don't know who she thinks she is," one of them said before any of them realized Seraphina was in the girls room, "she has like no friends. No one even knows her. I mean...wah, wah, her Mom's dead or whatever, but really--student council? Against me? How cliche?"

 Someone else wandered into the girl's room a moment later, hitting Seraphina on the back with the bathroom door. "Oh," said the perpetrator, a girl Seraphina barely knew, but who was always nice to her in French class, "I didn't see you there. I'll be voting for you in today's election. Good luck!"

"At least one person will be voting for you," said one of the girls holding court with Gretchen replied waspishly, "everyone deserves at least one vote. The other thousand, however, will be going to Gretchen."

 "Um," interjected one timid, ditzy girl in Gretchen's circle, "Gretch, I don't think her Mom's...like...dead or whatever."

 "And?" Said Gretchen, "that means what, exactly? My point stands. She's a loser. Literally, no one will vote for her."

 "Sorry," intoned the girl, whom Seraphina thought might have been named Jennifer, as the door closed with a thud.

 For a minute, Seraphina didn't know where to go next. She had a moment of panic, wondering if Nina and Sam had left yet, wanting desperately and inexplicably to go with them. Then, she shook her head, thinking to herself that if even her family had forgotten about her upcoming election, she needed to show up so that at least she could hold her head high and not be the laughing stock of the whole school.

New Novel: Death, Incorporated: Chapter One

Chapter One: Two’s Company; Three’s A Crowd

 Seraphina Smith-Wu sat, soaking up the sun in the courtyard of her Santa Clarita high school. It would later be days like this--days taken for granted--packed, yet uneventful days, which stretched on into limitless possibilities, which Seraphina missed with all of her heart--with all of her soul.

 "Sera--oy! Earth to Sera!"

 A voice interrupted her daydreams,

"So? What do you think?"

 "About?" Asked Seraphina, hoping that the utter lack of interest in her voice would dissuade Janice from sharing anything further.

"About?!" Janice responded indignantly, "I'm only pouring my heart out here. You are way too into that zen shit, Sera. Honestly. It's not healthy."

"What about being completely at peace with myself isn't healthy? Please--explain."

"Or, on second thought, don't. Because the bell's about to ring, and we've got an English test today. Let's go."

Seraphina rose, grabbing her bag and stuffing her phone into her pocket, long legs striding, carrying her closer to the oblivion she knew English class would offer, followed by Janice.

"He's totally crushing on you," said Janice, "Sawyer says she heard it from Jenna that HE is planning to ask you to the winter dance. You know," Janice qualified, "him. Logan Anderson. I wish he'd asked ME to the winter dance," Janice continued, "the winter dance is just one step away from prom, and prom is one step away from marrying into the wealthiest family in the state! I've looked. His Dad pulls a ridiculous paycheck from CharoCorp. He makes a cool ten million annually, and that's just what he declares on tax day. Who knows what money he's making from his investments? The possibilities here are limitless."

"Sera?" Janice asked, stopping short of their English classroom, upon discovering halfway into her monologue that Seraphina wasn't paying attention.

"Yeah," Seraphina said, inviting no further conversation.

"Well," said Janice hotly, “you could show a LITTLE more interest. I AM looking out for your future."

"My future?" Seraphina asked.

"Obvs," replied Janice, "always."

"Well," Seraphina quipped, opening the door to English class and lowering her voice, "then you are doing a terrible job because my foreseeable future includes the English test which I'm now late for."

 Seraphina glanced back at Janice with a smile and a wink to stave off the rage she knew Janice would later unleash. Janice's initially stony face melted into a smile and an eye roll as Janice picked up the pace, hurrying into the room, trying not to be seen by Mr. Adams.

 "Ms. Smith," said Mr. Adams, without looking up from his orderly desk, using Seraphina’s more colloquial and easily digestible English name, “so glad you could join us. And you appear to have brought Ms. Watson with you. I take it that something of dire importance must've kept you from arriving on time?"

"DIRE importance, sir," said Janice, casting a knowing look at Seraphina. Seraphina winced, glad of the need to unpack her bag and ready herself for the test, which gave her an excuse to look away.

As the bell rang, Seraphina packed her things quickly and got up, ready to sit through her history class--the only one she enjoyed, and to head to cheer practice.

 You see, Seraphina was a driven individual. She sat on the student council, helped with bake sales, played volleyball and had held a place on the cheerleading squad, which she had kept since middle school. Seraphina Smith was busy. She didn't have time to let the grass grow. Free time meant time made free to think--to feel--and feeling meant pain. Pain could lead to stagnancy, and stagnancy could lead to the kind of life that didn't bear thinking of. Pain was for the weak, and Seraphina didn't have time for weakness.

Seraphina knew what pain was like, and, like most kids her age, wasn't keen to feel it again. 

 Seraphina's mother had taught her that, in a roundabout way. Sera and Nancy had always been as close as a mother and daughter could be. They ate together, and when they ate, they made funny faces at each other, scrutinized the other diners in their vicinity and people watched, speculating at what each person's life must be like--gave them each a name, based on their most outstanding features and attributes, speculated about where they were going and why, whether they had families, what their friends were like and what kinds of cars they drove. They made silly faces at cars and school buses as they drove by, made up names for their least favorite school teachers and co-workers and would spend family vacations roasting marshmallows over the campfire and wondering what their lives would look like in ten years.

 Then came Nina. Nina came along at just the right time for Nancy. Nancy needed a partner her own age, it must be said, though her close relationship with Seraphina kept her young. Sera wasn't thrilled, needless to say, at the prospect of Nancy being someone else's partner-in-crime, making faces at buses, cars and trucks alike with someone else at her side, roasting marshmallows with someone else, speculating on where their lives might go with some generic person at her side, but as the months, and then years went by and Nina became part of the family, Seraphina saw how happy her mother had become. 

 Rather than taking Nancy away from Seraphina, Nina seemed to be a catalyst for Nancy to spend more time with her family--more time at home streaming silly teen movies on Netflix, more time gazing at diners when they went out to restaurants, people watching and wondering what other people's lives might be like and what sort of a family each diner was going home to on their way out of the restaurant; more time going to high school basketball games and rooting fiercely for the home team's hard-working girls, more time helping Seraphina with her homework, more time styling her hair before school, and more time getting manic/pedis at their favorite spas.

 Nina seemed to complete a part of Nancy that Seraphina didn't even know needed completion. She added to Nancy's happiness and Seraphina's wellbeing, rather than taking away from their close relationship. Nina had, somehow, someday, while Seraphina's guard was down, become family. Seraphina could not adequately understand how this had happened, but it had. 

 Now Sera's school conferences miraculously included not one, but two parents. Her take your parent to school days now included not one parent, but two whole parents with separate and equally interesting jobs to talk to her fellow students about. Seraphina was loved. And so, it seems, was Nancy. Nancy had been holding back a part of herself that perhaps even she never fully understood. Nina nourished this part of Nancy back to health, until, one day, Nina and Nancy took Seraphina out of school for the day. Happily--giddily, even, they drove her to the courthouse, where they brought in three dry cleaning bags full of freshly laundered and pressed garments. Nancy and Nina were getting married, and Seraphina was to be their one and only bridesmaid! Seraphina couldn't hold back her yelps of joy and pleasure as the three of them walked out of the courthouse, blowing paper trombones and wearing funny hats with their fancy dresses. They went for ice cream down the street, attracting what seemed to Seraphina like all the attention in the world as they went, but Seraphina didn't care. She did not have eyes for the happy smiles and well wishes the strangers on the street stopped and offered the happy family as they walked by. She only had eyes for Nancy--and for Nina, her other mother, for all intents and purposes. Seraphina joyfully skipped as she held Nina's and Nancy's hands that day.

 From then on, things had become downright wonderful. Her family was finally complete, with the happy accident of a baby brother thrown in as the completely unnecessary, but greatly loved and cherished cherry on top. Nancy had heard about a young boy from her family's hometown in Japan, who needed a family, and, before Seraphina knew it, she had a new baby brother. Sam was eighteen months old when he joined her family, and, despite Sera's initial resistance to the idea that another child might take the spotlight off of her, she eventually fell in love with him--drool, goofy smile, and all.