Demon Copperhead

As a person who writes, I read a lot of books by other writers. I want to read new stories or familiar stories or genres I never read before.

Some I feel are OK. Some are terrible and not worth my time. I don’t talk about those books because I feel certain there are fans of those books who would disagree with me.

When it comes to a great writer, that is all I want to talk about. I have a few writers that I joke about. I say when I grow up I want to write like them. (Hello, Tara Jenkins Reid and Grady Hendrix.)

Then there are times I read a book that is highly touted. Maybe they have won an award or two. Maybe they were short-listed on various book award nominations. So I am excited to read them, that is until I do. I have been left disappointed more than a few times.

That is until now!

When my book club pulled out Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, I wasn’t too certain about it. It’s big and thick. The audio book version had seventeen discs in it. 17!

Those doubts ended with the first disc.

Wow!

There was so much that I loved about the book. Demon’s voice is strong and sure while telling his story, even the difficult parts. He never sugar coated the problems he faced after losing his mother and becoming an orphan. He talks about the parade of awful foster parents, finding a decent home, and short-term happiness that falls apart with a football injury.

His sure eye for people and better descriptive ability of their characters shows a boy who had to grow up too fast. Childhood for him was not going to be an available luxury. But it taught him how to read people, even when that meant finding fault with someone he respected in the past.

I found myself wanting to memorize lines that I found meaningful.  Lines about his dead mother being one of the first dead in the oxy assault on Appalachia. Lines about how descriptive words were used to put groups of people ‘in their place’ but get turned around as an affirmative for those marginalized peoples.

I found myself rooting for Demon, hoping that he was getting out of the pit of bad luck and abusive people.

 I should tell you that Kingsolver used David Copperfield as her pattern. If you know that semi-biographical book by Charles Dickens, you know how Demon’s story will end. I had never read the source material. But I did read Dopesick by Beth Macy and it is amazing how Kingsolver folds the oxy crisis of the 90s and early 00s into Dickens’ tale. You see how people change their attitudes about the drug that was supposed to be miraculous in the treatment of pain that turned into a destructive force within the community.

Before you think that this is all plot and no character development, I must dissuade you of that thought. We get to know these people. We know back stories, we know what they mean to Demon. Even with those who are cruel to Demon, we get an understanding of who they are. But the ones that he loves, are the ones we know and root for the most.

But this is the true test of why you might want to give this book some time. My husband has been in the car with me as I listened to the book. He was so interested – a man who prefers hard-boiled detective novels – that he had me order it for him in audio book format.

This is a book that makes you think of many things. Child abuse. Addiction. The oxy scourge and targeting by the drug companies of specific communities. High school football. The foster child system. The kids who survive and the ones who don’t. The adults who are willing to take advantage of kids. The ones who try to look out for them. This book sticks with you. I find myself thinking about it all of the time.

I hope you will pick this up and give it a whirl.

Hangin’ at the THC Bakery

So the other week I had a new experience. I went to a bakery that specialized in baked goods and drinks that are infused. As in substances that used to be illegal. Luckily for me, I was able to get a drink that was not infused with anything.

This particular night, I needed someplace to sit and work on my laptop while my husband was at a beer tasting event at a place that was 40 mintues from our house. I was the designated driver and did not want to be tempted. Nor did I want to drive all the way home, only to have to turn around to get him. I didn’t want to hang at McDonalds or some other fast-food joint. Nor would Starbucks or other restaurants in its ilk be open till nine.

So I began a google search and found this bakery was open till 9:30 P.M. Perfect!

I could sit on my computer and phone, quietly tap away while having an iced drink and eating some sort of baked goody. I did not count on the infusion.

I cannot have this type of infusion.

Why is that?

Let’s just say that eating that stuff will have an adverse effect on my digestive system. I have tried a gummy -once- only to be in bed for the rest of the day after my system cleaned itself out. I finally managed to pass out then went on to have some of the weirdest stress inducing dreams I have ever had.

Anytime I go for a colonoscopy, I wake up nauseous. I am willing to stick my finger down my throat as far as it will go to make the nausea stop. I will never get any medicine that starts with Narco unless, of course, I want to lose ten pounds in one day. 

It is the worst feeling.

So here I am at a business that sells the stuff I cannot have. After a quick explanation from the very friendly staff, I chose a non-infused iced tea mango drink.

Very tasty.

I explained that I needed some place to sit while I waited for my husband to be done at his thing. I was told to settle in and be comfortable. So I did near an outlet so I could charge my phone. While I worked on my laptop, creating the book list I posted last week, I got to people watch all the customers who came in.

Some were like me, needing a full explanation. Others knew what they wanted but needed tips from the staff on how to get the most out of their purchase. Other customers asked each other about the infused drinks and how well they worked for themselves or the person they were buying them for.

It was interesting and informative. I was very comfortable and actually heard a bunch of music I don’t normally listen to. There were various rap songs being played I don’t hear normally that intrigued me.

This is probably a place I will take family members who prefer these products.  There was a giant Jenga game and a swing chair along with the big table I took over. I had a great experience and hope to go again sometime.

The White Girl Woke Reading List

In a post that I put up a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I
am on the Anti-Racism Committee at my church. Yes, it is a liberal church, and
yes, we have some conservative people who attend who weren’t sorry that Trump
won the election in 2016.

It is also a church that is devoted to social issues. The
Faith in Action group makes a concerted effort to help programs in our area.
The town that the church sits in may be rich but the surrounding towns don’t
always live up to that level of economic stability.

In the two years I have sat on this committee, I have wanted
to move things faster. I wanted to find ways to slowly bring the ‘other’ into
our midst to get people to realize we are all the same. And there were times I
wanted to leave the group because all of the pondering and philosophizing
drives me crazy.

And that is when I do what I do best- I read. I read a book
a week sometimes. Many times I listen to books because there are times I simply
cannot focus to read the written word. It helps me know how to pronounce words
or get the rhythm of how people speak. It helps me learn about a character not
only by what they say but how they say it.

So the following list are books I have read mostly in the
last two years but some were longer ago. I have yet to finish Beloved because
the book is emotionally difficult. I find myself feeling terrible for our woman
who did what she felt was right at the time. But because of this story, based
on a real woman, I made the effort to learn about Medea.

While you have heard of a few of these titles, I am guessing
there are some that are unknown to you. I purposely choose mostly fiction
because I believe fiction gives us a snapshot of time. It is through stories
that we really learn about a time and the people in that time. Even historical
fiction gives us that picture so we can enjoy and learn all at the same time.

I made this list alphabetical, not in order of what I think
you should read. All of the books in the first list are there because of an
element of racial discrimination within the story, even in the vampire story
which seems innocuous at first.

The second list focuses more on women’s issues or
discrimination of other sorts. I found them worth reading in how they made me
think of how people are marginalized in various ways.

Please let me know what you think of any of these selections
in the comments. I want to start a discussion with the hope that better
knowledge can be spread. If being woke means being kinder to anyone who doesn’t
look like me, well then, call me woke. I would rather live in a world where
people didn’t reach for their guns and asked questions later.

Enjoy your reading.

 

 

The White Girl Woke Reading List

Beloved by Toni Morrison

Bitter by Akwaeke Emezi

Cameron Battle and the Hidden Kingdoms by Jamar J. Perry

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee

Finding Me by Viola Davis

The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher
Murray

The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas

The Measure by Nikki Erlick

The Other Princess: A novel of Queen Victoria’s Goddaughter
by Denny S. Bryce

Overground Railroad: the Green Book and the Roots of Black
Travel in America by Candacy A Taylor

The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson

The Personal Librarian by Marie Benedict and Victoria
Christopher Murray

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow

South to America by Imani Perry

The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

When Crack was King by Donovan X Ramsey

 

Other
Good Reads to Make You Think

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

I heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Tara Jenkins Reid

The Woman They Could Not Silence by Kate Moore

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Regan Barnhill

Continuing the Road of Genealogy

Until I looked back at this blog, I did not realize I have been working on my family history for two years now.

During that time I have found many families and secrets, wondered what people were like all while digging into the mystery of Ira Marshall.

When I say secrets, I really don’t think I have found deep dark secrets. In reality, they are secrets that I never knew. Like what you ask?

Secrets like my great-great aunt Inez named her first born son Ira during the time that my great-grandfather was living in Chicago. His brother, my great great uncle John Sherman named his son Russell Ira during that same time. Russell would be mayor of Taylor Mills in Kentucky for a time.

During this time, I met a cousin. Our common relative is Robert Mason Marshall, our two times great grandfather. He was a Union soldier who’s first wife died sometime in 1873. He marries a younger woman in 1875, Sara Catherine. They end up have five children together along with the three living children he brings from his first marriage. I’m not sure Robert Mason was an easy man to live with as his wife lived with their remaining son according to the 1910 and 1920 census. I haven’t found his will yet but I feel certain there will be some bombs in it.

But I did visit the graves of Ira, Robert Mason, and Sara Catherine. During that same visit to Independence, Kentucky, I saw the gravestone for Francis, Montie, and Inez – siblings to Ira. Their brother Charles is buried in Washington State. Alma is buried in a town west of Independence. Mary is buried in Missouri.

There are other people I cannot find or will need to start going through archives to make better connections. At this time I am ordering death certificates for a few family members so my DAR application can go farther. I never thought I would ever have cause to apply for Daughters of the Revolution. Now, I know through research and contact with other family members that I might be connected to at least four “patriots.”

Who would have thought I would find all of these people?

The Charcuterie Board

When you hear that word – charcuterie – do you start getting nervous?

I see pictures of all of these boards for meat and cheese or hot chocolate or roasting marshmallows.

And I get charcuterie-paralysis.

What do I put on it? What cheese should I put on it? Salami or Pastrami? Fruit, no fruit?

Just the thought puts me in a stand still.

Until this past Thanksgiving.

I decided to just do it.

The kids love salami, so I had my husband buy salami. I enjoy goat cheese, so I had him buy two small packs of goat cheese. We had a berry jam and apricot jam so Iput them in small dishes. My mother bought crackers and regular cheese. There were grapes in the house and cherry tomatoes.

That’s when I grabbed a beautiful wooden board and put it on the counter. I filled it with crackers, cheddar cheese, cheddar jack cheese, a small plate with goat cheese, salami, crackers, grapes, and cherry tomatoes. I made sure to have little knives and little spoons. Then, I had to continuously refill the board.

Surprisingly enough, I was the only one who ate the grapes and tomatoes.

After making the charcuterie board, I wondered why I had never done this before. Everyone tried it. They put jam on cracker and cheese. They mixed cheese with the Salami. They ate just salami.

So have you made a charcuterie board? Was it successful? Share your pictures in the comments.

Wookie Blondies

It’s Christmas. Which means cookie making.

But this year is a little different.

I am on strict orders to stay off my feet as much as possible. This makes cookie making a tough feat with doing the drops and taking pans back and forth to the oven, getting cookies off of the pans, and guarding them from roaming marauding cookie eaters – i.e. the husband and teenaged son.

So this years I decided to make my favorite Christmas cookie – the Wookie Cookie from a Star Wars cookbook – into a bar. And to ensure there would be enough to fit onto a cookie sheet, I combined my recipe with a blondie recipe. The sweetness of the Blondie combined with the cinnamon, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and milk chocolate chips seemed like a good idea.

Oh, and it was.

The blondies are made with brown sugar for a butterscotch-y richness. The cinnamon adds depth of flavor. The two types of chips are simply decadent. When I make this again, I am thinking of adding pecan or walnut bits to offset the richness and give the cookie a little more crunch.

Try the recipe and tell me what you think.

Wookie Blondies

1 cup butter – soft or melted

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs (room temp if you want)

2 t vanilla

2 1/4 cup flour

2 t cornstarch

1/2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1 t cinnamon (add more if your really like cinnamon)

1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Start with butter and brown sugar, mix till smooth

add eggs, stir

add vanilla, stir

add salt, cornstarch, baking powder, and cinnamon, then stir

add chips, stir

add flour. stir

spray or place parchment paper on your cookie sheet

spread mixture onto your pan, making sure every corner is filled

Bake for about 25-30 mins. (mine were good at the 25 min mark but everyone’s oven is different.)

Cool, cut, enjoy!

Mkae sure to comment below how your version of the Wookie Blondie turned out

The Dress

Today, I thought I would write about the dress.

Yep, that dress.

The one that Tiffany Trump wore at her wedding that was truly spectacular.

I loved the classis square neckline, the fitted bodice, the A-line skirt, and the long, luscious train.

Then there was the fabric – satiny, shiny, beaded.

It was elegant. The bride looked like a princess.

As she should. And when we see her happy face, it makes one wonder if she was able to forget the family drama all around her.

The sister who wore a crop top at the rehearsal dinner. The sister in-law who wore some silver thing that wasn’t quite in the pastel vibe as the rest of the wedding party. The fiancee of her brother who wore black. The step-mother who wore off-white.

Well, at least her mother was beautiful in a pastel purple.

But forget all that. Let’s allow Tiffany to be known as a beautiful bride because she was. Mar-a-Lago was filled with flowers, music, food, and a little magic. She and her groom looked happy together. And soon they will settle into a new life together. She is a beautiful bride and perhaps the most renown for right now.

After the Biden grand-daughter gets married on the South lawn of the White House, we will be getting new pictures of a beautiful bride.

I hope her dress is just as magical as Tiffany’s.

Note: See pictures of Tifany’s two wedding dresses at the Hello Magazine website. My efforts to save a picture of the dress were futile.

Reasons why I am not voting for Darren Bailey

1. The Mask Lawsuit

During the Pandemic Bailey filed a lawsuit against the State (Pritzker) to have the mask mandate removed. Bailey believed he was saving the entire state from a mandate he felt was unlawful. However, the judge deemed that Bailey’s lawsuit was justified – for Bailey only. This lawsuit would not apply to the rest of the state.

If a person fails his objective in such an epic manner, he has made some bad decisions either in going through with the lawsuit or picking lawyers to go through with the lawsuit. If you cannot make good decisions regarding a lawsuit to get a mask mandate removed for all, how do you expect us to believe that you can run a multi-billion dollar economy?

2. Abortion

Bailey is in favor of making abortion illegal in Illinois with no exceptions. We have seen how this works in other states that have outlawed abortions.

Women who are having miscarriages cannot get the care they need because their doctors don’t want to be prosecuted for performing an abortion.

Women who are having ectopic pregnancies cannot get needed healthcare because their doctors are afraid of being prosecuted for performing an abortion.

Women in need of Rheumatoid Arthritis medication are being denied their medication because one of the side effects is miscarriage of pregnancies.

If there is no regard for women’s healthcare, that women are turned into suspects because their bodies fail to carry a pregnancy (which happens in 1/3 of all pregnancies), is outlawing abortion a good idea? If making this man our governor makes it more dangerous for women to get their healthcare needs taken care of during their fertile years, why are we voting for this man?

3. Donald Trump

This man supports Donald Trump, a man who lost the 2020 election but refused to publicly acknowledge it. For months before the 2020 election, Trump stated if he lost then that meant there were voting irregularities. However, 60+ court cases and republican-led voting audits not only did not find more votes for Trump, they did find more votes for Biden.

Now Bailey is stating that he loses, he believes it will be due to voting irregularities. And he plans to have 6000 poll watchers on election day to make sure all goes well. All this is a page out of the Trump playbook. Does he plan to have fake electors as well?

4. Highland Park 4^th of July Shooting

I had forgotten about this incident until I saw a political commercial today. Within hours of the shooting at the 4^th of July parade in Highland Park, Bailey appeared upset that the parade he was going to be in had been cancelled. He tried to sound calm as he expressed sympathy and concern for the people of Highland Park. But then he stated that we need to get over the events earlier in the day and celebrate our country’s birthday. Yep, he said that on the same day, minutes after expressing sympathy. I heard him say this. Tone deaf much? Unable to actually express sympathy without moving away from his policies is inexcusable. Will he continue such behavior as governor?

5. What has he actually accomplished in the State house? I have seen many, many commercials from Bailey’s campaign. I have heard people talk about his farm experience showing he knows how to work. I have seen his commercials against Pritzker, striking fear about mis-interpreted laws bringing more violence and crime into our lives. I have seen Pritzker ads showing Bailey’s views on abortion and the no-votes for bills that would have help first responders and women dealing with domestic violence.  I have not heard a single commercial touting what he has done that is good for the state.

6. Bailey hates Chicago and has never hidden his feelings. But now he is renting an apartment in the former John Hancock building on the Magnificent Mile because he wants to get to know the city. What he does not realize is that every neighborhood is like a small town. Each neighborhood has its own flavor and dangers. Does he think that working class through upper-middle class Chicagoans are going to be fooled by this stunt? We all know that what he is signifying is that he will be available to the power brokers of the city because he has a place in the city. Until I see him actually visiting the best and the worst neighborhoods of Chicago, this feels like a stunt to me.

7. Pritzker may not be perfect, but he has been a good leader for the state. Our bond rating has improved. He is working at the deficit governors on both sides of the aisles built. And during the Pandemic, he was willing to make tough decisions. Even when that meant going against the President who was hell bent on denying the virus even as it killed tens of thousands of people.

Both men are rich although Pritzker is super rich.  I will take a productive blowhard like Pritzker over an unproductive blowhard like Bailey. This is a man who criticized Biden for giving handouts but took a PPP loan of $231K, and then gave $150K to his campaign a few weeks later while claiming a big loss on his taxes. (https://pantagraph.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/bailey-campaign-defends-gop-candidate-getting-federal-relief-loans/article_b853a489-4a48-56da-af60-47af5ac481ad.html). And we are supposed to believe he is a simple farmer who knows the value of hard work.

These are the reasons why I am voting my conscious and not voting for Darren Bailey to become the next governor of Illinois..

Jumping into the Mosh Pit

Jumping into the Mosh Pit

Two of my sons are in bands. They love Punk and Screamo and Heavy Metal. Their music is filled with hard driving bass lines and pounding drums and solid guitar work.

It is not always my favorite music, especially when the F-word is tossed around carelessly. Use that mo-fo for its full effect to shock and disturb by sparingly using it.

But I digress.

The thing that always seems to happen at their concerts is The Mosh Pit.

You know what it is – a bunch of young people slamming into each other with all their might.

Image from Stolen Space Gallery

I watch my sons and their friends pound into each other. Sometimes the girlfriends join in as well. I see them working out anxiety and frustration and fear. Whatever that is going on in their lives, in their minds, that causes this frustration can be expressed. And released. Its not sexual touch but emotional touch. One of camaraderie and knowing that the other person knows its not about vengeance.

In the next moment, they smile and laugh with each other. They help each other up and glory in the pounding they just took. They are not here to literally beat the crap out of each other. It is that need to touch in the most masculine way possible.

It reminds me of the movie Crash, in which car accidents happened constantly for no apparent reason. And yet, it is stated that people crash into each other because they want connection. Even if it was a negative connection. Reminds me of kids wo act out in bad ways to get attention because negative attention is better than no attention.

A part of me wants to join in. I mean this nearly 60-year-old wants to ram just as hard as these guys. I want to release these emotions and frustrations of life along with these young people. I see myself doing it.

But I don’t. Or, more truthfully, I can’t. As a diabetic, I know I could get a serious injury to my feet. I know I could get bruised or injured that won’t heal quickly. I have doctors who would hit me upside the head for such reckless behavior.

So I watch from the sidelines; far enough away that no one will slam onto my feet and cause injury. I smile at them and enjoy their laughter. All the while, wishing I could slam into the group as hard as I can.

Finding Ira Marshall

In dealing with some life-changing stressors, I have picked up a new hobby.

Genealogy!

I have been looking for family members from all sides of my family, Somedays I am successful, other days the haystack wins at hiding the needle.

But in looking at various records, I have found naturalization dates, marriage information, remarriages and divorce dates.

It has been a fascinating ride. Some days, it can be easy and I find all of the information I am looking for. Great-Uncle’s arrival date and the ship he came on. Census records that give approximate years on birthdates and marriage occurances.

But the biggest mystery is Ira C. Marshall, my great-grandfather.

Here is what I knew about the man before I started digging. He was from Kentucky, he deserted the Army and lived under an assumed name of Chester Harry Lone. He married my great-grandmother, Sadie Proctor. They had three children together, including my grandmother. Their oldest daughter lived with one of his family members in Missouri. He died months before my grandmother was born.

That’s it, that all we had. It wasn’t much and it was made harder by his alias.

So I went to my local library that offers Ancestry. Through Ancestry, I had found naturalization dates through various documents including census and voter registration. But how do you find a man who is deliberately hiding?

I looked under his real name, I looked under his alias. I found bits and pieces but nothing connected. I found birth certificates for my great-aunt and great-grandmother, Sadie Proctor. I found a marriage certificate for Sadie Proctor and Chester H. Lone. I found military records for Ira C. Marshall listing when he signed up, when he deserted and from where. But I could not connect him to a possible family in Kentucky.

So I shifted through the family stories again. Sadie Mae Lone had been raised by an aunt in Missouri. My grandmother was raised by her aunt, Daisy ‘Frances’ Proctor Davis in Arlington Heights. (My great-grandmother was a cow bird.) I knew about Aunt Frances but who was this other aunt in Missouri.

So I looked up Sadie Mae Lone. I found her as a ten-year=old being raised by an Aunt Mary Reilly in Lafayette, Missouri. Aunt Mary who was born in Kentucky according the 1920 Census form.

I had a start.

With an approximated birth year, I began looking up Mary F. Reilly. I found a marriage record for her in the 1880s to a Cassius Picket. He dies and she receives a widow’s pension. She will remarry a Mr. Reilly in 1915 and lose that pension. And it is recorded in military records. He will be dead by the 1920 census. But then I find her in a census and her parents are R.M. Marshall and Mary Jane Coleman.

Something looks familiar to me. I have seen the name R.M. Marshall before.

On the 1900 census, there was a R.M. Marshall in White Tower, Kentucky, who was the father of an Ira Marshall, aged 14. But Ira’s mother is Katherine Ervin. So I start looking up R.M. Marshall. He was married twice. First to Mary Jane Coleman, who disappears in the early 1870s. Then in 1875, R.M. marries Catherine Ervin. They end up having five children, including John Sherman and Ira C.

My mind is blown, I have found the connection.

Mary F. Reilly is Ira C. Marshall’s older half sister. Mary F. Marshall Pickett Reilly. Mary Reilly raises the daughter Ira has with Sadie Proctor. Later Social Security records list Ira Marshall as Sadie Mae Lone’s father.

My last problem is finding when Ira died. Family lore has him passing away in 1913, which is when his wife reported to the family that he died. He allegedly died a few months before my grandmother was born. So I look in Illinois, I look in Chicago. Nothing. But the Kentucky Ira Marshall dies in 1915 from accidental asphyxiation. He is an insurance agent with an unknown wife.

Insurance agent.

I look back to the records of when Ira joined the army in 1905 listing his current occupation at that time as Agent. And then I notice who was the reporting party – John Sherman Marshall.

Bam! I found him. I have found the man known as Ira C. Marshall, my great grandfather.

I did it by piecing together census records, military records, death records, marriage certificates, and birth certificates. I went over family legends to find clues and backdoor ways in the truth.

This is the story that can can figure out.

Ira was born in May 1885 to R.M. Marshall and his second wife, Katherine, in White Tower, Kentucky. In July 1905, Ira enlists in the Army at Fort Thomas in Kentucky. But by November 1905 he will desert the Army while stationed in Fort Sheridan in Northern Illinois. He marries Miss Sadie Proctor in 1908 as Chester Lone. Sadie Mae (who later goes by Mae) is born in 1909. His son, U.S. Grant is born in 1910/1911. He disappears in the summer of 1913, months before his second daughter, Virginia, is born. At some point in time, Sadie Mae goes to Missouri to live with her aunt. Virginia is left with her grandfather and aunt. Then in 1915, Ira Marshall dies in White Tower from asphyxiation.

Thirty years in this world, three children, desertion from the army, marriage to a woman who was impossible. A part of me wants to know the rest of the story. I want to know what his family thought of him, after all his daughter was taken in by his older sister. And he came home many years after an embarrassing desertion.

In the end, I want to know the good, the bad, and the ugly about this man who is a big mystery to me. Or maybe I don’t. Either way, I am still looking up the rest of the family.