Talkcast Transcript - Steve Serin
From CaseyPedia
This is a transcript of a segment from the 25th May 2007 Foreclosure Fridays Live talkcast.[1]
Casey Serin is confronted by his brother Steve. This segment begins approximately 0:59:46 into the talkcast.
CASEY: OK, the next one in line is Screwrealestate. Screwrealestate, are you there?
STEVE: Casey.
CASEY: Yeah?
STEVE: Hopefully I'm not just another random caller that you disregard, like the other caller was just saying. This is Steve, your brother.
CASEY: Steve! Thanks a lot for calling in, man. I appreciate it. What's going on, man? Tell me what you wanna tell.
STEVE: No problem, man, no problem. Basically, listen man. There are many things I have to say tonight, and I know I don't have too much time. Basically, man, listen. I talked to dad, I talked to your brother, I talked to your sister, and we don't agree with what you're doing, man. Galina...
CASEY: Whoa, what do you mean? Explain that. You mean the blog, or what?
STEVE: Everything, man. The way you're treating our family. The way... your role as a husband, man. Your role as a husband, that's probably the biggest thing here. More so than your financial situation. You have three jobs as a husband, man, and I know you might be thinking "who do you think you are for telling me this?" because I'm younger than you, but come on. Your job as a husband is to provide, to protect and to support. Now let's run down the list, man As a provider, what have you provided for Galina, man? Financially? Have you provided consistent income for your wife to live on?
CASEY: You're right there, I've been kinda lacking in that regard. I have a lot of sweet deals in the works, but nothing's coming in right now, so... I've been doing some massive action lately in advertising and other types of stuff. What do you think of the almost three thousand dollars that I've made this week?
STEVE: What do I think about it? This is what I think about it. Casey, as soon as Galina made the contract, what you did is you didn't get a job, you didn't work for anything, you just began to beg. You began to beg, man.
CASEY: It's not begging, it's advertising.
STEVE: Casey, in a sense you're a homeless guy with a computer, man. You're doing the same thing a homeless guy does, only difference is you have a computer so it's easier for you to beg, because there's a lot bigger media. But going back to my list, man. Basically, you're living in Galina's sister's house. Do you consider that you provide for her - yes or no?
CASEY: Well, it's just a temporary place. Wouldn't you say that that's a good way to save money, rather than getting an apartment for like twelve hundred bucks a month?
STEVE: But how long... the thing is, man, this has been going on for three years. It's not something that's just started.
CASEY: No, the temporary place has been about a year. Do you mean three years of financial instability?
STEVE: OK, that's 'Provide'. Let's go down the list to 'Protect'...
CASEY: No, go back to 'Provide'. I agree with you, man. I mean, like I haven't been... I've had jobs on and off, but my problem is I've been too much into building businesses and being an entrepreneur, and I've been neglecting the daily responsibility of providing. You're right, man, that's gone on too long, I appreciate it.
STEVE: So you agree with the fact that you haven't been doing the best job providing?
CASEY: Yeah, I do agree with it.
STEVE: OK, let's move onto number two, which is 'Protect'. Now, do you consider throwing Galina's name underneath the bus every single time you blog about her on the blog in the past - do you consider you're protecting her?
CASEY: Well, of course throwing her name out there carelessly is not a good idea, but do you think I've been doing that on purpose, or do you think that a lot of people out there mean harm and they're just leaving nasty comments and... have you seen some of the hater blogs out there, man?
STEVE: Yeah, definitely, man. That's another thing I want to address. There's a lot of...
CASEY: Do you think there's a way I can keep her name off the spotlight? I mean, I've been trying to, and it's only been lately that she's said "hey, might as well". That way, people when they Google her name, at least they'll hear my voice as opposed to hearing some Haterz™ ripping into her.
STEVE: But the fact is, your voice has not been protective, man. If you read your own blog, your own words, man, you're saying that she's holding you back, you've considered divorce, your dream is to live in a van and she's holding you back...
CASEY: (laughs) Well, come on, man, some of it is speculation. I'm not actually going to follow through with that. But you know, you get those feelings and thoughts sometimes. You haven't been married yet, so you don't know what it's like. But there are those days, you know? And I've just been keeping it real and sharing with people the thoughts...
STEVE: Casey, you're right, you're right. I haven't been married, but I have been in a relationship. And relationships and marriage, they have similar concepts - for example, have you been putting her wants and needs before your own? Yes or no?
CASEY: There's been times when I've been putting the business and the blog above her, so you're right, there's been times where I need to, uh... well, I need to improve on that, you're right. I don't know what to say, you're accusing me of all this stuff, and there's a lot of truth to what you're saying.
STEVE: Casey, the other day I came over to your house and we played a quick game of poker - don't worry, there was no stakes for people that are losing! - and I asked you a simple question. I said "Casey, what is more important to you - your blog or your wife?" You hesitated when you answered that question, and then you said they were both important. Casey...
CASEY: Yeah, why do you have to choose between the two? It's almost like saying "choose between your wife or making money". Now the blog's kind of my job, and it's actually making money for once, so might as well keep going, right? Can't I do both and respect both sides?
STEVE: You can do both, that is right. But the fact is you're doing so much more of the blog than you are spending time with Galina. I mean, how...
CASEY: So I can maybe improve on maybe putting more priority onto our relationship without necessarily having to throw the blog out, right?
STEVE: Casey, let me tell you what I see happening here. You might disagree with me on this, but let me show you what I think... I hope I'm wrong, but let me show you what I think you're doing here. I think that you're boasting on your blog, and you're basically painting a picture of Galina as someone that's holding you back, keeping you from your dreams, not supporting you, and basically what you want to do is you want to get everybody on your blog to view her at some kind of an enemy, so that everybody on the blog will start telling you "Yeah, you need to get rid of her!" - like that one caller from last week - "You need to throw her away! All she's doing is getting in your way!" And that way, when you do get a divorce, you will feel good about it, and you'll feel that you did the right thing. But one thing that you're failing to see here is once you get a divorce, which is what a lot of the bloggers want to see happen just to make the story get better, once you get that, man, your fifteen minutes of fame are up. I mean, they're almost up as it is now. Your sponsors - yes, it's great that you have all this traffic, and this, and this. But come on, man, do you really think your site is really going to hold up for another... I don't know what you're thinking, but Casey...
CASEY: Well, my goal is to blend my story into more of a foreclosure help site and continue telling my story of a comeback and showing responsible behavior and all that stuff, but at the same time help a lot of people. Do you think there's no value in the blog in that regard?
STEVE: I think the blog is a fantastic idea. I think it's a great idea. But I think you are spending way too much time with the blog. You should prioritize your time, say for example two, three, four hours on the blog, the rest working on your relationship with Galina, putting her needs first before your own.
CASEY: Well, I agree with you on that. I do need to be more concerned about that. I mean, I sometimes get so driven by the business and all this other stuff I'm trying to do. Thanks for your input, man. In terms of what I'm trying to do, in terms of painting the pictures where I can justify divorcing, no man, that's not what I'm trying to do. I don't wanna get a divorce. I love Galina, and I'm not supposed to be using her name, but you've been saying it a few times so if she goes after me based on that contract we signed she's going to have to go after you. What I'm trying to say is, you know, everybody gets those spots. Anybody who's on the line who's married, hopefully they'll back me up. Everybody gets those spots from time to time, especially when you're really driven. It's an issue I'm gonna have to fight my own life, and thank you very much for bringing that up. I appreciate my friends and family holding me up to this standard.
STEVE: Casey, listen man. You do a lot of agreeing, man. Every single person that calls you up you agree, you say "yes, that's fantastic, I will do it, I will do it", but that's about all you say. There's a lot of talk, but no action, man. That's what everybody on the blog wants to see. They want to see you walk the walk and not talk the talk, man. Every single time I talk to you, you say "I have this around the corner, I've got big deals, I've got sweet deals, I've got this and this and this and this and this." But I mean, come on, nothing has happened. You might be sitting there thinking...
CASEY: It's all in the works, man, come on. The sweet deals are coming, good things are coming. But you're right, I haven't been providing the day-to-day needs, and there's been some times too much into the blog and the business. I agree with you and you're right, I need to start putting my money where my mouth is, so to speak. Now tell me, do you think I should close the blog down and get a job?
STEVE: I think you should get a part-time job, yes.
CASEY: And close the blog down and not do any business?
STEVE: You can keep the blog open, but you have to limit it to one, two hours a day. Period.
CASEY: But if I'm making a stable thousand dollars a month... thousand dollars a week from the blog?
STEVE: But that's where you're wrong, Casey. You're blinded, man. Your blog is not going to survive that long in order for you to keep it consistent. Casey, let me move onto one other topic real quick before we end this conversation...
CASEY: Hey man, do you mind holding until we do another round of calls, because we want to hear a few more people.
STEVE: Casey, just one thing, man, just one thing. One question for you. And that is: is our family name important to you? Yes or no.
CASEY: Of course, of course it's important. What kind of question is that?
STEVE: (inaudible) ...that you ruin our family name, man, and you don't do a very good job protecting it.
CASEY: Well, what can I do about people posting people's names? You know, it's not like I go on there and say "Hey guys, why don't you did up all this dirt on all my family members?". Wouldn't you say that anybody who has exposure out there in the media is going to be subjected to some of this? Sure, maybe they don't have as many Haterz™, but wouldn't you say it's pretty much an open target when you're online?
STEVE: Well, yes, I agree with that.
CASEY: So I mean, what can the President do? I'm sure that people go after the President's family all the time, or anybody out there. Well, sure, some of the stuff I've done is more controversial, but Haterz™ are Haterz™, they're always going to be there. I've been trying to not mention any family members' names, but unfortunately, I had that blog, that Earth Mission blog a while back, where I was a little bit too open, and I didn't realize that stuff was... that people were able to see it, I thought I had it all protected and so since then they were able to learn a lot of people's names. And also just doing a public search, you can find out a lot of information, plenty of dirt you can dig up.
STEVE: Casey, are you happy with the fact that your own dad and your brother and your other brother are not supporting your decision with what you're doing?
CASEY: I'm not happy, and maybe we can talk about that this weekend.
STEVE: That's a big thing, man. My biggest thing... I think your financial situation is one thing, but the more important thing here is your wife, man, and how much time and how much... how you should put her needs before your own. Ask her what she wants. Ask her what she wants to do, and put her needs before your own. Because she's hurting, man. Because you've lost your homes, you've lost your credit, you've lost your reputation. The one thing you have not lost is your wife, man, and you need to hold onto that. You need to hold onto it. Everybody on the blog... I mean, you guys need to stop talking. I don't know, man, there's really not much I can do about the blog, but man you need to save the one thing you have left, and that's your wife. That's very important, man.
CASEY: Thanks, man. I appreciate you calling in. I didn't know you were gonna... you said you might, but I didn't realize you were gonna just come on the line. That's really really good, thanks a lot. I'm going to put you on mute, but I'll get back to you on the next round if we still have time. Man, that was my brother. Crazy, my own family's listening to my stuff. I mean, I know they've been reading, but...
[edit] References
- ↑ Foreclosure Fridays Live, TalkShoe; also available here in MP3 format
