Arts Connections Advice #7

Q: I'm an adult who lives at home with my parents and we often have conflict. How do I get them to see me more as an adult?

A: It all comes down to responsibility. The more you can do to prove your independence and contribute to the household, the more you will likely be seen as adult. The first step is picking up after yourself and not making extra work for those around you. Then it's a good idea to find chores that are easiest for you to do and that you're best at. And don't forget to be a good team member and work with your parents (or other family member) to do certain things that you might not be able to do completely on your own. Make dinner together, set the silverware, while your mom puts out the plates, unload the bottom rack  of the dishwasher and hand dishes off to someone else to put in cabinets. If you'd like to start managing your money, work together to create a budget and start a savings account. Give yourself a certain amount of spending money, and put the rest into savings. See if you can stick to your budget and save toward bigger items. And don't forget to work on cooperation and a positive attitude. If you want your parents to stop punishing you, make sure that they clearly outline their expectations and that you are following through. If your system isn't working, bring it up with them so that you can work out a solution together. If you are in a bad mood, try to develop strategies so that you don't take it out on others. Keep the lines of communication open to avoid misunderstandings as well. It's not always easy to live in harmony, and you're going to have disagreements from time to time, but as long as you view living together as cooperative undertaking, you will get the respect you seek.  

Will's Book Nook: Sherlock Holmes: The Carleton Hobbs Collection

 

A new collection of remastered episodes of Carleton Hobbs' Sherlock Holmes BBC Radio Show, that ran from 1952 to 1969, making him the longest tenured Sherlock Holmes. This series stars Carleton Hobbs as Holmes and Norman Shelly as Watson. It also stars a young Christopher Lee as Dr. Moriarty. He's one of my favorite actors. Vintage would be a good way to describe it, which works for me, because I've been getting into older stuff. I like the older style of talking and the slang that is no longer in use, like "'ods bodkins," which can best translated as "oh my!" Based on what I've listened to so far, I'd give it 5 out 5 scribbles.

Trash Crash!

 

Arts Connections' Executive Director and Writing Together Instructor, Margaret Govoni, had a very dramatic week! She was home last Tuesday and heard some commotion, then her garbage man came to the door and informed her that he had crashed the garbage truck into her property, taking out the gas line, an electric pole and the fence. The gas line usually has an automatic shut off valve in case of such accidents, but because of the cold temperatures, it was frozen open and spewing gas. The electric pole was giving off sparks! It's a miracle that nothing exploded. It's also a miracle that the driver was unhurt. The garbage truck took down several trees, crushing the passenger side of the cab and a tree branch punctured the windshield and the passenger seat. East Mountain Disposal garbage trucks make the rounds with two people: the driver and the trash collector. Luckily, there was only one person operating the vehicle and collecting the trash, so there was no passenger. Electricity was out for 43 homes, including Margaret's. PNM replaced the pole and power was restored eight hours later. The gas leak was capped within just a few hours, but due to the damage, the gas line will have to be replaced all the way to Margaret's house. This will be a major project and will take weeks, if not longer. Meanwhile, Margaret and her family have no heat during the coldest week of the year. They are using their wood burning stove and space heaters to stay warm. A week after the accident, the garbage truck is still on Margaret's lawn, and yes, it does smell like trash!