Young Master Madden should put his Film Skills to work and make an autobiography.
Posted on 08/07/2012 7:11:58 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
I love my son dearly, and I was looking forward to seeing him, but I couldn't face another summer living with him.
For six months, it had been an ongoing topic of discussion. But by May of this year it was abundantly clear that the time had come for our 23-year-old son, Flannery, a UCSB graduate in film, to get a place of his own.
I live and teach creative writing to college students in Alabama during the academic year. It's not ideal living 2,200 miles from my husband, but it's what we do to make a dent in the $100,000 in college debt we owe for our kids. My husband teaches second grade in LAUSD, and I come home for summers. I love my son dearly, and was looking forward to seeing him, but I couldn't face another summer living with him.
When my school year ended, Flannery flew to Birmingham to drive home to California with me. I was excited about the road trip, which would also include his 21-year-old sister, Lucy, who'd flown in from school in New York, and their 13-year-old sister, Norah, who lives with me in Alabama during the school year. But I had braced myself to stay firm about Flannery's moving out.
In Alabama I don't worry as much about him. An actor-director-musician-screenwriter, Flannery lives an artistic life, etched in a noir palette of late-night L.A. It had been a relief to be far away from the ignored texts, thumping band practice and driveway cleanup after raucous parties. To clean up one post-midnight mess, I poured steaming water on the cement, while three raccoons rose up like misty figures from a Miyazaki film to observe the driveway debauchery.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
You are mixing art with finance.
Could be a genius, who is not marketable, at least yet.
Could be a loser in both the artistic sense and financially.
So many have artistic interest without talent. I love music, own a grand piano; can't play worth a damn. But I still enjoy it. The piano cost $6,500 and is still worth the same today.
Some end up caregivers making life and death decisions for years so I caution anyone who discovers someone lives or lived "at home" past the day their 18th birthday rolled around to tread carefully.
Unfortunately, there's no support once that job is over. You've lost years (even decades) of work experience and retirement savings, not completed education plans, your peers have moved on and built families. You don't know where you belong in life because you had developed none of your own.
Parents owe it to their spouses and children to have planned for that possibility.
Parasite.
Young Master Madden should put his Film Skills to work and make an autobiography.
I can see how that situation can substantially impact a person's life in a negative way. Even if people willingly make that sacrifice, it will inalterably change a person's life. I know from whence you speak.
My husband's father put off getting married for years because when he came home from work at night, his second full time job was taking care of his ailing mother.
My brother acted as part-time caregiver for my grandparents for several years. He lived in their house, but he paid almost all the household bills out of his salary and helped my grandmother care for my grandfather (who had Alzheimers) in the evenings and on the weekends. Since their house was paid for, all he had to cover was the property taxes and the minimal utilities they used. Was a lot less expensive than an apartment, helped my grandparents immensely (physically, mentally, and financially), and he was able to amass a small fortune (that he eventually turned into a large fortune) because he wasn't out partying every night like his friends.
The folks I'm talking about are the classic bums. One I knew spent most of his time high, and the other had a job but blew almost all his money on movies and video games. Not surprisingly, they are no longer in my circle.
I think that Eastwood and Chuck Norris are the last living actors that I would care to bet on being 100% straight.
“Flannery? ... Conceived at night.... Just sayin’”
The name “Flannery” means Red Warrior and is an Irish name. Perhaps a family name. My father’s side is of Irish descent so we have a Maeve, Ryan, Norah, Meghan, Caitlin, Bridget (and so on). Just my opinion but I like family names.
My point, jokingly, was that if you excell at all four you're probably a genius, otherwise someone without a clear concept of what you want to do in life. Art vs. finance does not figure in this.
“I’ve never yet met anyone with a degree in film that wasn’t gay.”
You need to meet my son. He has a degree in film from Rice University in Texas. He is an award winning documentary film director and has lived in London 25+ years. He has a wife and a son. Definitely not a homo and doesn’t approve of that “lifestyle”. His work appears on the Discovery Channel, National Geographic, and History channels in this country.
If I seem to be painting with a broad brush, be aware that I've got a background in the fine arts and design. In my circle there was quite a lot of crossover into film, especially animation. One of the main reasons I retooled and got out was the overwhelming predominance of homosexuals. 25 years ago a lot of them were closeted. I imagine few of them are now.
I had to make that decision last year. Daughter had disrespectful boyfriend, convinced her we were abusing her by requiring her to do her own chores, make dinner twice a week, pay her own phone bill. Son is very aware that he lives here at my graciousness, but they didn’t get it. She was asked to leave.
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