Dear Shelley Byron,
I recently adopted a pet chinchilla, Salvador, who seems to be quite clever and well-tempered. I think Salvador would make an excellent performing chinchilla! Do you have any ideas of what sort of tricks or talents I could train Salvador to perform?
~Esteban from New York
Dear Esteban,
It sounds as if Salvador has great potential as a performing chinchilla. In my experience, most any animal can be trained to do tricks with the proper encouragement and reward system. I'm betting in no time you can get Salvador to sit up, push small wheeled objects and even run a mini-obstacle or agility course. It will take some time, so be patient! Smaller animals may also be harder to train, although people have trained pigeons, rats and other small animals for centuries. The most important thing to remember is to love your chinchilla no matter what. Don't pressure him to much. Love him as he is rather than trying to change him. Good luck!
-- Shelley Byron
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Shelley Byron,
I have only a little money but am sick of America and would like to move to Prague or Hungary with my two cats. Any suggestions as to how I may begin a new life in Eastern Europe? I speak no other languages and have worked in retail and restaurants all my life. I have an art degree and am now in my 40's.
-- Best wishes, Sandy in Tucson
Dear Sandy in Tucson,
Eastern Europe sounds like a hoot, but I think your setting your expectations too low! Who would want to spend their whole life in Hungary? I know I become such a pill when I haven't had my 3:00 PM microwave quesadilla. And Prague? I thought the Prague died out with 50% of Europe’s population in the 1800s? I highly suggest Romania, they didn't call it Roman Holiday for nothing (I assume, I never saw the film, but I do have an Audrey Hepburn coffee mug in my cubicle, so I think I get the gist of it). Though you speak no other languages, I feel as though your experience has thoroughly prepared you for your time in Eastern Europe. If you've worked solely in retail and restaurants, you must be properly trained in eating and shopping, and that's all that's really important, bottom line. My best advice for you is to pick up your cats in each arm (one per arm for safety reasons, obviously), and catch the first plane to Europe. With your esteemed degree in the arts, I’m sure you’ll be drawing sassy caricatures on a partly cloudy beach in no time! And no matter what they tell you, 40 is the new 39! Safe Travels!
-- Shelly Byron
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Shelley Byron ,
I seem to be having no luck in the love department lately. I’m just not sure where to meet a potential catch these days. Do you have any advice on how to better find a partner in today’s modern society?
--Lovelorn in Long Beach
Dear Lovelorn in Long Beach,
How to find a partner seems to be one of those age-old questions that people have always asked and will continue to ask to the end of time. Then throw in complications of "today's modern society" and you've got quite the conundrum! But this is no reason for distress--surely there are still methods of debunking the lovelorn madness. There are a few different strategies to try, all involving their own difficulties. In the modern society, where many people find themselves connected to the world 24/7/365 via smartphones and the like, online dating seems like an obvious option. You can do a Google search for "online dating sites" and get tons of sites and indexes of of sites and even a Wikipedia comparison of online dating sites in a color-coded chart.
That's all fine and dandy. Everyone seems to know someone who met online (for better or worse) so it's a hit or miss sitch. Call me old fashioned, but I say screw it--take your chances face-to-face and meet people in the real world. Maybe a friend can fix you up with someone. Or if you don't have such helpful friends, go out there yourself and start doing things. Think about something you're head-over-heels nerdy for. Maybe it's something classic like table-top gaming, or classy like French cooking or obscure like repurposing old landscape paintings into alien-invasion illustrations or rebellious like spray-painting train cars or maybe even trendy like washi tape art. Once you've pinpointed some things you feel passionate about, go out into the world and be your lovely nerdy self--take a class, go to a library or community center program. Better yet, teach a class! Hold a program! After all, what's more attractive than someone who teaches your favorite thing? If nothing else, you're likely to find some like-minded folks to befriend and serve as your co-pilot in the quest for partnership.
Best of luck,
Shelley Byron
I recently adopted a pet chinchilla, Salvador, who seems to be quite clever and well-tempered. I think Salvador would make an excellent performing chinchilla! Do you have any ideas of what sort of tricks or talents I could train Salvador to perform?
~Esteban from New York
Dear Esteban,
It sounds as if Salvador has great potential as a performing chinchilla. In my experience, most any animal can be trained to do tricks with the proper encouragement and reward system. I'm betting in no time you can get Salvador to sit up, push small wheeled objects and even run a mini-obstacle or agility course. It will take some time, so be patient! Smaller animals may also be harder to train, although people have trained pigeons, rats and other small animals for centuries. The most important thing to remember is to love your chinchilla no matter what. Don't pressure him to much. Love him as he is rather than trying to change him. Good luck!
-- Shelley Byron
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Shelley Byron,
I have only a little money but am sick of America and would like to move to Prague or Hungary with my two cats. Any suggestions as to how I may begin a new life in Eastern Europe? I speak no other languages and have worked in retail and restaurants all my life. I have an art degree and am now in my 40's.
-- Best wishes, Sandy in Tucson
Dear Sandy in Tucson,
Eastern Europe sounds like a hoot, but I think your setting your expectations too low! Who would want to spend their whole life in Hungary? I know I become such a pill when I haven't had my 3:00 PM microwave quesadilla. And Prague? I thought the Prague died out with 50% of Europe’s population in the 1800s? I highly suggest Romania, they didn't call it Roman Holiday for nothing (I assume, I never saw the film, but I do have an Audrey Hepburn coffee mug in my cubicle, so I think I get the gist of it). Though you speak no other languages, I feel as though your experience has thoroughly prepared you for your time in Eastern Europe. If you've worked solely in retail and restaurants, you must be properly trained in eating and shopping, and that's all that's really important, bottom line. My best advice for you is to pick up your cats in each arm (one per arm for safety reasons, obviously), and catch the first plane to Europe. With your esteemed degree in the arts, I’m sure you’ll be drawing sassy caricatures on a partly cloudy beach in no time! And no matter what they tell you, 40 is the new 39! Safe Travels!
-- Shelly Byron
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Shelley Byron ,
I seem to be having no luck in the love department lately. I’m just not sure where to meet a potential catch these days. Do you have any advice on how to better find a partner in today’s modern society?
--Lovelorn in Long Beach
Dear Lovelorn in Long Beach,
How to find a partner seems to be one of those age-old questions that people have always asked and will continue to ask to the end of time. Then throw in complications of "today's modern society" and you've got quite the conundrum! But this is no reason for distress--surely there are still methods of debunking the lovelorn madness. There are a few different strategies to try, all involving their own difficulties. In the modern society, where many people find themselves connected to the world 24/7/365 via smartphones and the like, online dating seems like an obvious option. You can do a Google search for "online dating sites" and get tons of sites and indexes of of sites and even a Wikipedia comparison of online dating sites in a color-coded chart.
That's all fine and dandy. Everyone seems to know someone who met online (for better or worse) so it's a hit or miss sitch. Call me old fashioned, but I say screw it--take your chances face-to-face and meet people in the real world. Maybe a friend can fix you up with someone. Or if you don't have such helpful friends, go out there yourself and start doing things. Think about something you're head-over-heels nerdy for. Maybe it's something classic like table-top gaming, or classy like French cooking or obscure like repurposing old landscape paintings into alien-invasion illustrations or rebellious like spray-painting train cars or maybe even trendy like washi tape art. Once you've pinpointed some things you feel passionate about, go out into the world and be your lovely nerdy self--take a class, go to a library or community center program. Better yet, teach a class! Hold a program! After all, what's more attractive than someone who teaches your favorite thing? If nothing else, you're likely to find some like-minded folks to befriend and serve as your co-pilot in the quest for partnership.
Best of luck,
Shelley Byron