Diane Lane made me buy new shoes

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 07 February 2012 18:32

“Signora, between Austria and Italy, there is a section of the Alps called the Semmering. It is an impossibly steep, very high part of the mountains. They built a train track over these Alps to connect Vienna and Venice. They built these tracks even before there was a train in existence that could make the trip. They built it because they knew some day, the train would come.” —“Under The Tuscan Sun”

Diane Lane made me buy a new pair of shoes. I debated for awhile, cussing myself for driving 30 minutes out of my way in the first place. But before this particular road trip, I had watched the movie “Under the Tuscan Sun.”

The above quote from the hopelessly charming Realtor, Martini, stuck with me. That movie is loaded with...

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Getting by with help from my nerds

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 24 January 2012 15:17

“What I had come to love about book club (besides the fabulous desserts and free liquor) was how in hearing so many opinions about the same book, your own opinion expanded, as if you’d read the book several times instead of just once.” —Lorna Landvik

“A few years back, when I finally got smart enough to go to a therapist, she asked me how I had held things together all these years. It didn’t take long to come up with an answer. ‘That’s easy. I belong to a book club.’”

Oh, how I wish I had written that! I borrowed it from “Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons,” the last book my club read. But it’s kind of like giving a greeting card: their words, your feelings.

I’m a proud geek of sorts, as I assume the term...

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Turning 40 isn’t the end after all

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 10 January 2012 15:07

“Cause you don’t know what you don’t know….” —Taylor Swift

“Well, at least it’s not 40.” These are the words I remember telling myself 10 years ago, holding onto age 29, horrified to enter the next decade. It was the only comforting thought I had to console myself. Next month, I turn 40. Looks like the joke’s on me.

The worst thing about turning 40 is that at first mention, it does sound a little old. I mean, seriously…40? Forty! But once I deal with that self-deprecating thought, I get to the only real problem I can see. I can’t go back and change anything. And given the chance, I’m pretty sure I would. So I deal with that self-deprecating thought as well and then get to the good list.

This list is more fun...

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Sharing memories a parent’s duty

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 27 December 2011 15:26

“Stories make you think and dream; books make you want to ask questions” —Michael Morpurgo, author of “War Horse”

I tried hard, honest, but I just couldn’t stop myself. I hope she forgives me. As my daughter finalized a music lyric video in some kind of movie-maker program the other day, I fought the urge to spew out one of those “I remember…” comments from my teen years.

I fought it, and then I lost.

Basically she types in all the lyrics to a song and sets it to music and images on the computer. She can adjust when the frames change, when the music starts, stops and fades out.

Watching this, I remembered being her age and barreling to my cassette deck to catch a song off the radio and record it onto a cassette...

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