Loving those who love to compete

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 12 August 2008 14:01

“Excellence is not a singular act, but a habit. You are what you repeatedly do.” —Shaquille O’Neal



When I took a job in the computer field I could not grasp the configuration of a network. I remember looking at a diagram of a basic computer network with a server, router, and several workstations. Never one to comprehend anything that could be labeled as a map, I took very little from that. How did each piece communicate with the others?

Eventually, despite the frustration of the real techies that trained me, I got the gist of it and I was able to spot the structure of the thing. A network is like a team comprised of components (players), each with their own special duty. And if they do their jobs, the network hums.

I...

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What adults should know by now

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 22 July 2008 14:17

“Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.” —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, author

 

We’re moving into county and state fair season and who’s excited? 4-Hers? Yes. Rodeo clowns? Uh huh! Deep-fat Snickers fry-cooks? Oh yeah!

Parents of kids ages 4 through 12? No. No, we’re not. We’re busy, thanks. Don’t mind us over here huddling over a calculator, trying to budget for tilt-a-whirls, funnel cakes and ring toss. Fairs are fine if you manage to keep your kids contained inside the exhibit buildings far away from the midway.

Fairs are also a signal that summer vacation is winding down. This means back to school for the young...

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Movie leads to new comprehension

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 08 July 2008 14:31

“What words say does not last. The words last. Because words are always the same, and what they say is never the same.” —Antonio Porchia

 

A screen writer who once took a job as a stripper to have something to write about. A 16-year-old with an attitude and a baby on the way. A slightly creepy Jason Bateman character. These, and so many more from the movie “Juno” offer plenty of social issues to ponder.

I admit I had to listen twice to catch a lot of the slang in this movie. Phrases like “food baby,” “your eggo is preggo” and “honest to blog.”

(I still don’t know what that means.)

It was an entirely new language to me. But for whatever reason, I just loved the name of the movie: “Juno.”

Juno is...

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The dog days of summer drop in

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 24 June 2008 15:02

“Did you ever walk into a room and forget why you walked in? I think that’s how dogs spend their lives.” —Sue Murphy

 

To the people who live on that one street a few blocks north of me: Sorry!

I took my dog on a walk the other morning. Libby’s not as young as she used to be and as we all do in some way, has lost some of her self-control. Walking gets her bladder going. And jogging? Well, it gets everything else going.

It had been awhile since we’ve done this. The air conditioner makes it hard to get out of bed early enough. The kids haven’t been sleeping well or I haven’t and we lost the leash or it broke maybe and… (insert some other excuse for sleeping in.)

Or to borrow the mother of all excuses once...

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