In these times, ‘Have a little faith’

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 10 November 2009 13:48

“Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too—even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling.” —Morrie Schwartz, quoted by Mitch Albom in “Tuesdays with Morrie”



It may go against all the rules of acceptance, but I usually judge a book by its cover. In this case, I am being literal. Actual books. Some book cover designs are more “open-able.”

They’re so simple.

This is the case for a group of books from journalist, sports guy and author Mitch Albom. His past four books are not much bigger than a 5x7 portrait and packaged like he hand-wrapped each one of them and...

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Here’s one way to surprise yourself

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 27 October 2009 13:27

“To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan, and not quite enough time.” —Leonard Bernsteine

 

In October 2007, Parents magazine reported on the importance of creative expression in kids. They said “…we all come into this world with the need to create. It’s in our genes, and the arts are the basic way we express that need. (Creativity) connects, clarifies, and enriches…it’s a way of being and thinking, teaching and parenting.”

That goes for adults, too. In that spirit, I’m putting out a reminder about NaNoWriMo. November is National Novel Writing Month and time for the 11th annual NaNoWriMo challenge to write a book, 50,000 words in 30 days. A manageable task with a few more double-shot espressos...

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Reality shows present an odd reality

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 13 October 2009 13:49

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” —Albert Einstein



Do people still like happy endings? Or are messy middles more fun?

I’ve been trying to figure out why some reality shows bother me so much. The obvious reason would be the fact that they are all creatively edited and at least partially scripted, which makes them the opposite of real.

But the more I think about it—and I have a feeling this puts me in the minority—the main reason is because I wonder if we really need to know so much about these people.

All we see, whether it’s technically “reality” or not, is the daily messes piling up on top of each other as they self-destruct. The histories of these shows make it pretty clear that...

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Every age and stage has a purpose

Written by Shelley Plett Tuesday, 22 September 2009 13:41

“There is no other time in a woman’s life when she needs to be quite as smart as when she is looking after young children.”

—Katherine Ellison, author/journalist



Raising kids is anything but boring. It’s so rewarding when my oldest daughter looks up at me from her math book and says, “I don’t understand this. Can you help me?” I smile knowingly, give her head a little pat and lean over to scan the open page.

Why not? I’ll give her a leg-up, walk her through the first couple of…whoa, wait a minute. Number theories? Prime and composites? What the…? She’s in fifth grade, right?

Now it’s all coming together. I get it. Fifth grade is a math test. Just like the other tests I’ve been given. Infancy was a...

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