Living on Edge of Chaos Podcast - Episode 5 - AMAZING Chat with Lisa Van Gemert

This episode is one of my favorite things I have done this year in education. As I challenge myself in the things I do, this is the next step. I challenged myself to work on interviewing educators who are full of passion and living on the edge of chaos. I started big and went with Lisa Van Gemert. If you don't follow or know of her, then you are seriously missing out and need to listen or watch this podcast and learn from one of the best presenters I have ever witnessed.

Show Notes

Follow this podcast on iTunes and please feedback and ratings.

Listen to the podcast on Soundcloud

Listen to podcast on Podomatic.com

If you would like to watch the Google Hangout you can watch it on YouTube

MY BLOG http://coffeeforthebrain.blogspot.com/

ABOUT ME http://coffeeforthebrain.blogspot.com/p/coffee-for-brain-book-swap.html

TWITTER https://twitter.com/coffeechugbooks

GOOGLE + https://plus.google.com/u/0/113960577497815089175/posts

All Social Media for Lisa Van Gemert - Please follow and learn from one of the best!

Twitter: http://twitter.com/gifted_guru

Websites

http://www.lisavangemert.com/

http://www.giftedguru.com/

Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/GiftedGuru

Pinterest

http://www.pinterest.com/brightkids/

Slideshare

http://www.slideshare.net/lisavangemert

Links to items mentioned in the podcast

Is the Lecture Dead? - Richard Gunderman - The Atlantic http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/01/is-the-lecture-dead/272578/

Book Review: Platform by Michael Hyatt

Sally Hogshead - Fascinate

Jason Fried - Rework

Malcolm Gladwell - David and Goliath

What Are You Reading?

I know this question is over asked online, but what is everyone reading this weekend or what is a recent good read? I just wrapped up Quiet by Susan Cain about introverts which was a great read and Dan Pink's To Sell is Human which was also great material to process.

Both reviews coming this weekend.

Chat with author Laini Taylor RIGHT NOW

Head here and don't miss it or follow #sonyreader on Twitter. Hurry up! It has started.

What Shall Coffeechug Read Next?

I am back on track with reading again. I have hit my stride by entering into book world.

I actually never quit reading, but spent most of 2012 doing research into fitness, triathlon, body kinesthics, etc.

I am still in the Harry Potter Read Along Challenge. I finished book one, but will not let myself read book two until I watch the movie(I never watched the movies!!!!)




I just finished Steve Jobs Biography




I am not sure where to go next. Someone shoot me a suggestion? Something off the beaten path and least expected.

Thank You John Green - My Nerdy Superhero and Mentor

How I love John Green!

My favorite author. Period. Of all genres.

This weekend I received my signed copy of his latest novel, The Fault In Our Stars.

And yes I have started reading it. Reading it slowly. Digesting all the witty dialogue and writing elements that John incorporates into his writing.

I have many places bookmarked as favorite passages, quotes, one liners, etc.

The best part of this book?

His autograph

Thank you John Green for your autograph, your splendid YouTube videos, and your books. After a long hiatus from YA novels you have brought me back in the genre. A book review will be later this week. So far I am loving this novel.

Maybe one day I can convince him to offer up a dialogue via YouTube between him and me. That would be the ultimate of all ultimates. This has me thinking that it is about time to bring back the Coffeechug videos. Let the gears start to turn......

Guest Post: Graham Parke

Mystics predicts future accurately! I’ve recently become a master in Goki Feng Ho, the ancient Chinese art of decoding license plates. It has, you can imagine, changed my life dramatically and for the better.


Like most practitioners, I’ve always had this suspicion that there’s more to life. That we can’t be mere random collections of molecules with no higher purpose than figuring out how not to soil ourselves while we keep our bodies running as long as possible. Such a view has always seemed too arbitrary to me. So, ever since I was a child, whenever I saw my initials – or part of my date of birth – pop up on a car license plate, I’d get that uneasy feeling. As if there was something I needed to do, or that I was supposed to realize. As if someone was sending me coded messages. Even at a very young age, I understood that something like Goki Feng Ho must exist, and that I was drawn to it like a moth to a particularly nice lady moth. So, I was both surprised and not-really-all-that-surprised when a friend gave me this book on Goki Feng Ho. I started reading and became hooked. Even the relatively scarce historical background was interesting to me on so many levels. Although much is lost about how Goki Feng Ho first came to the west, the stories about its initial discoverer, master Hung Lee, survive, and I dare say they’d constitute fascinating reading for even the hardened skeptic. From the early days of receiving his gift in the mail (though some claim he received it in a dream) to his struggles to find disciples to whom to pass it down, Hung Lee’s story is a heartwarming one. Obviously his life was made particularly challenging by the absence of license plates, or even cars, at the time. I have found no record of what the first Goki Feng Hoos practiced and honed their skills on, but I assume they invented plates for each other to decode, or borrowed some from the Germans. At the time, though, Chinese mystics were known to keep their gifts a secret, passing them down only to family members. Lee broke this mold when he became the first mystic to offer up his gift to the general public. But even then, the story goes, he had trouble finding anyone who was remotely interested. There are parables of Lee raffling off free Kindles and iPods among his disciples, but, again, he was too far ahead of his time. No one understood what he was talking about. He finally found a handful of willing participants at a local mental hospital, after raffling off a small pig and some sticks. And even though lived to be a hundred and fifty, it is said he never managed to earn those back.  

Bio:

Graham Parke is responsible for a number of technical publications and has recently patented a self-folding map. He has been described as both a humanitarian and a pathological liar. Convincing evidence to support either allegation has yet to be produced.

The award winning No Hope for Gomez! is his fiction debut: Boy meets girl. Boy stalks girl. Girl already has a stalker. Boy becomes her stalker-stalker.

Things, Thoughts, and Tidbits From My Scribbles Part 1

In a previous post about the first day back at school I mentioned how I working to unclutter as I downgrade to an office. To hold my feet to the fire I am going to post about anything worth any importance here on the blog to keep track of important ideas.

Here we go:

http://shelfelf.wordpress.com/ - a very cool blog and a great book blogger for YA

http://www.readingrumpus.com/ - another good book blog, but it has not been updated for a long time so not sure if it worth checking out much longer.

http://ericberlin.com/ - A author who write and creates puzzles. If you have not read Puzzling World of Winston Breen then please start there.

http://owlforya.blogspot.com/ - another great book blog for middle grade books.

http://www.kidsmomo.com/ - And yes, another good book blog

http://www.andyremic.com/ - a fantasy author. Not quite YA, but one author I need to check out and read in any free time that I currently don't have.

Book titles written down to check out

















Alright, one piece of paper down and about 500 more to go. I don't think each page warrants this much great stuff.

Coffeechug Reading Updates and Reviews

I have not been posting book reviews as often this summer and for good reason. I just don't have the time. With Ava, Addy, and Aiden mixed in with some marathon and fitness training my days are flying by. I do however, still read and just wanted to update everyone with what I am reading and reviews coming down the pipeline.

Remember you can always follow/friend me on Goodreads to stay current with all my reading as well.

1. Level One by Gene Luen Yang - finished and review coming later this week. Great graphic novel!

2. Game Of Thrones by George R.R. Martin - One of my favorite books of all time. If only I had more time to begin book 2 and get through books 3 and 4 before the new one arrives in July. Review coming soon.

3. A Story Of A Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon - currently reading for my book club that I run. We meet next week so I need to get moving on this.

4. 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss - just got this from the library yesterday, read about 10 pages and am ready to buy for my Kindle. I love books like this where you can take away some great ideas to help your life.

5. Improving Endurance by Paul Mason - this took me about 20 minutes to get through. A short review coming later, but not much to say.

6. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan - another great novel I am currently reading for a book club on Goodreads. I will have this finished as soon as I finish book #3 above. Loving this book so far.


That is enough to keep me busy. What about you? Any good suggestions for me to add to my already large list of TBR's?

Libary Load Just Got Bigger

After finally finding the book Addy had hid in her books on her bookshelf(that dreaded Caillou) I had a large pile of books come in. Go figure they all come in at one time. That is how it always works. You wait forever and then BAM 20 holds.

Don't forget I am also reading Wolf Storm and Game of Thrones.

Any other suggestions or see one that I MUST read?

My Favorite 20 Reads of 2010: What are yours?

I am not sure I will be getting to 100 books by the end of the year, but I think 96 books is pretty good considering how busy I am with teaching, two kids, lego robotics, and coaching.

I went through the list the last couple days and here are my top 20 books that I read this year. You can see my previous post that has all the books read, but here are my favorites.

These are not in ranked order

• Matched by Ally Condie
• Reckless by Cornelia Funke
• Dead Boys by Royce Buckingham
• Magnificent 12: The Call by Michael Grant
• Clone Codes by The McKissacks
• Rise of Darkling by Paul Crilley
• Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Ghost in the Machine by Patrick Carman
• Still Missing by Chevy Stevens(not YA)
• Fever Crumb by Philip Reeve
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green
• Twenty Dollar Bill by Elmore Hammes
• Merger by Jacquely Wheeler
• Vinyl Princess by Yvonne Prinz
• Framed by Malcome Rose
• Eating Animals by Jonathon Foer
• Notes Left Behind by Brooke Desserich
• Salt by Maurice Gee
• Lockdown by Alexander Smith

If I had time I would go through and explain why each was chosen, but I don't have time. This is the busiest winter break I have ever had. Read them or check them out on Amazon to see if they appeal to you.

Have you read any of these? Did you like them? I had one book suggestion from my previous post asking what you read that I have missed. Leave me some titles of books that I should read. I just put 20 some books on hold yesterday as I went through my massive pile of post it notes with scribbles of websites, book titles and other things. I am winter cleaning so I reserved the books and eliminated the piles.

What is your list of top reads? Leave a link if you have them posted on a blog or leave them in the comments. We only have a few days left to share our 2010 lists before the year is over.

Books Read in 2010: 96 Books - Can I Squeeze in 4 more to get to 100?

Here is my current list of books that I have recorded as read for the 2010 year. I am four away from 100. I did not include any books read for training or running, but books read for my blog reviews. I have two days to knock out four books.

Check out the list. What great books did I miss that I should read in 2011? Leave a comment and let me know. I am always looking for new material to read.

In the meantime I am working on some top 10 lists, but while I debate with myself check out my reading selection.

YA Books Central - Another great blog about books!

Another cool blog to check out about YA books. Check out the Essential Blog List as hopefully my blog will be included soon.

http://yabookscentral.blogspot.com/

I feel so honored

Patrick Carman has shared my blog on his Facebook page. It is always a awesome feeling when an author recognizes your blog. This makes me like this guy even more. Now I just need to make a robot from garage sale parts!

http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=1195918225&k=Z5LYP66YW2TF6BD1PB2XWVWSSVIB4ZWD4SFW1&oid=405820178820

Skeleton Creek III

Skeleton Creek III cover just revealed at www.patrickcarman.com.

That is it.................

I can't do it anymore. I have had enough. It is finally official. I cannot read anything that involves vampires anymore. I know that there is some good writing and stories out there, but I am done. I have tried and when I read about them all I think is "Good Lord, not another story with romance and....and....and..."

I tried to read the new collection of short stories that dealt with supernatural and vampires and whatnot, which I am told are great and worth the read. However, I cannot do it. This is like the fifth YA book that I just cannot get into. I don't know if I am just being a moody reader right now, but it is not gonna happen. I have had enough of the supernatural story lines. I apologize for my rant, but when will the masses move on? I know that you have to sell millions and then everyone and their mother will jump on board. Actually, why don't you all stay involved with vampires so you don't go ruining another genre or topic. Now, I am off to find something to read that will grab my interest. I am still working through The Stand, but that is not an easy read. Any suggestions? I am open and desperate.

Ramona is a movie? What?

I cannot believe this! I forgot all about this book series. I came across this trailer and realized how much I loved this series when I was little. I also remember the tv show which is what I loved more. After reading about Ramona I had no idea that so many people were against the tv show. What you are oblivious to when you are kid. I came across the opening theme song on Youtube and I instantly remembered the entire atmosphere. I remember the house, Ramona in the rain, and the one episode where she gets gum in her hair or something. I am now in pursuit of copies of the tv series.



Here I am feeling old that this is being remade into a movie with the next generation of celebrities. So what do I do to prepare myself. I figured since I was already traveling down memory lane with my Musical Journey quest I decided to do the same with my reading. Yes, I went online and put ever Ramona book on hold. Let the nostalgia take place. Will keep everyone updated as they come in. In the meantime go ahead and check out the movie trailer. For some reason this does not bother me like the remake of Karate Kid.

New Stephanie Meyer Novella Coming Soon...

Are you a fan of Twilight? Have you read the books once? Multiple Times? Seen the movies?

Are you dying for more of this world of Twilight? Well, on June 5th you can have another chance to explore this world created by Stephanie Meyer. Publisher Weekly posted today that she will be releasing a novella called, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner. Bree Tanner played a short role in Eclipse when introduced on page 569. If you remember, she died ten pages later. The movies have already used some of the information from the novella.

The book will not be as long as the Twilight series. It is only 192 pages and will be an offshoot of the third book. Meyer stated that she began writing this a long time ago to try and get a feel for the characters and the storyline. In the novella, Bree will have been a vampire for about three months.

In other Twilight news, there are rumors that the next book in the Twilight saga would be Midnight Sun and offer the readers the perspective of Edward. However, Meyer has stated that she is not writing about vampires right now.

The facts from the above posting come from the USA Today newspaper from Tuesday, March 30th.

I also found this info online today as well.

Part of the money made off this novella will go to the American Red Cross. Even better for some of you will be the fact that novella will also be available for free online from June 7th to July 5th.

Check out the website at http://www.breetanner.com/

What are your thoughts about this? Post a comment and let me know how you feel. This is a funny post for me because I was just crafting a post about how much I am tired of vampires. Now, I feel intrigued again. So weird to have a mood swing about vampires in a matter of 5 minutes.

Here is a link to the Publisher Weekly article online.

Merger by Jacquelyn Wheeler has been released

So, this morning I went through my usual routine of checking about 20 different things on the web including my gmail account and low and behold I was caught off guard with a pleasant surprise. Wheeler emailed me to let me know that the the second book in the series is now available. I am jacked. I loved the first book in Soterian series (check out my review here). Here is the cover which has my mind thrown in 20 different directions. I did not imagine a cover like this which is completely different from book one. This has me super excited to see where this series is going to go. If you read my first review of the first book this was one of the positives to this series(not sure where it would lead). So, I have purchased a hard copy online and I have already purchased the Kindle version and began reading. Once I read the book I will post a review and give the book away in a contest of some sort. Stay tuned and read the first book if you have not done so yet.

P.S. Jacquelyn Wheeler is one of the coolest authors ever. Not only has she provided many words of encouragement to begin writing my own novel, but she also recommended a great album by Frank Zappa on my Musical Journey. She told me to listen to Joe's Apartment and that my friend is another great album.

P.S.S. I have never been this honored before in my life. She mentions my name as being helpful in the world of blogs. Seriously, this is so awesome. I feel special in a good way. I have a whole new appreciation for the author because she is so down to earth. Yes, my name is mentioned, but even if it wasn't how often do authors give credit to the masses who help to encourage readers to read. Wheeler you rock my socks!!!!!!!!!

Phil Jackson Required Reading for the LA Lakers

Phil Jackson has always required his players to read to better themselves. I have always wandered what he had them read. Thanks to his girlfriend, Jeanie Buss, the list of books for the Lakers has been announced. Here they are. This is some deep reading. I am not sure that I could tackle some of these novels.

The full list of Laker literature:

1. Kobe Bryant: “Montana 1948″ by Larry Watson

2. Derek Fisher: “Soul on Ice” by Eldridge Cleaver

3. Pau Gasol: “2666″ by Roberto Bolano

4. Lamar Odom: “The Right Mistake” by Walter Mosley (one of Jackson’s favorite authors, says Buss)

5. Ron Artest: “Sacred Hoops” by Phil Jackson* (Buss noted that Jackson likes his new players to become more familiar with his philosophies as laid out in his book)

6. Andrew Bynum: “Six Easy Pieces” by Walter Mosley

7. Jordan Farmar: “Makes Me Wanna Holler” by Nahan McCall

8. Shannon Brown: “Dreams from My Father” by Barack Obama

9. Luke Walton: “The Monkey Wrench Gang” by Edward Abbey

10. Josh Powell: “The Souls of Black Folk” by W.E.B. Du Bois

11. Sasha Vujacic: “Reservation Blues” by Sherman Alexie

12. D.J. Mbenga: “Monster: the Autobiography of an LA Gang Member” by Sanyika Shakur (Author), Monster Kody Scott (Contributor)

13. Adam Morrison: “Che” – Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon – a Graphic Biography of Che Guevara