The Random Rebel Coffee Blog

Summer Reading

Sherri Caldwell — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:33:10 +0000

I just finished reading THE HOUSE OF MIRTH by Edith Wharton, first published in 1905...I LOVED THIS BOOK!! I don't know how I've missed reading Edith Wharton for the last 25 years...I am still under its tragic spell. Poor Lily Bart, you spineless, un-feminist, product-of-your-age-&-upbringing, twit! Ah, there is nothing like a great book. Now on to THE AGE OF INNOCENCE, which is actually the Midtown Book Group book for our July meeting...and I have to see if we can get the movie version of Mirth (Agent Scully as Lily Bart?!) on AppleTV...

Camp Mommy: 2010

Sherri Caldwell — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:22:35 +0000

July 2010 - Forgot to mention there is a NEW Rebel Review up:
BOOK GROUP REVIEWS [new feature!]: The Lost City by Henry Shukman

The summer is ambling along at a fairly quick pace, for summer. The kids are all three active and busy in various activities and we are actually going on a REAL vacation this year (as opposed to tent camping in Talladega, Alabama and our other "value-conscious" family vacation misadventures over the past couple summers!): We have rented a condo in Cocoa Beach for the 4th of July holiday - woo hoo!

Now that the kids are older -- 15yo Puberty Angst Boy, 13yo Drama Queen and 10yo ADHD Phenom -- Camp Mommy is not as active or in demand. That's a good thing, on the whole, but still...I kind of miss my cute little campers. The 15yo is either sleeping; on the couch watching TV; on the computer playing World of Warcraft (sometimes both at the same time!); off with his friends; or, last week, away at Army Camp at Fort Benning, Georgia, part of his JROTC program in school, which he loves. The 13yo has herself hooked up with a great job this summer, as a Summer Camp Counselor for a day-camp program in Piedmont Park, which is right across the street, so she, too, is fairly independent and over Camp Mommy. Fortunately, I still have the 10yo, my brilliant, quirky, very bright, very ACTIVE boy. He still loves and appreciates his Mom! (The others do, too, I know.)

The Young One and I have been spending most of the summer at the Georgia Tech CRC (Campus Recreation Center) which is, in a word, amazing! We are very fortunate to enjoy membership and use of the facility (hubby is hooked up like that, since his company is affiliated with the Georgia Tech ATDC - Advanced Technology Development Center). The 10yo doesn't much care for summer camp programs or crowds, sensory overload in general. He *loves* the CRC, especially the indoor recreational pool, with a big ol' waterslide (!!!) and, perhaps even more, the separate Olympic Competition Pool & Diving Well (built for the 1996 Summer Olympics hosted in Atlanta), where he can dive to his heart's content from the low & high diving boards. He loves to dive, go figure. He's also savvy enough to "join" (kind of) the summer camp program for kids at Georgia Tech -- timing our visits to the recreational pool during swim time, so he can play in the pool with a huge group of kids -- or not, if he's not feeling it -- and he can leave anytime, go over to the diving well and have the place to himself after the campers leave. Genius. So we spend hours at the CRC and it is wonderful. (There are adult-only hot tubs at both pools and comfortable lounge chairs and a sundeck at the recreational pool -- excellent for reading!)

It's a good summer, 2010, after a season or several of change. I guess that's what Life is all about, after all.

Joshilyn Jackson in Atlanta - Favorite Author Sighting 2.0!

Sherri Caldwell — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 16:06:15 +0000

I am very excited, and yes, of course, I'll tell you why:

One of my most-favorite authors, Joshilyn Jackson, has a new book out!

Not only that, she will be appearing at
The Literary Center at the Margaret Mitchell House
990 Peachtree Street | Atlanta, GA 30309-1366 | Phone 404.249.7015
to introduce Backseat Saints -- see the Rebel Review --
Tuesday, June 8, 2010 at 7pm.

For more info about Joshilyn Jackson's books, check out Rebel Reviews:
2005 - I liked GODS IN ALABAMA -- a lot.
2006 - I love, Love, LOVED (still my favorite) BETWEEN, GEORGIA.
2008 - Liked THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING -- the author-crush began.
2010 - Buckle in for a wild ride with the spectacular BACKSEAT SAINTS!

SEE ALSO: Focus on The Author: Joshilyn Jackson 2.0

Focus on The Author: Joshilyn Jackson 2.0

Sherri Caldwell — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:27:13 +0000

Focus on The Author: Joshilyn Jackson

[updated re-post from April 2008]

First of all, I have to say, in five years of stalking the woman -- professionally, of course -- and reviewing her four (4) fabulous novels, I've had some Love Her/Hate Her contradictions regarding Joshilyn Jackson.

I overwhelmingly Love Her and I think she is a supremely talented and truly original author. After meeting her in person several times, drinking with her and having dinner with her, I think she is fabulous: funny, animated, engaging and a really, really nice person. We have a lot in common, despite the fact she was born and raised in the South, and I wasn't: She just turned 42 in April; she has two kids and now four published books. I turn 43 in October; I have three kids and one published book (but I have a Special Needs dog, does that count?) So she's younger and she is a best-selling author, still Love Her.

The one, teeny-tiny, little, very brief Hate Her moment came early in March [2008], before the book launch event for THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING, when I opened the Sunday Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) to not one, not two, but THREE separate articles about her, WITH pictures, on one day:
Sunday, March 2, 2008 - AJC/Arts & Books
K1 - Her 'small' books grip in a big way
K4 - Southern novelist's latest story turns on sisters' relationship
K7 - Mix of realism, fantastic keeps 'Swimming' afloat (Book Review)

Can I just say one little 'damn'?!

The three articles were all glowing with effusive praise for her and all three of her novels, of course. Actually, that's not an "of course," because the AJC can be fairly brutal in reviews, so it is, admittedly, well-deserved praise.

There are a few things I wanted to share with you, from my obsessive research and interaction with the author:

She claims to be a "plot girl" -- she likes stuff to happen.
From the AJC: "I tell myself stories or I make up people in my head, and after a long time, some of them will become internally loud...Then, usually, some triggering event will occur to me: What is going to blow them out of their comfort zone and make them change and make things happen? Then I do that thing. [She calls this process setting a character on fire in her book discussions.] And then I wait and see what happens."

In person, when I met her at a book group appearance in September 2007 (not my own -- I crashed just to see her) and at the Swimming launch in March, I found her down-to-earth, sparkly, entertaining, engaging and funny. She is, as they say here in the South, a hoot and fun to listen to, fun to be around.

She is candid, upbeat. Her first two novels did not get published. She quit for a while. She was lured back by her agent while she was working on Gods in Alabama, finished only after taking time off to have her daughter, who is now five years old.

From the AJC:
"The whole thing with the first two books not selling, it's the best thing that ever happened to me, because I wouldn't have my daughter. I think I could've been published earlier, but I wouldn't have the career I have now. This is better. I like having readers. I like making a living. I like that I get to tour. This is better."

Another reason to Love Her was her answer to a question from an audience member at MMH about her writing practice or rituals: "I have children. I write when I can."

She elaborated: "I HATE writing, but I love to revise."
For a busy mom/writer, that is very helpful, and hopeful, too. I keep thinking about her explanation, how for her writing is like digging clay; it's hard and it's messy and so, so ugly, but then you have something to work with, to sculpt and shape and make something beautiful -- and that is the fun part.

Joshilyn Jackson Trivia:
1) How many books did Joshilyn Jackson write before she was published? TWO
2) What was the title of her unpublished novel #2? "Forty Dead Horses"
3) What was the original title of Gods in Alabama?
"Gone to Bones" -- the idea of kudzu, with secrets being revealed by the passage of time. The title was ultimately changed to Gods in Alabama just prior to publication when Alice Sebold's Lovely Bones hit the best-seller's lists and it was too close for distinction.

Rebel Reviews Summary:
2005 - I liked GODS IN ALABAMA -- a lot.
2006 - I love, Love, LOVED (still my favorite) BETWEEN, GEORGIA.
2008 - Liked THE GIRL WHO STOPPED SWIMMING -- the author-crush began.
2010 - Buckle in for a wild ride with the spectacular BACKSEAT SAINTS!

FaceBook Update

Sherri Caldwell — Sun, 23 May 2010 17:27:10 +0000

Oh, see now, my last post was complaining about Facebook...and this morning I posted a link to RebelHousewife.com on my FB wall, so that all my old friends that I have reconnected with in the last week can come visit and check it out...only to see me complaining about Facebook!

Of course, I didn't mean any of YOU!

I have trolled the Facebook in the last couple of weeks. I connected with my GCA (Georgia Cyber Academy) groups, which was the whole point, and my GCA friend in Columbus (hey, Tamee!) - she's a hoot, as they say down here in The South (capitalized) and a huge help with this homeschooling (kind of) thing. I discovered family all over the place, even my mother-in-law, which is just...weird. But a good weird. My 7th grade daughter Friended me back, which is very cool. I didn't even send a request to my 9th grade son -- as if I could take that kind of rejection. (Actually, having Facebooking teens is one of the best reasons to be on it.)

And then there is the whole high school crowd, from North Kitsap High School in Poulsbo, Washington (Class of 1985). I started searching out to see if there was going to be a 25th reunion this summer (there is) and ended up finding a trio of my very best friends from high school. Wow. For someone who has not been back to the past in 15 years (made it to the 10th reunion, but nothing since) and hasn't kept up, it is really interesting and wonderful to see my very best girlfriends, now women, with husbands and children and adult lives just like my own. I went so far away after high school and college and getting married, Washington State to Florida to Atlanta, I completely lost touch.

25 years later...it's a shock, it really is.

FaceBook - Not Loving It

Sherri Caldwell — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:51:59 +0000

I fought it for YEARS...but I am finally on the FaceBook and none too happy about it.

It is all so overwhelming: too much information, infinite points of contact and messaging, strangers lurking, inconvenient intrusions and the biggest potential time-suck I can imagine, especially for addictive personalities and compulsive sharers (I am/have been a member of both groups) -- no offense to my rabid FaceBook Friends who know how to FB and enjoy it, obviously a great deal.

I just don't get it.

I have already been contacted, "Friend Requested", by people I don't know, don't remember, don't want to know, don't want to remember and others I can't even categorize. Please don't be offended if I graciously "ignore" and keep this all very limited -- I am not on FaceBook to make Friends or Friends of Friends. I have no interest in the competition for number of Friends or connections or, god forbid, the games...that would be really, really, really bad for me, due to the addictive personality and/or tendency to share compulsively, which I have learned -- after 42 years -- is not always such a great thing or even a good idea online or In The Real World.

I joined the FaceBook for one reason only: to interact with my school community, Georgia Cyber Academy. FaceBook is, apparently, where it's at for the Moms, students and families who are enrolled in our online public charter school -- it is the preferred method of communication and interaction about school, activities, events and everything related. How it came to this, I don't know, but nevertheless, there, on FaceBook, I am.

Grumble, grumble...

New Rebel Review Posted

Sherri Caldwell — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 14:16:39 +0000

This week is a break, of sorts, from teaching. Since we have been homeschooling (kind of) 9yo Aspy Phenom through Georgia Cyber Academy (GCA), this week we report to an official CRCT site for the mandatory state testing; every day this week, 8am to Noon. It's only Tuesday, and he is already Over It: it's hard to get up at 6:30am!

"And they don't let you talk or do anything!" -- this is a level of Hell for my very active boy, but I told him it's The Law and we're going to get through it, with the promise: Saturday we shall sleep in and have donuts (of Dunkin') for breakfast!

Our CRCT site is in the wilds of SW Atlanta, at a technical college. The college is nice, but the surrounding area not so much, so I stay on-campus, in the building, while he is testing. Fortunately, there is a great seating area in the conference center, with comfy couches, good lighting and WIFI! So here I am...

For the first time in four months since I became a 4th grade teacher, I finished a Rebel Review -- and it's a good one, speaking of education:

Rebel Review - BOOKS: STONES INTO SCHOOLS

Welcome, Spring!

Sherri Caldwell — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:40:07 +0000

Test-blogging from the iPhone...
Mocha-the-Dog, outside of the tennis courts at Piedmont Park, not a prison!

iPad Mom & Dad

Sherri Caldwell — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 16:00:30 +0000

I am blogging on an iPad, which is amazing.

Conveniently enough, Apple released the iPad very close to Dear Hubby's birthday in March, so I pre-ordered for delivery on Magical Saturday, when the UPS trucks carried the specially-marked boxes to the masses, in many cases under armed escort, Brinks-truck-style. (It sure beat camping out in line at the Apple Store Friday night!)

So we have one -- a big one (64 gig memory), which I insist on calling the MaxiPad, much to my husband's chagrin. (They really should have thought of that during the name branding stage. I love the thing, but the name is unfortunate.). We are trying to come up with a new family moniker for it, since there is a name for everything in our household: The desktop iMac "Big Mac"; our GPS navigation system "Lois" (subtle reference therein, involving Malcolm in the Middle and 2001: A Space Odyssey). The current family truckster is the "Big Blue Deuce" -- I don't always fully understand or remember the references and antecedents myself, but I think that was a mash-up between a NASCAR homage (although we are not fans of Kurt Busch, the driver of the Miller Lite #2 Dodge) and the Robin Williams' movie RV (the "big [green] turd").

Anyway. We're working on it.

Not only has It eased the transition to 44 for my Prince Charming, It has changed our family, technologically. Although we admittedly have plenty of -- and perhaps more than enough -- screen options in our home, the iPad is in constant demand, and it's not just the novelty of a new gadget. DH and I constantly have to fight the kids for time on the new toy.

Hubby uses the iPad in the morning, to browse the news and weather from various sources. He has been transitioning, with the iPhone, from our old-school daily and weekend Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) to USA Today, which offers the best presentation and format -- on the iPhone -- of national news and also has a Motor Sports category (for the NASCAR news, of course).

USA Today has not made the best transition to the iPad (where the heck is the much-loved Motor Sports category?!) and there have been rumblings of moving to a paid subscription model, so we'll see...

Strong contender for news on the iPad: NPR, which Mommy now prefers. And the AJC finally has an app, which is useful for a touch of local news. Just don't expect much more than that, as our local rag seems to have fired most of their real journalists and editors to pay minimum wage interns to regurg(itate) AP News headlines, pretty much verbatim.

But I digress--

Mommy also likes the iPad as an interactive, easy-to-read, easy-to-wipe-clean source of recipes with pictures, which makes cooking easier and more fun, especially if I switch over to the ABC app in-between and use the iPad as a faux-TV in the kitchen to catch up on my shows. (Actually, who am I kidding? I don't really watch much TV and the kids appreciate that ABC app way more than I do. Now if I could cue up GLEE while I'm in the kitchen (not the new GLEE app that I am supposed to sing with, the real show), that would be awesome.

For recipes, I like:
AllRecipes Dinner Spinner
Epicurious
and the Crock-Pot iPhone app

I am also addicted to an iPhone game that is way-better on the iPad: Word Warp (kind of like Boggle). Don't even get me started. I love that game!

This is the point where I need to put the iPad down and go to "Mom's Mac" to finish this article. While the iPad is very cool and blogging shorts on it is totally do-able, this piece just became a long and I need easier document navigation and formatting tools to review, edit and publish...

(This is not even what I should be working on at the moment, but there you go.)

Asperger's Syndrome & A New Normal

Sherri Caldwell — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 15:59:44 +0000

Logging into my blog account today, I was shocked to discover...
it has been many weeks, months, in fact, since I have finished and published a blog article on RebelHousewife.com. Oh, I've started many thoughts, on paper, on post-its, in my head, in TextEdit and Word. There are several waiting patiently on the blog as "unpublished" -- wonderful starts about kids, Aspergers Syndrome, homeschooling (kind of), the teenager, the learner's permit (driving?!) and banishing the XBOX 360 from our home. There are others about books, events, recipes and cost-cutting strategies for family financial survival in tough times.

I seem to have a problem, of late, finishing what I start. I've never been a non-closer before and yet here I am...

It has been an eventful couple of months.

I actually logged on today to write a thought about Iceland and Vanity Fair and NPR, volcanoes and economic meltdowns and such, only to make this horrifying discovery. I am going to finish this, and fix the Twitter link on the website and then maybe I can get back to that thought about Iceland...

And maybe that's the answer. Why can't I finish anything I start lately? Maybe it's because, every time I start something, something else comes along to take my attention and focus. The constant distractions of life with a busy entrepreneurial husband, three children and Mocha-the-dog. I don't work outside the home. I can't imagine how I would. We no longer have the big house or yard to manage, having downsized to our midtown condo and our one-mile live-work-school-play radius (and loving it!). What excuse could I possibly have to be such a slacker?

We started this school year with three kids in three different schools: 15yo Puberty Angst Boy in 9th grade at the high school; 12yo Drama Queen in 7th grade at the middle school; and 9yo ADHD Phenom started the year in 4th grade at the brand-new elementary school.

Ah, there's another clue to what's happened: Turns out, our very bright, very ACTIVE 9yo ADHD Phenom is not ADHD at all (okay, well, that's a whole 'nother start that I do need to finish, kind of controversial). He has Asperger's Syndrome, which is high-functioning Autism, so he is our 9yo Aspy Phenom. Not a lot of people know what that is, or have any idea what Asperger's Syndrome is (we didn't), so I have some explaining and education to do on that point, I know.

But before I can explain, educate or crusade for a better understanding of Asperger's Syndrome, I needed to understand it better myself and live with it for a while.

* * An aside: If you are at all interested in Asperger's Syndrome, please read the wonderful letter Especially for Grandparents of Children With Asperger Syndrome by Nancy Mucklow. It is appropriate and highly relevant for anybody close to or in the life of a child diagnosed with Asperger's.

So what happened next: In January, we brought the 9yo Aspy Phenom home. The brand-new public school was on a shake-down cruise, getting all of their new-school processes, programs and procedures worked out. We were on our own shake-down cruise, trying to figure out and adjust to this new information and really-quite-remarkable aspect of our son -- finally, we had understandings and strategies that were actually working and helping him, whereas the ADD strategies -- including the medication he was on for more than two years -- never served him well. The school couldn't keep up, couldn't meet his needs academically or provide the structure and stability he needed.

He now attends school from home, although he is not technically a "home schooler." We enrolled him in 4th grade in the Georgia Cyber Academy (GCA), an online public charter school supported by the Georgia Department of Education. As a public school, the schedule and curriculum is established and GCA provided everything we need to attend school from home: books, workbooks, novels, math manipulatives, even all of the materials needed for science experiments! We have a teacher we work with, mostly online, who monitors progress and administers his IEP (yet another complicated issue for another time). We have an abundance of opportunities for social interaction, with field trips and meet-ups and activities all over, all the time.

And there it is: I haven't been able to finish a thought in months, or devote the time I used to have to lose myself in reading, researching, writing, reviewing or blogging, because I am teaching and experiencing the 4th grade all over again with my 9yo Aspy Phenom. It has been amazing -- not EASY, as this has been a HUGE adjustment for both of us and for the entire family. It has been a very challenging transition, but worth it to have the time and opportunity to work with and get to know this brilliant child.

Now then, that's not such a bad reason to be a slacker, after all.
I'm glad I was able to finish that thought.
I am hoping there will be more!