Movie

From the morning news – be safe out there!!!

early iron bowl news… bama leads auburn 15-12 in college volleyball

(this blog update brought to you by the good folks at channel 23 and the lone person in the world who is not excited about NFL even a little bit on sundays – which is why he’d rather watch volleyball:)

i’m going to try this week to spend as little possible time reading serious books – my attention must be given to the bama-lsu game – b/c what i do matters for this game, of course (hope coach saban doesn’t read that or else he’d yell that of course it matters, that my voice makes a difference – anyway…)

“the pathfinder” – a high school BOB – 662 pages of time traveling frustration – just didn’t work well at all for me – way too long – way too simplistic in plot – the antagonist was the mom – which was just wrong – and the people could go back and reverse whatever they did wrong or messed up – even see themselves in the future – which violated totally the whole marty mcfly space-time continuum lessons doc brown gave in “back to the future” – c’mon people, did we not learn from that movie how space works??? grr…

“divergent” – sorry to all my middle school kids that have read this book and LOVED it, but i read it for high school BOB and thought it was twilight – basically, a sappy romance that will lead to future books in a series (and a film) – on the positive note, i did like that it was set in chicago…

i’m working currently on “the plague year” by edward bloor – historical fiction from 2001 – post-sept. 11 – i’m a third of the way through and love it – no surprise there b/c i do love me some edward bloor

guess that’s it beyond the magazines and Bible – hope your week is great

maf

i read a book last week – yes, just one – took the week – “william cooper’s town” – read it in ’97 – my sophomore year at bama – you too can read my copy at the public library – anyway, cooper sort of modeled the 1790-1810 time period fairly well – and one of his sons became one of the first famous american authors – so it was a good read – good background for rip van winkle and sleepy hollow preparation – and good b/c cooper’s town eventually came to house the baseball hall of fame (even though the author pointed out that the town outlawed ballplaying in the 1830s)

of course, i read the Bible – new testament – luke – and my magazines – sports illustrated (two good soccer articles about why the US may have to wait a while to get better) – the economist (learned about problems in the ukraine) – harper’s weekly (in contrast to the economist, the article i read this week things that britain’s capitalism is destroying the nation) – and running times – some good info about recovery runs

hope your week is great – maybe last week of journals for some of you nanowrimos

sincerely,
mafeld

busy last week…

“all over but the shoutin'” – rick bragg – alabama native – ny times writer (for a while – maybe a full-time novelist now – forget) – it’s a high school BOB – good choice for the kids – good reread for myself – read it probably 11-ish years back – story of how to find balance in family and career – how to deal with where you came from as you work where you are now – i was impatient b/c i was re-reading the book – although, i did remember the basic outline of things – so i read it within a day

“all in” – chizik – good book – encouraging to find someone at auburn has faith:) anyway, i probably liked best the part about how chizik tries to be a good father – how he tries to teach young men – b/c i think that teaching part is what educators do too

“my life in theatre and other tragedies” – by zadoff – a high school BOB – finished on thursday – okay – basic story of two mismatches who fall in love (the star of the show and the geek-but-kind-hearted stage hand – oh, and how the stage hand overcomes grief to live again) – not great – but i’m sure some theater person picked it and loved it (i was a bit role theater person for a while so i at least feel qualified in not being thrilled over it:)

“darth paper” – cute book – very good – better than the original – if it’s possible – and it is – b/c i say so – good book about why the highly gifted struggle in middle school – they have to learn, sadly, to crush their quirkiness and be who others want them to be – sad but true – unless they plan on being lonely

“long distance” by bill mckibben – writer takes a year off at 37 to train as an alpine skier – story about endurance – about health, youth, aging, and death – really, really enjoyed the book – great insights – good writing

i think that’s about it – early in the week runs together a bit – anyway, have a race saturday – first one in several months – and since the marathon i was going to run was cancelled – and devastated me – this sort of provides a small does of remedy – then, on to watch the vols – or the tide – i forget…

enjoy the week,
maf

so it’s a great monday when you open your e-mail and see old students have posted to “ye olde blog”…

i took sunday off to recover from the bama game, from getting back at 1:30, from having grandmother duty, from running 90-plus miles that week, from laundry and the ironing that piles up, and from finishing…

“The New Testament in Antiquity” – two Wheaton College professors penned this book – sort of a guide through the books of the NT – giving you the history of the area during the time – and how scholars have approached the books – i was surprised that for a book that’s targeted to divinity students, it read well (lots of photos) and i wasn’t too lost – the factoid geek in me loved learning that the book of mark might have been written as a drama, that the word gospel wasn’t used for genre at that time, that the letters of paul were likely often penned with help – that was a popular thing at the time (not in a deceptive way that some people would interpret that today) – anyway, good read – but exhausting for a week:)

i finished the vanderbilt book last monday – i guess most intriguing was that vanderbilt made the last 15 years of his life really his lasting legacy – with the railroads – and that after a lifetime working with boats – impressive

i finished the old testament last week and read 100 pages in an AP English book – sort of a “how to make a 5 even if you’re a dumb middle school english teacher” edition – it’s good – the list of literary features and rhetoric things were useful tools i thought i might spring in the classroom some time

must go – english teacher meeting – three blogs this week for ya’ll – enjoy the day off

mafeld

okay, so we’re clear – this is one of those weeks that you’re not supposed to blog (i’m sure i’ll have sixth graders trying to – so don’t even try it sixth grade – i mean it:) i’ll block every single one of those blogs about your “baby” books – don’t push me…

“the last tycoon” by tj stiles – book about cornelius vanderbilt – guess what??? he was the last tycoon:) okay, so i’ve learned a bit more than that so far – i’m 400 pages into the 600 bio – it’s good – vanderbilt wasn’t studied a lot – he’s sort of lumped into the 1880s robber barons – but he was actually well before those guys – very imaginative – and creative – built an empire out of nothing – sort of represented the best of what america can produce – a guy that takes risks and pushes himself and succeeds – lots i didn’t know though and most of the names aren’t familiar so it’s slow reading

that was really the only book for the week – i’m down to like four books left in the old testament – zepheniah is next – read espn the mag – boston was the cover story – of course, the irony was boston collapsed this week – grr… at least bama is happier reading

enjoy finals week

mafeld

so i’m at the bama game yesterday – and their team elects to punt near midfield on fourth down and short – rather than go for it and try to get back in the game – basically, the classic move that says “we give up, let’s run the clock out – despite what cbs says – and get out of here”

and i look over – and the obnoxious two hog fans (complete in hoggie shorts) were on their way out too – very, very quietly…

in other news…

“the longevity project” – read this one last week and forgot to review it – stanford scientists took a 1922 gifted survey and looked at what clues to helping you age could be gleamed – the gifted project (by terman) followed the subjects over the course of their lives – which is rare – anyway, the book had some advice that went against conventional wisdom that you must exercise all the time, have a great social group, be married – oh, and be religious – anyway, good to read – funny enough, it was in large print edition at the public library – like, if you’re old and reading this, why do you care about delaying age anymore???

“molasses and glasses” – by ron clark – educator – founder of ron clark academy (for a creative, dynamic teacher, an interesting name choice for his school) – basically, he cares more, teaches more, raises more money in a day than i’ll ever do with my class – so i read with a HUGE guilt complex

“the olympian” by craig t. williams – WONDERFUL book – i harbored hopes it could be a BOB – maybe for high school – but a few details, language, probably keep it from academic competition – but a must read for all runners – a must read for all lovers of history – enjoyed the book – basically, a historical fiction about the details of the first African-American to medal for the US Olympic team – the book hits on contemporary issues for ’08 with great clarity – again, many audiences would enjoy it (young to old)

“battle hymn of the tiger mother” – marj gift to me for the weekend – better than i figured it would be – an account of raising daughters to be extraordinary – good exploration of how much to push children and how much to coddle to their every wish and desire – the first option isn’t nearly as popular, but it is the path to greatness, typically – however, few ever do great things – i guess i should say it’s inspired me to bring the hammer down in my classroom:)

read a few english prep, gifted ed, books as well – always looking for ideas

happy parade week – i’ve never been – does this one throw candy or is it just an excuse for high school kids to be themselves and for everyone else to get out of school??? i’ve always been curious

maf

so reading…

“geek girl” – YA book coming out in december – i think – good – more upper middle school – so 8th grade-ish – story of a high school girl who attempts to lure a “geek” to the dark side – and ends up converted herself – until the geek finds out why she originally went out with him – clever moments at times – i think most of you would enjoy it

“runner’s devotional” – combo running log/scripture/testimonials – one for every day of the year – probably best for beginning runners – most verses addressing “hanging in there” and “keeping on” – not so much the things advanced runners go through – plus, they left out cool verses like in jeremiah where God talks about running with horses – or rather how you can’t if you can’t beat your competition in footraces

also read “seize the story” and a couple of english lit books for class – nothing dramatic learned – unlike my espn the mag that told me about the security measures the nfl are taking at games post 9-11 – some good pieces in there for the 10th anniversary

have a great week – enjoy the fair – say hello to my mom (she should be working the front for kwianis)

mafeld

merritt’s view…

so i’m blogging this morning – instead of sunday – in my defense, i finished “colonel roosevelt” by edmund morris – that 971 page book i mentioned this week in class – that i started wednesday – that i was 200 pages into on friday (so, in other words, outside of going to church, cutting grass – all three yards – and watch bama – oh, and running – i didn’t do much else but read this weekend)

the book was awesome – morris, the author – started the series – a trilogy – back in like ’81 – i read the first book – getting teddy roosevelt to the presidency – about 10 years ago – when the second book – about TR’s presidency – came out – the book came out on hardback last year – it’s in paperback now – what i found interesting is that there are very few books about a president’s post-presidency life – outside of carter, most do very little – other than die:)

TR certainly had a hand in our nation’s politics for the 11 years he lived after he left office – including making a successful run at a third term – with just like 90 days – anyway, absorbing read – love reading about gifted indviduals (TR could deliver lectures on science, religion, literature, poltics…)

the other book i read early last week was “swing your sword” by mike leach – former successful texas tech coach – another gifted individual – great thinker – unusual coach (few are lawyers before coaching:)

well, off to teach – need “twilight” twins for wednesday (yes, i’m over to the dark side – complete with striped socks to match…)

mafeld