nanowrimo update – like 26,000 words – i got inspired by brining my pop singer back into the story to read for small children – about a legend of someone who jumps a horse to warn others about the upcoming war – only to be hit by a pumpkin – so lots of allusions going on there if you know some of those stories…

for thanksgiving, i spent much of the week reading up on sales – kidding – i read about the only U.S. distance runner to ever be suspended for drug use – he admitted – for the first time – that he’d used epo about seven years ago – and basically opened up about it – it was an interesting read – just b/c you wonder – or i do – how many other people doped when things like that were harder to detect (still very hard to detect blood doping)

i read a 20-page insert on japan from the economist – basically, the country is getting old very quickly – and that’s had an effect  – everything from its now conservative nature to its problems with pensions – the north korea provocative bombing of south korea i found most disturbing as well – and tried to read up on it

started “the grimm brothers” collection of folktales – barnes and noble went back to offering free classics on the nook – which i find awesome – the grimm brothers book is 600 pages long – much longer than i thought a book of fairy tales would be – they intended the book for adults – guess they missed the audience with stories about red riding hood and cinderella and such:)

hope your first week of advent is great

maf

up to 18,000 words on nanowrimo – considering i wasn’t going to write anything new this month, well, i guess i broke that rule…

HAPPY THANKSGIVING WEEK!!! no journals this week – but i did want to mention what i read – before i forget…

“great expectations” by dan brown – story of a first-year teacher in innercity new york – at about the worst school and with the worst kids – made ya’ll look a lot better:) seriously, the book was very moving – basically, brown, a very talented person, was reduced to barely nothing over the year with a group of fourth graders (and lack of support from the administration) – it was sad, but it was also encouraging – and put some things in perspective

i read “teach like a champion” – it was okay – didn’t get much out of it (sort of the opposite from the brown book b/c it considered good teaching to basically be treating kids like robots – sad…

other than those, there were just odd and ends reading – border troubles in central america involving google maps (hint, don’t argue national boundaries with google maps), how mental illness can be prevented through prior help, and a major league soccer final preview (go rapids)

again, best wishes with thanksgiving – enjoy your family

maf

okay,
so i likely would’ve spent my time last week writing away BUT… i got a call from the library and got three books i’d requested – so it turned into a reading week instead of a writing one…

“american saint” – was actually in the paper yesterday – samford u gave it an award for its awesomeness – it was a good book about asbury – the founder of methodists in the united states – learned quite a bit about the role of methodism in early america – which i had previously known nothing of – asbury was likable as a late 18th century person as well

“a class apart” – should be familiar to you that read a chapter from it on friday – great, great book about a gifted high school in new york – i guess what i particularly liked was that the school isn’t a stickler for rules, and the kids excel (sometimes i forget that rules aren’t super important and not ends to themselves – i know, shocker…)

“an honorable run” – by matt mccue – one of the better books i’ve read this year – matt wrote about his high school and college cross country coaches – and the book was so good that i read it in a day – lots about running – moreover, a good book about what’s important in life and who’s important

nanowrimo does continue to roll along – i didn’t take a book to the bama game yesterday evening (if you were paying attention, you’d know that i finished the book – honorable run – before i got to the stadium) so i sat and brainstormed ways to take my story this week – and watched bama’s offense come to life – occasionally…

maf

so i’m pretty busy with my “battle of the books” story for national novel writing month – currently writing about a pop singer named dani (actually, her real name is danielle, but she was forced to use dani to be more “poppy” – or whatever you call a pop singer) – anyway, dani, like all good pop stars, has her songs written for her – and she needs new ones for her next album – which, they decide will be dedicated to the troops leading the battle overseas – patriotic and all…

as for reading…
“run fast” – about 150 pages – a reread – pretty good – lots i already know – but motivation to run fast, i guess – reinforced the importance of speed work to me – although, i’d overdone it for about a year – and the book has helped me realize that

“cc pyle and his amazing race” – wonderful book that a story in the 8th grade lit book is based on – in 1928, a promoter created a race across america – started with 300 runners and basically broke them down over the next three months as they ran 33, 50, 60 mile days – incredible 3,000 mile race – and they were promised money – and got very, very little in return

re-reading the book of matthew also – read sports illustrated (and it’s predictable stories about the nfl – shocking things like… nfl teams pass more today than they used to) – the economist – and my bank statement (okay, not the statement – that would be weak reading – but my bank company was bought out so i got a huge packet informing me of all the changes – which make no sense…)

okay, back to novel writing – also known as watching the new york marathon…

maf

so things will be busy with working on my novel – but i did do some reading last week – for those of you that are blogging…

“the gold standard” by coach k – duke u’s basketball coach – story of how he worked with the 2008 us olympic team to win the gold medal in china – good book – lots of lessons that are written to business people but that can also transfer to the classroom – like the fact that you have to create purposeful interactions in the room to get a class together and on the same page – things don’t just automatically fall into place

in other reading, i started the book of matthew, i read about the rise of turkey in the economist (the country is at somewhat of a crossroads in relation to europe), and i read in sports illustrated about what a wonderful pitcher cliff lee is – and then lee went and got beat by the giants – oh well…

sincerely,
maf