last week before finals – it’s all getting closer…

“the strangest man” by farmelo – book about a scientist who helped advance quantum mechanics – and several other fields – he was a theorist so he was more effective thinking about the ways that the universe should work – and then letting others prove those thoughts – than he was taking the work of others and drawing conclusions – so a highly creative mind – very interesting book – particularly the passages about the close ties between the government and world war ii (so far as attempting to build nuclear weaponry)

“Endgame” by frank brady – story of bobby fischer – famous chess player – conquered three decades of soviet reign on the chess board – and then fell off the face of the earth – re-emerged later a bitter man with highly racists views – and anti-US beliefs that probably helped lead him to an early death – very sad waste of talent – there can be such a fine line between genius and insanity – and the line isn’t always clear – i guess the question  – or one of them – with fischer is whether or not he was mentally sound – or whether he brought his ruin upon himself – the choices he made – it’s an interesting debate one could make with one who’s read the book

read a few other smaller things – an AP study guide for english (took me back to 12th grade – except, i’ve realized i’m stupider now) – two books on brain puzzles – and a book on running devotionals – by jim ryun – wonderful book – i respect ryun a TON (and loved the photo of camper ryan hall from ’06 in there – right before hall became the best US marathoner in a while…)

hope your last week of journals before spring break doesn’t make you cry too much – up to 26,000 words on my third novel…

maf

hey,
so after almost a year, 51 weeks to be exact, it’s time to back to montevallo for a writing festival – looking forward to my visit friday – i’m sure UM will roll out the red carpet – even though it’ll get rained on (it always rains, it seems…)

“hatchet” by gary paulsen – i know, “it took you long enough to get around to that book” – and you’re right – sorry that i waited so long to read a book that 90 percent of the youth of america read by the time they’re 18 – in my defense, it wasn’t that great so i wasn’t missing anything – it at least was a quick read – i did guess correctly that something had to happen to paul before it got to be fall in canada – because no one was going to survive cooler weather – oh, and i did guess too that the emergency kit would’ve come into play (if i’m ever lost in a plane, look for me walking back – my odds would’ve been better running/walking to help vs. staying in one spot for 50-plus days like paul)

“the walk” by shaun alexandar – i’m biased b/c i graduated the year that shaun did at bama, and i was a bama guy and went to FCA when he was there – but i did enjoy the book – basically, a short, practical, guide to living out the Christian life – probably what stood out most was a comment shaun’s wife had about him – that was true of me – that he loses 75 percent of people that he has a chance to witness to

“heroes among us” by jim ryun and sons – book about men and women who made a difference in world history because they took their faith to logical conclusions – it was a great, encouraging read – very inspiring story about a catholic priest that went and lived among the leper colony in hawaii in the 1870s – he was the only minister of any faith to do so – he went willingly and he eventually contracted leprosy and died of the disease – good story about what you’d be willing to die for if you truly believe something

guess those are the books – of course, there were other odds and ends but those are odds and ends – do hope your reading is going well – two weeks and then finals – hang in there

mafeld

yo,
consider yourself lucky to be reading this – albeit, a day late – i thought about posting yesterday – and that was about as far as my braindead (more so than usual) body got to the actual process of writing – same thing with reading – fortunately, i did spend most of saturday reading – in preparation for being wasted after running 26.2 miles sunday morning – so lest you think i was a total slacker last week…

“intelligence and how to get it” – i know, irony that i read that book this week – pretty good read – main problem was that about 30 pages were duplicated – and 30 pages were lost – again, irony that it would be in that particular book – but what i read, i liked – basically, the book echoed the thought that intelligence isn’t so much genes as it is environment – and what you do with what you have – i found the fact that i’m three times as smart as my grandmother thrilling…

“a steel drivin’ man” by nelson – book about folk legend john henry – memory serves me right, we have a story on the guy that died out-manning the machine in one of the three grades’ lit books – which was why i got the book in the first place – come to find, this university professor found much to support the henry myth – and the henry tragedy (he was basically a prison worker loaned out to the railroads – and died in that work)

“inkdeath” – i was waiting, b/c i’d been prepared, to eventually tired of the series, but i really did enjoy all three books – all three are long so you can’t expect to finish them quickly, but if you know that going in, i don’t think there’s much of a problem – really, the books are just beautiful – from the world that’s created to the quotes on books that begin each chapter – definitely enjoyed the series (although, the ending did set itself up for more – i’m hopeful that doesn’t happen)

best wishes in your reading,
maf

so tired… so tired… (yes, it’s like 4 p.m. – long day – already – no chance i see halftime of the super bowl – which is just a shame considering some old group – oh, wait – it’s the black eyed peas this year – forgot that it’s more contemporary this year – after a few years in the “post-janet jackson, justin timberlake” mess…

so i finished a few books this week…

“usain bolt” – i can’t recall if i blogged about this one last week – but the uk published a book about the world’s fastest man – i wasn’t expecting much so it was a great read – didn’t make me very fast though

“inkspell” – pretty good – got long at the end – glad that baska was killed – was it me, or did that guy have a problem with his knife??? first, he kept opening it all the time – i mean, once, and people will be scared, but if you flash your knife 1,000 times then it sort of gets old and people won’t be scared – then, there was the whole deal that he kept threatening people with it and they kept going “ooh, a knife, i’m scared, let me cave in and do what you want” – i’m thinking, hey, if you haven’t carved anyone in 1,000 pages, then it’s a pretty pathetic knife – but that’s me – but baska was killed so he’s taken care of – next up in “inkdeath,” i’m hopeful that the stupid author of the stupid world that he’d forgotten about will go…  that said though, i’m not in a hurray to start reading that monster of a book…

“the olympian” by brian glanville – really enjoyed this book – 1968 fictional story of a miler who runs competitively for the uk for five years – there were passages that were just dead-on about the experience of running – like one about the fine line between being an athlete and in incredible shape and then having a muscle pull that ends it all – another one about why we love the olympics – the competition – the striving and achieving – the pushing for more and pride that goes into the training – anyway, the book is dated (unlike me:) but it’s a great read – at least, i thought so

operation world – got through india today – lots of girls aborted every year because people want males – sad…

hope your reading is super wonderful – nap time – also known as bed time – for me…

mafeld