merry early new year (i can only hope one direction kicks off the party tomorrow night on someone’s new year’s concert coverage:)

i guess this week answers the question of “what mr. mayfield does when he has a week off” – at least for this week, it seems he read…

“the prince” by machiavelli – like most literary references, this one really is a short cut that undercuts the references meaning – that is to say, i’ve heard the phrase “machiavellian” for years – it was supposed to mean a power-hungry ruler – the book, or essay, really wasn’t as large as that term has come to mean – for 125 pages, i definitely think AP gov’t students should all give it a whirl – what else do they have to do?

“institutes of christian religion” by john calvin – another great example of short cuts to meaning – calvin is always seen as a heartless early leader of the protestant reformation – reading his work gives him more flesh, more kindness – of course, i had an edited translation – i think the full work is 1,500 pages – that’s a lot of writing

“cost of discipleship” by bonhoeffer – bonhoeffer was a german pastor who resisted the nazi gov’t – and lost his life in WWII – great book about how discipleship means putting action to your faith – not just listening

“running for my life” by lopez lomong – a re-read – excellent, excellent book about running, faith, perseverance, schooling, poverty, government, refugee camps, adoption – just an encouraging read – makes me want to go out and run 30k

so congrats to the four of you that have earned the mega-huge bonus for between quarter points – i guess everyone else will fail – if you’re genuinely curious, we won’t have journals this week because there’s only a couple of days – but i guess if you’re working ahead, i will have you journal the monday of the BCS game so you might want to work ahead – oh, i did read notre dame’s game notes so i have fun irish trivia for anyone that wants:)

sincerely,

mafeld

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

i read two books last week…

“radical together” by my pastor, david platt – great book – even better when you can find it at lifeway for $1.99 – if you sat through the sermons, there’s not much of either of his books that are radically (pun intended) different – but both books are wonderful encouragement for a life that looks extremely different that current culture Christianity (much less the world)

“how music works” by david byrne – for a sort-of singer and definitely a band illiterate, this book was a wonderful gift this week – quite a bit i didn’t know – so i now know how record deals work – why albums are 11 songs – sort of – why music software creates the same songs over and over (basically) – why classical music is overrated – why music fits the venue, not vice versa – very good book by a very good singer/song writer/producer/co-writer – i guess if you’re in music for 40 plus years, you do it all

hope your week is wonderful – yes sixth grade, you must blog this week – particularly on Christmas morning – or else you’ll have zeroes to make up on the between quarters report card (oh yeah, there’s totally one of those)

maf

hope your final-ing goes great this week – and that you have time enjoy the week – which for me, will always involve reading:)

“the other kingdom” by price – very similar to “once a runner” by parker – except “kingdom” is older and british – the book addresses the whole question of meaning in life – like when you realize the activities that you do are absurd (in this case, running), how do find meaning? for the main character, it took staring that meaninglessness in the face before he figured out how his efforts, even in works that no one will ever remember, matter because it’s part of who he is and part of the gifts he has – the romantic stuff was garbage, of course:)

“dr. horrible: the book” – ah, what a read – basically, five pages of original work followed by 100 pages of reproduced material – still, if you wanted the sheet music so that you could play all the hit songs from a wonderful three-act play/musical/blog/podcast/theater work, it was great – best part, of course, was the bit from NPH (neil patrick harris, aka, dr. horrible)

“risk is right” by john piper – what if the safest, sanest thing in the world to do is to risk it all? excellent analysis – at 64 pages, more of an essay than a book – very middle school friendly – and good detailed support of the author’s premise

“the runner” by samuels – the one thing in a guy’s life that was constant was his running – the rest? he made up – like lying to princeton to get into school at 30-plus years old – like lying in colorado to people so he could live off the area – gripping story, i read it in two days, about what happens when genius goes evil – however, the guy wasn’t totally evil because he was a runner:)

i also read several magazines – as i always do each week – this week, i came across the same statistic – in both sports illustrated and harper’s, it was mentioned that 1/3 women and 1/6 men experience sexual abuse as children – the stories i read were sad – the statistic is sad – particularly when those that suffer from it feel alone

i hope you all have a great week

maf

yes, “take me home: the yearbook edition” continues to speak to my soul…

“glorious ruin” by tchividjian – wonderful weekend – or near end of the week read – on the question of suffering in the world – relates well with “multiply” by chan in that both authors have so much more knowledge of the subject than the reader – and yet rather than go on and on for endless pages (which is typical in a book – particularly when the book addresses an “important” theme) both writers are humble enough to keep things brief – to make edits – and that makes the work all the better

“multiply” by chan – he came and spoke at my church recently – it’s less a book than a workbook – and less a workbook than a journal – but it’s also so much more than that – having read two of his previous works, i was surprised that “multiply” was a bit different – i read the book at the right time too because i saw an article with the author in my Christianity Today that i read this week – both books above are definitely accessible for middle school audiences

“angels and idols” by hamm and “survivor” by de-vinner – the hamm book was fascinating – he was a songwriter who had his life turned upside down – for the better – because of adoption – hamm is a writer, a creator, so there were a ton of tie-ins to the class – i think we’ll get to at least one this coming week in blogs

i have a running book waiting on me at the library – so i’m happy

maf

so there i am, two minutes to go in the SEC championship game, on the bama sideline, tension great, and an (unnamed) espn anchor asks me and others around me “hey, have you got some gum?”

yes, i safely think he was the only one more worried about his breath than the game at that moment:)

“tragedy paper” – wonderful, wonderful, wonderful book – highly recommended for high school BOB next year – for high school-ers this year – for midde school (at least mine) that can deal with the fact that characters are older than they are – really enjoyed the way the book played out – some of the tropes (motifs) – comes out in january – get in line early:)

“erasing hell” by chan – book about what the Bible says as to the existence of something that lots of people choose not to believe in any more – good point in the introduction that if you do believe in hell, that should definitely affect how you relate to every one – every day

“how good do you want to be?” by nick saban – i’m sure my reading this book made the difference in the game – i probably should’ve used that as a conversation starter with him – or with his wife – or with his daughter – but i just sort of kept the awkward silence when i was around all three rather than spoil the moment by being completely stupid (for those following at home, awkward silence is stupid too:) i hadn’t read the book since ’07 so i was surprised, a bit, on the reread – he’s just more personable when you read the book – and the work does inspire if you are a fan of his program – inspiration to work hard and motivate others by putting them in situations where they can be successful – mr scott and i talked a bit late in the week about how to do this at CMS

i think we have two weeks before finals – so last chances to get in some good posts – and congrats and welcome back to my nanowrimo folk – you’ve been missed

mafeld