oh, the questions that keep me up at nights…

“not exactly a love story” – cute book – new book – YA – i guess high school – those are the characters – easily read – for some reason, set in 1978 – really could’ve been any time – guy cold calls a girl – the girl of his dreams – at midnight – and he botches the call (really, really bad) – so then he starts calling her every night – sort of an idiot stalker at first – beautiful lover in the end – ah… anyway, it wasn’t bad – read quick – and that’s all i can ask out of such books – maybe a high school BOB next year???

“i still believe” by far my favorite book of the week – by singer jeremy camp – it’s hard to believe i’ve known camp and his songs for longer than my sixth graders have been alive – anyway, his book is history – the reasons behind some of his songs – he was widowed at 22 – met, married, honeymooned and the wife came back with bad cancer news – all that i knew – more about his hope – how he got through it – i didn’t know – for 130 pages, definitely a recommendable read – and, of course, i had to download the one album i don’t have of his afterward:)

currently reading a book about economic theory – i suppose this is the last week of journals – so hope you have fun with them

mafeld

ps…

“For Julie”
By Mayfield

Three years of your books
and how to reply?

Three years of your ups,
three years of your downs
and how to reply?

Three years of Giants baseball,
of classmates in and out,
band/drama/Scholar’s Bowl
and then it’s all gone
and how to reply?

Goodbye – harsh, I know
for this was the reply
but this is also the end
and there’s no
reply to silence.

“long road to boston” – this one came in maybe the day after the attack – a fiction book from 1988 – weave of the 1978 (fictional) boston marathon and the story of why the guy that finished high (again, fiction – he didn’t exist) was an unknown competiting against bill rodgers – the best part was about the race – just a great glimpse of what that race was like back then – i could’ve done w/o other things in there – particularly with how quickly the guy got over his dead wife…

“off-balance” what do you do when you’re a gold medalist at 14??? i think i have eighth graders near that age – anyway, this gymnast, now 30-plus, had gold at 14 – and had adults that made her life awful – so rather than the tale of a self-destructive teen (although she did become this later), it’s a story of how adults can mess up youth sports so very often – and the way olympic teams are picked in gymnastics defies logic – except that we do it through centralized, undemocratic control (there would be a rebellion in track and field and swimming if teams were chosen based on one family’s control – grrr…)

by my watch, maybe two weeks left of journals – make them count
mafeld

nothing like “myspace girl” as lightening pops across the sky as you finish another sunday long run…

“the victory season” by weintraub – story of the 1946 baseball season – it inspired me to write tuesday’s poem on the blog – and it would be a great read for middle schoolers – gets jackie robinson’s first season in (white) professional baseball – the story of returning vets from war – as they restart their lives on the diamond – and much more – so it fits well with what you’re reading in history class – as for me, it was enjoyable – lots about the season i needed to be reminded of

“sum it up” by patt summitt – we’re journaling on the book this week – she’s an amazing woman – a great coach – good encouraging read for teachers – for people who care about Alzheimer’s and those it affects – one trivia bit i could throw at you is that Pat wasn’t Pat until college – she was Trish

“running the edge” by adam goucher – i guess i needed goucher’s first name b/c his wife’s the famous one now – anyway, running/psychology book – it worked in areas – definitely a fresh read from the “couch to 5k” books – the part about running after tragedy, i’ve done that and it was a much better recap of the experience than i could write

“moon over manifest” – not only do i assign summer reading, i even occasionally read it:) anyway, this was the second time for me with manifest – it’d been three years and i’d essentially forgotten it – i could tell last year when i was grading my eighth grade papers – the book held up much better than i thought it would – so i was more impressed this time around than previously

hope you have a great patriot’s day tomorrow

mafeld

wow, so i think the pollen count is high today…

“the secret race” by hamilton and coyle – hamilton was a famous cyclist during the “Lance” era – coyle helped him research and write – wonderful book to study with my kids – we’ll journal on some lessons beginning this week – basically, how long could you, could anyone, survive in a sport where doping becomes accepted? again, there a lot of angles we could explore – that we won’t have time for in class – but i think my sporting kids would love reading this and putting themselves in tyler’s position – as an endurance athlete myself, it makes me question things – and it obviously fits with all the material i’ve read from armstrong and others from that time…

and so that was it last week – which isn’t really true – i just haven’t finished another book – i’ve got three i’m working on – 1946 baseball year-in-retrospect, pat summitt’s biography (WONDERFUL), and one direction’s “biography” – i was about done with that one when i donated it to an unnamed – but very lovely – fan of 1D – who wonders if i’ll ever be able to finish the book and learn whether the z-guy – i forget his name – likes boxers or briefs (yes, one of the many “tough” questions the book tackles – i could ridicule it more except that it reminds me of my boy band books i have on the new kids on the block – who – by the way – released a new album this week – which made last week AWESOME)

i’m starting to write in all caps – like my kids – this is bad…

maf