so greetings for the week from fred’s dino

currently, Nicole is busy playing Operation: Dinosaur – which is sort of like the game Operation except in this one you have dino bones and instead of a BEEP when you don’t get the object out, you get a ROAR!!!

Nicole isn’t that skillful at the game so I have plenty of time to write – sadly, little time to read – in fact, slacker now that I am, this is the first week in forever I haven’t finished a book…

“Boston Marathon” – so i’m like 470 pages in – 130 left to go – so I have failed to finish a book this week – and it’s ironically about something I actually enjoy reading about – oh well – sorry to disappoint all my fandom – in my defense, I am enjoying the book and I’ve been in no rush to get through it – I guess what I enjoy most about the book is every year since 1897, there’s been a success story – someone who pushed the edge, who worked and planned and hoped and dared – and it all fell together on one special day – and so I read every year’s story and think “how cool would it be to have a story like this when I run?”

the scrambled dino eggs were wonderful this morning reech-al – everyone knows you don’t have to eat “to go” outside – it’s just code for fast food workers to get your meal together quicker

maf

ah, sundays… 🙂

“to be a runner” – national news writer, current cross country coach, wrote a great book two years ago about the lessons we learn as runners – he tried to make the book appeal to a larger audience in that he said your “running” could be like “marching band” – aka, some other activity that you have to work at – that claim was a bit of a stretch though – people aren’t going to read it unless they run – so the book’s audience will always be small – and all activities aren’t the same – of course, maybe my metaphorical thinking is off…

“grave mercy” – ah, the book I told several classes about:) first, it’s a high school BOB – I just think I have to explain why I end up reading 500-page romance books about young girls who leave their convent to kill men – except when they fall in love – and then the guy gets poisoned – then, they have to unravel the French plot to overthrow their empire and save the princess so that they can leave the convent and marry their love – whom they rescue by kissing the poison out (that’s some kiss…) I guess from this book, to do a journal, I would tell the book from the guy’s POV – and learn how he can get such a great girl – in that way, this book could’ve saved my dating life:)

“rising tide: joe Namath, bear Bryant, and Dixie’s last quarter” – story of the 1962-64 Alabama football teams – and its quarterback joe Namath – and coach bear Bryant – and how that team and that player lived through a rather tough stretch in our state – as many books as I’ve read about Alabama football, I still actually enjoyed this book – I was leery going in – if you ask me to read a book about teaching sixth grade, i’d be like “why? I already know everything and you’ll just make me mad b/c the author’s won’t” – but in this case, the authors did a great job – and, as always with civil rights, I could go back and talk to my parents – who lived through Tuscaloosa and Columbiana’s 1960s

happy return to writing
maf

so there’s finals – sort of – this week – which is good enough an excuse to not have you turn in work – remember though, reading logs and the read six challenge for bama-au are due either this week or the following…

“miss peregrine’s home for peculiar children” – high school BOB – good book – read okay – if you want the recap, grandson goes back in time, falls in love with what might have been his grandmother, and fights off soulless vampire-ish things that want to destroy the peculiar children – all of whom have pictures included in the book – and somehow, that book worked:)

“jabba the puppet” – the new origami yoda book – jared is right – the books get better – in this one, the seventh grade kids try to overthrow standardized testing and its ridiculous “drill and kill” practices – while also surviving middle school drama from things like dances and such – always an entertaining series read

“college at 13” – authors from Virginia finished a study of women who went off to college early – what works – what doesn’t – I guess what struck me most about the book was how easy it was for most of the girls – you’d think a jump would be really hard – but for most highly gifted, what’s hard is surviving middle and high school – b/c it’s boring

i’m reading a running book now so live is good

maf

so it’s really, really dark now when you get up to run 17 miles at 4:30 on sunday mornings – just sayin’…

“newton’s football” – wonderful read for me and, more importantly, for the middle school kids I teach – basically, science questions about America’s favorite game – and very accessible for a middle school audience that might not know the reasons why things are they way that they are on the field – so great for gifted boys with math/science interests

“Bomb” – high school BOB – really should be middle school BOB – basically, a story of the atomic bomb – I’ve found adults that really like this book – which I don’t understand b/c there are better adult books on the subject – but none better for a middle school audience – with high school, eh, I just think they could’ve tackled something more on their level – or just with lots of cursing – that seems to be more high school BOB:)

“hate list” – wow, what a concept for a book – girlfriend of a school shooter having to return and piece her life back together – we all have those “face up” moments where we return to something we’d rather not – and the book is an excellent thought process of how you’d do that – so an “enjoyable” read

maf