yo,

so back to blogging for those that have been absent – hey, enjoy yourself… 🙂

“6 amendments” – by former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens – who, by the way, is like 90 years old now – but he wrote another book – this one, rather short – six amendments congress should pass to touch up the Constitution – clear things up so that judges don’t have to haphazardly interpret – i enjoyed the book – thoroughly – i’m a law geek like that – i guess the sad part was twofold – one, that congress won’t do anything with the amendments – two, that he wrote the book b/c of what happened in Newtown, Conn., two years ago – 20-plus elem kids die in a shooting and nothing much changes – that still saddens me – greatly

“factory man” – recommended from the NY Times top 100 list – story of a factory – a furniture factory – and its generations – including a current guy that’s staved offshore sending – saved jobs – practically saved the town he was operating in – just a wonderful book about the historical – and personal – effects that industry has – by the way, i don’t think i’ll ever buy from Rooms 2 Go after reading this book

happy return to school – may it be easy

maf

wow, lots and lots of rain…

“terrestria” – by some girl named reeves – i haven’t read the newly sent copy yet – tonight’s homework – i can only hope it’s better than draft one – otherwise, it would be a disappointment to read draft one and think “hey, that’s a great story b/c skylar dies” and then get draft two and be like “wow, that’s just not as good” 🙂 anyway, elves, curses, death, unicorns – really quality writing too – definitely needs to have some segments entered for the county literary competition this year – and all way better than…

“boys don’t knit” – having finished terrestria i went looking for something – and i, um, definitely got something – clever-ish book concept – boy lands in a knitting class – bit formulaic – like the bad guys went to the world championships of knitting to sabotage the kid – like why would bad guys do that – b/c they’re bad??? little off

“this book will make you sleep” – book’s basic premise is that our mental issues keep us from sleeping well – i could agree with that – fortunately, most every tip i was already doing – like sleeping 14 hours a day – ooh, nap time…

“duty” – this was my impressive read of the week – by our former secretary of defense – former president of texas a&m – robert gates – gates served under bush and obama – he was the first cabinet member to survive a change in party in like forever – really amazing story for many reasons – one, that he could enjoy working for both bush and obama – guys that lots of people like to make into total opposites – i’d love to see the department of education get $800 billion a year – and defense get what education does (nothing) – we’d have a different world

happy new year – early – maf

happy out of school (yes, sixth grade, you must blog all during Christmas or else you will fail winter break – and no college will ever accept you if you fail winter break…)

“a snicker of magic” – like another elem BOB last year – folksy southern book – the main characters are sixth grade – i would think sixth graders could enjoy the book – definitely elem kids – it was enjoyable – i actually contacted the publisher after reading it

“elvis and the underdogs” – not a great title/book match – the cover wasn’t either – but a decent read – the dog’s voice allowed the author to have a smart-ical character in the book – although, the fourth grader was really bright – i guess i’ve been out of school so long that i “forget” how cruel kids can be – b/c there were several times in this book when i stopped and thought that teachers/kids wouldn’t let the abuse go on that went on in the book – maybe i just live in a happy bubble world…

“organic creativity” – my happy bubble world includes lots of new creative ideas for the classroom thanks to this book – things like fantasy teams for Shakespeare, Celeb Duels

“nazi hunters” – closed high school BOB with a fascinating read – the true-life story of a group of men’s dedication to the prosecution of a nazi government official – who got to live 17 years later than the six million people he killed – the wheels of justice can be slow to turn, but they do turn

merry Christmas – of course

maf

so scholar’s bowl was a taste of awesome fun yesterday – big props to lil bri for hanging with the “cool kids” for a change

al michaels book – i think it’s like “you can’t make this stuff up” – maybe not – but michaels was a famous announcer for years with abc – for nbc – his book was a great recap of the significant moments of the last 30 years in sports – and in reality TV with OJ – definitely enjoyable read

“the westing game” – first time i’d ever read it – it comes with high acclaim – i’d always felt guilty for having not read it – as far as newbery winning, i get it – for 1979 – and it’s easy to see how many books have come from it – the psuedo mystery “play along at home” version thing – the underlying racism and sexism (really not underlying, just not noticeable to kids) gave the book more meat – that said, i honestly didn’t get the book – it may have been b/c i was reading fast – but the clues didn’t really solve anything – the plot was advanced by things happening – not b/c they were discovering anything – at least, i thought

“for the love of God” – by DA Carson – we’ve been reading through the Bible this year at church – i just haven’t mentioned it every week, but i’m done with the NT and 1/2 through the OT (that’s on purpose with the reading plan) – the devotional was through the church – and i read each one until i went ahead this month – to finish – it was certainly helpful for understanding passages – particularly 1-2 Kings and 1-2 Chronicles – and definitely my slowest read of the year at 11 months

i am curious, is there a Bible reading count amongst my bloggers? like, have you read books of the Bible this year, verses, anything like that? again, i just haven’t mentioned it – i figure there are others

happy finals studying

maf

yep, let’s just say that hello kitty stood out as a notebook up there – sort of a “which notebook doesn’t look like everyone else’s?” type deal:)

“fighting chance” – by elizabeth warren – most all autobiographies by successful women are good – the things they overcome in matters of sexism – family – warren’s story was no different – her takes on banks and lending was worthwhile as well – the stories about her parents and their poor health at the end reminded me of parts of my own life – but from juco student to harvard professor to US senator, she’s done a lot

“john muir” – founder of the sierra club – california conservation society – muir grew up with an impossible father – the detail that stood out was that at one point, muir knew all of the NT – memorized – and 3/4ths of the OT – amazing – but head knowledge doesn’t do you good unless you apply it – muir developed a heart for nature – and he fought to protect back when there were no regulations – when regulations got started – enjoyable read

“the nutcracker” – trying to catch up with the sixth grade reading – it was different than i expected – i would think the ballet focuses on the last part of the book – and not the battle in the beginning

game was fun last night – always is when your team wins big – happy last week of journals before break

maf

yep, back to journals – no more nanowrimo (congrats to the three of you that finished – remembered:)

here’s fun – the post header comes from where??? no fair googling

“choose your own autobiography” – NPH’s book – Neil Patrick Harris – for all the Doogie and Barney fans out there – not to mention fans of Broadway – very neat use of the choosing structure of the book – made everything unique – and very readable

“beating goliath” – baylor football’s art giles – again, a different structure-wise book – giles lost both of his parents – and his aunt – in a traffic accident when he was in college – they were coming to watch him play – for a while, he blamed himself – and football – for what happened – so moments like that are worth reading – you just get reminded of how every day is a blessing – and how you can appreciate others too – there were also fun facts in there – like one, baylor asked him no questions about his faith during the interview for the job – which i found amazing b/c of baylor’s mission/reason for being – another bonus you can look up if you need to

“how we live now” (please note, only detective will notice that this one is an addition – i thought i’d read more than two books this week – it came to me later) – book by a harvard scientist – who grew up in mobile – a book about mobile – it’s history – in words – in photos – in personal tales – in the stories of others – really a special book if you’ve ever spent time down there – and i have – and will be spending 26.2 miles worth in the near future

bottom line, happy reading – see you tomorrow

maf (the little kid running around chelsea park in his amari cooper #9 shirt this morning)

nice, pretty day to be indoors nanowrimo-ing…

“noggin” – high school BOB – the author wanted to explore what happens when it feels like we are out of sync with others – so he tells the hilarious story of a boy who has his head removed – frozen – and then re-attached when science catches up – it’s really awful – and part that all high school guys preying on Christian girls are gay was tough reading…

“we were liars” – high school BOB – i can’t believe i’ve recommended this book – although, i do think some of my students will “enjoy” it – it did read fast though – so that was nice – the twist at the end was worth reading – but it’s certainly not “stop everything and find this book – and read it!!!” material:)

mike matheny – book about the cardinals’ manager way of thinking for young kids of the game (baseball) – really a great book – some great classic lines in there from other great coaches – one is that champions don’t lose – they just run out of time in some games – that one i really like b/c i definitely played games – athletic and academic – when my heart wasn’t always in it – i think the older you get the more you do fight all the way through

“we should hang out some time” – non-fiction – unusual for YA – author tracks down why he made it to 25 and never had a girlfriend – of course, part of the early part of the book was me – very much a book i could’ve written – there was an eventual veer and it very much wasn’t the book i could’ve written at all – which made it sadder for me in that light – anyway, seemingly set up as a “what went wrong” examination, of course, the author figured out it was him – oh, and that all these girls had really been into him – and his religious parents were jerks for holding him back – okay, now i’m into a rant…

tough week of reading – i have baylor coach’s book on order though – and neil patrick harris’s book – so life will get better – plus, there’s my whole book – which is awesome:)

maf

so the kids get share time on sunday mornings – the faith trainers are encouraged to share – one girl/lady this week, “and i’d like to share that i’m getting married!!!”

yep, sort of makes, “i ran at the park on vet’s day” a bit less “special” to share:)

“i heard it on broadway” – an oral history of broadway – awesome book – a reprint of an older edition – which actually worked well b/c the people interviewed were in lots of the great musicals that transferred to hollywood – so getting backstory on it all was awesome – and there were some good writing tips as well – things about story – really enjoyable and recommendable

“history of sneakers” – great recommendation for elem BOB (are we listening li’l bri – actually, it’s not about ninja cats so i don’t think you’d like it:) the book would work well for middle school BOB as well but, of course, it’s too cool for anything like that – i knew most of the background behind adidas and puma, that it was rival brothers that split over hitler – and about nike – it’s start with runners and oregon and made up names to get into japanese stores – still, some of the links were new – and the design part was fun to read – as many sneakers as i have, a definite read and recommendable

“overview of the Bible” – two baylor professors – i was thankful it was short – something like that can be hundreds of pages – i realized once i started – but at 260, readable – particularly as it was intended – to be read in a course as the Bible was read – lots i knew – which surprised me – some i didn’t – which i enjoyed – for example, trivia/bonus: what’s the opposite thematic book to ruth, my mother’s favorite book in the Bible??? special prize for winning guess – i’ll give hints as needed – provided anyone reads this:)

may your reading and writing contain such fun – always

maf

there i was, watching the bama-lsu game – alone – when BUMP!!!

Mr. Kitty showed up at the window – with his paws on the glass – belly on the window pane – saying “Okay, time for me to go in”

yep, cats can sense when i game is tense…

“spurrier” – great book – biography on gator/gamecock coach – the ole ball coach to be precise – the pacing was very off with the book, it took 120 pages to get steve to college – and the the next 30 years went by in 60 pages before we slowed down for the final 120 pages to discuss the last few years at south carolina – i was glad the game my mother and i attended at legion field in 2010 was called “the ice bowl” – i think i’m still shivering

i think i didn’t expect blogs last week but since nanowrimo doesn’t work for any sixth grader – happy blogging (or as jordan refers to it, “bloging” – which he copied from sarah anyway)

maf

okay, first, lil bri is first for like – ever

(i would swap her out for all my sixth grade – in a heartbeat – it wouldn’t be fair to the elem teachers though – they’d be like “WHAT??? we gave those kids to you a few months ago – it’s not our fault they don’t read…”)

“the storm and the tide” – expansion of a sports illustrated article from years ago – there was a big tornado three years ago – before any of you were born – that devastated tuscaloosa – the book didn’t give much new information – it would be a good book for people though that are unfamiliar with the situation – and with t-town – saban – i enjoyed it though

“offensive conduct: my life on the line” – something like that – by john hannah – incredible player at bama – with the patriots – amazing story how someone with seemingly what everyone wants – fame, money, power – loses it all at 55 and has to rebuild – i do like those types of stories because we all have up’s and down’s – and the down’s – no matter how low – should never define us

“finally free” – michael vick book – again, you’re all too young to know – but vick was like the most hated man for a while in ’07-08 – he was convicted of abusing dogs – running fights with them facing off – the book really wasn’t super insightful – although, our pro athletes aren’t judged by their perceptiveness – i guess it’s a reminder that things catch up – that you might get away with something for a while but situations changed – it was a sad book

happy nanowrimo-ing this week – if you are…

maf