wow, it’s all coming to a close for the third time this year…

i guess since i didn’t have to study like ya’ll (sarcasm insert here), i had plenty of time to read – i mean, what else was i going to do – create a wonderful final??? so here’s the list…

“the paladin prophecy” by mark frost – comes out in september – and will be a WONDERFUL series – if for no other reason than because it’s about xc – or rather, that cross country is included:) anyway, enjoyable

“our time” by scott illiano – high school coach – encouraging read about how to coach, how to teach (i guess just b/c that guy’s experience has been so bad with parents:)

“running” – genre-breaking book about emil zapatek – famous czech runner – originally in french – amazing story – emil was an amazing runner

“a cold, clear day” – bio on a US 1960s marathoner – buddy elphon – the guy went to london and taught and ran 130-mile weeks to become an elite athlete – held the marathon record in 1963 – at a time when the US had no distance runners – sort of a good read on going against the trend

happy studying

maf

ah, the pleasures of rainouts – or the misery…

(misery in my opinion – although, connect 4 is pretty fun – except when you’re getting drubbed by the evil mastermind cameron j)

i haven’t mentioned it, but i am rereading the Bible – try to do that once a year – started in mid-january – i’ve made it to 1 kings – so progress – just takes a while – my thought on that so far is that david did a bunch of things wrong to be a guy after God’s own heart – of course, israel had the same issue…

“talk of the game” – baseball announcers history book – great read – made me feel warmer just reading it (i do so love baseball) – plenty of stories i’d already heard – but plenty i hadn’t – particularly, the interviews with the announcers who do the spanish stations’ cast

“destiny of the republic” – story of james garfield’s assassignation – and the madman who did it – and alex bell who almost invented a device to save the president – had not the doctors been so dumb – great history read – didn’t know much about garfield – the writer kept trying to tie garfield into lincoln – but lincoln’s death was way different – and lincoln had eight years with the country – garfield got two months

“cc pyles amazing race” – reread of the 1928 race across the country – 70 mile days near the end – amazing…

“star wars” by george lucas – i’m guessing he wrote this to accompany the movie – he later got people to take care of such for him – this one wasn’t that good – like reading chris paolini (long on words and adjectives – little on substance)

got a few preview copies coming in next week that i’m pumped about – enjoy the last week before finals (which is the last week before break!!!)

maf

happy WIM week!!!

(Write in the Middle – not Walmart Is Mad:)

finished Musketeers, and then read a biography on Don Mattingly (who’s an awesome person – was an awesome baseball player and now i know the other side of him – at least, a bit more), a non-fiction/fiction self-help book (The Noticer – it came recommended – i’ll do well to forget who recommended it…), the president’s alzhemeier’s initiative (downloaded it to the nook b/c i wanted a bit more info than the news articles had on it) and Bobby Bowden on Leadership (by Pat Williams, Orlando Magic GM – great book – already been lent to someone – someone who’d better be studying state spelling bee words)

I go back to Musketeers b/c i think i was trashing it last week – the last 100 pages were okay enough to make me glad i read it – pretty decent classic – each musketeer was unique – so that was a good feature – and my favorite was highly gifted – so i ended up pretty okay with it – except that it was still very, very long – just can’t fit into a classroom environment – which is actually probably good for it b/c then teachers would llikely kill the enjoyment of the thing

hope your week is wonderful – i think we’re getting closer to “last journals of the nine weeks”

mafeld

okay, julie… “inception” has been watched – verdict??? it was great – thanks for recommending it

(the message to the rest of you people is if you can’t recommend books to me, then at least go with movies:)

on, to the reading…

“how winning works” by benincassa – we’ll do some writing this week on some of what the author mentioned – basically, that it takes a team to be successful – and the author should know b/c she’s spent 17 years traveling the world as an ultrathlete teammate

“tyler’s magic mountain” by ater – based on a true story – west virginia middle school wrestling team gets inspired by a kid with cystic fibrosis – quick read – would be nice for battle of the books

“leaving story avenue” by laRosa – best book i read this week – cbs writer now, ny newsman back then – a memior of escaping housing projects to fit into an entirely different arena – good gifted tie-ins

“rules the red rubber ball” by carroll – how combining work and play is key

“teaching in comics” – teacher rules in a graphic novel – LOVED IT!!! wish more of my edu books had been comics…

as for now, i’m working (working – and slowly) through “the three musketeers” by dumas – it’s not every exciting and very long (672 pages on my nook) – but i guess that’s why there’s president’s day:)

have a great week

maf

I SURVIVED 26.2 MILES AND LIVE TO SPEAK OF IT!!!

even more, i’m blogging to get you started on a great week – hope your journals are as awesome as my running (i have my doubts, you’re going to have to bring your A game this week to top me:)

“the world in your lunch box” – oh, a cute book that elementary BOB needs to add next year – all about the science and history behind what we eat for lunch

“that’s what i’m here for” – by a detroit lions linebacker i loved growing up – story of his wife’s 12-year battle with cancer – great story of faith sustaining you through life’s tragedies – and, how our heroes can grow and be more than we ever thought (and thus, really heroic in the first place)

“shattered hopes” – story of canada’s 1980 olympic team – good for middle school as an example of even the best plans of some don’t always work out – imagine working four years towards and olympics and then it’s suddenly taken away from you because your country is boycotting…

“prefaces to shakespeare” by tanser – got from the au library – i now know how to teach the three plays we read this year – unfortunately, we’re done with them:)

hope your week ahead is great – if you watched for my red bama toboggan this morning on channel six, all the more best wishes to you!!!

maf

so i’m running 26.2 miles in a week – no promises on a blog that day:)

wow, at the books i finished this week – in a somewhat disorganized order…

“marathon” by yakin – graphic novel (comic) about the first marathon – after the battle of marathon – impressed with the blend of history and graphics – must/needs/get for the classroom:)

“mondays with my old pastor” by navajo – we’re going to write on some of the themes in this book this week – so i won’t spoil the fun more than to say it was a great encouragement to anyone who wearies of the path ahead – and a great book about looking to mentors – or the wisdom of our elders

“painting the corners” by weintraub – entertaining book to get you end the mood for baseball season (not that i need more help:) anyway, short fictional stories set in different time eras – i had vol. 1 so i would assume when it’s all together that some of the stories would be great for the classroom (if it doesn’t tick off a football-obsessed world…)

“dead in norbelt” by gantos – newbery winner – now, i’ll say that i’m all for newbery choosing “safe” – not having to make a statement with the book – this was really the most “blah” i think i can recall in a long time – same basic plot as the last two newbery’s – so i’m going to beat everyone to the punch and write an award winner this year – just taking columbiana and a few back issues of the local paper to tell a mystery where a young person comes of age in like the 1930s through the help of the town – and some mentor-ish old person (that’s slightly wacky)

i also reread the ryan hall book – i love ryan hall – love reading running books – anyway, his book was about his journey on the way to the 2010 boston marathon – and his faith – great encouraging read

“shine” by myracle – bonus for the student who lent it out to me – captivating story – marj didn’t like it, but what does she know??? 🙂 good reminder that in a small town, you can’t burn bridges b/c the person’s still there – they don’t go away (but oh how we wish they would – well, there was that one student, trey – he left – but the rest of you hang around:)

happy reading/writing

maf

two weeks until mercedes marathon…

for those of you curious, momma made it 13.1 miles today – super proud – my hero

(okay, those days that my hero isn’t julie – or st. k – then it’s my momma who runs super-far:)

“back to work” by clinton – yes, irony that a president who doesn’t work any more writes a book about work – in his defense, it’s less about working and more about what the republicans (tea party) are about to mess up unless the world listens to him:) anyway, i’m a political junkie so it was a good, entertaining read – in our current state of “anti-government” talk, it was a compelling case for why we need government (for like, oh, i don’t know, DECENT SCHOOLS!!!)

(like spain park high:)

“chicago: a biography” – an auburn library read – very exhaustive, 500 pages of tiny type – so it took me most of the week – great read though – particularly if you’re going there this fall to watch the Cubs win the Series (ha – really going up there to run the streets in the marathon – and now i’ll know something more about the city than i did in ’09)

“once in a lifetime” – another auburn library read (odd that both came from there – but it’s not like people are reading down there anyway – there are trees to protect!!!) 1930s time drama about a trio that go to hollywood and exploit the talking industry movies – someone had recommended it – was okay – the great part about a drama is that they read quick (well, shakespeare doesn’t – but all other dramas do:)

got the newberry winner up next – hope your journaling is great this week

mayfield

what i did when i wasn’t running in the pouring rain, lightening, and thunder over the hills in mountain brook…

“comic books 101” – nook book – great little book – 280 pages to catch me up on superhero gossip – what i missed from never reading them as a kid – which lead to…

“superman archive: vol. 1” and “batman archive: vol. 1” – i then ordered and got both from north shelby (side note: north shelby library apparently is filled with thousands of comic book volumes) – both books are reprints of the first issues of the action heroes – pretty good reading – superman moreso than batman – but i like superman better anyway – that said, lois continually dumping on clark was funny – all batman did in the original issues was beat up on the mob

“my charmed, tormented life” by jerry west – we read a passage from the book in the fall – NBA superstar, long-time NBA executive talked about how he used basketball to cope with his brother’s death in Korean and with the abuse his father dished out – sad book – good book about the motivating force behind driven individuals

“maphead” by ken jennings – lovely book on the mysteries and wonders of geography – just about as good as his first book “brainiac” – fun to read books by smart people about smart things:) – which, in case the title didn’t make it clear, was about the importance of maps throughout time – and how that might be diminishing nowadays

hope your week of journaling is super

maf

ola,

first, ya’ll ain’t got no bizness posting this week b/c ya’ll are memorizing monologues of the ye olde shakespearean type – but that doesn’t mean your teacher can’t post:)

“the kentucky derby” by nicholson – great, great reading on an event 140-ish years old – i’m not a horsey guy, but the derby is THE DERBY – not that we watch all the same three channels anymore – anyway, the book interested me, would interest you collectively (would actually make a decent BOB) by using the derby as a picture of america – that what the derby was about at a give time was what we were about – and, to boot, i’ll never confuse kentucky with the old south ever again:)

“playing with a purpose: baseball” by yorkey – comes out in the spring – book about the faith of baseball players in The Bigs – of course, no cubs… anyway, gripping stories from some of those guys – incredible stories of how their lives have been changed – great middle school guy read

“giving” by clinton – library book – book on the power of a person to make a difference in the world – you get old like me, you don’t tend to believe in that any more so it was a good encouragement

i started the ken jennings “maphead” but i’ll wait until i finish it before reviewing – hope your break is wonderful and that you enjoy citing Shakespeare monday

sincerely,

mafeld

which is probably to your benefit b/c you will all blog better than me this year

(although, if some of you take the chance to post “i read all about LSU’s 50-0 win over Bama” i can assure you that your blog will not only be rejected – but i will be very, very upset:)

so let’s see if i can recall what i read before i ran 26.2 miles in mobile (i have hardwear for viewing tomorrow b/c i’m just that awesome)

“redemption” by bryan clay – us decathlete wrote about his troubled upbringing, his mother’s faith, and clay’s eventual faith – and success as a rather short decathlete – very encouraging read for athletes – encouraging as well for how faith can change a life – and how people can impact others positively – great read

“code name verity” – sad book – great book though – story of historical fiction friendship in france/britain during WWII – spy, prison camp, lies to preserve life, tough choices – the book covers it all – more a high school than middle school read – series things happen to the two main characters – but great late adolescent book

okay, back to laundry

mafeld