last week before finals – it’s all getting closer…

“the strangest man” by farmelo – book about a scientist who helped advance quantum mechanics – and several other fields – he was a theorist so he was more effective thinking about the ways that the universe should work – and then letting others prove those thoughts – than he was taking the work of others and drawing conclusions – so a highly creative mind – very interesting book – particularly the passages about the close ties between the government and world war ii (so far as attempting to build nuclear weaponry)

“Endgame” by frank brady – story of bobby fischer – famous chess player – conquered three decades of soviet reign on the chess board – and then fell off the face of the earth – re-emerged later a bitter man with highly racists views – and anti-US beliefs that probably helped lead him to an early death – very sad waste of talent – there can be such a fine line between genius and insanity – and the line isn’t always clear – i guess the question  – or one of them – with fischer is whether or not he was mentally sound – or whether he brought his ruin upon himself – the choices he made – it’s an interesting debate one could make with one who’s read the book

read a few other smaller things – an AP study guide for english (took me back to 12th grade – except, i’ve realized i’m stupider now) – two books on brain puzzles – and a book on running devotionals – by jim ryun – wonderful book – i respect ryun a TON (and loved the photo of camper ryan hall from ’06 in there – right before hall became the best US marathoner in a while…)

hope your last week of journals before spring break doesn’t make you cry too much – up to 26,000 words on my third novel…

maf

hey,
so after almost a year, 51 weeks to be exact, it’s time to back to montevallo for a writing festival – looking forward to my visit friday – i’m sure UM will roll out the red carpet – even though it’ll get rained on (it always rains, it seems…)

“hatchet” by gary paulsen – i know, “it took you long enough to get around to that book” – and you’re right – sorry that i waited so long to read a book that 90 percent of the youth of america read by the time they’re 18 – in my defense, it wasn’t that great so i wasn’t missing anything – it at least was a quick read – i did guess correctly that something had to happen to paul before it got to be fall in canada – because no one was going to survive cooler weather – oh, and i did guess too that the emergency kit would’ve come into play (if i’m ever lost in a plane, look for me walking back – my odds would’ve been better running/walking to help vs. staying in one spot for 50-plus days like paul)

“the walk” by shaun alexandar – i’m biased b/c i graduated the year that shaun did at bama, and i was a bama guy and went to FCA when he was there – but i did enjoy the book – basically, a short, practical, guide to living out the Christian life – probably what stood out most was a comment shaun’s wife had about him – that was true of me – that he loses 75 percent of people that he has a chance to witness to

“heroes among us” by jim ryun and sons – book about men and women who made a difference in world history because they took their faith to logical conclusions – it was a great, encouraging read – very inspiring story about a catholic priest that went and lived among the leper colony in hawaii in the 1870s – he was the only minister of any faith to do so – he went willingly and he eventually contracted leprosy and died of the disease – good story about what you’d be willing to die for if you truly believe something

guess those are the books – of course, there were other odds and ends but those are odds and ends – do hope your reading is going well – two weeks and then finals – hang in there

mafeld

yo,
consider yourself lucky to be reading this – albeit, a day late – i thought about posting yesterday – and that was about as far as my braindead (more so than usual) body got to the actual process of writing – same thing with reading – fortunately, i did spend most of saturday reading – in preparation for being wasted after running 26.2 miles sunday morning – so lest you think i was a total slacker last week…

“intelligence and how to get it” – i know, irony that i read that book this week – pretty good read – main problem was that about 30 pages were duplicated – and 30 pages were lost – again, irony that it would be in that particular book – but what i read, i liked – basically, the book echoed the thought that intelligence isn’t so much genes as it is environment – and what you do with what you have – i found the fact that i’m three times as smart as my grandmother thrilling…

“a steel drivin’ man” by nelson – book about folk legend john henry – memory serves me right, we have a story on the guy that died out-manning the machine in one of the three grades’ lit books – which was why i got the book in the first place – come to find, this university professor found much to support the henry myth – and the henry tragedy (he was basically a prison worker loaned out to the railroads – and died in that work)

“inkdeath” – i was waiting, b/c i’d been prepared, to eventually tired of the series, but i really did enjoy all three books – all three are long so you can’t expect to finish them quickly, but if you know that going in, i don’t think there’s much of a problem – really, the books are just beautiful – from the world that’s created to the quotes on books that begin each chapter – definitely enjoyed the series (although, the ending did set itself up for more – i’m hopeful that doesn’t happen)

best wishes in your reading,
maf

so tired… so tired… (yes, it’s like 4 p.m. – long day – already – no chance i see halftime of the super bowl – which is just a shame considering some old group – oh, wait – it’s the black eyed peas this year – forgot that it’s more contemporary this year – after a few years in the “post-janet jackson, justin timberlake” mess…

so i finished a few books this week…

“usain bolt” – i can’t recall if i blogged about this one last week – but the uk published a book about the world’s fastest man – i wasn’t expecting much so it was a great read – didn’t make me very fast though

“inkspell” – pretty good – got long at the end – glad that baska was killed – was it me, or did that guy have a problem with his knife??? first, he kept opening it all the time – i mean, once, and people will be scared, but if you flash your knife 1,000 times then it sort of gets old and people won’t be scared – then, there was the whole deal that he kept threatening people with it and they kept going “ooh, a knife, i’m scared, let me cave in and do what you want” – i’m thinking, hey, if you haven’t carved anyone in 1,000 pages, then it’s a pretty pathetic knife – but that’s me – but baska was killed so he’s taken care of – next up in “inkdeath,” i’m hopeful that the stupid author of the stupid world that he’d forgotten about will go…  that said though, i’m not in a hurray to start reading that monster of a book…

“the olympian” by brian glanville – really enjoyed this book – 1968 fictional story of a miler who runs competitively for the uk for five years – there were passages that were just dead-on about the experience of running – like one about the fine line between being an athlete and in incredible shape and then having a muscle pull that ends it all – another one about why we love the olympics – the competition – the striving and achieving – the pushing for more and pride that goes into the training – anyway, the book is dated (unlike me:) but it’s a great read – at least, i thought so

operation world – got through india today – lots of girls aborted every year because people want males – sad…

hope your reading is super wonderful – nap time – also known as bed time – for me…

mafeld

so i guess it was about time that i started reading books that you all might actually find in your own local library – can’t promise i’ll do it for too long though… 🙂

“the pigman” – i forgot this one last week – garrison reminded me about it – so anyway, i read “the pigman” – and promptly threw the book in the trash at vestavia hills high school when i finished – and then returned to school and trashed the rest of the books i had – for those of you that read it in a book group, my apologies – definitely a better read in 1968 than today – lots that doesn’t translate to a current generation (some of the more troubling things: alcohol seems okay and people are constantly called “retarded”)

“chickamauga” – battlefield in northern georgia – the current plan is to go run a marathon up there this november (when alabama is undefeated:) anyway, i found the book in the county library and read through it – lots of pictures to help me maybe appreciate the course that i’ll be running through in the fall

“mount pleasant” – story about a california businessman who jumped into education after becoming a billionaire – i could relate:) anyway, the book was interesting just for the novel ideas the guy had – too bad he lost in a primary for governor last year in california

“inkheart” – i’m not a fan of 1,500 page series books, but book no. 1 was good – i’ll admit that – looking forward to now seeing the movie – i guess what i liked about inkheart was that it seemed to be an author who loves books writing about loving books – and that’s something i can relate to

“usain bolt” – bolt released this book back in the fall – or rather his press group did – great photos – decent story line – you can’t expect great literature from current superstars so i was hoping for much – and i wasn’t disappointed

finished the new testament this week while on the treadmill – took about a month – the old testament is just too long so i have no real interest in going there…

happy reading!

maf

not sure why we’re going back to journals – i was really impressed with the monologues – the averages were really high – oh well – we can’t spend our whole time memorizing things people wrote 400 years ago (related note: watched dvds this morning before church and after running 17 miles – old series i watched in junior high – “boy meets world” – and the english teacher had the kids making videos related to “much ado about nothing” – about teens’ views on love – i laughed at the episode – b/c we will NOT be making videos about love…)

as for what i read this week…

“disrupting class” – business book on education – that is, three business writers looked at applying business models to education – it was an interesting read – primarily for pointing out the flaws in a lot of what’s written about classrooms – the part about digital classrooms was dead on, i thought

“school lunch politics” – fascinating book – basically, we didn’t get to free school lunches just out of the goodness of politicians’ hearts – it had to do with giving farmers crops to sell – anyway, the program has evolved through the years as ideas on nutrition – and kids’ needs – has developed – although, the guy that was in reagan’s administration that wanted ketchup classified as a vegetable was till out there in 1982:)

i’m now between books – i tried to crash the BOB party friday and start the inkheart series – but the first book wasn’t there – you inkheart people – is it worth my time? i’m hopeful

maf

yo,
short week – again – so three journals – as for me, the books were…

“radical” by david platt – my pastor at brook hills – sort of a book about his sermons last year – good review – and good book about how the Christian life should be lived radically (subnote on reading – i read matthew-luke this week as most of my magazines didn’t come in – i think they’re encased in snow in atlanta – so i had more time than usual to read other things – like the new testament)

“operation world” – a book that’s a ba-jillion pages long – like over 900 – the book takes you through the world in a year – and details each country and how to pray for that country specifically – of course, i can’t go through something in a year – i have to work ahead:) so i’m now in march – just finished reading about benin – in africa – the average income per year is $828 (that’s not a lot of money, by the way) – so the book is a geographic and spiritual help

“run to overcome” – winner of the ’09 ny city marathon and ’04 marathon silver medalist wrote it – inspiring book – read it in a day – great book about how you can overcome obstacles in life through faith – both in yourself, in good things, and in God – the book got me motivated to train again for a marathon – i just finished one six days ago so it must be good:)

do hope you enjoy the week

sincerely,
mafeld

greetings and happy snow day!

no, sixth grade, you don’t have to write on mondays – save your generator at the house for something else other than blogging – like updating your facebook page or something (“10:17 – threw snowball at sister, 10:18 – threw snowball at sister, 10:19 – cocoa break, 10:21 – threw another snowball at sister…”)

as for my reading last week…

galileo’s daughter – by dava sobel – galileo was, of course, a famous scientist, math guy – he got in trouble for supporting the sun-centered universe – anyway, he had three daughters – one that he was close to – who liked in a convent – and the two wrote letters for all their lives, back and forth – good read

choosing to see – mary beth chapman – awesome book – sad book – funny, at times book – chapman is the wife of my favorite artist ever – steven curtis chapman – and she wrote about her life – and the tragic loss of the chapman’s five-year-old daughter – now almost three years ago – very encouraging story of how faith can carry you through dark times (also, how pathetically little i’ve ever had to “suffer”)

the winner’s manuel – by jim tressel (coach of ohio state) – tressel gives his players a book at the beginning of every year – and he sort of modified that for this book – a collection of how to use advice from others to make good decisions – pretty quick read – admire tressel and his faith now – although, not sure if it’ll make me a fan of the big ten:)

i finished the david ortiz book as well – papi – red sox player – not that good – what do you expect from a current superstar (sort of like what it would be like to read justin beiber’s book – you can’t expect literary excellence from something like that – it is what it is…) – anyway, the book did get me in baseball mode (oh, forgot, ortiz did neglect the substance he was taking in ’04 that made him test positive on a drug test – go figure that that detail was left out…)

ran a marathon in mobile sunday before hopping in the car and making it back just before the ice/snow got bad – thankful for that – thankful as well to have run a decent time – might even have a trophy coming my way…

sincerely,

maf

wow,
where to begin – oh, i remember – with the books that you all like:)

i do hope you had a wonderful break – you were missed – sniff…

“catching fire” and “mockingjay” – i really shouldn’t put these two together – even though they’re part of a trilogy – because catching fire wasn’t that interesting but mockingjay was – to say the least – regardless, mockingjay was so good that i now consider myself a hunger games’ series fan – even though i really suspect that none of you would enjoy the third book – b/c it doesn’t end in a way that most teen fiction ends – things don’t wrap up nicely – scars still show even after the healing time – which is a reality of life that we don’t always like to be reminded of – so, in short, enjoyed mockingjay – too bad i had to go through two other books to get to it

as for the rest over the break, i’ll be shorter b/c i don’t think any of it is anything you’ll enjoy…

“my life on the run” by bart yasso – second time i’ve read this book – memoir from running world’s chief officer – yasso has a ton of stories about his travels through the years – liked the part where he talked about running helping you think

“right on track” by marion jones – great, sad story about an olympian who had to give up her medals and served time in prison – great story about the criminal system – less so about running

“rope and a prayer” – ny times journalist kidnapped by a terrorist group and taken to pakistan – learned more about the detiorating situation in western pakistan

“shakespeare’s secret” – thought about using this book for my sixth grade for summer reading – the book is sort of a clue-based book – good side information about shakespeare though

“cinderella man” – made into a movie years back – which i never saw (there are lots of movies i haven’t seen – sigh…) the book was decent (which is all you can expect when you’ve had a book for six years and never gotten around to reading it b/c you don’t think you’ll be interested)

“a christmas carol” – free download with the nook two weeks ago – short, but enjoyable – at least the second time i’d read the book – scrooge came to life a bit more this time

anthology of baseball short stories – a reread, but from like 15 years ago, so i’d forgotten most of it – like with most anthologies, some stories were better than others – although none of the better ones come to mind now… 🙂

“i am the central park jogger” – borrowed from the library – no one had read it – that i could tell – like with most books remotely dark, people avoid it like the plague…

“between a rock and a hard place” – another borrowed library book – and another one not read hardly at all – this time, i think b/c the subject matter was squeamish (the guy had to cut his arm off to save his life) and b/c it was about adventure hiking (it was a large print book, and most people who read LP books aren’t going hiking… 🙂

“san pedro de m—” – book about a small town in the dominican republic that contributes a TON to the major league baseball teams – the book explained why – really enjoyed the read (very ready for baseball and warmer weather – hope springs eternal for this baseball-loving boy…)

canterbury tales – read the prologue and the knight’s tale before today – i won’t finish the poem, collection of tales, any time soon b/c i’m definitely not that into it – read some of the tales my freshman year at bama – i still have no idea what i’m reading – even with the help of translations and professors who write introductions to tell me what to read for – guess i’m just cursed in that way…

you have three journals this week – if you’re reading monday – see you tuesday

maf

wow, wow, wow, how time has flown as one writes journals…

“grimm’s brothers fairy tales” – can’t remember if i mentioned that i got it on nook last week – anyway, it’s 600 pages, so i’m still reading it – although i got a good bit read yesterday at the sec championship game (easy to do when i could care less who wins:)

after, oh, about 200 pages, all the stories sort of run together – things are never as they seem, there’s always a set of “impossible” tasks that have to be done, and everything always works out happily ever after – while i like the stories and think they’d be good for middle school, again, the length is rather daunting

started “shine” by the newsboys – one of my more favorite music groups – the book is how to be light in a dark world – whether it means to call people out or to live a silent testimony – sort of that tention

as for magazines, i read SI’s feature on drew brees – their sportsman of the year – not much more i didn’t know from reading brees’ book – but still good – the article about the other members of the miami heat (aka, not lebron and the gang) was good too

hope your last week of journals is wonderful

sincerely,
maf