still poetry month – just sayin’…

“the radical cross” – by tozer – reprint of his work in what i’m guessing was the mid-20th century – he’s seen today as a well-respective Christian writer for conservatives – thus, he’s pretty harsh reading – that is, it’s not the lovey-dovey stuff – more harsh than positive – good intellectual points though

“mission high” – LOVED this book – reporter followed a high school in san fran for years – so instead of the “we need more money for public education” or “we need more tests for public education,” she reached the entirely sane conclusion that we need more time for teachers to learn how to be better teachers – to learn to work with kids – so teachers need more planning times – times to go over what’s working – and not – in the classroom – it was a powerful conclusion based on what she observed at this school – which was labeled a failure b/c of test scores – but a school that sent like 80 percent of its kids to college – really enjoyed reading the book

back to watching the masters

mafeld

you never know when your running habit comes in handy outracing someone to a tomb…

“origin: buffy” – how buffy got started – very clever comic – the artist took the original screen play by whedon and then applied it to a comic setting – b/c what happened in ’92, the script got run over by the director (happens in hollywood) and so whedon was so upset that when he was offered the chance to “fix” buffy later, the TV show began – so i enjoyed thoroughly the comic

“racing the rain” – oh, a great book – will be my recommendation for high school BOB next year –

“41” – w wrote about hw – or 43 wrote about 41 – regardless, it was a great read – w wrote b/c he’d been with a historian who said he’d wished john quincey adams had written about his dad – and it’s truly a good idea – the personal touches in the book are really neat – like that hw would devote saturday mornings to writing letters – that he really never developed enemies – that even potential enemies he worked hard to make friends – we could use more men like that

happy easter

maf

nature pauses as we pause – it sort of works out – except for my master plan of short shorts and workin’ on the tan this week… 🙂

“something in the air” – story of the 1968 olympics – most of which i knew – all tied together in one book – i guess what i’d forgotten was that the olympic trials weren’t the actual trials – the US committee later made the track athletes go to arizona and run at altitude – so people that had thought they were on the team ended up not on the team – which i find heartbreaking

“when winning was everything” – story of the 300 football players from university of alabama that fought in WWII – lots of stories of heroism – which, sadly, has gone unrecorded – so many men went off and fought and then never told their stories – this book tried very late to get stories from those men – and their families – the pictures of tuscaloosa during the war was interesting – really liked the book

“wright brothers” – orville lived to see the atomic bomb dropped from a plane – one of the many details from the book that i found amazing – he and his brother took scientific thought to a practical level with their planes – for three years, they built and designed and flew – establishing themselves as the first – they really had a less tragic time of it all than the way most biographies read – there weren’t dark secrets to reveal – their father lived to at least 88 years of age – great story of highly creative people

probably will have april as a poetry month – we can post poems – and lick them:)

j

oh, the perplexities of young adolescent girls and their knights in shining armor…

“not a game” – allen iverson – once the premier guard in the NBA – now, $150 million poorer – begging for a job from the 76ers – a compelling story – compelling biography – you know the kind of people you cheer for, who say all the right things – and you think “this time it’ll be different” – and then they go back and mess you up again – and then again, you give them another chance? that’s iverson – almost psychopathic – if the intellect was there…

“u2 by u2” – great book – great band – just the entries by bono about song lyrics are worth any gifted kid’s read – it’s amazing to me that such a big band could stay together so long – would take a lot of patience – humility

“running to the top” – old book from a world marathon holder in 1968 – i think he kept the record for about 10 years – it was easy to read b/c a lot of the advice is very dated – what was interesting was reading about clayton’s world record day – things didn’t go exactly right – but they almost don’t have to do when it’s your day – anyway, very good read

last week before break – yeah!!!

mafeld

let the bracket madness begin…

“unbroken” – a reread – from five years ago – about enough time for me to forget specifics – but remember general structure – wow oh wow were the japanese awful to american POWs – i don’t remember any of that being covered in history class – we just got US angst over dropping the atomic bomb – and over internment camps – but there was a level of viciousness that made the japanese look worse than the nazis – and how you forgive, overcome that – is a wonderful story to read – i’m disappointed that those that watch the movie won’t realize how “broken” the real character was – that doesn’t fit movie structure

“counter culture” by david platt – my former pastor – a good read – if by good it makes you depressed:) just a book about how to live counter to the societal norms we have now – the unifying tie with it all and the gospel in Chapter 1 made for good reading – some of the stats were very disconcerting – i’m always saddened by the choices of some people – and surprised by them

maf

i “hate” daylight savings time – more like “it’s really, really dark again in the mornings…”

“salk” – jonas salk designed the first large-scale polio vaccine – his biography was pretty amazing – he was not popular in the scientific community – they shunned him – thought he was a publicity hog – he outlasted most of them though – his polio vaccine became the US norm again in 1999 – and his AIDS research was important – even at age 80 – AND he has a cool institute bearing his name near san diego – field trip…

“peaceful neighbor” – mr. rogers neighborhood – rogers was a Presbyterian minister – and a peace activist – the book looked at many of the lessons rogers incorporated into the show – and the people that knew him – the book wanted rogers to be a bit more than he was, it opposed him with billy graham – president bush (both of them) – saw him as a visionary feminist – but overall, it was nice to be back in the neighborhood where “i like you just the way you are”

happy start to the fourth nine weeks

mafeld

yep, sixth grade – no journals this week – study for finals between snow/ice flakes…

“molina” – three catchers in the MLB were bro’s – they all three made it to the world series – the oldest, now a coach with the rangers, wrote about his father – the one that kept the field, was their coach – very unique book from a sports athlete – the oldest wasn’t the most talented – at all – he really didn’t take to catching and hitting like yadier – the youngest – so the story of his journey – and how he reconciled with his father – was a pretty great story to read

“even this i get to experience – by norman lear – who created about every good TV show in the 1970s – not that i was there:) lear writes about his father too – in fact, his father sort of dominates at times – lear is now in his 90s – so the title of the book is how we have different acts in life – and sometimes, those acts are repeat performances – and sometimes, they require us to experience totally new things – like the year i was cheer sponsor (true story – years and years ago)

i’m now reading about jonas salk – this is my big-boy challenge book for the nine weeks – anything with science, my eyes gloss over after a while

enjoy the last week of the quarter – i’m ready for it to be over

mafeld

super proud that dave was four minutes ahead of me in the race today

“encountering truth” – by Pope Francis – as i understand it, he “preaches” three days a week – this was a collection from his first year – little reflections tied to passages – the title was a good one for the book – what do we do when we encounter truth? ignore it? dismiss it? accept it, and if so, how?

“slaying the dragon” by michael johnson – the only, i think, winner of olympic gold in the 200 and 400 meter races – in atlanta – it was a typical book from a jock trying to cash in on success at his peak moment – usain bolt has a book like this – michael phelps has a book like this – i still enjoyed it – it was still well worth the dollar at the thrift store – just a good piece from the 1996 games – and the mindset of an athlete – which is a mindset different from most of us

“billy martin” – martin was the yankees manager five times – and he was fired five times – the author makes a point early in the book to say that billy was more than the comical image he was in the 1980s – which was when i knew him following baseball – it is truly remarkable the jobs he did with the twins, rangers, A’s, and the yankees – so while the book was lengthy, a definite recommendation to my baseball crowd

nap time

mafeld

if you don’t like baseball, i guess you won’t enjoy my reading this week – and shame on you if you don’t love baseball… 🙂

“in pursuit of pennants” – if you want to build a championship team, there’s been a formula since the 19th century – and that formula has changed as the game has grown more complicated – so in the 1890s, you could take a marginal minor league team, build your people, and eventually become an owner (pirates) – today, you have 18 people in “charge” of scouting – great, enjoyable read

“olivia” – great book on a “marginal” HOF mention – a definite hall of fame person – 1961, left cuba for MLB – didn’t make a team but the bay of pigs invasion kept him in the US – he didn’t see his family for 10 years – just amazing story – particularly b/c it’s from the twins – 99 percent of books i read on baseball end up about the yankees – in the ’60s, it’s also about the red sox and the cardinals – so most of the stories i read were new

“ballpark food” – oh, a great, indulgent read – you can get everything from seaweed to bacon-wrapped hot dogs dipped in chocolate – or something like that – lots of vegetarian options, which i thought was neat – but a great, fun read – should be a BOB next year

maf

guest starring…

Fred – Dr. Pinch

Amanda – Receptionist

Alexa – Luciana

Sarah – Nurse