okay, read two books and working on a monster one:)

“flapjacks” – something about them in the title – anyway, a very remarkable, well-written story about a british rower that overcame quite a lot to win a silver medal – and the unusual thing to me i guess, and to her, was just how remarkable and worth telling the story was – despite the fact we live in an age seemingly devoted to “winning” autobiographies – the title had to do with her mom’s world famous recipe for flapjacks (which was share – always a boost to have a biography serve a duel purpose – in this case, a cooking book:)

“game change” – story of the 2008 election – i read much of it during our delayed starts – and oh, how i’d forgotten some of the stories of edwards, palin, the clintons, and obama – well, he didn’t really have great stories – the others did though – very enjoyable book – i guess – on the other side, very disturbing book if these are the people we elect to office:)

maf

so the best think I did arts-wise last week was watch the 1970s musical “Godspell” – I’m a sucker for musicals anyway – and so that was a fun one to watch – high energy and everything

as for the reading, lots of it, just not sure how much of it was “great”…

“Christianish” by Steele – book about labels – and what it means to be considered a follower of someone – the author has a wry sense of humor so that was an added plus

“Nearing Home” by Graham – book on aging – on how to age properly – I think we all age – obviously – but Graham pointed out – very well – that we have a choice how we approach the process – and most people just tend to complain about all they can’t do anymore – the book was a great encouragement – made me thing about the old man I want to be one day:)

“Runner’s Book of Rules” – I got the awesome book as a Christmas gift – I read it in a day – it was that good – helped me learn that I shouldn’t go without a shirt next Sunday when I run Mobile – that’s against the book’s rules – but it is okay to pass gas while running in the group next week – that was okay – and stay away from ninja runners – I thought about wearing all black this morning so I could scare the running hobo in Chelsea park – but, alas, he wasn’t out there (or was he, and just in all black?)

“A Nice Little Place on the North Side” – YEAH for books on baseball – Cubs baseball in this case – Wrigley turns 100 this year – this book celebrates – and laments – the Cubs history – which is a good mix of celebration/lamentation

“Running Scared” – book on fears – and how to address them – like, I’m worried school will be uncanceled but this book helped me realize that’s a ridiculous fear – so there:)

probably four journals next week – so get started good people

maf

my money’s on rahracheel – Nicole parties too much, billy will be watching football, and fred will be, um, working overtime at the diner – yep – got it

and everyone be sure to post comments about fred’s jacket – I didn’t get to that one until today (see last week’s post and the last comment – well, last for now)

“love letters to the dead” – good high school book – works for eighth grade gifted – nothing terrible for younger kids, but I would wonder how much they’d get out of it – pet peeve? the “perfect” boyfriend is in the book – as is the phrase “all guys want the same thing” – okay, by that logic, the perfect boyfriend either doesn’t exist or else is very sinister – and all I want most days is a good bowl of Wheaties so what does that say about the rest of guys??? 🙂

“ruth and billy” – great example of why you always read the epilogue – when they’re included – oh, I forget – none of you read non-fiction – anyway, the best part of this book was after the book – the author, an older guy, commented that today is all about experience and connecting – that people aren’t interested so much in truth or prior knowledge as they are experiencing things and being a part of groups – and I see that as a very true statement of pop/current culture – so I learned something

“thinking fast and slow” – this was my proud book read – Harvard economist about the decisions people make – and how we tend to think fast about things – it’s our nature – and while that can be good – it can also be the wrong decision – for example, most stocks sold are sold at the absolute wrong time – even by professionals – in part b/c people are bad at math – and in part b/c we hate losing at things – so winners are sold much more than losers in the market – which is a mistake – my favorite part of the book was the brief mention about public education – that you have a small sample size so you can never trust edu stats b/c they will contain outliers until the school is big enough – a statement that essentially takes down all current educational thought – LOVED knowing that – will be frustrating not to share that one in meetings:)

happy new year

maf

so I decided to be all social yesterday and meet up with a group for a training run – and yep, six miles later, face down in the gutter with the skin off my hands and knees

so the lesson I learned??? running with people other than fred, sarah, and Nicole is rotten – and painful

“running free” – great classic book about the british miler seb coe – I think the book came out in ’83 – was basically wrapped up by the 1980 Olympics – I guess what I enjoyed most from the book was coe’s fearless determination after a bad performance in his first race at Moscow – he was written off – completely tossed aside – and he had the guts a couple of days later to get out there and win the gold in an event that wasn’t his strong suit – very inspiring

“Norwegian by night” – my first adult fiction book in years – I’m so diversified!!! anyway, an 82-year-old witnesses a crime – and his dementia prevents him being totally in the present, but his life’s memories and work help him protect a small child – all the while the police close in on the killer – really got good the further along one got

currently reading a great book involving why baseball players are overpaid – and why small schools both over and underperform – I should get a job with stats in education – but no one would listen to them

happy last-minute-shopping – if in doubt, yes, you definitely need to buy more:)

maf

ah, first grade…

so we didn’t get to my wonderful interactive site with sixth grade, www.todaysmeet.com/6grade, but the rest of the stories are up there right now for your last thoughts – www.todaysmeet.com/drmafeld, www.todaysmeet.com/fredsdiner, www.todaysmeet.com/thebirdisawaffle – I think I just put them in reverse order – drmafeld was eighth grade, fred’s was second block, and the waffle group is my first block group

“starting and closing” – by john smoltz – braves pitcher I grew up watching – big theme in the book was that of handling failure – that guys in the big leagues get there having never failed – and they have problems dealing with it – reminds me of gifted kids that have problems when things get hard for them – most panic and quit – so it was a good book if for just that lesson

“long run of myles mayberry” – gave it up – which is a shame b/c it’s set in boston and myles runs the marathon – but it was a bit too adult/mature/r for me – and that’s my pet peeve with fiction – something wonderful like the boston marathon and running can be ruined with talking about cheating on your wife who’s cheating on you – but still ends up having your baby…

“write on the bus” – from the national writing project – English teacher/soccer coach who had his players journal – I really like this idea of having kids explore what went right, what went wrong, after a game – and I’d love to do something similar in class

“the cancer chronicles” – made the ny times book of the year list – I could see why – good overview of cancer – how it develops – and why – and a proper way to respond – the tie-in to the writer’s ex-wife – and his brother – one survived cancer, one didn’t – made it all the more interesting

“the tao of chip Kelly” – coach of the eagles, former coach of the ducks – a book about his philosophy and how it’s just “perfect” – at least for this author:) good read – very middle school friendly – good for business people as well

happy final-ing

maf

yep, hard to act cool on a sideline when you realize fans are throwing TP down from the stands – it’s like “mmm, what a lovely game – TOILET PAPER – DUCK!!!”

i hardly read a thing yesterday in the midst of being at the game – still…

“capture the flag” and “stealing air” – i had the smart idea to read two elem BOBs this week – honestly, i guess i could’ve chosen worse – but neither was exceptional – that said, they also weren’t like 600 pages long and strange (like the high school BOBs can be) so it wasn’t that bad – and i’d actually recommend stealing air to most of you – it was entertaining – the flag book was just ultra typical – nothing new in it – but i did read it in a day – and that’s always a good thing

“yes, it’s hot in here” – great book coming out about living the life (the dream) as a major league mascot – the book looks into the history of mascots while also weaving personal stories about tryouts and life in the stands – it was a clever book – and made me watch Truman and Aubie a bit different yesterday

last week of journals in 2013 – i expect great things:)

maf

so this past week, I continued in my slack-ish ways and just read one book – technically, I finished another and read several magazines – and tried to work on scripture memory (2 Corinthians 8:7 and 9:7 if I remember right) – but I only count those typically when I’m slacking:)

“marathon man” by bill Rodgers – the last “haven’t read” running book I have that I had not read – really great book – Rodgers was underemployed, smoking, and basically going nowhere when he caught a vision of running – again – like he’d started in college – and over three year’s time, he transformed himself into a world-class marathoner – he won boston four times, starting in 1975 – and so the book reads well as a story of how hard work can bring us success, how we have a choice to become the best in us – and leave the rest aside – it inspired me – as my girl wendy does too:)

maf

so it seems like I was really, really productive this week in the books – dunno, I’m just awesome that way…

“flipped” – I had a girl give me this one to read – and one thing I know, you must read the books given to you by girls:) so flipped was read – enjoyed – it was cute – it was very predictable – it will probably lead to tragic misunderstandings b/ween girls that have crushes on boys who think that those boys, even though they are currently jerks, will change some day and develop crushes on the girl – and that never happens – you could tell the book was written by a woman – but hey, cute book about chicks:)

“notes from a totally lame vampire” – just creative and funny enough to keep me interested – and to like it a lot – basically, the story of an awkward teenage guy – and who doesn’t like those stories? he does transform from lame to awesome in the story, spoiler alert, but I think everyone would’ve been like “so what?” if there hadn’t been a change

“bro code for parents” – legendary book – legendary author – everyone should have four copies of this book – but maybe at like 18 – or 25 if they’re fat:)

“david and goliath” by gladwell – story of underdogs and giants – and how even though we think impossible odds get conquered every day, typically, the story is less heroic – there are typically logical reasons why the david’s of this world succeed – and we can all learn from those situations – to not have the pride and overconfidence when we’re in “our element” and to look for ways to attack when we’re overlooked – great read – the book got bad national reviews – but people can raise their expectations too high sometimes

“in the zone” Olympic medalist – two times – shared strategies of how to succeed in life – which he believes starts with faith in Christ – the guy had an awesome story – a story of overcoming long odds and difficult personal matters – very encouraging before I ran today – a race I totally rocked, by the way (ask me about my medal for bonus:)

happy thanksgiving – yes sixth grade (sarah b), you have to blog thanksgiving and black Friday – and during the iron bowl – slackers…

maf

ah, first grade on sunday mornings…

“running with the pack” – guys, when the important girl in your life takes a philosophy class, it’s important to read a book on the same subject so that you can interject randomly things like “you know, Spinoza might have been right about object-perception analysis” – and such and it sounds like you care about what she cares about – although, in all likelihood, she ended up in the class b/c Intro to Architecture by Ted Moseby was already filled – which is still okay b/c if the book is about philosophy AND running, hey, you still come out on top – even if you don’t know anything about what you read – even if it was about running – you know it’s bad when you’re reading about your favorite subject and you don’t even understand the book:)

“joy in mudville” – great picture book and companion to casey at the bat – joy is the relief pitcher called on to close out the ninth the next day for the Mudville nine – she does the job while proving that girls can play sports – although, the irony is that she doesn’t throw the ball at all in the matter of a baseball

“let me play” – I guess this week was my week for feminism – this book is in our room – the story of title ix and its importance in women’s athletics – women’s rights – really helped me remember lots of what I’d forgotten – and hopefully, lots of you will get to read this one b/c I have like 10 copies

“glory days” – let’s in the blog with a book about Alabama football – recaps important bama games through the years – I spotted errors – which always makes me feel smart – obviously, last night’s game wasn’t in the book (ugh… 🙂

so see everyone tomorrow – except for anna – our honorary nanowrimo CMS-er

maf

it’s getting that time of year – I wake up to my alarm – and Christmas music is playing – on the positive, it gets me up quickly to shut the thing off:)

“Raising a Princess” – By John Croyle – loved this book – even though I don’t have a princess of my own to raise:) just a great book about the values parents should be teaching their children – for girls, that they’re beautiful, they’re loved, that they are free to become whatever their heart desires in the services of a greater good – Croyle talked a lot about modeling behavior – that you can’t teach patience if you’re not patient – definitely reminded me of my walk before my students

I also read more in a book on traveling to boston – and a book on identifying sea shells from the florida gulf coast – both very useful reads in light of my adventures:)

happy novel writing, first posting, and other sundry activities you pursue

maf