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

2012, 2012, 2012…

there, i’ve written it like four times today (including church) all before writing the instinctive “2011” – i’m so prod of myself – i’m ready to quit now while i’m ahead and go back to writing the double 1s…

“don quixote” by cervantes – wow, didn’t see this one coming – 1,118 pages of pure fun – at least, i told myself christmas eve that i would read it for a while – sort of a challenge book for the year –  then, somewhere, that challenge became “must finish book before school starts” and then that turned into “must finish book before everything else in life” – so needless to say, i was glad to finish on friday – and then, sort of sad…

the book is definitely worth the reading time of an aspiring AP English kid trying to get an impressive book under the belt for the summer – the book is considered the first novel in the west – it’s the first book with a developed fictional character – and it’s certainly lighthearted enough (my favorite part being the imagery of tennis in hell – and terrible books being used as the balls)

yes, they don’t make ’em like they used to…

regardless, i’m sure the page length deters almost everyone – it deterred me until i got it on the nook and didn’t have to tote it – anyway, that’s my impressive feat for the year and i’m done

“the accidental athlete” by john bingham – the title is a misnomer b/c bingham really was an athlete – he just didn’t know it – so no accident that he got competitive later – good read about running as an adult – in a world that believes you should only do what you’re incredible at – the rest of us must spectate, this book begs to differ (i do too)

“once a runner” – maybe third or fourth time to read the book – by john l parker – i guess the last time i read the book, i was really fast – now that i’m not as fast, i guess what i appreciated was cass’s commitment to the training – to the ups and downs of it all – also, to the ending of his two buddy’s running days – it came too quick for them

okay, now time for some dvd viewing – a “boy meets world” marathon followed by “how i met your mother” – from season one to the current… yea!!!

maf

so i’m sitting in service last night, and lo and behold, i get the ladies that are on their third church – and third service – in three years – always on christmas eve – apparently, they weren’t impressed with my church either (or at least, they loved it and just complained the whole time – which sounds doubtful:)

as for what i read last week…

“over time” by frank deford – i read the article this book was based on – good book on writing – on how sports and sports writing has changed over time – probably not for the better but it’s not like it’s going back to the old days – good things for the classroom though – things about trying to tell the story no one else is telling

“one year uncommon life daily challenge” – by tony dungy – year through the Bible devotional book – sort of as a discussion point for small groups – based on the former Colt’s coach’s life experiences – good material for a year discussion – would be great for a group of middle school guys to read through

“something like the gods” by amidon – review of how society has viewed athletics through the years – pretty good – particularly the early part (i knew more of the 20th century things) – the best part of the book was learning what a knight-errand was – all along, i’d thought ichabod crane was a knight errand b/c he made mistakes – but nooooooo, he was “errand” b/c he was pledged to one woman – i can know return to sleepy hollow next year and teach the story right

and speaking of knight errands and sleepy hollow, barnes and noble put “don quixote” up for free on its site – and so i’m reading on it – on it is the operative phrase – 1,118 pages worth – anyway, it’s been really surprisingly good for a 16th century spanish novel – the book burning bash was the best part so far:)

well, happy new year – but less than that… MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

maf

some people go caroling, some people spend time with family, some people run 17 miles and then run in a race in meadowbrook…

and then some people read a ton of books…

“the grace effect” by taunton – the author is a samford professor – he wrote about how his view of the whole question of the existence of God was transformed by the adoption of his daughter from the ukraine – great book for ya’ll on how government works (or doesn’t) in other places – and how the West is somewhat (very) different than the rest – or at least, used to be – would love for it to be a BOB next year

“wonderstruck” by selznik – good – a great follow up to “hugo” – the pictures and the story complement each other so well – and the afterward where he told how he came to write it was wonderful too

“the juju rules” by hart seely – the title is a misnomer – less a book about how to influence your team’s play and more about how the author came to his relationship with the yankees – ye alabama football fans can identify with his complex of ID-ing with a winner – and how to relate to the rest of the world – i think most of the guys would enjoy it for this reason – i did – and the older part of me loved how seely worked to get where he was a writer

“jennifer lawerence” by kohn – by far, the favorite this week by the students – i guess me too b/c it was read within 30 minutes – and will help me if i go see “hunger games” know who katniss is – i liked the part where it talked about where she came from – and how she worked to get where she was – the part about the dresses she wore to awards shows was lost on me

running is flying by richardson- combo poetry and pictures – well, wise-ism and pictures – great pick-me-up for runners about the truth of the sport – and the benefit of persevering – great christmas gift for your teacher next year if the state ever decides we can accept gifts again:)

well, off to next week’s reading – happy Merry Christmas

maf