first things first – no sixth grade, you don’t have to blog this week – and if you do, i will take your points and put them in the salvation army pot… 🙂

as for my week, productive – way, way too productive in reading – i think i’m retiring from books – anyway…

“we’ve got a job to do” – by levinson – wonderful book – recommending it for BOB next year – story of the ’63 children’s march downtown (b’ham – not columbiana) – captures the drama and tension in the city – great adaptation to YA – well-researched too (interviews with those that marched)

“essayists on the essay” by klaus and stuckey-french – collection of writers about essays – which, believe it or not, some people think are the best things since twilight (in their defense, these writers don’t have to write five-paragraph essays) – i booked a few pages to read to ya’ll – from 400 years back to present, lots of good insight to why essays are special – and what makes them memorable

“making democracy work” by breyer -supreme court justice – great book after the first 100 pages – the court cases i knew but when breyer got into how the court fits in a democracy, the book got really good – he closes with an appeal to justices to work on educating the public – and i agree, such is needed

“idea man” by paul allen – co-founder of microsoft – and a billion other things (including an education site coming in 2015 that i’m most anxious to see) – the computer terms were beyond me, but his enthusiasm and drive for innovation wasn’t – he even mentioned the father of one of my former professors – but he ripped her dad so i figured i wouldn’t e-mail that professor with the news:)

happy final-ing – i’m going to work on my christmas cards

sincerely,

maf

kboss and online behavior online behavior – check it out – and then clean it up – all from the good folks at CMS… sincerely, mayfield

yes, one week until your gifted final (oh, yes, the final is gifted…) – so last set of journals this week – try not to cry as you type…

“Lincoln, Inc.” – book about how Honest Abe has been marketed, used, through the years – fits nicely with a poll i saw this week that has Lincoln ahead of Christ as “most favorable opinion” in wisconsin – people do love lincoln – at least, what they make of him – the book was mysteriously labeled under YA so i thought i might get it on the BOB list – but it’s a bit too dry for you guys…

“Graceling” – finished while i was stuck for 2 hours on the road to atl in traffic – decent read – not fired up to read “Fire” or the one that will follow – pretty obvious that the author wanted a strong female lead and cast for the story – which is fine – not sure how believable or entertaining the whole thing was – nice image of a king with a knife in his throat at the end – of course, he’s supposed to abuse kids so it’s okay…

“inside out and back again” – definitely should be a BOB next year in my opinion – saw that it won an award and picked it up this week from the public library – free verse read so it’s like “out of the dust” – good story about fitting into a different culture – moreover, about how to find your place in your family – and at a school – the tie-in to alabama made it extra cool

okay, time to post and get ready to help photographers for the championship game…

mafeld

so it was thanksgiving this weekend – i think – and i did a bit of reading…

“talk of the tide” by john forney – got the book when i was a sophomore in high school – read it then – so a reread after a bazillion years – enjoyed it – lots of sports talk that seems new really isn’t (for instance: the talk about bama playing for a national title while not having a crack at the SEC title isn’t new historically) – enjoyed seeing signatures of guys i met years back – good oral history

“drama” by john lithgow – barney’s dad on “how i met your mother” – the leader in “3rd rock” – movie/theater guy for years – harvard grad – very creative – very down-to-earth account of his life – good gifted tidbits about persevering – about dealing with success – about pursuing dreams

“the running doc’s guide to running” – something like that – anyway, the race medical lead doctor of the rock ‘n roll marathon series and one time doc for the ING marathon (new york) outlined basic ways to be healthy and run – and how to troubleshoot problems – when to see the doctor – great, great read – after reading books about injuries and running for years, this one actually had some useful info – and was helpful – refreshing read about a subject i know a bit about

finished romans and 1 corinthians this week – also finished my magazines – found an article in “the economist” about roundabouts instead of stoplights interesting – b/c there are roundabouts in my subdivision – nobody knows how to use them, but at least they don’t die in crashes b/c of them (like head on things at lights)

hope your blogging/finishing nanowrimo is great

mafeld

copyright – from Tuesday’s show – Happy Thanksgiving!!! Roll Tide, War Eagle, and shop ’til ya drop…

oh, it was a week to be a reader…

“mockingbird” – the last (yeah!) BOB for me in the high school series – sad – not sure what it’s doing in a competition – as i’ve been with most of the books – the author sort of ficitionalizes a tale from her life experiences – i sort of go back to my philosophy which is that being young doesn’t give you a blank check or immunity from tragedies – or from having things happen to you when you drink – or hang out with people who drink – or hang out with people who don’t really care about you (personally, it was the boyfriend of the girl’s roommate that bothered me – if you see someone leave with a guy and she’s drunk, oh, i dunno, WHY DON’T YOU ACT??? grr…)

“unsinkable” – better book – easier read – than the first – a biography about a 16-year-old who tries to go around the world unassisted – in a boat – story of faith – story of courage – story of young people doing awesome things – attempting great things – instead of just being in school (so yes, the lesson here is grab a boat and get out of my class:)

“behind the dream” by clarence jones – a MLK buddy – probably the last living one – jones was Dr. King’s lawyer – helped him on speeches – and he talked about the background behind “i have a dream” – great read – absorbing – will try to use parts of it when we look at the speech – whenever that is and with whatever grade that speech is found (it’s in one of the lit books)

up to romans 10 in the new testament – read about US foreign policy that i might use with 8th grade in the third nine weeks short response – read the history channel’s magazine and found a story of how the South didn’t have food – and so it lost the civil war – may your thanksgiving be happier:)

(and no, sixth grade, if you’ve read this far: you don’t have to blog this week… 🙂

mafeld

internet safety from Friday’s show

oh, well, i finished a few books but none were as important as “inheritance” – the fourth and final book in the paolini series

i remember being ticked off three years back when i discovered that the series wasn’t over – that there was a fourth book to come (after 900 pages in the third) – but taking inheritance in hand on friday, i was basically consumed for the weekend to finish it out – and as i read, i thought about what my life was like when i read the first three books – and how time has changed – and so with the ending of the book, the series, and the passage of time, there’s sort of a sad feeling now within me as i finish and look to whatever’s next

(of course, i still found the final book like the first three – impossibly long, very wordy, and at times very unrealistic – it’s like the characters will be in battle and say things like “you know, these runes remind me of the ancient city of blah whose founder blah was in love with blah who sacrificed herself for…”

anyway, so “inheritance” took up the weekend – but well worth it – paolini writes at the end that he might take the series up again in the future – and i’ll likely be first in line again to read on…

i read two nook books this week…

“leadership” by orlando magic (not that the nba exists anymore) GM pat williams – good book – will likely use a couple of passages in the book with the classes – williams is a prolific writer – and apparently reader of business books (he said in the book he’s read hundreds of them) – good synthesis of the seven habits of leadership – the characteristics seemingly contradict at times (like being bold but serving with humility) but williams did a great job explaining and using clear examples – again, if the rest of the nba could take a page…

“tarnished rings” – story of the olympic implosion a few years back with the committee and some of its lack of monitoring (which led to cities buying the rights to host games) – thoroughly researched – well argued – amazing that it’s been 10 years and how much has been forgotten (how much FIFA, the soccer committee has yet to learn) – a good fit with the leadership reading this week

so i’m off to cry about the green dragon and the blue dragon, eragon, riding off into the sunset…

mafeld

cyberbullying – T. Roosevelt might have said “Bully for you!!!” in response…

(Thanks to Nathan B. for the research – and prodcast)

mafeld

greetings!!!

“diamond ruby” – high school BOB – finished this morning – historical fiction from the 1920s in new york – a female pitcher who tries to protect those she loves – with a little help from babe ruth and jack dempsey – the book was dark for two hundred pages – the last 230 were much lighter – rather usual turn

“why read moby dick” – by nat philbrick – good book not just about a rather contraversial subject (most people, including myself, find “moby dick” very long about whaling and thus not so very good) but also about why we love books – what makes them great to us – to hear a book from an author i respect about why loves a book… great concept – enjoyable read – made me even appreciate melville even more

“the big dance” – book about the ncaa tournament – its history – definitely gets you read for hoops season (not that the NBA or the alabama offense couldn’t do the same thing:) – discovered plenty i didn’t know – lots i did so it wasn’t ground-breakingly new – or maybe i know more about college basketball than i let on:)

one high school BOB to go – happy…

mafeld