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

nanowrimo update – like 26,000 words – i got inspired by brining my pop singer back into the story to read for small children – about a legend of someone who jumps a horse to warn others about the upcoming war – only to be hit by a pumpkin – so lots of allusions going on there if you know some of those stories…

for thanksgiving, i spent much of the week reading up on sales – kidding – i read about the only U.S. distance runner to ever be suspended for drug use – he admitted – for the first time – that he’d used epo about seven years ago – and basically opened up about it – it was an interesting read – just b/c you wonder – or i do – how many other people doped when things like that were harder to detect (still very hard to detect blood doping)

i read a 20-page insert on japan from the economist – basically, the country is getting old very quickly – and that’s had an effect  – everything from its now conservative nature to its problems with pensions – the north korea provocative bombing of south korea i found most disturbing as well – and tried to read up on it

started “the grimm brothers” collection of folktales – barnes and noble went back to offering free classics on the nook – which i find awesome – the grimm brothers book is 600 pages long – much longer than i thought a book of fairy tales would be – they intended the book for adults – guess they missed the audience with stories about red riding hood and cinderella and such:)

hope your first week of advent is great

maf