Dear peoples,
hope you’re having a good weekend – or good week – whenever you read this (except for if you’re reading this Christmas Day – in which case, STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER AND GO SEE WHAT SANTA LEFT YOU – honestly, some people…)

let’s see, last week i read…

“justice: what’s the right thing to do?” by sandel – great book – enjoyed it a ton – written by a professor at harvard – lots of topics and matters i’d studied in high school debate – sandel brought in real-world examples which made the book all that more enjoyable

i’ve now started “dracula” by stoker – it’s pretty good, 100 pages in – sort of like frankenstein – peoople were more easily scared back then, i guess:) anyway, the book is told through the POVs of different characters – dracula sort of comes and goes – he’s currently at castle dracula in transylvania with his three women – i think he’s coming to london soon though in the book

in magazines, i read about the cincy reds and how they plan to win the NL central (by playing the cubs as often as they can) – i’m also reading all my alabama articles from the b’ham news (the article about the groundskeeper today and the nutritionist yesterday were both interesting reads) – i read the book of genesis last week – pretty bloody opening round book of the Bible…

hope your reading goes well

sincerely,
maf

yo,
happy week before football!!! or, i guess for the band kids, happy week of football – or something like that…

finished the fitzgerald book – the poor couple who were waiting for granddad to die so they could get his money ended up destroying their lives – and on the last appeal, did get the money – it was too late though – the man had gone psycho – lesson i learned is you’ll wasted your life away waiting for grandmother’s money… 🙂

started walden by henry david thoreau – i’m about 1/2 way through – the book is sort of disappointing  – like i read it in college and liked it – now, i’m like “who’s this 30-year-old that supposedly solved all of life’s problems – and reached solutions different than anyone else had ever reached – what made him so smart?”

over the weekend – okay, like friday – i read “out of my mind” – by sharon draper – second book in the BOB series i’ve read – it was good – would make a wonderful complement to rules by cynthia lord – i wasn’t that surprised by the book – i sort of saw the twist coming at the end – so yeah for me, i guess…

finished most of the minor prophets this week – zechariah is waaaaaaaay different than the rest of them – much more like revelation – angel of death and such – i also read about the saban movie coming to theaters this friday – i’m thinking road trip

oh, mockingjay comes out this week too – for those that care… 🙂

happy reading,
maf

howdy!!!

well, the summer/fall has come upon us again – time to get some journals started…

“hunchback of notre dame” – i read this on the nook – 570 pages of fun – pretty slow reading – took nearly a week – what i found interesting was that the main character was the building – the cathedral at notre dame – the book was a bit like moby dick in that there was a ton of detail about things i didn’t know about (in this case, architecture)

“teach outrageously” – teaching book – basically, the book taught about how to be a teacher that dresses up and dramatizes things for the students – sorry, i wasn’t inspired to make the switch

“the gollywhopper games” – cute book – sort of charlie and the chocolate factory in the 21st century – some of the puzzles i got, most of them, i didn’t – i thought the wrong person won the contest though – the girl beat the main character in every race but the last one – how’s that fair???

“the beautiful” by f. scott fitzgerald – also on nook – nook’s theme for barnes and noble classics this week is “tear jerkers” – strangely enough, this book isn’t one – it’s basically about two people who desperately want to be rich (they keep waiting for the guy’s grandfather to die and give them money) and when that doesn’t work out, their lives fall apart – poor, poor people who want to be rich… again, the book is written to sort of condemn that lifestyle – tragically enough, the main character went down the same path in his life (we can put him in the “creative genius who destroys his life” hall of fame that includes several others)

i also read about uganda, alabama football, and the book of ezekiel (the valley of dry bones) – guess those are the highlights – anyway, happy reading

sincerely,
maf

Because you’re never too old to learn new things, right??? let me know if it works…

sincerely,
the b’day boy (plus one day) mafeld

A5 Starter Notebook Page 1

one week-ish and counting…

“phantom of the opera” – awesome little classic – different from the play/video – no music, of course – story though of genius and gifts – and how to fit into a world that doesn’t make room for you – hauntingly beautiful – really, really enjoying the story (1/2 through) – oh, and i’m reading it on nook – so thanks barnes and noble

“paradise regained” – another nook read – john milton – very good – had read paradise lost twice – basically, this story tells the tell of christ in the desert and the temptations of satan – milton adds details to enhance the story – very well done

“dealing with intensity” – i think – i forget the exact title – but a book about gifted kids and their intensities – what they get excited about – i couldn’t relate b/c i never get excited about a thing… 🙂 i took good notes – the parts about gifted adults i thought of running off just so that ya’ll knew what you had to look forward to…

“conversations with america’s best teachers” – disappointing – i guess when you have that title, you expect the best – just a q and a with teachers of the year – and i wasn’t that impressed with what they had to say – other than their enthusiasm was encouraging

also read christianity today, the book of isaiah, july 09 edition of an english magazine (how to bring fun back to the english classroom), and a myriad of other small things

hope summer reading is coming to a close in a bang-smackingly awesome way – or that you’ve found a way to be gone from class for the next few weeks…

sincerely,

maf

dear gifted dears,

hope you’re well – two weeks – sniff:( i know you’re all very sad…

congrats to kaitlin b for winning the prize of first to blog this summer – not only does she win an A for the year, she also will get first dibs on our nook in the classroom

what’s that, you say??? a nook? yes, we have a barnes and noble e-reader for the class now – i’m excited – very excited – very geeked up – did i mention i was excited???

we also have a new camera for the newsroom – but nothing as cool as the nook!!!

as for reading, last week, i worked media days so i read a ton about sec football (in short, every coach is optimistic about the year to come and every fan thinks their team will be undefeated this year) – i finished the new testament for the third time in a year – so i went back to the book of isaiah

i’m about 100 pages from finishing “the promise” by jonathan alter – about president obama’s first year in office – sadly, i’d forgotten much of what happened in 2009 – the book reminds me of a bob woodard book i read in ’94 on clinton’s first year in office – sort of the “inside” story – and as a political junkie, i love those types of books

next up is “the hardest questions aren’t on the test” – an education book – that and some of the BOB material should keep me busy until i see ya’ll – take care

sincerely,
mafeld

dear darlings,
i’m off to work football media days with the sec for the next few days – so not much reading – outside of football – which doesn’t count in most academic circles – and why are all academic geometric shapes circles anyway???

on to the list…
“wounded by school” – wonderful book about how school can really mess you up – while the last sentence can be read with sarcasm, the book did have a point – i made the most notes on that book that i’ve made on a book in a long, long time – scary responsibility to be a teacher sometimes…

“i can now die in peace” by bill simmons – i think i got the title right – anyway, the book was about the 2004 red sox – the first few pages were very, very funny – afterwards, what i enjoyed was just going back to a time when people wondered if the red sox would ever win a title – what a difference a few years makes

“a perfect mess” by eric abrahamson – how small messes are actually good – made me feel better about my house:) actually, the book had a good point – that being obsessed over order isn’t good – it’s psychotic – i thought that the point was made by like 12 and the following 300 pages sort of just beat the poor point to death

“far side gallery” – funny, funny book – and sense gary larson, the creator of the series – did the book, there was plenty of back story on some of his favorite cartoons – had forgotten how much i enjoyed the series until that read

guess those are the highlights – hope you enjoy your hot summer days

sincerely,
dr roy

yo,
still in big book land – although i’ve finished the previous ones i’ve discussed…

bonhoeffer – i’m taking a break to blog b/c i’ve read 220 pages today in the book – incredible read about a german pastor that in his late 20s, early 30s, had enough insight to see past and fight hitler – bonhoeffer lost his life near the end of hitler’s reign – fascinating story about standing up to evil

the scandal of father brown – an english mystery collection – from about 100 years ago – read the book pretty quickly – wasn’t very impressed – humorous at times – not so at other times

marathon by hal higdon – i got the book at the chicago marathon – waited nine months to read it – and then was thoroughly disappointed – not at all what i’d hoped – the part about the pope running in the marathon was amusing – other things weren’t (and since this is a G-rated blog we’ll leave things at that)

more fire – started re-reading this book about kenyan running – very motivated group – we have things so lucky (unless you’re my sister and then you’re injured every third day)

working on my nanowrimo book – hit the 35,000 word mark today – yeah!

sincerely,
dr mafeld

no surprise what i was reading this week as based upon the title – two heavyweights – both over 700 pages long – my arms are weak from reading:)

jonathan edwards – a biography from a professor at yale – the book won a christian biography award in 2003 – edwards was a pastor during the great awakening – i’m a sucker for pre-revolutionary war history – i guess a puritan at heart – so i really, really enjoyed the book – expected to take a lot longer to finish it but got caught up in the book and read it in about four days (not bad for teeny-tiny print that was over 700 pages)

just as i am by billy graham – read this autobiography when it came out – in 1997 – it was long as well, over 700 pages – amazingly, the book didn’t come close to analyzing and relaying all the events that have happened in graham’s life – despite that, the book was a wonderful read – an ecouragement to keep the faith

now write by someone – actually, the someone was an editor – the book was a collection of writing exercises – 90 percent of them weren’t particularly great – but i found a couple – one that was really awesome – so it was worth the reading

other things – i started rereading the new testament in may – i’m nearly through romans now – sports illustrated is backing up on me at CMS, but i’ve managed to keep up with the world through the economist – and christianity today – and history channel magazine – and runner’s world

speaking of runner, i’m headed to peavine falls this weekend for a run up a mountain – and then back down – oh, and 1.2 miles of trail – all in all, 8.2 miles of fun – hope your reading is going well

sincerely,

mafeld

so i’ve decided this is the summer to read different things – this and that – mostly that though…

“captain saturday” – written by inman – who i think is coming to our county in february to speak – basically a story about a middle-aged man who loses everything and discovers what’s important – which is cutting grass – i couldn’t relate… 🙂

“looking for alaska” – again, a guy who’s coming to the county in february – green – this book is – actually, both books are – at the county library – the book’s author satirizes indian springs and weaves in a story about death – a  student death – you’re left to wonder whether the death was accidental or suicide – the second half of the book (the “after”) was better than the first half (the “before”) if just b/c there are certain things i’d rather not know in detail – and those things were described in detail

“lance” – biography on lance armstrong – really enjoyed this book – story of a guy who has faced many obstacles and overcome – inspiring – lots of lessons to draw from – one of them is the question, what motivates you? do you do things out of anger (like lance rode angry when he was younger – and won a bunch) or for other reasons??? (ego, money, love, the like)

must run – children coming at ehes – happy reading

sincerely,
mafeld