February 2012 Read of the Month Update

I am still working on my February 2012 Read of the Month. As of this morning I have completed 300 pages out of 474 of Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken. I love the book, but I do not think I will be able to finish by the end of the month. February has just been a busy month at home and work. Believe me my slow pace is not because I am not enjoying the book.

This tale of Louis Zamperini's survival after being shot down during World War II has been amazing. I have read some complaints about the long, drawn out introduction (pre-plane crash chapters). I would agree if it were not for my own track and field background. Most of the early chapters present background information of Zamperini (including his Olympic track and field career). I enjoyed most of the early chapters because of my track and field background. I will agree that the build-up to the crash adds quite a bit of length to the book. I hope to have a complete review put together by next weekend.

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Your Own Personal Library Catalog

So, how many of you have remember using an old style, card catalog? You know, you want to find a book in your local library, so you pull out the long drawers flipping through cards. Well those days are long gone of course (thankfully) and nearly all libraries use an electronic catalog system to keep track of their collections. Many of the school districts in Wayne County are using a system developed by Follett . It is a great system for school age children and prepares them for many of the advanced catalogs available in public and university libraries. Catalog software is quite expensive and really impractical for home libraries. Some book lovers may create their own spreadsheet or database to keep track of their books, however there is a great (free) tool online to not only catalog your books, but also meet and communicate with other book lovers online. The site librarything.com is a wonderful site that lets you catalog your own home library. Think of it as a "Facebook

A Once-In-A-Lifetime Event

Back in November I wrote about what I believe to be the best part of my job; running into Carlson High School graduates that are success stories and hearing about how well they are doing in the "real world." Carlson High School graduate Nathan Matatall is clearly one of these success stories. After graduating from Carlson High School and Michigan State University Nathan has gone on to very successful career at Dell Computers. The News Herald even published a feature piece on Nathan a few years ago. This past week, Nathan provided my family with a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I will never forget. Nathan, my former public speaking student, contacted me via email a few weeks ago and inquired about taking my kids on a tour of Marine One (one of the helicopters used to transport The President of the United States and other dignitaries) and to possibly attend the landing of Air Force One when President Obama was scheduled to arrive in Detroit. I was very excited a

A Little R & R

I decided to take a little R & R before things get crazy with back to school. I wanted to spend some time with my family for these final weeks of summer, so I decided a break from writing was in order. A trip to Kalahari and fun times with friends and family made August fly by. So, what does school year 2014 bring for me? Quite a bit, as always: Back to teaching two courses at Wayne County Community College. Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings I head to Northline Road to teach college level English. I really love this second job! Tuesday, I start my 17th year at O.A. Carlson High School. While public education continues to face challenges, there is no other job for me at this time. I love my co-workers and students. Gibraltar is a great place to work. I will be running my kids all over as usual. Gymnastics, religious education, flag football (which I coach as well), and others events "to be determined." I would not have it any other way. I love watch

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