Know-vember to Remember

There are numerous reasons to be thankful.  The whole month of November leads up to just that, Thanksgiving.  Considering the education level of my readers I feel comfortable in assuming everyone knows the basic history of Thanksgiving.  You know, the Pilgrims and Indians sitting down for a feast to give thanks that the Indians didn't scalp them when they should have?  So I'm a little off on the details.  The point of this post isn't about Thanksgiving though.  It's about NOVEMBER.  What certain days represent in history, events that shaped our future, and some really cool trivia that I am still researching and discovering. 

For instance, November retained its name from the Latin novem meaning "nine" when January and February were added to the Roman calendar.  November starts on the same day of the week as February in common years, and March every year. November ends on the same day of the week as August every year. 

Some "on this day in history" trivia: In 1842 Abraham Lincoln married Mary Todd in Springfield, IL; In 2000 my dear friends, Joe and Ginger, married in Illinois. 

On November 4th, 1980: Former Hollywood actor and Republican Ronald Reagan wins the US presidential elections beating Democrat Jimmy Carter with a huge majority.  (And on this day in 2008 the current president was elected.)

One of the neat religious facts I found: November 4th is the feast day for St. Charles Borremeo, the patron saint of learning and the arts.  Let's eat!  er...read? 

Stick around for some more KNOW-vember :)

Writer's Block

In an effort to keep my momentum going for the NaNoWriMo I am looking for ways to overcome the infamous "writer's block". Post your ideas on how to defeat the beast and I'll post as I go on what works the best. Think of me as the mythbuster for writers! I love that show. Good luck to everyone entering a contest this month, and to "those" people who finish their manuscripts and are ready to submit them. When I say "those" I mean you people that suck because I'm back to chapter three on a complete rewrite!

Ideas anyone?