Jots & Tittles: HEY! It's Halloween!

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Tomorrow NaNoWriMo 2013 begins and I am still planning to attempt it again. That means, of course, that future blog entries here will usually be sparse to nonexistent during the month of November. But I might try to do a minimal entry on some of those days. To indicate that I'm still alive and (relatively) well, ya' know?

And the usual Sunday Guest Blogger entries by Winebird will continue.

Wish me luck.

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Did you know that . . . ?

The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

The southeastern face of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota's Black Hills National Forest is the site of four gigantic carved sculptures depicting the faces of Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Led by the sculptor Gutzon Borglum, work on the project began in 1927 and was finally completed on this day, October 31 in 1941. Over that time period, some 400 workers erected the sculpture under dangerous conditions, removing a total of 450,000 tons of rock in order to create the enormous carved heads, each of which reached a height of 60 feet (18 meters). In sculptor Gutzon Borglum’s original design, the four presidents were meant to be represented from the waist up, but insufficient funding brought the carving to a halt after completion of their faces. Known as the "Shrine of Democracy," Mount Rushmore welcomes upwards of 2 million visitors every year, and is one of America's most popular tourist attractions.

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WORD FOR TODAY

perseverance
noun
1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
2. Theology continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation.
Synonyms
doggedness, steadfastness, persistence, tenacity, pertinacity.

Perseverance commonly suggests activity maintained in spite of difficulties or steadfast and long-continued application: Endurance and perseverance combined to win in the end. It is regularly used in a favorable sense. Persistence which may be used in either a favorable or an unfavorable sense, implies unremitting (and sometimes annoying) perseverance: persistence in a belief; persistence in talking when others wish to study. Tenacity with the original meaning of adhesiveness, as of glue, is a dogged and determined holding on.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Michael Landon
(October 31, 1936 - July 1, 1991)

Michael Landon was an American actor, writer, director, and producer. He is known for his roles as Little Joe Cartwright in Bonanza (1959–1973), Charles Ingalls in Little House on the Prairie (1974–1983), and Jonathan Smith in Highway to Heaven (1984–1989).

Lee Grant
(born October 31, 1926)

Lee Grant is an American stage, film and television actress, and film director. She was blacklisted for 12 years from film work beginning in the mid-1950s, but worked in the theatre, and would eventually win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Felicia Karpf in Shampoo (1975).

John Franklin Candy
(October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994)

John Candy was a Canadian actor and comedian who rose to fame as a member of the Toronto branch of The Second City and its related Second City Television series, and through his appearances in comedy films such as Stripes, Splash, Cool Runnings, Summer Rental, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, and Uncle Buck. One of his most renowned onscreen performances was as Del Griffith, the loquacious, on-the-move shower-curtain ring salesman in the John Hughes comedy Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Dale Evans
(October 31, 1912 – February 7, 2001)