It would have gone so much faster if Michelangelo had
skipped the second coat and used
a roller. (That joke never gets old.)
A new month brings new commemorations, events, and fun
facts, so let's get to them!
Monday:
We’ll begin with the arts, and three of the artiest events occurred on this
day. First, in 1512, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was exhibited to the public for the first time. It had
taken Michelangelo four years to paint this mural of images from the Bible, and
it remains a top tourist attraction in Rome to this day.
Not to be outdone by Michelangelo, William Shakespeare chose this day to premiere two of his most-enduring plays,
the first, Othello, opened in 1604, and the second (also Shakespeare's
last), The Tempest, followed in 1611. Both plays premiered in London's Whitehall Palace.
If you feel inclined to create your own artistic masterpiece, today is the
perfect day to start, since it's not only National Author's Day, it's also the beginning of National Novel Writing Month.
If you're unsure whether your novel is suitable for a general audience, you
might consult the guidelines of the Motion Picture
Association of America, whose movie rating system
of G, M, R, X, went into effect on this day in 1968. (PG-13 and NC-17 were originally not part of the lineup; they were added in later years when
further clarification was needed as to who could see which movies.)
An artist of a different type was Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela, who turns 50 today. Valenzuela was a 19-year-old rookie at
the start of the 1981 season when he got the opening day assignment. Valenzuela
responded with a five-hit shutout of the Houston Astros, and "Fernandomania" was born, as crowds flocked to ballparks to see the
left-hander with the unorthodox delivery (he looked to the heavens while in his windup) and Mexican-Americans across the
country adopted him as one of their own. He won his first eight starts, with
four more shutouts, and by the end of the year had won 13 games and both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards – the only time such a feat has occurred.
Yesterday was, of course, Halloween, and tomorrow is All Souls' Day and the Day of the Dead, so that must mean that today is All Saints Day. Mentioning saints makes us think of heavenly foods, and
few are more heavenly than peanut butter – a happy accident, since November is Peanut Butter Lover's
Month. Even more coincidentally, today is
World Vegan Day, the
perfect day to indulge in a nice PBJ (provided there's no bacon, of course).
Suggested Sites...
- The Sistine Chapel - the Vatican's history of the building.
- How to Write a Novel - step-by-step instructions.
- Fernando Nation - documentary from the ESPN 30 for 30 series.
- Day of the Dead in Chiapas, Mexico - go hug a skeleton!
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Recipes - hot wings? No.
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