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We’re on day two of November, and despite daylight savings time, you may already be behind. That is, if you’re a writer. November is chock full of writing-themed challenges, most of which involve writing at breakneck speeds.

You may already be familiar with National Novel Writing Month, a challenge to the writing community to write 50,000 words by the close of the month. It’s “thirty days and nights of literary abandon!” and Twitter is already alight with tweets from novelists cranking away.

In response to NaNoWriMo, a group has declared November to be National Blog Posting Month as well. The challenge here? Post one time daily for the entire month of November. According to Twitter, the challenge is being met.

So, whether you’re interested in writing a novel or just getting your blog back in shape, you’ve got options. But, you better get cracking, the month is already 2 days old. So, here are some ideas to help get the creative juices flowing:

Thinking negatively can boost your memory, study finds

“Whereas positive mood seems to promote creativity, flexibility, cooperation, and reliance on mental shortcuts, negative moods trigger more attentive, careful thinking paying greater attention to the external world,” Forgas wrote.

You could go so many directions with this. First, it’s an interesting story to dissect based on the headline. The actual study offered some interesting details on the benefits of both positive and negative thinking, but then again, “Balancing positive and negative thinking boosts memory and creativity equally, study finds” is not a very compelling headline.

World’s largest cruise ship squeezes under Danish bridge

The 20 story tall ship, The Oasis of the Seas narrowly cleared the Great Belt Fixed Link while departing on it’s maiden voyage. This is really good news, and passengers should revel in this for a while. After all, the cruise is headed to Florida, which means it’s all downhill from here.

Honor Sandwich day — Vote for the Greatest Sandwich in America

Go meta! Use November’s tribute to writing to pay tribute to another November dedication — sandwiches! November 3rd is the home of the oft-overlooked Sandwich Day. The good folks over at lemondrop have compiled a list of 16 sandwiches for their readers to vote on. A friend of mine has a published poem titled, “Ode to the Sandwich” which you can find in his book, The Date Fruit Elegies. Paying tribute to the art of food while making social commentary is possible, people!

Surprise! Cost cutting boosts Ford’s profits to almost $1bn in 2nd quarter

In a total shocker, Ford has announced nearly $1 billion in profit during the 2nd quarter. The company is crediting cost cutting, but did cash for clunkers play a part?

Obama warns more job losses coming

On a sour note, President Obama has warned of more job losses looming in the future. I’m not sure about you, but now might be a good time to take advantage of November’s writing-centric themes. Just think, this could lead to selling your novel, or open the door to the next breakthrough blog that takes the Internet by storm.

We’re taking the challenge, and I’m going to get things rolling on my own personal blog as well. We’ll see how that goes.

So, what are you waiting for? Start writing! And be sure to share your work in the Creative Writing group on Current.com.

It’s Tuesday, and it’s time for another top 5 on Current.com.

1. Brain Waves Surge Moments Before Death

   I’ve always been intrigued by stories about near-death “out of body” experiences. Thanks to the Journal of Palliative Medicine, there appears to be an explanation to the cause of these experiences.

   “A study of seven terminally ill patients found identical surges in brain activity moments before death, providing what may be physiological evidence of “out of body” experiences reported by people who survive near-death ordeals.

   Moments before death, the patients experienced a burst in brain wave activity, with the spikes occurring at the same time before death and at comparable intensity and duration.”

   Fascinating news, but I wonder if the cause of death has any impact on whether or not these surges actually take place. Why do I ask? You don’t want to know. Let me know what you think here.

2. Nobel prize for medicine shared by 3 US scientists for work on ageing and cancer

   Speaking of death, thankfully the 3 US scientists sharing the Nobel Prize for medicine are doing so based on their work on aging and cancer. I once met someone who was more frightened of aging than disease. Which do you fear more? Here’s some info on the scientists:

   “The prestigious award – and the 10m Swedish kronor (£818,000) prize money – is shared by Elizabeth Blackburn, 60, Carol Greider, 48, and Jack Szostak, 56. It is the first time the prize has honoured two women at once.”

   Read more and comment on this story here.

3. Driving on Glass? Inventor Hopes to Lay Down Solar Roads
   

   “We’re building solar panels that you can drive on,” Brusaw says. “The fact that it’s generating power means it pays for itself over time, as opposed to asphalt.”

   There are about 260,000 kilometers of roadway in the U.S. National Highway System alone, and thousands more in state highways, suburban thoroughfares and rural roads. Could all that asphalt be replaced with a solar technology that would also double as the nation’s power grid?

   The key to making this work will be the glass: The solar road panel prototype is 1,024 modules—each containing a solar cell, a light-emitting diode and, someday, an ultracapacitor for storage—sandwiched between a layer of some yet-to-be developed glass and a layer of conducting material. “Nobody’s tried to drive on glass long-term,” Brusaw says.

   The energy and fuel-efficiency debates seem to be turning focus towards highways lately. It makes sense, finding a way to make use of these large stretches of asphalt seems like a win. So far, SolarCity has retrofitted a “”corridor” of high-watt/high-amp electric charging stations on the route of the 101 Freeway”, and I’ve also heard suggestions of building new freeways that charge electric vehicles while they drive. What do you think? Tell us here.

4. Israeli-Palestinian clashes raise tension in Jerusalem

   Andrew is back in the top 5, yet again. This time, he’s clipped a story on clashes breaking out in Jerusalem between Israelis and Palestinians. Add to the conversation here.

5. Gold price rises to all-time high

   It may be no surprise to some, but the price of gold has hit an all-time high of $1,043.77 per ounce. To give you some perspective, an ounce is roughly equal in weight to five US quarters. Adrian Ash of the UK gold brokerage Bullion Vault.com had this to say:

   “Now a lot of investors are buying gold because they are concerned about the impact of higher inflation.”

   Scam or no scam, no wonder Cash4Gold is raking in the money. What do you make of this? Tell us here.