If you somehow succeed in getting past the elite paramilitary mercenaries and a fierce-yet-adorable Boxador, you may become one of the privileged few to enter the warehouse. Inside, you will find the records and artifacts that will one day be on display at the Commonplace Fun Facts Museum and Institute for the Advancement of Information That They Never Got Around to Teaching Us in School, or, as we lovingly refer to it around here, the CFFMAIFTAOITTNGATTUIS.

Yeah, we know. We’re working on a name that sounds a bit less like a gum disease.

Deep within the warehouse’s cavernous interior, you will find the records related to the birth of the global phenomenon called Commonplace Fun Facts. There were many hopes and dreams associated with the very first article when it was released to the world on September 9, 2014. Remnants of the notes from the creative team express the desire for fame, invitations to be the guest host of Jeopardy!, and enough advertising revenue to usher in a life of lettuce. Or possibly a life of leisure. Our creative team’s handwriting couldn’t be more indecipherable if it was encrypted by the CIA.

Although the museum and most of the writers’ aspirations have yet to materialize, we have been the beneficiaries of a truly-unexpected blessing: connections with some of the most interesting people on the planet. This was a shock to the Commonplace Fun Facts staff, most of whom have questionable social skills to begin with. The blogging community is vast, diverse, and wonderfully supportive of one another.

No one better exemplifies the community spirit of blogging than Marcia Meara. She is the prolific author of such series as Wake-Robin Ridge and The Emissary. (Check out her Amazon Author page here). She is also the owner and creator of The Write Stuff, a blog devoted to “Writers Helping Writers.”

We are honored and tickled pink that Marcia chose Commonplace Fun Facts to be the subject of today’s #GuestDayTuesday feature on The Write Stuff. Marcia’s timely and highly-encouraging comments have always offered just the right encouragement to keep writing. Being featured like this may be just the motivation we have been needing to finally schedule the groundbreaking for the CFFMAIFTAOITTNGATTUIS.

Be sure to visit The Write Stuff and the other exceptional writers who have been featured. Please also pay a visit to Marcia’s Amazon page and treat yourself to her entertaining and engaging stories.

Some of the Articles We Never Got Around To

“How do you come up with ideas for articles on Commonplace Fun Facts?” Not a week goes by without that question being posed to members of the Commonplace creative team. The tone of the question typically implies that there is a shortage of interesting topics. In reality, we come across so many curiosities that the…

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March 5, 2021March 5, 2021

Five Years of Blogging — What Do People Find Interesting?

When I started Commonplace on September 9, 2014, it was a way for my sons and me to document and share things that grab our interest. The first post was a minor trivia item about Franklin D. Roosevelt’s phobia about fire. I thought these things might be of interest to a few others, but after…

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February 7, 2019January 6, 2021

Writer’s Block Inspires an Article About Nothing

In 1974, the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis published a paper entitled, “The Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of a Case of ‘Writer’s Block.” Aside from the title and a footnote, the article by Dennis Upper consists of no other content. It is recognized as the shortest published academic article. The sole footnote states that portions of the…

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June 1, 2019May 30, 2019