Trivia anyone?

I've committed now and am Nanobound. One of the stories that has been kicking around in my brain will get its chance in the sun, at least 50,000 words of it anyway. This story is full of quirky character ideas I've been jotting down for about two years, residents of a small town. Anyway, one of them is named Cameron Bellows. The thing about Cameron is that he is quite socially awkward and likes to spout useless, random trivia. Things like that the romans had a room, called a vomitorium, where they would go to purge after eating so they could eat more or that when a coffee seed is planted it takes five years to yield consumable fruit. There are tons of websites that have this type of information and I have a book too.

Lydia Kang's site alone (http://lydiakang.blogspot.com/)could probably fill up most of his conversations. (Will someone tell me how to make it a link when I type someone else's name who has a blog?) A friend of mind in college used to memorize the trivial pursuit cards so that she could never lose. I had previously believed that to be somewhat of a waste of time, now I could put it to good use. I wondered if any of you have any favorites that you'd like to share? What strange facts, that you can think of no good use for, take up part of your brain?

Quantity versus Quality

You still have five days to get in an entry to the contest. Don't stress too much about it. You could even consider it a mini-nano to get you in the mood. One entry came from someone's i-phone and I have to admit, it wasn't too shabby. I mean, check it for spelling, but even something not done to perfection gives you a better chance of winning than not submitting at all. I just like seeing people's creativity.

There are Nanwrimo rumblings on some of the blogs I am visiting. I have yet to offically sign up because I am a competitive individual and if I sign up, I will finish. So, do I want to commit?  I have completed it four times now and only done something with one of the projects. The something I did was clean it up, get some critiques, re-write, get more critiques, re-write, collect bucoos of rejection letters from agents, re-write and then get some more rejections. The fifty plus versions of it still clutter my hard drive. I don't know if I will ever approach that novel again. Although, I still love the concept, the idea of going back to it again is wearying.

So, I wonder, if nano is worth my time? Clearly, finishing, for me, doesn't translate into turning out something publishable. The only things of mine that have been published have been articles or short stories. I know I love doing it. I allow writing to be in first place for that one month and there is a feeling of accomplishment when I print out my certificate. Yes, I do print it out. I also usually find how easy it is to crank out 2,000 words a day and still get my responsiblities completed. Then, at the end of that time, I slowly move back into the hit or miss writing habits I had before.

Who am I kidding? I know the fact that I am considering it means I will be jumping into the heady love affair with words again. Maybe it is like relationships, at some point, one of them stuck.