Tag: Research

Adventures in research: Stayin’ Alive

So in today’s adventures in research, the only thing I really wanted to know was how the song “Stayin’ Alive” was spelled.

But, in true internet rabbit-hole style, I also discovered the subreddit Ask Old People.

Y’all, I’m an old now.

But I do remember when the song “Stayin’ Alive” came out along with the movie Saturday Night Fever. Oh, that was a big deal, made bigger by the fact that the movie was rated R and I was in junior high at the time, much too young to go see it.

Saturday Night Fever was so popular that they eventually released a cut-up PG version, and we all packed the theaters to see it. Other than the iconic opening sequence, the only thing I remember is that the film was so sliced and diced as to be incomprehensible.  

I never did see the full rated-R version. To this day, I have no idea what the movie is actually about. But I have this memory.

Honestly? That’s enough.

A rose walk in the snow

So technically, it isn’t winter, not yet. It’s sure doing a good imitation of it:

Brrr. It’s cold out there today. And tomorrow? We’re getting three to six inches of snow, which I think means winter has officially arrived, no matter what the calendar says.

This made visiting the Giardino delle Rose even more enjoyable. Just for fun, I used a free Photoshop template and pulled together some of my favorite sights from the Rose Garden.

I also made a utilitarian one of images that directly related to the scenes I’m writing. That’s been helpful to place myself there as I write. Of course, I also have to put myself there when it’s dark, and the garden is closed. There’s not much I can do but make up that part of it. I did not sneak into the Giardino delle Rose after dark; I have no desire to cause an international incident.

Honestly, I doubt there’s a bad view from the Giardino delle Rose, but this is one of my favorites:

Of false springs and rabbit holes

We had a lovely week of false spring, topping out at 72 degrees or so. Now, of course, it’s 18 degrees, but at least it’s sunny today. But while it was warm, I took long walks and went out and about in that extra hour of sunshine. Lots of other people were out as well, and we all seemed very happy, tipping our faces toward the sun and letting out a long breath.

Spring in Minnesota is like that.

I also went down several research rabbit holes this week and decided to pick up with language learning again. Low-key, self-paced language learning, which I’m finding I enjoy a lot more than the classroom setting (whether in real life or online).

I decided on Italian (for reasons), and I’m using Duolingo, supplemented by a grammar book and the podcast Coffee Break Italian. It helps that I’ve already studied German, Russian, and a little French. So my brain understands things like: oh, irregular verb, or oh, that’s the plural, without much conscious thought.

Yes, this makes learning a new language easier. It’s also nice to use this part of my brain again. It’s like it’s also waking up along with spring.

This week in books

What I read/am reading:

New books on the block:

Kiss, Kiss, Bark!A while back, I entered a Twitter contest to win Kiss, Kiss, Bark! from Tanglewood Press–then figured that would be that.

This week, I found out that I won a copy. Kyra was thrilled. So was I.

It looks like a cute and fun read. We both can’t wait to dig in.

This week in books

What I read/am reading:

  • Finished Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle. My take here.
  • Working my way through the big fat book on the Russian Revolution (yes, that’s what it’s called). I’m on page 107. This means I’m 13% the way through the book. (I told you it was big and fat.)
  • Finished The One and Only Ivan, book #70 for the year. Terrific and charming, perfect for animal lovers of all ages. Passing it along to Kyra now. Pretty sure it will make her cry–not that it made me cry or anything.

Out this week:

Fabulous 2009 Deb Kirstin Cronn-Mills has a new release out this past week (October 8th).

Beautiful Music for Ugly Children is available in paperback and on Kindle.

Brainstorming time

Clock in Kings Cross railway station
Clock in Kings Cross railway station (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I hope to write up a recap of the Betsy-Tacy convention in a few days. In short: a good time was had by all.

In the meantime, I’m working on a project and as part of that, I want to come up with as many sayings about time as I possibly can. For instance:

  • Time is money
  • Time Flies
  • Time is on my side

And so on. So if you have time on your mind, feel free to leave the saying in the comments section. If what I’m working on comes to fruition, I’ll be sure to let you know. Thanks!