Welcome to the Research Rabbit Hole

By trade (and likely by nature) I am a researcher. All this means is that I am given a question (or one pops into my head) and I dig through any sources at my disposal to answer it.

I love learning these answers.

Researching allows me to satisfy my natural curiosity and love of learning. On my own time, I can spend hours going through documentaries, books, and websites on any number of subjects.

In simple terms: I am a wealth of useless information.


My range of research varies greatly from the mundane (what are good eco-friendly cleaning products to use/buy), to the fan based (at one point I knew way more than I needed to about the Transformers franchise), to the bizarre (I am a proud deathling and learning about what happens after a person dies is really interesting), to the down right depressing (unsolved mysteries are heart breaking).

The need to look anything up typically starts with the phrase: I wonder...?

For example: I wonder why the English language became the garbage disposal of European Languages? This led to an entire afternoon going through a ton of websites on the English language, which led to me reading on several invasions of England that I hadn't previously known about, which led to a "brief" history on the Normandy region in France, which led to me realizing it was dinner time and I had spent half a day on research that I wasn't going to do anything with.


I don't know if you've noticed readers, but there are a lot of run on sentences in this post. Probably because that's my feeling on research. Once I start, I just go until I remember to return to the real world.

My current ear worm question is: would aliens use a different base system than we humans do to do math and are there any examples in science fiction of this happening?

Basically, we use a base 10 system (our number scales are "based" on units of 10) for most of our number systems. Exceptions are the base 12 system we use for our clocks and the base 2 system (also known as binary) used for computers. The main reason human use base 10 as the base for the majority of our number systems is because we have ten toes and ten fingers. So, by that logic, if an alien species say had 8 fingers or toes, would they also have a base 8 math system?

I can't think of any examples of science fiction where this problem arises. Not even in Star Trek or Doctor Who, which are two series I would think would explore this idea. I mean there's one episode of Star Trek where binary is super important to one alien species, but that's not as out there as my previously mentioned base 8 system (or even more arbitrary a base 17 system).

If you guys know of any examples, please let me know.

But to bring this blog back on topic, I can easily get lost doing research. I can't make a decision without first doing research on all my options. If I'm planning a trip or event, I have to look up everything before hand.

The down side is that I can become indecisive or even anxious about my research. Fun fact: there is a point where a lot of research turns into too much research. Instead of writing a good solid story, too much research can cause me to not write a single word or be too afraid of taking literary license as I might get a ton of "um actually..." emails. One of the first tips I got as a writer was to never write about trains because people who do work on trains will call you out on your inaccuracies.

So, what is the balance between just enough research, not enough, and way too much to keep a person sane?

There isn't an answer.

I'm off to discover if any science fiction movies, book, or TV shows ever had aliens use a different number system than us humans. Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me.

Welcome To Desicion Time

Did I make the right one?

Happy Easter everyone. I've always found this both a strange and happy holiday (though I still don't get the Easter Bunny delivering eggs...it just doesn't make sense). I had a crazy busy day after a five hour drive yesterday, but I'm home for now.

Last weekend I made a huge decision, where I will live starting in May for at least the next six months. It was both nerve racking and exciting. Part of me is relieved that I found a place. Another part of me is still trying to figure out if moving at all is the right one. 

Oh, don't get me wrong, I like my job and the new office is great. I'm just worried about what will happen next. I don't know if I'll enjoy being so far away from where I grew up and the only area I've ever really known. I'll be far from friends and most of my family (though I do have some cousins near my new place in New Jersey). It's different, very different.

I found a roommate up in in New Jersey as well. The apartment is really cool and right in the middle of a small village or town (I'm not exactly sure what it is.). There are a lot of cool places to explore and the train to New York City is in the middle of town.

This is a great opportunity and, from what I hear, change is good. But I still have a lot of questions.

Will I easily make new friends?

How often will I see my family and friends?

Will the traffic be as bad as DC?

Why can't I pump my own gas in Jersey?

Will I ever come back?

Maryland isn't all that different from Northern Virginia (heck, Baltimore sometimes resembles a DC suburb). I'm not that far from my friends I grew up with and I've made some great new ones. 

Will I ever come back to DC is probably the hardest question. I'll always come around for a visit, but I don't know if I can really come back. DC is always changing and for all I know, I'll return to a completely different city. I don't think there is a "going back" for me. I can only move forward. 

I'll check in next week.

If you enjoyed this post, or it really pissed you off, please like, share or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like hearing from me. Until next week.

Welcome To Sudden Change

It's never when you expect it...

I have heard the saying that "change is good". I don't know how true it is, but I've always thought of change as something that was different. Not necessarily good, not necessarily bad, just different. And, though I hate admitting it, I also don't like really like change. It throws me off.

Don't get me wrong. I think change is fun every once and a while. Small changes allow for new experiences and  great memories (most of the time). It's when there are a lot of big changes that things start to make my eye twitch.

Over the past few weeks there have been some major changes at my office. Major changes as in my company is closing this office location and wants to move me to a several hours north into a new state completely. This is like running at full speed and then suddenly hitting a brick wall. It's a shock to your systems that forces you to suddenly stop and take a look at what's around you.

Technically I knew this was coming. It had been likely to happen for a while. Thankfully I'm not loosing my job. I'd be freaking out right now if I was, but it's still a very big change. And this is a lot different then when I first moved to start this job.

It's a big change. There are a lot of things I have to think about. How will I move all of my stuff? Where will I live? How / Will I have to find a new roommate? Will I fit in at this new office? I have a lot of questions that need to be answered and some of them won't be until I go up there.

I'm taking all of this one step at a time. Hopefully I'll have more answers when it does come time to pack up my stuff. Until then I'm going back to doing research on my future home. Until next week.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you guys like hearing from me as well. If you guys have questions let me know. Thank you for reading.

Welcome To Indifference

I find that it is getting harder and harder to find a topic to write about each week. I'm not sure if it is because it's been a year since graduation and all the novelty has worn off or if I've just hit a point where I've fallen into a nice routine with little change to disrupt myself with. I am not sure how I feel about that. I feel I should still be in a constant state of flux and change.

Does this mean I need to take a big risk and cause a major change in my life?

I'm not sure how wise that would be. I'm somewhat comfortable with where I am. I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do and who I want to be. Maybe I need this break from constant learning to be indifferent.

Then again, indifference could be a bad thing. I could stop wanting to do my best or become bored and I am not someone who handles boredom well. Oh don't get me wrong, I love down time as much as the next introvert. However, I feel I should be more excited in general and ready to seize the day with gusto. I remember how I planned my life around getting into the College I wanted to and was so proud the day I got in. Now, I'm not sure what to plan on. I don't know if what I am doing is what I want (let alone need).

So I am back to my first question. Is my current bout of indifference good or bad? Heck, is what I'm feeling even indifference?

I don't have the answers, so I guess I have to keep searching for them. Onward I go.

If you enjoy this post please leave a comment or like and share it with your friends, family or worst enemies. I love hearing from my readers and I hope you enjoy these posts. Until next week.