You're Researching What? TCWT Blog Chain May 2013

So, this month the prompt for the Teens Can Write, Too! blog chain came from yours truly. My prompt is thus:

“What are some of the coolest/weirdest/funniest/most disturbing things you’ve researched for a story?”

This is going to be fun.

I have looked up:

• What color violet eyes actually are (they're either pale greyish or dark, dark blue)
• Names that mean "Stupid" (there aren't any)
• "Weird antiques" so I could put some in a fictional antique shop
• The history of bottled water
• Crimes punishable by death
• Ossuaries (really, really want to put one in a story. Maybe as part of a prison)
• A bit about the Barbary Pirates, specifically the capture and sinking of the USS Philadelphia.
• Medieval herbal medical practices (From a book my family owns. That book scares me. They used highly toxic convallaria [lily of the valley] as medicine.)
• Making candles
• Growing and using various kinds of natural dyes (indigo, sumac, madder, etc)
• The branding of slaves (This was an image search. Didn't find what I was looking for.) 
• Different kinds of weird silverware
• Thatching for roofs
• Old fashioned names

I like The Given Names Frequency Project for that last one. I found it when I was trying to find a name for a character who lived in the 1800s, and it was very helpful and extremely interesting. The resource from them  I used (the link called "popular given names, US 1801 - 1999") was a collection of names with the number of times they appeared in censuses during the 1840s. I just looked at their website again, and there are other resources there I haven't investigated yet that look promising.

I've had the urge to write historical fiction (not the story referred to above) since my Anatomy and Physiology class went to the Indiana Medical History Museum, which is housed in what used to be the pathology building for the no-longer-existent Central State Hospital for the Insane. Oh yeah.  Now I really want to set a story there in the 1900s, a few years after the pathology building opened. Other than visiting the museum, I haven't done any research, but I really want to. They had books there from 1850. 1850! Books the original doctors had brought with them when the building opened. And this pair of old, real human skeletons that they had ordered in the day from a medical supply catalog (Just a little creepy...). Oh, and all the old equipment. They had an autopsy table from the 1920s. And this really cool pH color comparer thing...

Okay, I'll stop now. I need to actually come up with a story to set there. 

Another cool historical thing I stumbled upon once was a set of local coroner's records from 1896 to 1935.  I didn't go out looking for them (I accidentally found them on my library's website), but I think I did use them as a historical reference for a story idea that ended up dying. (Dying, coroner's reports, ha.) Depressing, really depressing, but fascinating. Several people got hit by trains. Swallowing acid was a popular form of suicide. Lots of babies died. Teenage boys were stupid. Oh, and there was this murder... which I don't remember all the details to at the moment, and actually there were several murders, but If you want to read more about what I found, I posted a bit about them a while back in this post. 

So, there's my post, with a bonus ramble about historical loony bins. Big thanks to John from TCWT for letting me host this month, and to all the bloggers who participated in the chain. Here's a list of all the participants (you should totally check them out):

5^th – http://theloonyteenwriter.wordpress.com/

6^th – http://deborahrocheleau.wordpress.com/

7^th – http://bloodoverithaca.wordpress.com/

8^th – http://charleyrobson.blogspot.com/

9^th – http://musingsfromnevillesnavel.wordpress.com/

10^th – http://nonconformistwriter.blogspot.com/

11^th – http://dearsaul.wordpress.com/

12^th – http://missalexandrinabrant.wordpress.com/

13^th – http://insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com/

14^th – http://cinderscoria.blogspot.com/

15^th – http://emilyvaneaton.wordpress.com/

16^th – http://www.brookeharrison.com/

17^th – http://thespasticwriter.blogspot.com/

18^th – http://veewhoa.wordpress.com/

19^th – http://www.mandilynn.com/

20^th – http://theteenagewriter.wordpress.com/

21^st – http://avonsbabbles.wordpress.com/

22^nd – http://realityisimaginary.blogspot.com

23^rd – http://miriamjoywrites.wordpress.com/

24^th – http://anomalous93.blogspot.com/

25^th – http://thelittleenginethatcouldnt.wordpress.com/

26^th – http://ktlemonhead.wordpress.com/

27^th – http://dreamerheadquarters.wordpress.com/

28^th – http://paulinaczarnecki.wordpress.com/

29^th – http://www.lilyjenness.blogspot.com/

30th – http://teenscanwritetoo.wordpress.com/ (We’ll announce the topic for next month’s chain)

And a wondrous day/night/morning/midnight/mid-afternoon/whatever to you. 

Apologies, Death, Etc

So.  I disappeared again.  My apologies.  In order to make it up to my readers, in a few moments I shall present the Alphabet of Death.  The idea for this piece of genius was inspired when my sister and I saw a book entitled "T is for Titanic" at the library. We thought that was kinda funny, so we, along with our parents, made the Alphabet of Death. The writers out there may even be able to use it for brainstorming purposes. Perhaps someone has a character who is serial killer that uses methods of killing that are in alphabetical order.

So, without further ado, I present: The Alphabet of Death!

A is for: Arsenic, asphyxiation, assassination
B is for: Bludgeoned, bored to death
C is for: Cyanide, choked
D is for: Drowning, decapitation
E is for: Electrocution
F is for: Falling, falconry accident
G is for: Gas explosion, garden gnomes
H is for: Hit and run, homicide, hanging
I is for: Injection of poison
J is for: Jealous spouse/lover
K is for: Knife in the back
L is for: Loss of blood
M is for: Murder
N is for: "Natural" causes
O is for: Old age
P is for: Poisoning, pheasants
Q is for: Quicksand
R is for: Radiation sickness
S is for: Suicide, suffocation, strangulation
T is for: Trauma, tar pit
U is for: Upset stomach, umbrella abuse
V is for: Venomous animal bite,
W is for: Wildebeest stampede
X is for: X-ray machine malfunction
Y is for: Yak stampede
Z is for: Zebra stampede

Got any additions?  Let me know in a comment!

While I'm on the death theme, I'll pass on an interesting, if not gruesome, link I got off of my library's website. Coroners reports from 1896 to 1935. Cool, huh? One of my favorite things to do with them is look at what the people had in their pockets when they died. Most didn't have anything, but some did. Very interesting.
Also, the stories are fascinating. Tragic, but...appealing, in a creepy sort of way. For example, in 1928, why did Jefferson P. Kemp (age 69) kill Lucy Barber (age 86) and then himself?  Why did Jefferson want to murder an 86 year old woman? What's the story there? Was he drunk? Had she just revealed to him a horrible secret about the past that enraged him so much he shot her, and then was so horrified at what he'd done that he shot himself? For some reason I find it fun to speculate.
Another thing is the names. Two I got from the coroners reports are Idrell and Lietha. I don't remember how they died.

And on that happy note, I'll leave you to enjoy the rest of your day.  I'm off to make a clafouti. Yum.