Well, it’s that time of month again: time to review all the bizarre writing research you’ve had to do.

As I’ve said before, it’s astonishing how much real-life garbage you need to know for fantasy writing. It’s equally astonishing how much real-life garbage you just…don’t know. I had to have learned this somewhere, right? Wrong.

This is only a small example of my garbage, though. What have you kids learned in the name of art and/or science this month?

“about how long is the average marriage”

“best wood for carving chairs”

“what is the population of isle of skye”

“define lime”

“random dog name generator”

“are there mayflies in scotland”

“who were the cathars”

“most popular surnames in state of indiana”

“men of harlech”

“define jalopy”

Here’s the dog name generator I found, by the way. Very useful. The average marriage, unfortunately, is only 8-10 years. Ouch. In other news, the Cathars are going to be featured in a story sometime–with a magical twist, obviously.