sisterdragonwithfeathers

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

Comic by Nathan W. Pyle

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

Pebble and sea glass paintings!

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

WQA’s Guide to Internet Research

One thing I hear a lot here at WQA is, “I Googled such and such topic and I didn’t find anything.” Regardless of what the topic is, I know that’s not true because there’s a ton of information about every topic imaginable on the internet, all of it accessible via a simple Google search. So what’s happening here? Simple: people aren’t sure what they’re looking for, don’t know how to find what they need, or they’re overwhelmed by the pages and pages of results. But, honestly, researching your topic via the internet isn’t that difficult. Here’s what you need to do…

1) Know what you’re looking for.

The first thing you need to do is create a small summary of exactly how your topic fits into your story. For example, “My story is about a woman who survives a laboratory accident, but she becomes permanently blind due to eye trauma experienced in the accident. Now she must learn how to cope with losing her eyesight and learn how to navigate her world without it.”

2) Break it down into sub-topics.

Now that you have your topic sorted out, break it down into sub-topics that will make the research easier to do. In the above summary, there are three obvious phases of this woman’s situation. There was the initial trauma where the eyesight is lost, there’s coping with learning that her eyesight is lost, and there’s learning how to live without her eyesight. So, the sub-topics would be:

- losing eyesight due to trauma

- coping with lost eyesight

- learning to live with lost eyesight

3) Identify keywords, key phrases, and key questions.

The next thing you want to do is boil your topic summary and sub-topics down to keywords, key phrases, and questions that will help you find information. Start by underlining the important things in your summary:

My story is about a woman who survives a laboratory accident, but she becomes permanently blind due to eye trauma experienced in the accident. Now she must learn how to cope with losing her eyesight and learn how to navigate her world without it.

Keywords:

Blind/blindness eye trauma eyesight loss Key Phrases:

Coping with loss of eyesight Living with blindness Key Questions:

How do people learn to live with blindness? What happens when someone becomes blind? What is it like to permanently lose eyesight? What is it like to be blind? How do you adjust to being blind?

4) Go to Google and search.

Go to Google and type in your keywords, key phrases, and key questions. Not all at once, obviously, but one at a time. It works best if you tackle one sub-topic at a time. Sift through the first few pages of results and use “right-click, open in new tab” to open the most promising links.

Keyword: blindness (click here for example)

Keyphrase: living with blindness (click here for example)

Key question: What is it like to be blind? (click here for example)

5) Sift through the results.

Here are some of the results for “what is it like to be blind?”

Just on the first half of the first page there are already resources that would be very handy, including videos, an in-depth article, medical information, and a forum thread which may have some firsthand experience.

6) Read, watch, and take notes.

Now it’s time for the hard work. You need to go through the most promising results, read through them, watch the videos, and take notes. Remember to focus on one sub-topic at a time. You may want to get a multi-subject spiral notebook with folder dividers, which will allow you to organize your notes by sub-topic, and if you want, you can print out any interesting articles and highlight the important details. Be sure to take notes while watching videos, too. You may want to create a folder in your browser where you can bookmark articles/sites/videos you’ll want to refer back to.

7) Resources to look for…

Articles - online newspapers, magazines, and news sites often post in-depth articles about a variety of topics. These articles often boil topics down to their most important elements. Sometimes they zero in on specific points of a topic, which can be really helpful when doing research.

Reference Sites - there are lots of different online references that cover a variety of topics. Encyclopedias, like the Encyclopedia Britannica, are available online. There are also wikis like Wikipedia, and topic specific wikis like TV Tropes and recipe wiki.  Educational Sites - lots of topics, especially those having to do with health, lifestyle, and medical issues, have web sites dedicated to educating the public about that topic/issue. For example, the American Heart Association has a site dedicated to teaching people about heart disease and heart health.

Enthusiast Sites - sometimes, enthusiasts of a particular topic will put together a whole website dedicated to delivering information about that topic. 

Blogs - blogs dedicated to a particular topic can be an incredible resource. For example, if you’re writing about a character who is living on their own for the first time, I guarantee you can find blogs written by people who are living on their own for the first time, all about their experiences and the ups and downs.

Forums - forums are another great place to find information. Not only are there forums dedicated to just about every topic imaginable, but if you have a question about that topic, odds are good someone has had a similar question and asked it. When you can find a forum dedicated to your topic, you can do a search there on your keywords or your specific question and see if someone already posted about it.

Videos - YouTube, Vimeo, MetaCafe and others offer videos on every topic imaginable. Sometimes you can find actual documentaries on your subject. Other times you can find overview videos. You can also find panels, exposes, lectures, and other videos about various topics.

Google Maps and Google Earth - if your topic relates to a place, viewing it in Google Maps or Google Earth can give you lots of interesting information. Not only can you get a street view of the location, but you can also get pictures and other important information. Some places like museums and historical sites even have online walk-throughs.

Online Exhibits - if your topic is something related to arts, science, or industry, there’s a good chance you can find an online exhibit relating to your topic via a museum online. For example, the fashion and textile museum has a digital collection you can look through. The Dittrick Museum of Medical History has several online exhibits an photo collections.

Digital Books and Magazines - sometimes you can find digital books and magazines dedicated to your topic. For example, if you’re writing about an 1800s whaling captain, you may be able to find digitized books about whaling, sailing, and life in the 1800s.

8) Other places to look.

Although this post is about doing internet research, remember that there are other places to look for information about your topic. Here are some to keep in mind:

The Library - whether it’s your school library or your local library, libraries are still one of the best places you can go to get information about any topic. Not only are the chalk full of books, references, and other resources, they’re staffed with knowledgeable people who are trained to help you find the information you need. Even if you plan to research your topic online, don’t hesitate to stop in your local library for supplemental information. Librarians want to help you! That’s what they’re there for!

People - the people in your life have had a variety of different experiences and learned all different things. Look for people in your life who might have firsthand information about a particular topic. For example, maybe your friend’s grandfather is blind. Perhaps you could ask for an interview, or talk to her family members about what they know about his experience. 

Books - obvious, I know, but you’d be surprised how rarely people think of finding books about their topic. The library is obviously a good place to start, but sometimes you can find pertinent information in books already on your shelves. If not, see what’s available on Amazon. Sometimes you can get used copies at a reduced price. Or, go see what’s available at your local bookstore.

TV Shows and Movies - while you should certainly never assume something you see on TV or in a movie is real or accurate, they can still be a great place to go to get a general overview about a particular topic. Watching a movie about a blind person can give you insight that will help make your research a little easier, because the topic will be more familiar to you.

Museums, Historic Sites, and Other Locations - if you can learn more about your topic by visiting a place, and if you can get to that place, go! If you’re writing about a noble woman who lives in a big manor house, nothing beats visiting an actual manor house for an idea of what that might be like. Even if the manor house (mansion, estate, etc.) you have access to isn’t quite like the one you’re writing about, just being there can still give you vital details that will help make your story more authentic.Or, your museum might have an exhibit on furniture from the Edwardian era. Getting a look at all that fancy furniture will help you recreate those details in your story’s manor house.

The most important thing of all is to not get frustrated. Take the time, do the work, and research can be the most rewarding part of writing your story! :)

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

Locklyle !!

It's the first and not the last!

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

I would DEEPLY love to hear your thoughts on Howl's Moving Castle as you get further into it!! It's an all time favorite of mine

Well, then, I shall try to write updates when I can! Thank you for asking and for motivating me. I have several friends who would like to hear it, and I was thinking about my first impressions. It's odd, because I know so much about Howl's Moving Castle (partly from Tumblr posts that got me interested in the first place), yet there were things that surprised me. For instance, Howl is blond. I didn't realize that! It doesn't match the image in my head. It's funny how I actually recognized him in his first appearance in an earlier chapter. I knew it was him. But I wasn't expecting him to be blond. I actually read the first few pages of HMC nearly ten years ago, but I got bored and put it down. I don't think I had heard of it at the time. And then I started seeing posts about it on Tumblr, and heard people talking about Howl and Sophie, and comparing Howl to Eugenides from the Queen's Thief series. And I got really interested. I've been dying to read it for many years, but I held back because I usually don't read books with outright mentions of witchcraft, even fictional witches. But it's pretty tame and fictional so far, and I was ready to give it a go. When a buddy read group I'm a part of decided to read it for the month of July, I got the book from the library. I didn't start it till near the end of the month because of other book clubs and buddy reads I had to finish. The style of the writing and the quirky characters are definitely up my alley. It's so witty. I have never read a Diana Wynne Jones book till now, but I knew her writing and characters would be for me. I love Sophie so much, and I relate to her a lot. I am often the one who is so nice and trusting that I don't realize I'm being "exploited" or taken advantage of. But I also have a lot of spunk and determination, if I'll only use it. Sophie's struggle with being old is very relatable, and I love how it motivates her to change her life and pursue better things. It helps her be more outgoing, because she realizes what matters and what doesn't. I have only recently met Howl, but I like him very much already. He is such a drama king. I love how he wants to be cold and heartless, powerful and wicked, but it's really just an image he puts on.

I REALLY like Michael. He is a nice boy, as Sophie says. Very polite and sweet, but also interesting. And I love Calcifer, manipulative bargaining, wailing, and all. It's so fun to see Sophie going head to head with him and even forcing him to let her cook on his head.

I love the setting descriptions. The port town and the heathery hills were so vivid and alive. And I love the castle itself, how there's more (and less) than meets the eye. Paradox and mystery abound. It's ramshackle yet cozy. I love the door and the window. And the bathroom. And the mess (soon to be cleaned). This is definitely a house of bachelors... I am currently in the middle of Chapter 5, in which Sophie is cleaning up a storm. (I like that the cleaning lady ruse was her idea, and that Howl just...goes along with it.) Oh, also. One line that struck me was, "Don't you want your heart eaten?" I like that Sophie might be the only girl who doesn't want her heart eaten. It never occurred to her that other people might want it. I can't wait to see her effect on Howl. If anyone can tame him, it's her.

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

I don't honestly think Heron is good at any instrument except the harp. Maybe the flute. And he's very, very rusty. His lifestyle and rucksack don't leave much room for instruments.

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

i bless the swamps down in dagobah

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

I may not be posting beautiful analysis of City Between, but I am posting memes.

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

OKAY NEW POST SPOILER MEMES ONLY

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

"Would you rather use the app? :)" I cannot begin to describe how much I wouldn't

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

behold! the attack I spent way too much time on because I'm overambitious!

character Boah by StrangePuffs on art fight

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

the thing you have to remember about spiders is:

that is an animals

it is very small

so you have to be nice to it. okay? :<

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

❌ “Kill them with kindness“

✅ Confuse them with kindness. Absolutely baffle them. Catch them off guard so bad they stop and seriously question your sanity for a moment. "Are they really this gullible, or just stupid??" Be the small gentle ray of candour that blinds them when looking at your innocent smile. Show them the warmth that never grazed their frigid soul before. There are only two paths for you after that: you're either dead or become the light of their life. Maybe even changing their ways for the better. For both of you.

Be that change.

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

Okay so bad news for everyone on YouTube right now

Starting the 13th, we will have an AI determine if we are children or not and if you are a child, than you are forced to send your ID, send a selfie or a credit card

This has the obvious cons of having your privacy being revoked from you and and in case there is a security breach, major identity thefts.

So what do we do in this scenario?

Well right now I have real idea as this is relativity new to me, but I do have two plans

Plan 1. Bug the shit out of them, send letters and send emails about how much of bad idea this is.

Include why the AI will mess up and target adults who watch cartoons, include privacy issues, censorship issues, anything you can think of that relates to this. I want you guys to bug the hell out of YouTube until they reverse this idea

Plan 2. Blackout.

Since the thing is coming out on the 13th.

The plan will be to completely avoid YouTube at all cost for that day, no watching, no sharing, no uploading, no nothing.

Download videos before things go down, watch Netflix. Whatever you do, don’t touch YouTube.

That’s all I can say right now, I also want you guys to let YouTubers know of this situation cause if it’s important for everyone on the website to talk about this immediately

Spread this stuff around, let people know of YouTube’s upcoming policy and how it’ll hurt everyone

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

[sisterdragonwithfeathers]

dragons keep vampires for the same reason humans keep barn cats: to keep the pests away. so if you find a vampire who’s absurdly rich they’re just like. a spoiled house cat.