Neighborhood gossip
Oct. 17th, 2004 11:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xaaraNote to self: Do not ever, ever ask people over the age of 60 about the neighborhood they live in.
It does not turn out well. I now have far too much information, and all I wanted was a general overview in order to flesh out my report. Now I know that a house down the street used to be a brothel, that Lyndon Johnson's mistress lived across from me (and that she still sells real estate in the area), and that an old tenant scammed no fewer than 8 separate landlords before being arrested. Interesting tidbits, to be sure, but I now understand the difficulty of being a documentary historian - none of them fit into the paper I'm writing.
However, I still love doing old-fashioned book- and interview- based research. It makes me all giddy and hyper - I wish I had someone to share that with. (The actual research, not the giddy hyperness.) Any volunteers?
It does not turn out well. I now have far too much information, and all I wanted was a general overview in order to flesh out my report. Now I know that a house down the street used to be a brothel, that Lyndon Johnson's mistress lived across from me (and that she still sells real estate in the area), and that an old tenant scammed no fewer than 8 separate landlords before being arrested. Interesting tidbits, to be sure, but I now understand the difficulty of being a documentary historian - none of them fit into the paper I'm writing.
However, I still love doing old-fashioned book- and interview- based research. It makes me all giddy and hyper - I wish I had someone to share that with. (The actual research, not the giddy hyperness.) Any volunteers?
