What I've been up to...

In a word, what I've been up to is 'research.'  My first packet for my mentor is due on the 7th of February and I need to have several things ready to go on the 6th including 25 pages of creative work.   Focusing on the creative part at the moment I've found myself looking up some very interesting things, many of which I've never really looked into before.  Firstly I researched fundamentalism as it pertains to both Islam and Christianity, which led me to research Sharia Law as practiced in Saudi Arabia.  I have spent a good portion of my time reading new articles on abused/executed Indonesian maids as well as various accounts of wrongly imprisonment.  The names of things are of great interest to me such as the Mut(t)awa and Qadi.  I have also been expanding my vocabulary through this process and have now come to include ersatz and gendarme.  In addition to looking at Saudi Arabia's legal system and handling of women's rights, I have been researching torture and executions from a semi-pragmatical point of view.  I am looking at how these things work and what sort of preparation goes into an execution.  I learned that executioner's swords don't have tips to them and I learned that the hood in question was meant more for ceremony than for anonymity.  Other things that I've been looking over include the anatomy of the sword, the anatomy of the horse, different looks for executioner's hoods, the meaning behind certain names, Native American Tribes of the Pacific Northwest, the drawbacks of steam cars, apostasy, and port wine stain birthmarks.  I will be adding drugs to that list very soon, as well as further look into torture and executions.