The nerdy joy of the deep dive
Nerdy projects, series starters, and a classic movie I knew the lines from but had never seen
I adore a nerdy deep dive.
One of my favorite Substacks is artist/author Austin Kleon’s. He did a post this week on this very thing—studying something in depth. (It’s one of his paid subscriber posts, but you can read the first part of the post for free.) And the post got me thinking about all the nerdy deep dives I’ve done over the years and all the ones I’d still like to do.
The first one I can remember is when I was probably 12 or 13 and typed up every lyric to every New Kids on the Block song from every album to put in a binder for me and my BFF. Because we were just the teensiest bit obsessed. Ahem.
This was before the internet and there were no lyrics in our liner notes, so that meant hitting rewind and play over and over again on the boombox to try to decipher what they were saying. I could still message that friend today with the words “beef the deetness” and she’d know what I was talking about because, wow, we had a lot of misheard lyrics, lol.
But even though it was a silly pre-teen project, it was fun, gave us something to look forward to doing together, and it did make us pay more attention to the lyrics.
I’m sure this is personality-based, but if I’m feeling down, nothing can boost me more than creating a project (with no true stakes) that involves a deep dive and a checklist. That’s why I love reading challenges so much. It gives me a goal, something fun to do, and the buzz of checking off a list.
That’s what the Romantic Movie Marathon is doing for me as well. I love that it’s made me watch a movie a week these last few months. And I don’t feel guilty for taking time to watch a movie because it’s a REAL PROJECT. Yes, the stakes are low, but I have made a commitment to you guys and that’s enough to keep me honest.
The marathon has also given me a way to deep dive into the history of romantic movies. I’m jumping around in time, but I’m watching more classics than I ever have (like this week’s entry below!) and it’s been enlightening. Also, as a bonus, it’s great inspiration for writing because it’s still studying story.
My Romance Roots reading challenge that I’m doing this year will also let me deep dive into the history of my genre. Both challenges combine the two things I like most about these types of deep dive projects—learning something and getting to do something fun. That’s makes it intrinsically rewarding.
I think that’s why it can be such a mood-lifter, too. Think about those “stunt” books that people have written about ambitious projects. Julie and Julia is always the first that comes to my mind, but she started that project (cooking every recipe in Julia Child’s cookbook) because she was feeling down and stuck in her job.
Projects are there for you when you’re feeling a little lost or when you really need a win.
So, if you’re like me, and you love a deep dive project, I’d love to hear some of your projects!
And I’m not saying that as a generic conversation starter. I’m like really into hearing about people’s just for fun/learning projects.
I’m fascinated by what people choose. One of my favorite Instagram accounts is StoreBoughtIsFine by a guy who is cooking every recipe from every one of Ina Garten's cookbooks. And I recently started following the Substack The Last 80s Newsletter You’ll Ever Need by a guy who is trying to watch every movie released in the 80s, going month by month through the decade. I love how ambitious these are!
So, now I want to hear yours, past or present. Tell me, are you a deep dive project person? What’s your project?
Romantic Movie Marathon
Title: Casablanca
Release date: November 26, 1942
Where to Watch: HBO Max
Starring: Humphrey Bogart (Rick), Ingrid Bergman (Ilsa)
Official description (from IMDB): “A cynical expatriate American cafe owner struggles to decide whether or not to help his former lover and her fugitive husband escape the Nazis in French Morocco.”
My description: A man scarred by love who plans to stay out of everything (including WWII politics) and just look out for himself is confronted with the woman who broke his heart and a heart-wrenching decision.
My Review
1 . Is it actually a romance? In the romance novel sense, no. (No spoilers but it breaks one of the rules.) But it is a beautiful, romantic love story.
2 . Romantic tropes: long lost love, love triangle, grumpy, emotionally closed off hero (“I stick my neck out for nobody.”)
3 . Sweet or steamy? It’s 1942 so they can’t show things on screen but this definitely didn’t feel sweet.
4 . Swoonworthy love interest? Yes. I have a soft spot for the grumpy hero who’s grumpy because he’s had his heart truly broken.
5 . Would I want to be friends with the main characters? Yes, I think most of them are good people in an impossibly difficult situation.
6 . Does it show its age? It’s timeless
7 . Would I rewatch? yes
8 . Favorite moments: All the famous quotes I already knew but had never seen in action.
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.” (This is SUCH a romance thing that we still use. That sense that of all the people, THIS one walked into the character’s life, the worst possible person at the worst possible time—or so they think. ;) )
“Here’s looking at you, kid.”
“We’ll always have Paris.”
“Round up the usual suspects.”
“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
9 . Thoughts: This is a classic and hits the top of best movies of all time lists for a reason. First of all, it’s just beautiful to watch. The black and white is stunning and Ingrid Bergman is flawless. It was fascinating to watch, knowing that it was filmed while World War II was going on, so it didn’t have that looking back perspective thing WWII movies that I’ve seen have. In fact, it was making a statement about America not yet getting involved in the war. But I also like that it was viewing these huge world problems through the lens of this small group of people and Rick and Ilsa’s love story. That makes it all the more impactful because it’s so zoomed in.
I truly enjoyed the experience. I can’t believe I’ve waited this long to watch it.
10 . Rating: I’m not a monster, y’all. 5 stars.
On the podcast this week
It’s all about book series today! We're defining the different types of series, talking about why we love reading them, and then we’re giving our favorite series starter books. Let’s do this!
Listen in your favorite podcast app:
Or add to your favorite podcast app with their “Add by URL” feature and paste this link there: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/rad-reading
That’s all I’ve got for you this week! Stay warm this weekend. We’ve been dealing with snow here in Texas, which means basically everyone is freaking the hell out. :)
—Roni
*Book links are affiliate links (Amazon, Libro.fm, and/or Bookshop.org), which means I earn a small commission if you buy through my links. Also, I receive advanced listening copies of some audiobooks through Libro.fm’s Influencer program. However, all reviews and opinions are my own.
When my youngest went to kindergarten, I started writing. I wrote a 170k book over four months. It's safely tucked away in a file on my computer. It's a tad too long. I didn't set out to write a story that long, it just poured out of me.
Several of my lifetime deep dives have been music related. Boy, do i remember those days of trying to crib lyrics. I play guitar and sing (folk style stuff mostly) so that was how I generated a lot of repertoire. I’m old enough that a lot of my lyric harvesting was done from vinyl. What a job!
I’ve also taught myself the basics of several other musical instruments over the years. If I had a chance to borrow something, I’d give it a try. So I’ve played some trumpet, oboe, flute, recorder and piano over the years. Mainly for my own enjoyment, though I did play trumpet in college marching band (percussion was boring). And at one point I bought a kit and built a hammer dulcimer so I could learn to play that.