the juxtaposition of research material

I'm sort of working on two stories at once at the moment, each of which required research into a specific historical/cultural topic. Thus my desk is littered with books and printouts from wikipedia and other sources, all hopelessly mixed together in one big pile. As I'm working on one story and need to find some tidbit of info, I have to weed through papers on the other story's topic, and I'm beginning to wonder what sort of effect, if any, the close juxtaposition of two unrelated sets of research will have on the stories, ie, if there will be some sort of subtle cross-contamination. Plus, I've been having the oddest dreams...

The two subjects? Elvis Presley and the Titanic.

(and no, I can't just meld the two and write an Elvis on the Titanic story; the two separate tales are already silly enough on their own, thank you!)

So, what things are you researching or learning about right now? In what ways is it manifesting in what you do, or digging into your subconscious? Is it how you expected?

Inquiring minds want to procrastinate, so 'fess up! (-: