Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Wednesday Word of the Day

 
Pettifog \PET-ee-fog\, verb:
1. To bicker or quibble over trifles or unimportant matters.
2. To carry on a petty, shifty, or unethical law business.
3. To practice chicanery of any sort.


~Now isn't this a word!  I would never have put this word with the definition, it reminds me more of Southern belles and puffy skirts...not bickering and shiftiness.~

Pettifog comes from the Middle Dutch word voeger meaning one who arranges things and the word petty meaning insignificant. ~dictionary.com

A Day in the Life of Serena



Song of the Day:  She by Green Day  "She... She screams in silence.  A sullen riot penetrating through her mind"  You know what I love about this band?  Meaningful poetry set to loud, driving rock music.  Yep, a fabulous combination, IMHO.  :)
 
Currently Reading:  More Than a Mistress by Mary Balogh.  A fabulous historical with strong main characters.  An enjoyable read, for sure.
 
Currently Writing:  Ideas and plot for werewolf story.  Editing:  The Submission - still working through those "was'" or would that be "was-i?"  That one's for you Darling Diva!  lol
 
Quote of the Day
Imagination is the golden-eyed monster that never sleeps. It must be fed; it cannot be ignored.

- Patricia A. McKillip
 
.

Friday, February 24, 2012

Friday Retro Musing....


Wedding?  Coming out ball? Private dress-up time?  What's her story?

Alexandretta reached once more for the mirror, praying the wolf beneath her skin would stay hidden long enough for her to get through this sham of a wedding.

~My muse is needing to play.  So often she encourages me to search for pictures she can create ideas about.  It's been a while for her sooooo  I might be on a graphic's hunt today!~


A Day in the Life of Serena
 
Song of the Day:  Ready to Run by The Dixie Chicks
 
Currently Reading:   Legally Hot by Lora Leigh, Cheyenne McCray & Red Garnier
 
Currently Writing:  Werewolf idea   Editing:  The Submission (I've been doing much more of this lately...attacking my wild overuse of the word WAS!  LOL  slippery slope that word, once you use the beast, it seems as though you can't stop using it!!)
 
Wicked Wake-Up:   "Charly Horse, Charly Horse"  yep that was me screaming this morning at my wonderful hubby who was having problems of his own - numb arms from sleeping on them all night.  What a picture we made.  LOL  My CH subsided and hubby did regain the use of his arms, but I always wonder what this will mean for my day.  Definitely a sore calf muscle...let's hope that's it! 

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Wednesday Word of the Day




Tramontane \truh-MON-teyn\, adjective:
1. Being or situated beyond the mountains.
2. Beyond the Alps as viewed from Italy; transalpine.
3. Of, pertaining to, or coming from the other side of the mountains.
4. Foreign; barbarous.
noun:
1. A person who lives beyond the mountains: formerly applied by the Italians to the peoples beyond the Alps, and by the latter to the Italians.
2. A foreigner; outlander; barbarian.
3. A violent, polar wind from the northwest that blows in southern France.

~I love coming across words I've never heard of before.~

Tramontane comes from the Latin word trānsmontānus which meant beyond the mountains. It is made of three roots: mont meaning mountain, trans meaning over, and -an, a suffix denoting "coming from."  ~ dictionary.com  

A Day in the Life of Serena

Song of the Day:  Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down (yep, I'm still on this one...the music has an underlying darkness that suits my mood lately.)
 
Currently Reading:  Slow Ride by Erin McCarthy
 
Currently Writing:  Friday's Shapeshifter blog & work on a werewolf idea I have brewing  Editing:  The Submission  


Monday, February 20, 2012

Cold Nose & Sweet Nuzzles

How do you like this for a good morning, I love you my fur-less mommy wake-up!  Hehe  This is Russet, one of my furry buds showing me love this AM.  He knows I'm a little on the loony side and accepts me anyway.  ~wink~

This morning was especially crazy.  Mainly 'cause I didn't sleep well last night and unfortunately it was not due to some wild, must write urge.  Nope, I was a sleepless wonder because my Darling Diva spent the night in a different state! 

Confirmation retreat...I thought I'd have more time to prepare myself for her being this far away from home.  Okay, technically, she's only about a hour away...but she did cross the border so it feels like she's a million miles from me!  LOL, yes I'm being a total mom about this, but now I need to try to get some work done, right...take my mind off her not being here.

Wish me luck! 


A Day in the Life of Serena

Song of the Day:  Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down  
 
Currently Reading:  The Guy Next Door by Lori Fostor, Susan Donovan & Victoria Dahl
 
Currently Writing:  A Talbot's Peak short story (Hawke & Ally) & ideas for a new Talbot's Peak story  Editing:  The Submission 
Quote of the Day:   My wish is that you may be loved to the point of madness.

- André Breton

 

Friday, February 17, 2012

Friday Retro...



So, I'm not exactly sure how this ad would sell me on buying a soap?  I always preferred my Darling Diva being safe in her bath...


A Day in the Life of Serena



Song of the Day:  No certain song yet today, just a collection of snippets of songs... 
Currently Reading:  Flashfire by Deborah Cooke  Hmmm, another dragon tale...I adore this series.
Currently Writing:  A Talbot's Peak short story (Hawke & Ally)  Editing:  The Submission 

Joke of the Day:  Why does it take pirates so long to learn the alphabet?   Because they spend years at sea!  hehe  Okay, cheesy but chuckle worthy this Friday morning.  :)

Quote of the Day:   Guard well within yourself that treasure, kindness. Know how to give without hesitation, how to lose without regret, how to acquire without meanness.

- George Sand

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Wednesday Word of the Day


Cordate \KAWR-deyt\, adjective:
1. Heart-shaped.
2. (Of leaves) heart-shaped, with the attachment at the notched end.

~A perfect word for around Valentine's Day!~

Related to core, cordate comes from the Latin word for heart, cor, and the suffix -ate which forms an adjective from a noun.  ~ Dictionary.com


A Day in the Life of Serena


Song of the Day:  As A Blonde by Selena Gomez  -  Darling Diva so enjoys this singer that I hear it quite often.  It's a fun song, but I always change it to As A Redhead ~ LOL  
 
Currently Reading:  Hot for the Holiday's Anthology
 
Currently Writing:  A Talbot's Peak short story (Hawke & Ally)  Editing:  The Submission 

 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Valentine's Day Love...


A delectable homemade valentine for that special someone in your life! What a way to start the holiday of love!

Happy Valentine's Day, one and all!


A Day in the Life of Serena


Song of the Day:  Set Fire to the Rain by Adele  

Currently Reading:  Bewitched by Lori Foster
 
Currently Writing:  A Talbot's Peak short story (Hawke & Ally)  Editing:  The Submission 

Quote of the Day 
Doubt thou the stars are fire;
Doubt that the sun doth move;
Doubt truth to be a liar;
But never doubt I love.

- William Shakespeare


Monday, February 13, 2012

Crossed Eyes & Tensed Thighs...

Yeah, don't I wish my crossed eyes and tense thighs were from a weekend of exceptionally hot sex...

But no, no no no, the source of my two day craze is what I like to refer to as electronics gone wild!  It all started with an innocently purchased Valentine's Day gift for my hubby.  I was so excited to find, at a really good price, the Band of Brothers DVD he'd been wanting for a while, that I neglected to realize I'd picked up the Blue Ray rather than just the DVD.

**Point of fact, so I don't look like a complete dork, I was purchasing this in a pawn shop and there was no packaging to scream out "stop, I'm a Blue Ray!"**

So, when I slipped the alleged DVD into the TV to check to make sure if worked, I got...nothing.  Yes, the label looked different, but really, I don't study DVD's...I just put them in and wait for them to run. 

**Have you guessed by now that the Hubster is the electronic guru of my life?**

Flummoxed, I decided to give the gift a couple of days early so I could get some help figuring it out.  H was thrilled to get the gift, I was so proud of myself, until he says..."Ah, S, did you know this is Blue Ray?"

**Shoot (not what I said, but it sounds better.) Bedazzled by a good deal.**

Now, not wanting to give a crappy, can't even be used V-day gift, I suggested the obvious..."Let's get a Blue Ray player."  We needed a new DVD player anyway and shock and amazement, Blue Ray's can play both DVD's and Blue Ray's.  Win/win!  Plus, they have a bunch of awesome things you can access...netflix, YouTube, etc...

So out we went and home we came with the new machine.  This is where the electronics went really wild!  Connection hell!  Blue Ray Player needs an Internet connection, computers need an Internet connection, we only have one modem...off to get a router, which works for the Blue Ray and one computer, but not the other.  (Eyes crossed)  Wireless stick thingy...yes, this is what I call it...works on one computer, but not the one we need it to work on.  (Thighs tense)

In the end, I now have one computer that has Internet access rather than the two I started with, but a damn spanky Blue Ray player that works!  Is it a fair trade-off?  Not even close...but after a weekend of mind-numbing confusion, H and I came to the realization that we need to be better educated on computer connectivity, or as I was tempted to do along the way...throw all the electronics off the balcony.  I'd miss them though...

A Day in the Life of Serena

Song of the Day:  Who are the people in my neighborhood?  By the Sesame Street cast.  LOL, where do the songs come from, you ask?  This one came from a Kindle game I was playing titled The People in your Neighborhood.  Naturally, being a child of The S. Street, I started singing.  ;D

Currently Reading:  Bewitched by Lori Foster
 
Currently Writing:  A Talbot's Peak short story (Hawke & Ally)  Editing:  The Submission 

Interesting Fact I learned:  Thanks to 60 Minutes last night, I learned that the gold given to a daughter on her wedding day in India has multiple meanings.  Most interesting, IMHO, was that it gives the daughter a standing in her new family, safety & security in case she needs it and all gold she brings to the marriage is controlled only by her.  Pretty cool, huh. 



Friday, February 10, 2012

Friday Retro...

Vintage love or vintage pain?  Either way there's a connection, a most beautiful connection.

~~~

A Day in the Life of Serena


Song of the Day:  Burning Love by Elvis Presley.  One of my favorites by the King!

Currently Reading:  Lie With Me (Shadow Force book #1) by Stephanie Tyler
 
Currently Writing:  A Talbot's Peak short story (Hawke & Ally)  Editing:  The Submission 

Quote of the Day:  You can't have a light without a dark to stick it in. -Arlo Guthrie 
How freaking true!  :D

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Wednesday Word of the Day


Piacular \pahy-AK-yuh-ler\, adjective:
1. Expiatory; atoning; reparatory.
2. Requiring expiation; sinful or wicked.

~Sinful or wicked...yep that's me, piacular!  muahahahah~
Piacular is derived from two Latin roots: pia, which is related to the word pious, and a variation of the suffix -cule which denotes a diminutive nouns, like particle.  - Dictionary.com

~~~ 

A Day in the Life of Serena

Song of the Day:  Sundown by Gordon Lightfoot.  Again, I awoke with this tune in my head.  How different from yesterday's fare...

Quote of the DayWe are of opinion that instead of letting books grow moldy behind an iron grating, far from the vulgar gaze, it is better to let them wear out by being read.

- Jules Verne

Currently Reading:  Wish You Were Here by Amy Garvey

Currently Writing: More work on Friday's Shapeshifter Seduction blog.  Join us for the Cupid's Choice Blog Hop.  Editing:  The Submission 

Yummy Food Find: Ham wrapped pickles.  Ham slices topped with cream cheese of choice (I like a good plain) and rolled around a full size pickle.  Slice it in rounds and serve as an appetizer.


Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Tasty Tuesday: Peppers & The Ho-Hums...

What?  You thought this was about those deliscious veggies that come in a rainbow of colors?  Well it is, only further down the page.  ~wink~

See, I'm kinda bored with my blog.  Oh, I like several things about it, the look, the colors, my sections and pages, but the content is giving me the ho-hums and if it's giving me the ho-hums what must it be doing for my readers... 

So I need  your help.  What would you like to see more of, less of, none of...tell me what you think, I can take it.  :)

First change, more personal - day in the life of Serena!  Boy do I hope not to bore you.  LOL

Song of the DayIf You Have To Ask by the Red Hot Chili Peppers...I woke up this morning with this tune in my head...know the song?   It's a funky little freak of a wonderful song...hehe.
**Interesting line..."Thinkin' of  a few...Taboos that I ought to kill."

Currently Reading:  It's About Time by Erin McCarthy from the Bad Boys of Summer Anthology.

Currently Writing: Friday's Shapeshifters Seduction blog post for the Valentine Blog Hop.  Editing:  The Submission 

Yummy Food Find: Fresh red and yellow bell peppers on my salad.  Yes, technically, I'm old enough to have had them before now, but I'm finding that things I didn't previously care for are really appealing to me.  :)  Darling Diva doesn't buy it, yet.  But I keep trying.

Have a plentiful day!


Friday, February 3, 2012

Friday Retro...

Vintage or just made to look vintage...either way, I really like the picture.  There's such emotion in her profile.


Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Wednesday Word of the Day


neoterism \nee-OT-uh-riz-uhm\, noun:

1. An innovation in language, as a new word, term, or expression.
2. The use of new words, terms, or expressions.

~Ha, I do this a lot!  Of course my family looks at me like I'm slightly cracked, but shoossh-ala-banger, who isn't slightly cracked in some way these days?  *wink*~ 

Gotta made up word of your own?  I'd love to hear it.  :)

**Though it did not come into English usage until the late 1800s, neoterism originally comes from the Greek word neōterismós which meant "an attempt to change." ~~info found at Dictionary.com