Wednesday Whew...

Yep, this is my muse today. 

After a nice long, and busy, four day weekend with my family...muse and I are in agreement.  We're exhausted and burned(literally not figuratively).  My pasty white skin has lost all of the tan ability it gathered in the ten years I lived in Texas...now, I go lobster red.  ~Sigh~

So I need an enticement for my flagging wordsmith.  Something to get her juices running.  Something to bring the words back...

Scrabble anyone?

A Day in the Life of Serena 
 
Song of the Day:  Multiple Selena Gomez songs...Darling Diva asked for my opinion on which ones might work for her next voice lesson.  Yay!  I love being asked to help her. :D 

Currently Reading: A Clandestine Affair by Joanna Wayne

Currently Writing:  Plotting for Friday's Shapeshifter blog, I hope.  Editing:  The Submission

Quote of the Day:  Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.

G.K. Chesterton

~hehe, this just kind of tickles me.  Maybe today is a cheese poem day?~

Word of the Day:  Chrestomathy \kres-TOM-uh-thee\, noun: A collection of selected literary passages.

Chrestomathy literally means "useful to learn" in Greek, from the roots chres- meaning "to use" and math- meaning "to learn." ~dictionary.com

 

Friday Retro...

French village, a small settlement on St. Thomas Island, Virgin Islands, Dec 1941
~Library of Congress pictures

Picture perfect...can you smell the sea?  Feel the soft breeze against your skin?  Hear both the silence only the open water can bring and the busyness of life all around you?

Intrestingly enough, when this picture was taken, Pearl Harbor was either about to be bombed or already had been.  Two island ports,  one a haven the other in hell.

A Day in the Life of Serena 
 
Song of the Day:  Days Are Short by Arlo Guthrie.  I've been drawn all this week to the Hobo's Lullaby cd.  This album was a staple in my youth and has made me a lifelong fan of the amazing Arlo.  He's coming to town in Nov for a show and I'm determined to get Darling Diva to the concert.  Three generations of my family will be appriciating his music, mom, me and DD!  Plus hubby, of course, who became a fan when he met me.  :D


Sound of the Day:  Frog songs.  With all the rain we received yesterday, the pond next door has filled in making all the froggies very, very happy.  They've been singing like crazy.  :)  Though I suspect part of their song is thanks for not being fried by the lightening!  LOL  The show was incredible and thankfully I got my computer turned off before anything could happen...that would be just my luck.

Currently Reading: The Care and Taming of a Rogue (Adventurers' Club) by Suzanne Enoch
 
Currently Writing:  Plotting werewolf series.   Editing:  The Submission

Quote of the Day:  There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.

Joseph Brodsky

 

Monday Muse...

Acacia looked from wrist to wrist at the ropes holding her to the bed.  Thick sailor knots assured there would be no leaving the pillowed haven until Varg released her.  God, she was tired of being at the mercy of others because of a familial bequest she never wanted.

“Son.of.a.Bitch.”  Each tug of her arm tightened the restraints until her hands went numb. A virulent storm of emotions whipped the sheer draperies out towards the still calm sea as she watched for his return.  “I’m going to kill that dirty, rotten Viking.” 

Sadly, she could attest to that being true. Her gift of knowing showed her this man’s final outcome, like a movie, running repeatedly behind her eyes.  Her fingers wrapped securely around his neck, squeezing the life from him until his eyes rolled back in his head and a final breath escaped his sensual lips.



A Day in the Life of Serena 
 
Song of the Day:  We All Die Young by Steelheart (For my hubs who has been listening to this song all weekend!)

Currently Reading: Carnel Sin by Allison Brennan

Currently Writing:  Plotting werewolf series.  Tyr & Ela's story. Though today's musing is from Varg & Acacia's story, probably the fourth book in the series.  Editing:  The Submission

Quote of the Day:  Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.

Nora Ephron

 

Friday Retro...

~Retiring a locomotive driver wheel in the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railway locomotive shops, Shopton, near Fort Madison, Iowa. The tire is heated by means of gas until it can be slipped over the wheel. Contraction on cooling will hold it firmly in place. Santa Fe R.R.

1943 March ~ Library of Congress pics

What a cool picture! It tugs at my artistic side...I adore working with/shaping metal. Unfortunately, circumstances as they are, I don't get to play as I'd like.

A Day in the Life of Serena 
 
Song of the Day:  So What! by Pink

Currently Reading: In a Storm of Scandal by Kim Lawrence

Currently Writing:  Plotting werewolf series.  Tyr & Ela's story.  Editing:  The Submission

Quote of the Day:  Some people say, “Never let them see you cry.” I say, if you’re so mad you could just cry, then cry. It terrifies everyone.

Tina Fey
The author of Bossypants was born on this day in 1970.

~Ha!  Too true.~ 

Wednesday Word of the Day

Spruik \sprook\, verb:

To make or give a speech, especially extensively; spiel.

~For Burgess or Dugger over at Shapeshifter Seductions.  Either, I'm sure, could make it sound sinful!~

Spruik is Australian slang that arose in the early 1900s. It is of unknown origin. ~dictionary.com

A Day in the Life of Serena 
 
Song of the Day:  Take the Money and Run by The Steve Miller Band

Currently Reading: Hold on Tight by Stephanie Tyler.  ~Whew~ This series has some sexy heroes!  ;)

Currently Writing:  Plotting werewolf series.  Tyr & Ela's story is up first.  Editing:  The Submission

Quote of the Day:  Happiness consists in getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more.

Robert A. Heinlein
~Having had significant sleep issues in the past, I will agree with this whole-heartily!~ 

Monday Muse...

Laycie watched the water ripple as her thoughts tripped along, double time, triple time or no time, she just wasn't sure.  First tall then short, she spied tiny legs erupting in the tens of thousands from her small brown body, each shod with white bobbie socks and patent leather shoes. Wings unfurled from her portly little back impeding her escape into the wall, while the large white toothed grin of  danger danced her way.

"Feedyourheadfeedyourheadfeedyourhead,"  chanted her twenty siblings, whiskers flicking.

Perhaps nibbling on cheese marked with an 'Eat Me' sign had not been such a good idea. Where, oh where, was her White Knight?



A Day in the Life of Serena 
 
Song of the Day:  White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane.  Clearly my Monday Musing has everything to do with this song...hehe  I had the most amusing thing happen yesterday as we celebrated Mother's Day with my mom.  Three generations of women sat on my mom's patio, Grandma(my mom), Mother(myself) and Daughter(darling diva), when Darling Diva asked her Grandma to listen to the song she just put on her phone.  I suspected I knew what song it was and couldn't wait to see my mom's face.  So begins the song "One pill makes you larger...." and Grandma gets that fond memory look on her face...the one that reminds me of the relaxed look she sported in my youth on nights this song would play around my house. 

While not hippies in the strictest sense of the word, my folks partook of much in the late 60's and 70's.  Hell who didn't(ha...me, but only cause I naturally lived inside my head, tripping with my muse regularly before I even knew her as my muse...then she was just my imaginary friend.) 

Anyway, it only took a moment for Grandma to identify that her 12 year old granddaughter was listening to the same music she had, oh, forty years ago. Shock, dismay and age flickered across her face with a tilted grin found her lips.  I can totally empathize with my mom cause Darling Diva will do the same thing to me at times.  Songs I immersed myself in as a teen will come out of her room or phone and I'll think back to when it came out...quickly realizing it had to be 30 years ago.  How time does fly...

Currently Reading: Hard to Hold by Stephanie Tyler

Currently Writing:  The Submission (rewrites) Editing:  The Submission

Quote of the Day:  Tell them a hookah smoking caterpillar has given you the call...
~ Grace Slick, White Rabbit

Mother's Day Smiles...

 
A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.

Washington Irving

Happy Mother's Day!

Friday Retro...

~~Johnston, Frances Benjamin,, 1864-1952,, photographer.

[Boston Horticultural Society Exhibition, Horticultural Hall, Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts. Wildflower exhibition garden]

[1921 May]~~ http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/7141871201/in/photostream 

What a gorgeous display!  I can totally see a delicious bout of sex happening right before my eyes in this love cocoon.  For me, waterfalls are always sexy.

A Day in the Life of Serena 
 
Song of the Day:  Falling in Love for the Night by The Charlie Daniels Band & Crystal Gayle.  Hmmm, falling in love for the night at the waterfall.  Oh yeah!

Currently Reading: Speak No Evil by Allison Brennan.  Ms. Brennan writes the creepiest serial killers.  They give you the heebee's, but at the same time you just can't stop reading.  The mark of a really good author.  :)

Currently Writing:  The Submission (rewrites) & Dom and Jada's story from Talbot's Peak.  Here's a couple of flash fictions introducing these two characters.  First and Second.  Editing:  The Submission

Quote of the Day:  The past is never where you think you left it.

Katherine Anne Porter

 
 

Wednesday Word of the Day

Cicatrix \SIK-uh-triks\, noun:

1. New tissue that forms over a wound.
2. Botany. A scar left by a fallen leaf, seed, etc.

Okay, so this interesting word just showed up in my email and I felt compelled to share.  How to use it in a fun sentence?  Oh, I know...  "Hey baby, nice looking cicatrix you got there."  LOL

Cicatrix is derived from the Latin word cicatrix meaning "scar." The Latin word has no clear origin. ~dictionary.com

A Day in the Life of Serena 
 
Song of the Day:  Hello Texas by Jimmy Buffet off the Urban Cowboy soundtrack.  Silly note, when I moved to Texas the year I turned eleven, I listened to this song as we crossed over the boarder from Oklahoma.  Funny the things we remember so vividly.  :)

Currently Reading: It's All Greek To Me by Katie MacAlister (just finished, this is a must read!) Now on to Time Out by Jill Shalvis (another of my not to be missed authors.)

Currently Writing:  The Submission (rewrites).  Editing:  The Submission

Quote of the Day:  I'm not young enough to know everything.

J.M. Barrie

 

Monday Muse...

Death spoke to me of jobs undone. 
A sinner's heart removed by one.
The valiant and honorable
Need swift release, their dreams are mine
To bequeath.

Yet still I sat, no answer to give
His darkness draining me like a sieve.
Those beady black eyes bore into me
Reminders of my debt to thee.

"I plucked you from hell, and made you mine.
Your wrists I wrapped in thorny vines,
Your heart I tasted - quite sublime
Of cherries, ash and deep red wine.

Now is the time to do as I bid,
Pain and loss you shall rid
Hearts and Souls need shepherds great
To carry them from this world of hate.

You must escort them above and below
Your care is the last they shall know.
Bring not along your mournful face
Lift them high with your grace."

Death spoke to me of jobs undone. 
A sinner's heart removed by one.
The valiant and honorable
Need swift release, their dreams are mine
To bequeath.

A Day in the Life of Serena 
 
Song of the Day:  Your Sister Can't Twist (but she can rock 'n roll) by Elton John

Currently Reading: It's still a secret...

Currently Writing:  The Submission (rewrites) and poetry...the Muse is in a mood.  Editing:  The Submission

Quote of the Day:  There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love.

Christopher Morley

 

Friday Retro...

My only problem with vintage pin-ups is that very rarely do you see a hot stud, bare-chested and bent over showing me his awe-inspiring thighs.  ~wink~

A Day in the Life of Serena 

Song of the Day:  Squealer by AC/DC

Currently Reading: Entries for my online chapter contest so I'm keeping it quiet.  :)

Currently Writing:  The Submission (rewrites)  Editing:  The Submission

Word of the Day:  numen \NOO-min\, noun: Divine power, especially one who inhabits a particular object.

Wednesday Weave

Oooh, Happy Wednesday!  I just had to share my awesome birthday gift...an adjustable loom!  It would seem that this authors incredible Hubby has been studying her, the sneaky sexy!  :D

I've been reading weaving books and have come to find most of the projects I'd like to tackle require a different sized loom. Which is cool, but frustrating when one only has a test loom cut from cardboard (not that those didn't work well for some things).

So my Hubby asked periodic questions about looms, hoping to throw off my suspicions (which he did) and set about making me (yes, with his own hands) an adjustable loom that can extend to 24 x 48.  Yay!!  Now I can do many different sized projects.

Thank you, my love for the wonderful gift and making me smile no matter how many times I turn 29!  The last day of April is not looking so glum anymore.  ;)

A Day in the Life of Serena 

Song of the Day:  Fins by Jimmy Buffet

Currently Reading: Real Men Will by Victoria Dahl

Currently Writing:  The Submission (rewrites)  Editing:  The Submission

Quote of the Day:  Idleness, like kisses, to be sweet must be stolen.

Jerome K. Jerome

 

Happy May Day...

May Day celebrations, wide and varied fun....  All information below found at Wikipedia.

United States of America

May Day was also celebrated by some early European settlers of the American continent. In some parts of the United States, May Baskets are made. These are small baskets usually filled with flowers or treats and left at someone's doorstep. The giver rings the bell and runs away. The person receiving the basket tries to catch the fleeing giver. If they catch the person, a kiss is exchanged.

~

Finland

Celebrations among the younger generations take place on May Day Eve, see Walpurgis Night in Finland, most prominent being the afternoon 'crowning' of statues in towns around the country with a student cap.

~

Germany

In rural regions of Germany, especially the Harz Mountains, Walpurgisnacht celebrations of pagan origin are traditionally held on the night before May Day, including bonfires and the wrapping of a Maibaum (maypole). Young people use this opportunity to party, while the day itself is used by many families to get some fresh air. Motto: "Tanz in den Mai!" ("Dance into May!"). In the Rhineland, May 1 is also celebrated by the delivery of a maypole, a tree covered in streamers to the house of a girl the night before. The tree is typically from a love interest, though a tree wrapped only in white streamers is a sign of dislike. Females usually place roses or rice in form of a heart at the house of their beloved one. It is common to stick the heart to a window or place it in front of the doormat. On leap years, it is the responsibility of the females to place the maypole. All the action is usually done secretly and it is an individual's choice whether to give a hint of their identity or stay anonymous. May Day was not established as a public holiday until 1933.

~
  

Great Britain

In St Andrews, some of the students gather on the beach late on April 30 and run into the North Sea at sunrise on May Day, occasionally naked. This is accompanied by torchlit processions and much elated celebration.

 

Happy May Day where ever you are!