Wordsmithonia Radio: Windy Days

The wind is blowing like crazy right now, but with living in Kansas, I should be used to that by now.  I love the wind.  I love listening to the trees rustle, the house creak, and the sound it makes coming in a window.  I love the way it feels on my skin and in my hair.  I love the way it heralds in a storm, and the way it lifts a kite into the sky.  So for the next few minutes, I hope you enjoy some of my favorite "windy" songs. 

Wordsmithonia Radio --- The Eyes Have It

Nobody can really agree on who first commented on the eyes being the window to the soul, but I'm not really sure the source really matters all that much.  I think almost all of us have experienced that sinking feeling, looking into someone's eyes for the first time, and getting lost in them.  Our eyes are almost the perfect barometer, reflecting our emotions, our fears, and our dreams.  I'll be the first to admit, the eyes are the first thing I'll be attracted to when I meet someone knew, quickly followed by legs, but that's for another post.   

Today I just wanted to bring you ten songs that gets that idea across.  They are songs that reflect both love and pain, songs that truly do reflect our souls.

Wordsmithonia Radio: It's Time To Eat

If you couldn't tell, today's theme is all about food.  Sometimes the food is a metaphor, and sometimes, it's just there to eat, either way, it makes for a great song. So sit back, and listen to some of my favorite songs that mention food in the title.

My Favorite Books of 2014

I'm not trying to say that these were the ten best books from 2014, cause that's just silly.  Some of what I'm including on this list came out  before the year even started, and since I didn't read every book published in 2014, I will never call these books the best.  What I am saying, is that these are my ten favorite books that I read/reviewed during the year.

2014 saw a huge change in not just my reading habits, but in my reviewing habits as well.  For the last few years, I've reviewed every single book that I've read.  2014 was the first year that that became psychically impossible to do.  For whatever reason, I got hooked on romance novels last year, and read over 400 of them on my NOOK.    There is no way I could have reviewed them all, especially since a lot of them were read during my blogging hiatus.  I do occasionally, pick one at random and do a review of it, but that's about as far as I'm getting with those.  Chances are I will never review them all, and that's okay.

So with no further ado, here are my favorite reads of the last year, in order that I reviewed them.

Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson

A Farm Dies Once a Year by Arlo Crawford

The Tin Box by Kim Fielding

All I Know and Love by Judith Frank

World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters

Trapped Under the Sea by Neil Swidey

Horrostor by Grady Hendrix

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries edited by Otto Penzler

Wordsmithonia Radio --- Random 80s

There is no theme, no real connection, except that these are all songs that have been swimming around in my head lately.  I guess I'm just stuck in the 80s right now.

The Ten Sexiest Vampires On Film, Take 6

I know I've been rather M.I.A. on the blog this month, but work has been kicking my ass.  Just to give you an example, in a span of five days, I worked 65 hours.  I'm exhausted.

Regardless or how tired I am, there was one post I knew I had to do before the month was over. There was no way I was going to let this year go by, and not do my annual list of the sexiest vampires to grace the screen.  Over the last six years, it's become one of my Halloween traditions.  

For those of you who haven't been keeping score over the years, please visit the lists I did for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013.  Now that we got that out of the way, how about we feast our eyes on some gorgeous vamps.

THE MEN

Michael Corvin, as played by Scott Speedman in Underworld and Underworld: Evolution.  Half vampire, half lycan, and all man, Michael Corvin isn't someone you would want to mess with.

Marcus Van Sciver, as played by Neil Jackson in Blade: The Series.  Ruthlessness and drop dead gorgeous, makes a winning combination for Marcus in all his dealing.

Brother Silus, as played by Dougray Scott in Perfect Creature.  Born into a society where vampires are born to human mothers, Brother Silas is to be respected and feared, especially when dealing with a rogue.

Richard Wirth, as played by Michael Fassbender in Blood Creek.  I have to admit Richard is one hot vampire, but I think I'd be running the other way if this Nazi monster came towards me.

Steven Grlscz, as played by Jude Law in The Wisdom of Crocodiles.  All he wants is love, it's not his fault that they keep dying on him.

THE WOMEN

Erika, as played by Sophia Myles in Underworld.  Beautiful and seductive, and yet unable to get the man she wanted.

Sasha, as played by Brigid Brannagh in Kindred: The Embraced.  Looked over by the Ventrue Prince of the city, turned by a Brujah thug, and in love with a Gangrel Primogen, Sasha has divided loyalties.  Too bad she's not even sure where her ultimate loyalty belongs.

Katrina, as played by Sheryl Lee in Vampires.  It's always amazing to me how many women of the night, actually get turned into the real deal.

Regine Dandridge, as played by Julie Carmen in Fright Night 2.  Bent on revenge for the death of her brother, Regine isn't shy about using her feminine wiles to reach her goal.

Clara, as played by Gemma Arterton in Byzantium.  She wanted to be left alone to care for her daughter, it's a shame she has to keep killing those who get in her way.

Wordsmithonia Radio Goes Eurodancing

Not sure why I'm wanting to listen to Eurodance right now, but it's what's on my mind.  I think because I've been in such a crappy mood today, that I needed something to get my mind off of it.  For those of you who weren't paying attention to the music scene in the 90s, Eurodance was everywhere.  It was on the radio and in the clubs, and it was a ton of fun to dance too.  I find myself turning to it when I'm needing a pick me up, so I thought I would share some of what I've been listening too for the last few hours.

Wordsmtihonia Radio: The 80s, Part Deux

I've had had the 80s on the brain lately.  If I'm not listening to music from the 40s and 50s, it's from the 80s.  I'm the same with movies, I tend to like a few decades, and with few exceptions, that's about all I watch.  So today, it's all about the 80s.  My listening has really been all over the place, not really sticking in one genre, rather more of an overall feel of the decade. 

For your listening pleasure, here are a few songs I've been listening to lately.

Wordsmithonia Radio, Hits the Sheets

Even though I've been celibate for almost 8 years now, and yes that does make me shudder just a bit, I still know what sex is.  While it may be little more than a fond memory, I'm pretty sure I remember how it's done. And if for some bizarre reason I have forgotten, there is the internet and what can be found on there, I won't bore you with the details.  But even more than that, artists have been singing about it since the beginning of time.  Some of the best songs ever made are about sex, and those that aren't, are normally good to have sex to, Enigma anyone, remember them.  Anyone of a certain age has had sex to one of their songs.

There are songs for that hard sweaty sex,the kind that involves a wall, the floor, and maybe the stairs. It's the kind that leaves you shaking for hours, and your mind incapable of thinking of anything else.  There are songs for the smooth, slow sex, the kind that last for hours upon hours, leaving you relaxed and sated.  Then there are the songs for the spontaneous quickie, when the mood strikes you both out of nowhere.  The playful kind, that has you laughing and smiling while your world is being rocked, there is a song for that as well.

Since sex is on my brain, or at least the lack of it, I though I would take some of that tension, and let you guys in on some of my favorite sex songs.

Wordsmtihonia Radio: It's All In The Name

Songs are written for and about people all the time.  There are love songs, break up songs, I hate you songs, and don't call me that songs.  Something about using a person's name, makes the song more personal.  It brings the story to life, and gives the listener something to focus on.  By using a name, it allows the artist to tell a story, and it allows that story to grow in ways it won't otherwise.  So for today's post, I thought I would share some of my favorite songs, that call somebody out by name.  There are a few songs I love, but they won't be included because I've recently used them in other posts.  So this time around you won't see "Jolene" by Dolly Parton or "Take a Letter, Maria" by R.B. Greaves.  But I think you will find that the songs I am including, are just as good.

Wordsmithonia Radio Celebrates Madonna's Birthday, A Day Late!

Madonna turned 56 yesterday, and damn does she still look good.  Madonna, after having a 30 year career, is one of those icons that defines my childhood.  While I will never go and say I'm a rabid fan of hers, I do love her and her music, and there is nobody that can touch her.  Much like Michael Jackson, she helped define an entire generation of music fans, and artists.  With no signs of slowing down, I'm pretty sure she is going to continue to spread her influence, and take over the few slivers of the world she doesn't already control.  In celebration of her birthday, I wanted to share my ten favorite songs of hers.  So sit back, and enjoy the trip down memory lane.  And no, I'm not going to be listing them in any sort of order.

Heartbreak and Pain, The Way Wordsmithonia Radio Does It

Last week was all about love.  This week, not so much.  Today I'm going to treat you to some of my favorite breakup songs.  The songs you listen to when your heart has been ripped out of your chest, and you feel as if life is simply going to end.  They are the songs you listen to when you are crying your eyes out, ripping up the pictures, and burning the letters.  And yes, I've done all those things.  I won't even tell you about the time a stuffed animal went into the fire place with the letters, let's just say it didn't smell all that well.

But sometimes break up songs can do more than allow you to wallow in self pity.  Sometimes, once the pain has started to lessen, they can help you realize it's time to move on, that it's time to pick yourself back off the ground and get on with life.  They can be the songs that makes you realize the relationship wasn't all that to being with, that just maybe, it was unhealthy for you.  And sometimes, when you listen to the angry breakup songs, they just make you feel better, imagining yourself doing every single thing to that car.  No matter the content of the song, a good breakup song will allow you to deal with, and eventually accept what fate has done to your heart, and the great ones will help heal it.

Love, Wordsmithonia Radio Style

No, I'm not in love.  And no, I have no current prospects for it.  But for some odd reason, it's been on my mind a lot lately.  I'm not sure if it's the amount of m/m romance books I've been reading since I got my NOOK last November, but love is on my mind.  I'm not even sure if I'm ready for the emotion itself, but I'm ready for the music.  There are certain songs that can make my heart skip a beat, and get me thinking of the last time I was in love, or the prospect of finding it once again.  Not sure what the Fates have in store for me in the love department, but I know that there are certain songs I will never stop listening to.