Tag Archives: SephiPiderWitch

Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

April 13, 2014 Sephi Leave a comment

I requested Gone Girl from the library because I kept reading wonderful reviews on it. It was actually the second time I had requested it from the library. The first time, I made the mistake of not putting it at the top of the stack and I had to return it before I could get to it. I didn’t make that mistake this time.

This isn’t normally my type of book. And to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what to think of it when I began to read it. And at one point, I almost started to lose interest. Not because it is badly written or boring, but because I was starting to think it was a standard husband kills wife murder mystery. And then . . . . .

She made a sharp turn that I did NOT expect. She showed that you should not assume what is going on in a story (and I think that can also apply to real life) This was so very NOT the story I imagined it was.

Gillian Flynn has created a superbly twisted character in this tale of betrayal, obsession, vengeance. She takes us deeply into the mind of a psychotic sociopath and along a rollercoaster ride with this character, egocentric and void of any empathy to any other human. Its a chilling study of how an attractive face and pleasant personality can hide a vile and cruel soul.

And the good thing is? I understand she has written two other books!

Garden Musings

April in the Garden

April 9, 2014 Sephi Leave a comment

Hello there again! It’s Cassie, in case you forgot. Don’t listen to any of the humans who try and tell you that I am Missy Floof. I will put up with the little princess as I am sure that will result in the generous offerings of tasty treats. They’re in the drawer in the end table, by the way. Feel free to fish some out and make an offering.Okay, it seems mom has been working a bit in the garden and there are pictures and stories to tell you about it. And no pictures of me at the moment. We don’t need to give mom more evidence to support her theory that I drool on myself. Its really just an odd play of the light. Trust me. Here, let me show you. *lick lick* See? All gone. Uhm, never there! Well, carry on!

Well this little tree has sure perked up and fluffed out from the bare sticks coming out of the ground a couple of weeks ago. One on either side of the door. Guardians and blessings on the comings and goings of the home.

And the morning begins with such lovely blue skies with a bounce of clouds off in the distance. Cloud watching has always been such a wonderful pastime, and I spent far too many years living in an area where there was so little of it. Here you can spend days and days just watching the amazing clouds that play in the skies.

The fairies have been quite busy gathering together this lovely blue bouquet. But it seems there is also a small faction of artist fairies that have painted some Art Nouveau additions they are attempting to sneak into the scene.

And what garden would be complete without a place to hang and dry the hearts collected during the weeks escapades?

Hmmmm? Scarlet darts!!

I don’t think I will ever get tired of looking at these lovely flowers. The stark contrasts in the colors with their white petals vivid yellow stamens. I am a bit proud of this shot as it got a lot of likes on my Google + feed.

As she looks out upon the garden about her and contemplates the world as she knows it.

The sun in me recognizes and honors the sun that is in you!

Whee! New toy! Mom is so very thoughtful in giving me such new and interesting toys and leaving them in places she knows I will find them. Not quite as good as treats, but I do enjoy them!

Oh! Hi there! hehehehehe, didn’t see you come in. No! I am sure mom meant for me to play with these. Why else would she have left them laying on the bed where I could find them? You’re not going to tell her are you? She might not give me extra treats if you do.

Okay, so here’s the mission for the morning. To turn the dirt in as many of these compartments as my energy will allow for. I will obviously not need to engage in any additional modes of exercise this day.

Sometimes I just utterly amaze myself!!! I would have been happy to have completed a couple of those squares. But, I actually managed to get ALL of them done. And I found many large stones in the process. I forgot to take a picture of the fire area, but I made a circle about halfway around it. I figure if I dig up enough stones, maybe I can accumulate enough to make a real fire pit. On the downside, I didn’t find any bones. Ah well! Can’t win them all.

And I have beans sprouting up!!! Though it seems something ate three of the bean types. Those critters need to be bones fertilizing my garden!!!

Ah, you are done? I have spent a pleasant time watching one of my new big screen kitty TVs that came with mom’s new house. Hope you had a fun time. Oh, and before you leave, can you toss me another treat? This sunbathing is hard work and I have worked up quite an appetite. Actually, if you could make that two, that would be great!

Book Review

The Magicians – Lev Grossman

April 8, 2014 Sephi Leave a comment

The Magicians

Quentin receives an envelope from a dead man he had an interview with and in it finds a book, The Magicians. A wrong turn and seasons changed and he is offered the chance to take a test. What’s he got to lose? He passes and so begins his entrance into a magicians school, something he had dreamed of as a child but never knew such a thing really existed.

I was quite charmed with the first half of the book and highly entertained at the escapades of the blossoming magicians and the school they were in. It was kind of a Harry Potter to the university level, complete with adult activities such as drinking, sex and an occasional orgy. There was even a special game, not quiddich, but it did ring heavily of borrowing the concept, if not the actual game.

The second half of the book was not quite as fun as the first half. All of these students have read a series as children about a place called Fillory, which is almost borrowing close to the Lion, Witch And Wardrobe books. Add to that, throwing in the God influence and struggling story, it became tedious to get through. It felt almost like he had set up the second half with the Fillory references and therefore had to follow through with it. And its not that it was “bad”, just a bit tedious and drawn out and lacking in the fun and humor of the first half. And its obvious that he has set it up for a sequel. We’ll see what he does with that.

I am torn on what to rate this one. I would give the first half a 4 and the second a bare 3 and since you can’t rate at a half star, I think I will have to go with 3. Its a good book, but could have been a whole lot better.

Garden Musings

First Spring in the Garden – 2

April 1, 2014 Sephi Leave a comment

Cassie decided since this is about her home; granted, she is housebound and not allowed in the yard to play because I am certain she is too much of a charm school ditz to notice a eagle swoomping down on her floofy little body to carry back to it nest for a snack for the baby raptors, but the yard, she should still be the first sight you see when you open the post. And since she did clean the drool off her ruff a bit better than the last time, I allowed her the privilege.

I took a tour of all the blooming things in my yard and enjoyed the small sun breaks to give me the best lighting for the shots. We’ve been a bit short on the sunshine department this year, but it seems there has been plenty to bring the lovelies out to bask in its glow.

I am going to have to do some research on some of these plants. I have no idea what these blue beauties are, though I am sure my neighbors would snicker at me for the ignorance. I’ll just look for them the next time I am in the garden department.
Update: I have just been told that these are grape hyacinth. So, there is one flower mystery solved. Yay!!

I must say that there is something so very appropriate about there being bleeding hearts growing in my garden. I have always found them to be such an intriguing flower. I know, they’re pink, but pink is okay on a bloom. Just not so much on my body.

Another one that will need defining.And this one has a probable identification of sakura.

Its one of the most recognized flowers and its name should fall off of my tongue every time I set eyes on it, but I have to admit that for some unknown reason I continuously go blank on the name when I see daffodils. I do have to agree with my next door neighbor on them, they do make you smile whenever you set eyes on them. Much like sunflowers but its far too early in the year for them. I did plant some in the front garden. I just need to hope that the birds didn’t steal my seeds.

Their beauty just takes on an otherworldly stark beauty when you strip them of the colors and are left with
just the lights and shadow of them. I think flowers may be much like people in that respect. The color shows their dressing. The black and white shows their souls.

I love the way the cluster of spiky petals just shoots out. Its like an offering from the plant. You can almost hear it say “Look what I made for you”. So you pluck it loose and stick it in your hair while you continue your meandering through the garden.

Oh lookie!!! Steampunk blooms. I imagine the color is from the rust that has accumulated from all the rain. They were probably a nice brass or copper or something before the weather set into their stalks.

Cassie is just checking in to see if you are enjoying the tour. She would also like to request that you go in to the drawer next to her and get her a treat. She says you should pay no mind to the human telling you that I don’t need them.

Yup! Its yet another species that I will have to identify. But they do look like some alien life form or maybe something out of Little Shop of Horrors. I guess that could make them a nice set of wards to use.

ell this is what it looks like before it decides to rise and shine and show its happy face to the world.

I suppose I shall have to look into if I really need to remove this lovely little branch. Then again, maybe I’ll just leave it and see what it does. I think its quite charming springing up in the eye of the split trunk. I figure anything that wants attention so badly that it chooses such a prominent place to make its entrance probably deserves to keep that place.

And at the far corner of the property is this old tree trunk with some large bushy thing growing alongside it. Yeah, yeah, I am sure the “master gardeners” will be grinding their teeth at my lack of knowledge at this point. But, I will learn and the important thing is that I appreciate the beauty even if I don’t know the name. At any rate, I cut it back considerably when I realized there was another garden plot that it had grown over. Of course, with the size and shape of it, it could very well be a grave. Probably not, but definitely food for future consideration.

Trying to decide which I like more, the shot with or the shot without color. Again, I think we are back to the difference between showing the dressing and showing the soul. Both have their place and are good.

I am thinking these might be hellebore like what I have on the front porch. If I am correct that means I am beginning to learn some of these plants. So if you are a garden snob and have been laughing at my lack of knowledge up until this point, and I am right on this, then all I have to say is “plllltttzzzzhhh” I’m learning!

Though all her siblings gazed upward to bath in the warmth of the sun, she alone allowed her gaze to travel downward to watch the flow of life below.

She was alone with only the promise of company in the small area she had found to emerge. Sadness wrapped her and weighed on her causing her to slightly droop her head. But wait! Whispers from behind of another promising to soon join at her side.

Its actually a whirly-gig to go on a fairy’s cap. They grow them in the shady places of gardens and slip in during the dark of the night to collect them and then weave them into the caps while sitting on the branches of the trees where they can toss pine cones onto the heads of unsuspecting humans as they walk underneath.

And this is just one of those take your breath away symbols of Spring. Its as if the opening leaves of the branch are standing sentry over the delicate bud that is their charge.

This lovely bush is right outside my bedroom window. Its almost like this charming little forest trail along the side of the yard which ends in this bush. I can’t wait for the temps to go up just a little bit more so I can begin to open the windows and breath in the fragrance of the nature at night and have the owls sing me to sleep.

Again, not sure what these lovely lavender flowers are. I am still trying to figure out which side of the property line is that they are on. I suppose I will know the answer to that when the hag puts up her fence. Which will be none too soon for my liking.

I am so glad the former owner thought to put Trilliums in the garden. They are such a truly lovely little plant. and I understand that they are one of the first flowers to come out and bloom. However, it does appear that they seem to be a tasty morsel for some island critter because a couple of hours after I took this picture, about half of them had been eaten. Maybe it was the same doe that was snacking at the bird feeder.

Okay I am looking at both of the pictures and the color shot makes me say “oooooooh” and the grayscale elicits an “Ahhhhhh”

And the little fairies dashed through the garden and dropped little splashes of color into the centers of some of the flowers to bring some dabs of sunshine from the earth to beckon to the heavens for it to send its own golden rays.

Sparkles of light seemed to play upon the flowers on this tree when the sun peeked out. It was but a tease by the sun because by the time I grabbed my camera to get a shot of it, most of it had gone away. But, even without the illumination, it really is a most lovely little tree.

Driftwood sentinel in my front trail. Need to figure out the proper way to decorate this one.

Oh lookie!!! Rubber band!!!!!

Woops! Hi again! Well, looks like we are done for this time. Hope you had fun. Leave a few treats on the way out if you don’t mind.

Book Review

The Last Werewolf – Glen Duncan

March 23, 2014 Sephi Leave a comment

“Fuck, kill, eat!” So says Jacob Marlow is the mantra of the lycanthrope, and this is his story. The biography of the last werewolf, sought after by the members of WOCOP, who have taken out, one at a time, the rest of his kind.

This is not a “sparkly” werewolf story full of cuteness and pretty creatures. Its a gritty story about a suicidal werewolf that has lived too long, or so he thinks.

I found myself both liking and being annoyed with this book. Most of my annoyance was at an excessive wordiness and a need to exhibit that he knew a lot of big words. As much as I appreciate the English language and the massive pool of words that can be pulled from, the fact is that it begins to come across as an insecure need to prove oneself when you overuse large and elaborate words. Its also writing down to your readership

Pages: 1 2

Book Review

The Museum of Extraordinary Things – Alice Hoffman

March 21, 2014 Sephi Leave a comment

Well, its Alice Hoffman. So, I pretty much expected it to be an excellent read. And she didn’t let me down. Once again, she has taken a set of rather unusual characters and made them a part of your inner circle. Even though the story revolves around their “oddness”, it becomes only relevant to the story and ceases to be noticed in the image of the character.

The Museum of Extraordinary Things is two stories. First, Coralie, the girl with the webbed hands whose father, the proprietor of the museum, trains her to be able to spend huge amounts of time underwater and bills her as a human mermaid. The museum is a freak show of midgets and Siamese twins and a wolfman, plus bottles and jars and displays of curiosities. Her father dominates and controls her while she seeks tiny rebellions and dreams to find a place in the world outside of the sideshow.

Pages: 1 2

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Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn

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April in the Garden

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The Magicians – Lev Grossman

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First Spring in the Garden – 2

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The Last Werewolf – Glen Duncan

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The Museum of Extraordinary Things – Alice Hoffman

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