Month: April 2012

Quest 2012: February

In our last post, our intrepid villain was lying beneath a blanket of stars, watching swirling laser lights and feeling more than a little joyous from the experience.  What would happen next?  Would she find another live event in February?  Would it be similar to the laser show?  Would she try something completely different?  Stay tuned for the next installment of the Abysmal Witch’s Quest 2012!

February brought with it something completely different.  The cold winds were blowing, the world spinning, it was time to do something I had never done before.

I went to the opera.

That’s right.  Opera.  My very first time.  I went to UBC’s Student Opera because, well, I could afford it.  🙂  Quests have to be doable on multiple levels, you know!  Luckily for me, my friend Holly enjoys opera and so I did not need to go alone.  Phew!  In case you are wondering, we saw Rusalka which is a Czech opera that is a version of the Little Mermaid.  Very different from Disney, I hasten to add.  Stage was beautiful & simple but  I was much surprised by the big ass screen hovering over the top of the stage.

I came to love that screen.

It told me everything I didn’t understand from listening to the singing.  Thank gods for surtitles.

And yes, the singing was lovely.  I did not sit there and contemplate just how much longer until FREEDOM which I take to be a good sign.  I was ready to go by the end, though.  I thought the male lead was a bit of an ass, but then, the male lead of the Little Mermaid always seems to be a bit of an ass.  The nature of the role I tend to believe.

Ran into some pagan friends there and I had a lovely discussion about the OTO during intermission while Holly chatted with someone else we know.  It’s a small world, you know.

So the year started with a rock laser show and then we moved over to classical opera.  Where next? you ask?  Our intrepid questing villainess, what roads did she next travel?  What entertainment lures were thrown across her path that she found herself having to follow with cries of “Shiny!”?

You’ll have to wait for the next installment of Abysmal Questing 2012.

Quest 2012: January

This post starts with a story and like all good quest stories, I didn’t realize I was in a quest until I was in the midst of it.  I should clarify that this doesn’t make this a good story, just that in quests it is often the case that the hero doesn’t realize s/he’s in a quest until later on.  But then sometimes they do…and I could argue myself in circles so on with the questing!

How did this whole questing thing start?  Well, allow me to inform you…

You see, by the time March rolled around I realized that I had bought tickets for a variety of live events of various (and I mean various!) natures, one per month from January through May.  So, says I to myself, why not continue this trend?  Why not make 2012 my year of live events?  I could steep myself in a variety of different cultural experiences. And have a lot of fun doing it.  Last year was the year of staying in (not by choice) so this year is the year of getting out!  Throughout and about.*

I’ve got a plan now that will take me through to August.  September through December have no particular plans yet, but it’s still early for that so I’m not worried.  And one of those months I’ll hit a jazz club, so really it’s just three months of booking left to do.

So what started off this year, you ask?  What wonderful experience gave balance to the pain of January?  Well, something a little bit left of the standard and expected live events.

I, and about a dozen of my wacky friends, made our way down to the H. R. MacMillan Space Centre (i.e. planetarium) to watch the Pink Floyd Laser shows from Roundhouse Productions.  After 33 years, the planetarium did not renew their contract.  January was their final month of performances.  A tragic loss from my point of view because there was something fabulous and magical about the experiences they created.

Now you may be thinking that a laser show does not count as live entertainment.  Oh contraire, mes amis (pardon my poor spelling of french, it was never my best subject), there has always been a live component to the laser show, some crazy (appearing? lol) dude at a console playing with our minds.  Because, as he put it, “there is absolutely zero smoking within the planetarium…you should have done that while you were still in the parking lot”.  Yes, smoking, cookies, and other mind-altering foods made an appearance that night and enhanced the experience.

We watched The Wall followed by Dark Side of the Moon.  I understand that this show has sort of gone on the road.  If you get the chance, go see!  It really was just a great time.  Also fun hanging out with friends.  There was a lot of chatting and catching up and just spending time with good people.

And pretty lights and lots of swirling stars and leaning back in seriously reclined seats staring at the sky and multi-coloured laser lights doing funky dances.

There is something deep core satisfying about a great art experience, almost as if some stressed part of me was soothed by the event.  I wish I could go again but there I shall not dwell for that road leads to sadness.  Instead, I will start planning my tale to you of February which went a completely and utterly different way.

Until next time I shall simply leave you with these short questions:  What will our intrepid villaness get up to in February?  Will the different take her to a place that is scary to go?  Will the dog get the bone?

To passion!

~the abysmal witch

*Obscure Wiccan reference, special batty points to anyone who gets it.  😀

I’m alive!

Yes, it’s true and not just a vicious rumour spread by nazis.  I live, and breathe, and–oh, wait, that’s right, I declared “breathing is for pussies” a couple of months ago due to the insanity that my life had become.

It still is rather insane, but I’ve missed you and so here I am, sneaking in a quickie before my lunch hour runs out.

I know I owe some yule related posts (even though we’re heading to Beltaine, the lessons are always pertinent) but I have a new and fun quest going for 2012 that I want to share first. But not right now.  Right now, this is just a fast and rough post (up against a wall?  naughty!) to say where I’ve been.

Right where I always am, would be the simple answer, but under ever so much more stress and strain, both good and bad.

As I think I’ve mentioned, I got a promotion January 1st.  My work world went to rabid hell.  Hell because it went rabid, you see.  OMG the shit I still need to get done.  Just keep breathing–oh, right, that’s for pussies.  I don’t need to breathe.

Almost or about a month ago (I have no sense of time) out of almost the blue strangely, my coven expanded from two to five.  It’s been fucking fabulous, but that’s a lot of new relationships to build!

And in January I started seeing someone.  I will only say on this that it (and he) is unlike any relationship I’ve had before.  And that, naturally, has also taken a lot of time.

Perhaps things are starting to settle into a routine.  Or perhaps I’ve just been jonesing to connect.  Either way, I’m sincerely hoping you’ll be hearing much more from me again.  Starting now.  Because I say so, dammit!

Love out to all of you!

Saturn

~The Abysmal Witch (back from her unexpected hiatus)