Chasing Aurora: The Best Failed Quest Ever

A few years ago, I was lucky enough to vaguely see the Aurora Borealis from some random out-of-the-way parking lot in Bremerton, WA. It was really fascinating, although as far south as we are, it wasn't the captivating desktop-wallpaper-worthy photos you can find on the internet. However, hearing about our most recent Sun Storm and semi-sciencey projections of a massive Aurora excited me enough to try it again. And so with a loose plan and a backpack of back-up "just in case we decide to crash somewhere for the night" items, commence what strictly speaking is a failed mission... but was honestly one of the most fun days I think I've ever had.

Lies! Lies, I tell you!!

The Italian had an appointment in Seattle in the late afternoon, and I suggested we take the ferry over to Bremerton, since that's where I'd had luck seeing the Aurora before. But... we'd need dinner at some point, and honestly, there's not much to do on that side of the Peninsula, so we decided to kill time in Seattle instead. Looking for a dinner place, I had an epiphany--Uwajimaya!! Situated in the International District, it's a combination grocery-store-slash-deli-slash-food-court-slash-book-store-slash-gift-shop. Seriously, it's like an Asian SuperWallyWorld, plus food court and deli. Super awesome if you're into that kind of thing. The first time I ever went, I did not appreciate where I was or what I was eating. Now, I did... and finally, I had someone with me who would actually appreciate it! We grabbed a basked and picked up some Soju, coffee, and some snacks. We also wandered through the gift/book store and found an Oatmeal calendar and Attack on Titan shirt. I had Thai red curry and he had some giant Udon stuff. After dinner we grabbed some Boba Tea and tried to make the next Ferry. Unfortunately, they were full, so we parked for the next one and wandered about the Pier area, stopping into the Curiosity Shop and a few other stores. Back on the Ferry, we wandered around a bit and caught some cool ocean air. I'd read that the Aurora would be best after midnight, so we still had about two or three hours to kill. We found a theatre [hooray for smart phones!] and settled in for a movie.

Here's where I'm going to go off track for a second. We watched The Giver. I'm not going to go too deep so I don't spoil it for anyone who does want to watch it. It wasn't our first choice, but honestly I'm glad we saw this one. The visual work was amazing, really intriguing. The kind of thing that--if I were still in college--I'd write an in-depth, analytical, 'deeper meaning' type paper on. As we walked out, he joked that it was 'a total chick flick,' because there was, of course, a love story involved. But I had to correct him: 'Actually, that movie was about depression.' He thought for a second, and somewhat agreed. [I will say, it wasn't completely original, it threw back or borrowed heavily from City of Ember and Pleasantville... but if you can get past that, it was pretty good.] If you have struggled with depression and have trouble explaining it to people, or if someone you know has struggled with depression and you never understood what they meant, I advise you to watch this. Wait til it's on Netflix or Redbox or whatever if you want, but 'as your attorney' I highly advise it.

So back to date night. Actually, that's kind of where it pattered out. I took a wrong turn getting on the highway, so instead of trying to find a quiet spot to watch the sky, we ended up going home instead. True, it was around midnight. We may not have seen anything neat in the sky, but really, overall, it was a great day anyways. Seriously, best afternoon and night I've spent with another person in a very very long time. Possibly if ever! I mean that seems kind of anti-climactic, but... well I guess if you saw The Giver, then it would make a bit more sense. 

2014: the year of Renewing, Reviewing, and Revisiting.

2014 is also the year of divorces amongst my people. But aside from that. I've been dealing with a lot of things and going through a lot of changes, and as such, blogginess has sadly fallen to the back burner. So like any good woman, it's time to get back in the kitchen and cook some -ish up before things get charred and burnt [sorry, work joke].

So. There's some things I can discuss freely and some things I can't just yet. But let it be known to the world that I am happy, safe, and sound. And much much better after a period of relative darkness. You know how after a while in the dark, your eyes adjust to night vision, and if you're lucky, you don't even know you're in the dark anymore? That's sort of a metaphor for what happened to me emotionally. However, someone held a lantern up and I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. With a little encouraging, I was able to take a step towards it. Then a giant leap. Now I'd say I'm nearly there, working at a slow but steady pace.

I'm working on it, okay?

So, less metaphorical and more specific. This specific revamping struck me after another small step into my past. [I'll explain that later] I went back to hot yoga. Oh, how I missed it. And I will not say I'm "out of shape" because we all have different shapes, but apt to the venue, let's call it "out of practice." Heh, yoga joke. That made me realize, I'm also out of practice on writing. And I am having so many thoughts and ideas these days that I really should get back into it. Thus, this post was born. Now, it did take me a good two days to get around to writing it, and I hope to remedy this delay in the future. But the next few weeks are going to be pretty hectic and stressful, so it may take a few attempts before I am updating regularly again. [assuming anyone besides my wonderful Auntie is interested in following my exploits, teehee!]

...in case you needed an injection
of your daily dose of cuteness

So. I forget the actual word that's on my mind [PS there's a word for that, too]** But I know it starts with the prefix RE. Returning? It's not retrograde, because that generally has a more negative connotation. But I have been putting a lot of work into understanding myself and my life, and coming up with some answers I spent years ignoring. I am not only adhering to my medication, but also embracing my life as a whole. This means LOTS of previously absent self-care. I lost who I was along the way and became someone I never thought I'd be, and never wanted to. So, definitely something with the prefix re-. I am looking back at the past to the times where I know I was happy [some times, up to 6-10 years ago! Thank you, dysthymia...] and working on getting elements of those times back into my life. Crafting. Gardening. Learning. Writing. Yoga. Running. Gaming. Loving. Cooking. Kitties. Organizing. I have earned my karma... as the saying goes, sometimes "you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light."

Some of these you'll notice are not new themes for me. However, I am making them a higher priority now. As someone close to me repeatedly reminds me, "You have to help/take care of yourself before you can help/take care of other people." And helping and taking care of other people does bring me a lot of joy, too. I am much happier now. Exponentially, even.

**PS. For the dirty lexophiles who care, this is that word:

For more free vocabulary lessons, as well as touching, uplifting, and completely depressing thoughts, I HIGHLY suggest you check out Word Porn on Facebook.