Author Archives: Alan Ilagan

We pause now in our recent posting schedule of The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale, as the weekend comes to a close, and the Oscars ceremony begins. Looking back at what I was creating twenty years ago has been a conflicting experience, and a large part of why I don’t tend to look back at previous projects, especially those that were made so long ago. Comparison is the ultimate thief of joy, and comparison is undoubtedly the first thing that happens when I look back at these photos. 

It’s not that I suddenly notices the ravages of wear and tear on the body – what a difference 29 is from 49 – it’s that I notice the ravages of wear and tear on the mind. While I certainly miss the lithe form and gray-less hair of my twenties, it’s the mindset and innocence, and the loss of which, that pains me the most. Less the physical trappings and more the mental space that youth affords. 

That said, I would not trade the wisdom and knowledge and acceptance I have learned and earned over the years to go back or return to those days. In that respect, the comparison ultimately ends up being a reassuring one, but that’s not always the case, so I shall continue to warn against comparison as a general rule. 

As for looking back, as long as there are more mildly-amused smiles than justifiable-cringing at all my antics and outfits, I can take it without regret. That is something I will count as a success. The posting of this one will continue this weekend, in the meantime, catch up below:

~ The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale ~

1. Pink Frilly Fairy: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three
2. Homage to Herb: Part One, Part Two and Part Three
3. A Purple-Hued Interlude
4. Style & Panache: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
5. Purple Puff Confection: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
6. A Blue-Hued Interlude
7. Fuchsia Fabulousness: Part One 

The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale delivers a fabulously frivolous dose of style over substance, so I won’t sully this with my excess verbiage. Quentin says it better than I ever could:

“What a stylist needs is glamour – a far more powerful force than mere prettiness. Glamour exists where something not clearly defined seems to be promised but never given.” ~ Quentin Crisp

“I’m talking about flair, style, elan… even the most wretched of us can do something about them.” ~ Quentin Crisp

~ The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale ~

1. Pink Frilly Fairy: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three
2. Homage to Herb: Part One, Part Two and Part Three
3. A Purple-Hued Interlude
4. Style & Panache: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
5. Purple Puff Confection: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
6. A Blue-Hued Interlude

‘Questions in a World of Blue’ would have been the ideal song to accompany this interlude of the Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale – alas, that was already used in this moon-themed post on a lost former-friend. And so we are tasked with the dilemma of finding another blue-themed song to go with this blue-hued interlude. The Blue Danube, Rhapsody in Blue, and Blue Moon – a triumvirate of trite and true blue classics – and all seem too literal, too easy. The Divine Diva Tour is a little more complicated than that, despite what the surface might have you believe. Instead, have a listen to ‘Blue Night’ below, as our interlude brings us further along this fairy’s tale. 

This is the tale of a little boy

who once found wonder everywhere in the world,

but who came to be

Lost in the mirror, enchanted by his own self. 

The embodiment of Narcissus, captivated by his own reflection.

A boy caught up in the superficial, the surface, the appearance of things –

in the ever-shifting kaleidoscope of reflections and images and mirrors – 

always slightly askew and backwards,

reversed and upside down and dizzyingly grand if a little grotesque. 

Nothing was real. All was fantasy,

… no matter how much he was loved…

~ The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale ~

1. Pink Frilly Fairy: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three
2. Homage to Herb: Part One, Part Two and Part Three
3. A Purple-Hued Interlude
4. Style & Panache: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
5. Purple Puff Confection: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.

“Do you know that delicious dreamy feeling when one first wakes on a summer morning, with the twitter of birds in the air, and the fresh breeze coming in at the open window – when, lying lazily with eyes half shut, one sees as in a dream green boughs waving, or waters rippling in a golden light? It is a pleasure very near to sadness, bringing tears to one’s eyes like a beautiful picture or poem.” ~ Lewis Carroll

“To rise and forget, in the sunlight, the ugly dreams that frightened you so when all was dark – to rise and enjoy another happy day, first kneeling to thank that unseen Friend, who sends you the beautiful sun?” ~ Lewis Carroll

“‘Dear, dear!’ How queer everything is today! And yesterday things went on just as usual. I wonder if I’ve changed in the night? Let me think: was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I’m not the same, the next question is, Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle!” ~ Lewis Carroll

“The delight we experience when we allow ourselves to respond to a fairy tale, the enchantment we feel, comes not from the psychological meaning of a tale (although this contributes to it) but from its literary qualities – the tale itself as a work of art.

The fairy tale could not have its psychological impact on the child were it not first and foremost a work of art… As with all great art, the fairy tale’s deepest meaning will be different for each person, and different for the same person at various moments in his life.” ~ Bruno Bettelheim

~ The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale ~

1. Pink Frilly Fairy: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three
2. Homage to Herb: Part One, Part Two and Part Three
3. A Purple-Hued Interlude
4. Style & Panache: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
5. Purple Puff Confection: Part One, Part Two and Part Three.

The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale continues in its flight, as our fluttering protagonist dons this iconic purple tulle confection, and prances about the verdant landscape like Maria Von Trapp. This particular setting will come into play again in much more dramatic fashion, but for the moment enjoy this drama-free scene, and all of its fairy-tale elements. 

“When I used to read fairy tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one! There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought! And when I grow up, I’ll write one – but I’m grown up now… at least there’s no room to grow up any more.” ~ Lewis Carroll

“While the fantasy is unreal, the good feelings it gives us about ourselves and our future are real, and these real good feelings are what we need to sustain us.” ~ Bruno Bettelheim

~ The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale ~

1. Pink Frilly Fairy: Part One, Part Two, and Part Three
2. Homage to Herb: Part One, Part Two and Part Three
3. A Purple-Hued Interlude
4. Style & Panache: Part One, Part Two, Part Three and Part Four.
5. Purple Puff Confection: Part One and Part Two.