We thought we'd go see the end of the world.

I mean, it didn't really matter. It was going to happen either way. It just... we could either sit around feeling down about it, or we could go out with a bang. Literally.

The city was pretty abandoned, houses boarded up and all. I don't know where everyone went. It seemed to me that it was pretty dumb that people thought they could run away. It was human nature, though, I guess. People trying to hide from the inevitable.

My friend stole a car and we all piled in. It was okay. No one was using it. It wasn't stealing so much as just sort of taking. It felt for an instant like that sort of night you have when you're a teenager, where you and all your friends feel like you're invincible as you speed along the highway in someone's dad's car. It felt like that.

Except there was no suggestion of stopping for burgers. We all knew perfectly well that everything was closed. We'd all known this night was coming.

We were in good spirits. Better than you might expect. The truth of it hung over us in the air but we smiled at each other and laughed and we acted normal. Celia took pictures, even though we knew they'd never be seen.

We did these things because this was how we coped. And we sat in the middle of the city, a big old blanket shared between all of us, and we held each other and we watched the sun burn out in the sky, and we drank wine straight from the bottle.

And we waited.

Chances are if you know Kate McGarrigle's name, you also know that she passed away last night.

If you don't know the name, she was a folk music legend here in Canada, along with her sister Anna. Many of us remember The Log Driver's Waltz from years ago. She was also mother to Rufus and Martha Wainwright.

It's horrible when anyone loses their parents, but there's something especially sad about this, and I think it's because both Rufus and Martha were both extremely close with their mother. Both cared enough to bring her on tour with them frequently. They assured that, if anyone was to be a fan of either of them, that person would also appreciate their mother.

I was lucky enough to see Kate a number of times, twice with Martha and at least four times with Rufus. I met her once, more or less, but was in such shock from having just spoken to her son, my favourite person in the world, that I didn't appreciate it all that much at the time.

It will be strange, the next time I see Rufus perform, to know that he doesn't have his mother hidden away backstage to come perform a few songs with him. And I sincerely hope that he, and Martha, are alright. Here's a note Rufus posted on his website about his mother's passing.

Here's a song Rufus wrote for her: Beauty Mark
And here's my favourite song of hers: Talk to Me of Mendocino

Rest in peace, Kate.

As many of you will know, my favourite person in the world wrote an opera. It premiered at the Manchester International Festival this past summer. Obviously, I couldn't go.

However. This upcoming June, it will have its North American premiere in Toronto. And I will be there.

My mother and I just bought tickets for opening night. Row EE which is, ridiculously, the third row (you'd think it'd be the fifth, wouldn't you?), toward stage right. I will dress up and acquire opera glasses and feign being a classy lady that one night.

It might well be the only time I see an opera in my life, but I have no doubt it will be memorable.

June 14th, 2010. I cannot wait.