I had a lovely night and a fantastic weekend!

Although I had the option of sitting very close to the stage in the "VIP" section (I was a guest--not a VIP), I instead wandered around the arena. The show was fantastic from every angle, and regardless of how near or far from the stage I stood. I had expected the stadium to feel cavernous compared to the arenas, but this was not the case at all-- the stadium felt very small! The sound was wonderful! I sang and jumped and yelled and waved my arms! It was a thoroughly good time, although I seemed to be the most enthusiastic person in the group of people I traveled to the stadium with... This was a bit unfortunate, and I suppose was reason enough for me to wander off on my own instead of sitting quietly and politely in the mixer section! Ultimately…I opted for fun rather than “cool access.” My friends are killing me over this now!

The only down side of the evening was being asked to leave the wrap party after my hosts left and there was no longer anyone left to vouch for me and security doubted I had legitimately come by my entry passes. That was a rather ignomious ending for an otherwise exceptional night and weekend. But I have to admit that the irony of this is delicious! I still think that if security was going to remove me, it should have done so earlier, not at the very end of the night! (Smile! ... now how silly is that?!)

I loved the Window in the Skies video! What fun!

Meeting Bono is anti-climatic...with only 30-45 seconds to say something (and with so much to say!) and no real opportunity to engage in discussion or articulate anything with much weight behind it, there really is only room for pleasantries. So, I have to admit that this was not the high point of the night. Still, it was nice to have had the opportunity to say thank you to him for the African initiatives, which I am deeply fond of. And it was nice to see him coming and going fairly regularly from the hotel.

I had a wonderful birthday weekend! And to think I wasn't even going to go until I found a silver vortex on the street and, realizing it is the Vertigo symbol, decided to interpret it as incentive to take the trip after all! I am glad I did. My weekend went from one extraordinary magical occurrence to the next to the next, and I feel I can confidently assume that I must be doing something right in the universe to have been afforded such good and generous luck!

Thank you for all.

S.W.

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