I have not been to too many mega-stadium rock shows, despite growing up in the era of Live Aid and Lilith Fair. In fact, I can count on two hands the number of stadium rock events I've been to (nine) and even then, there are actually only four artists I've seen in those nine shows: Billy Joel earns five of those spots, doubling with Elton John in two of those five. Then there was the The Who, on two of the "farewell tours" perhaps five years apart.  The final two spots belong to U2 who I saw in the Joshua Tree Tour November 1987 at the L.A. Coliseum my Senior Year and then on July 14, 2011 in Philadelphia when a Seattle friend had to sell some tickets to the 360 Tour. And while I listened to every U2 album up to Rattle and Hum, I cannot call myself a real "fan" because I had no idea they have done like eight or more albums since then. That is, not until I listened to Bono's amazing memoir Surrender. What a fascinating journey he takes the listener on from his heartache at his mother's death when he was 14 to that fateful posting Larry Mullen Jr. put up at their high school "Drummer looking for a band." It seems unfathomable that U2 met each other in high school! And both Bono and Larry met their life partners in high school, too. Bono has woven a non-linear thematic tapestry of his very full and blessed life. His soulful look at his own Messianic complex, or his touching recognition of the grounding his wife Ali has brought to his life gives him such realness. And yet, here's a man who has sat down with three U.S. Presidents to bring about change in the continent of Africa through debt relief and activism to bring anti retroviral medication to countries like Ghana and Uganda. He analyzes his activism with great precision. Giving props to the likes of conservative American Politicians like John Kasich, Jesse Helms, and George W. Bush for the way in which they were willing to change their minds and make decisions that could bring about great change in Africa. To think Bono was a collaborator with Warren Buffet, Steve Jobs, and Bill/Melinda Gates, is to see the scope of where he took his rock star status and used the "currency" of his fame. 

Most powerful is how he speaks of his brotherhood with Mullen, Adam Clayton, and The Edge with reverence and clarity, but also giving us glimpses into his encounters and friendships with the likes of David Bowie, Johnny Cash, and the Artist Formerly Known As Prince. 

Bono's writing is poetic and rhythmic, not surprising for a lyricist and musician, but his eloquence and intellectuality is more that of a theology professor, or at least a college retreat leader. He speaks so openly of his faith and belief with poignant moments in French churches or jumping into the River Jordan with his whole family. 

Paul "Bono" Hewson is someone who has used every moment of his life for connection and creativity. His memoir paints the portrait of the artist as a whole and fully perceptive man, husband, father, activist, believer.

I am perhaps the perfect demographic for Brett Morgen's Bowieaanisqatsi-esque Moonage Daydream. While David Bowie was one of the definitive rockers of my high school and college days ("Under Pressure" was on the charts during my Freshman year [1981] and then the album Let's Dance came out my Junior Year of high school, so I listened to it almost all four years of college) I was never obsessed nor fantical about Bowie. A lot of "unique" performers were seeking our eyeballs and eardrums in the 80s from Madonna and Cyndi Lauper to Boy George and Mick Jagger. But Bowie's music lasted far longer than "Karma Chameleon" or "Material Girl" in my playlists because his depth of lyric and emotional rhythms transcended our teenage years, carrying us far into adult hood. His most amazing song "Changes" was my "bride's song" at my wedding. So, when I saw an ad on my Facebook page last week for Morgen's Moonage Daydream on Imax this weekend, I bought the tickets right away. My millenial child, who, to be fair, had just played a field hocky game so was pretty tired, fell asleep next to my wide-eyed full immersed self, and then proceeded to spout the negative internet reviews already posted of the film as we drove home. And I just listened to phrases like "enervating frippery" and "all show, no substance" and chuckled. Naysayers can hate all they want, but I really liked the film. Far from "boring" as many reviewers claimed, I was fascinated with the wherewithal Morgen must have had to sift through millions of hours of footage and cull it down to 140 minutes. By commiting to using Bowie's voice as the only narrative, we are transported into a meditation on the man, the myth, the megastar. Morgen's choice to intersperse clips of classic films like Nosferatu or Metroplis, were just an additional way of bringing the visual story alive so that our meditation becomes fragmented glimpses into Bowie's mind as these clips and footage quite likely came from Bowie's own collection of films. I had never really had much exposure to Ziggy Stardust, so the concert footage of Bowie's early career fascinated me, as did seeing Bowie oil painting or acting on Broadway in The Elephan Man. Though Morgen's overdone use of explosion audio was surely distracting, the fact is, I would not have said I idolized David Bowie prior to watching this film. Now, I'm designing the shrine I'm going to put up in homage to my hero.

On June 1 I was happy to raise my new Progress Flag to commemorate the start of Pride Month. Even if I was not the mother of a transkid, I would fly that flag proudly as the teacher, advisor, mentor to countless LGBTQIA+ youth over the close to thirty years I've been teaching. While my life in education, as well as a life of travel experience has helped me evolve and expand a scope of vision that sees and celebrates the vast diversity of humanity, that recognizes, appreciates, admires other cultures and systems, at heart I still am proud to be an American. So when on July 1, I went to put the flag of the United States of America up and my kid, yes, the trans one, showed a great deal of consternation at this prospect, I found myself defending my right to be a Progressive and Proud American. This is what the last few decades have wrought on America. The binary thinking of both Conservative and Progressive politicians has created little room for the rational middle. The people who are are willing to "break with party lines" to "cross the aisle" have dwindled to a minority and with this concept of rational thought and willingness to compromise has been replaced with ideological and dangerous thinking. The concept that all abortions should be banned is ludicrous. Ectopic pregnancies, non-viable pregnancies, these all require abortions to save the mother's "right to life". So the "us vs. them" thinking cannot work when it comes to abortion. Common sense gun safety laws that protect children, children out of the uterus, like mandatory background checks, or public spaces where it is illegal to carry a gun, or making sure people who are mentally unstable do not have access to guns, not only for the safety of others, but more so, given the rate of suicide by gun in this country, for their own safety, these are all rational and necessary responses that do not negate the "right to bear arms".  Binary thinking does not work in life. And the last few decades in the United States has shown that it doesn't work in politics either. Humans are complicated and the swirl of angels and demons live inside us all. Or better, to think in terms of Asian ideas, we have both yin and yang in us. While there are a handful of people who may appear entirely lopsided to the yin "darkside" (I'm thinking of some of the cowardly Republicans in Congress who knew the truth of January 6th on January 6th, but somehow conveniently forgot it on January 7th) the fact is system changes from external forces rarely take hold. Change can only come from within. So I will fly the Progress Flag because I live in a country (and fortunately in a fantastically diverse and loving town) and I will fly the Flag of the U.S.A. This is not incongruous in my mind. Because, while I can recognize the harrowing ways in which that flag has been used before to belittle and oppress and kill, I can also fly this flag as a symbol of the defiant masters who worked for Progress in the system: for Frederick Douglass, for Alice Paul, for Harvey Milk, for Deb Haaland, for Danica Roem. If I give into cynicism, then the only thing that "wins" is cynicism. But if I believe, and let's be frank, continue to fight, to make sure there is room for all in this country, "we" all win. I don't believe America is #1, I don't believe it is a "city on the a hill" that can do no wrong. A nation is made of people, flawed people, and I am one of the flawed people who is a citizen of the United States. I will fight for progress in my country, but I can also be proud of the progress so many Americans have made. Despite the ill-conceived decisions of six non-elected people who wielded their power recently, gravely affecting the rights of Americans, I will not allow their myopia to dampen my belief in the power of the people of the United States. There is room for both flags in my home, I hope and belive that there will continue to be room for both flags in my country.