Wow. This week has gone by fast.

There was nothing especially eventful yesterday to report on. Today was also relatively low key. I mean, even after missing my macro econ class on Tuesday morning (my first skip of the semester!), it didn't feel like I really missed anything. My screenwriting class finally met again today for the first time in a week and a half. It went pretty well, I would say. I feel like these most recent ten pages (plus the revision I did this week) turned out pretty well, and it was a load off to finally turn those in. It was also kinda funny though, because once my group was done reading each other's pages for this week, Duane started talking about going to the U2 concert on Tuesday night. Of course, I jumped in and started raving about the show on Monday, even mentioning that I was wearing my U2 t-shirt under my button up today. Then, come to find out, Kendra chimed in and mentioned that she had seen the Vertigo tour stop in Chicago from earlier in the year, so it turns out that we're all U2 nuts. It was pretty cool to find out that my fellow screenwriters also have great taste in music. I guess great minds think alike.

Anyway, that was pretty much it for today. I just heard about the Harriet Miers withdrawal this afternoon shortly after I got to the office. Not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, she seemed like the biggest brown noser in recent memory, and is more would most likely be a shill to the right wing during her time on the bench (even though they didn't think so). On the other hand, it was fun to watch the conservatives piss and moan about her not being conservative enough. Still, it's pretty sad that it took a revolt on the right to hand Bush one of his first major political defeats. Where are the dems again? Yeah. Well, we'll see what happens with this whole leak investigation. Still waiting for the other shoe to drop on that one.

Well, that's enough politcal blathering for now. Not sure if I'll post tomorrow (probably will), but if not, enjoy the weekend!

Okay, in the last few months, I have seen the following concerts: Coldplay, the Rolling Stones, Dave Brubeck, Rufus Wainwright, and Paul McCartney. Last night topped 'em all though: U2.

I was giddy all day, listening to practically every U2 album on my iPod. Before Stef and I left for her house at around 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon, I even made a playlist based on the band's most recent setlist to warm us up on the road. After a bite to eat at a local coney island restaurant, we made it to the Palace a few minutes before 7 p.m. Stef and I waited in line to get our U2 paraphernalia before heading to our seats. We both got the same shirt, which was slate gray and had "dismantle" and a picture of a bomb on the front, with all of the tour dates on the back. I also picked up the tour poster, which was specific to our show at the Palace (and will definitely be getting that baby framed).

I called my dad on his cell shortly after we got inside the arena. Now, we knew going in that he and Sherry had standing room only tickets, which meant the floor. We didn't know, however, that Sherry's ticket would ring up on their special lottery to win them seats... inside the ellipse! Yep, my old man and Sherry were less than 8 feet away from the catwalk that Bono and the boys strutted on throughout the show. What a couple'a dogs, those two are. Well, it's hard to complain though about the seats that Stef's dad was able to wrangle for us; we were sitting in the second row of the lower section, with a great angle on the stage.

The opening act was "Institute," which is Gavin Rossdale's new band. They started off pretty horribly, but settled down a little bit after a few songs. I mean, on the whole, they were pretty bad, but I guess it was—well, maybe fun is too strong a word—interesting to hear them do some of Gavin's Bush-era songs, like "Machine Head" and "No Sex in Violence." Still, I think it's safe to say that everyone was happy when their set ended, and the buildup to U2's entrance officially began.

Stef and I sat there for about a good half hour before the lights finally went down. There was kind of a teaser when the music cranked up a notch or two, but it turns out that it was this song "Wake Up" by this band Arcade Fire. It was a cool song, and sounded almost like it could be U2, but it wasn't. I had heard that Bono "rose" from the stage, but what I didn't realize was that it would be at the end of the ellipse... right by my dad and Sherry. Finally the Edge's spacey guitar could be heard setting up the first few bars of "City of Blinding Lights," and then our man came up on the catwalk, shrugging his shoulders as waves of confetti fell from the rafters.

Right about then—to steal a phrase from the Boss—the rock and roll exorcism began. It was a blistering opening set of songs: City of Blinding Lights, Vertigo, Elevation, I Will Follow, The Electric Co. Bono gave us enough time to catch our breath before he ripped into the next stretch of songs.

In comparison to the Elevation Tour from four and a half years ago, this show was much more amped up. It was a solid two hour plus, balls to the wall, rock-a-thon. If I have any complaints (and that's probably not the right word), it was that they more or less skipped over their 90s work, except for "One" and "Miss Sarajevo." People can piss and moan about 90s-era U2 not being up to snuff, and I can see the logic in that point, but I still maintain that "Actung Baby" is their best album. Now, all of that said, I think the song choices on this tour are meant to unite the sound from "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" with the grittiness of their earliest work on "Boy" and "War." If that was their intent, then I think the boys from Dublin succeeded. Clearly, U2 knows how far they've come over the years, and are laying the groundwork for the future.

The highlights of the show for me were: Sunday Bloody Sunday, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, Pride, Where the Streets Have No Name (ah, amazing!), One, With Or Without You, Miss Sarajevo, and 40. Of course there were song choices that I certainly missed, but I honestly can't complain about anything that they played. If anything, I'm just too selfish in what I wanted to hear.

Well, it was an amazing show, to say the least, and I was so glad that I was able to share it with Stefy. We were jumping, screaming, dancing, clapping, singing, and hugging throughout the entire show... it was just too cool.

Ahhhh. Ahhhhhhh...

How long till the next album? The next tour?

Well, I wanted a relaxing weekend, and for the most part, I got it. Friday Stefy and I went out to Champps for a nice dinner to celebrate our fourteen month anniversary (go us!). We got there a little late, and had to wait as a consequence, but it was worth it for my tasty gyro. Afterwards we went over to Schuler's to poke around for a bit, and we wound up getting The Addams Family and The Addams Family Values on DVD. Stef really loves these movies, and I had never seen the second one before, so I was glad that we were able to track them down. We pretty much just spent the rest of the evening watching Family Values over at Stef's apartment, and then cashed in for the night.

Saturday was homecoming at Michigan State, but we weren't really feeling it. The weather was supposed to be crappy, we were tired, and we figured that playing Northwestern probably meant an easy victory anyway. Well, I'm glad we decided not to go to the game, but not for those reasons. Turns out that it never rained, and our football team is a lot worse than any of us knew. Northwestern handed us a pathetic, embarrassing, spirt-crushing defeat on Saturday afternoon, so I feel grateful that we weren't on-hand at Spartan Stadium to experience the agony in person.

Stef and I felt so demoralized after watching the game on TV. We wound up watching a bad Lifetime movie afterwards, which was still somehow more enjoyable than the bloodletting we'd just witnessed on ESPN 2. To cheer ourselves up, we decided to go out for some dinner at Old Chicago pizza later that night. Of course, we ended up waiting in the lobby for way too long, because the ditzy girls behind the podium never rang our little buzzer. Morons. Anyway, it was worth the wait, because the pizza at that place is phenomenal. Plus the Wings were on TV there, so that was fun to watch. I didn't realize how much I missed watching hockey.

Sunday was a nice sleep in day, with lots of down time. We spent most of the afternoon at my dad's house playing with the girls and watching the Lions game. God bless Jeff Garcia, that's all I gotta say. And Jason Hanson, of course. My A. Elaine and Bob stopped by in the middle of the afternoon on their way home from a lunch at Mitchell's fish market. They were celebrating a big win at Soaring Eagle last night, so it was nice to see them for a while. We had dinner shortly after they left, and then Stefy and I left shortly after dinner.

Well, tonight is the night I've been waiting for since June 1, 2001. That's the last time the biggest band on the planet swung through Michigan. Yep. U2 is at the Palace tonight, and I couldn't be more excited. Of course, historically, Paul McCartney is a much bigger deal, but there is no question that U2 is back at the top of their game (for about the fourth time in 30 years), and Bono is arguably the most important political figure alive right now. And tonight, my girl and I get to listen to him sing for two hours. While the weather might not reflect it right now, today truly is a beautiful day.