edge of the continent

Thanks to my sister’s eagle-eyed husband, I scored an inexpensive ticket to the local stop of the True Colors Tour, headlined by Miss True Colors herself, Cyndi Lauper. I’ve had my head buried underneath a few begonias, I’ll admit, because I didn’t know anything about the tour’s existence let alone that it was organized to support the Human Rights Campaign.

It was delightfully gay-lapalooza at the SDSU Open Air Theater, although only a little over half of the seats were filled. No matter. I missed the first band, The Cliks, but you could have knocked me over with a feather when the voice of none other than Margaret Cho reached my ears all the way back in the restroom. I was in one of those stalls where the door just won’t stay shut, so you’re forced to adjust your clothes and take care of your ladyparts one-handed, or if the stall isn’t too deep you can alternate between pressing your hand and your head against the door to keep it closed while you sit, stand, and then shimmy your jeans back up over your rear to get them zipped again — all the while hunched over and developing a headache. It’s awkwardness with either method, to be sure. So in the middle of all of this manuveuring I heard her: Cho was the emcee! She’s so beautifully vulgar, smart, funny, and real, and I was thrilled to finally hear (and then see, once I escaped the broken stall) her perform live for the first time.

Next up were the Dresden Dolls, whom I love, and they ended their set with a great cover of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs”. Debbie Harry followed and played mostly new material. She had some nicely catchy tunes, but a tiny little part of me was disappointed that she didn’t break out with “Heart of Glass” at some point. What’s a girl supposed to do?

…wait for Erasure, of course. Despite the addition of three backup singers that I’m not sure were really needed — Andy Bell can handle vocals on his own, really, and he sounded great — it was a long, fun set of one danceable song after another: older hits (”Chains of Love”, “Oh, L’Amour”, “Love to Hate You”, “Sometimes”, “A Little Respect”) and newer material (”Sunday Girl”, “I Could Fall in Love With You”).

Cho followed with a skit about a married couple in San Francisco rapping about their dispute with a neighbor that left everyone doubled-over before she introduced the night’s final performer. Lauper is high energy and has an amazing voice: twice she headed out into the audience — singing all the while — and her voice sounded perfect, plus she was dancing and running around the stage for most of her set and never sounded winded or flawed. I especially enjoyed her slower, laid-back version of “She Bop”. The show wrapped up when all the performers took the stage to sing ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me” and to back up Lauper on “True Colors”.

Highlight of the evening: A guy tripped all over himself and spilled beer on my hair — it’s never looked so shiny or full, thanks.

Some places to visit:
Human Rights Campaign (HRC)
Matthew Shepard Foundation
Stay Close

This past weekend was organized entirely around one thing: seeing The Police perform at Dodger Stadium.

I have fond memories of listening to the band on my little clock radio back in elementary school some twenty years ago, when I was oblivious to their infighting and did not fully understand that Roxanne was really a hooker. As I got older and grew only slightly less naive, I mentally added them to a list of great bands that I wouldn’t get to see in concert due to any number of circumstances, be they death by hard living, personality clashes, or simply being born just a little too late. To say that I was excited by the opportunity to see them live, onstage, together is nothing short of an understatement.

I didn’t even find out who their opening act would be until I got to the stadium (there were two: Fiction Plane and the Foo Fighters) — I was too googly-eyed over the prospect of such a great show to bother finding out after I bought my ticket. And what a great show it was. I sang myself hoarse and danced the entire time. I thought I might memorize the set list or take pictures to post here, or even just call my sister and hold up the phone to record a bit onto her voicemail (sorry, K!), but it was too good, and I had blissed out a bit. The drive — and the twenty-year wait — were completely worth it.

Some other thoughts…

To the guy in the row ahead of me: Seriously, don’t stand so close to her. Or put your arm around her. Or keep dancing up on her when she was very clearly pushing you away. That you were singing that very song while doing these things did not make you charming so much as creepy.

To Liz, with whom I will Ultimate Fight you to the death for Sting’s affections: I hope you got home safely.

To the guy in front of me in the merch line: Thanks for the beer. I did think of you.

Twenty-four hours with the geniuses at my local Apple retailer and my laptop is up and running again. RIP dear old hard drive, it was great while it lasted.

Very good things: extended warranties, external back-ups.

I was invited to attend a high school theater-dance performance this evening, the project of a local dance nonprofit in partnership with the school’s performing arts program. The students were fantastic, and each piece’s theme touched upon all manner of issues that they themselves face: abuse, genocide in their home countries, self-doubt and self-consciousness, sexuality, relationships, forgiveness, freedom. As the show unfolded before me, I was transported back to my own high school days: the nervousness, frustration, and joy that was wrapped up in each performance, and how wonderful and alive it all felt. I hadn’t realized just how strongly I have missed it.

Another long semester has come to an end: one final critique, the sharing of all manner of snacking goodness, a presentation of the professor’s own work, and we were done. I walked back to my car tonight, red paper portfolio swinging from my hand, and reflected on the encouragement I’ve received from my art instructors to continue my studies. While I don’t yet know just where all of this is leading me to, I’m ready and eager to figure it out.