The Hill Country Ride for AIDS is next Saturday, April 22. I set my fundraising goal at $2,000 when I registered, but didn’t really think I’d make it. I’ve had so much other stuff going on, I haven’t really had time to think about it. But wow. Between here and friends I’ve e-mailed and Twitter…. I’ve passed that goal. As I write this (Sunday morning), I’ve raised over $2,300! So this diary is to thank people for donating to this great cause. Just so you know, every penny goes directly to help people. Administrative costs come from other funds. If you donate at my HCRA page, it all goes directly to help people.
On the off chance you don’t know me, I’m a little bit of a U2 fan. So my gratitude will be expressed with music. Your donations have made people’s lives better, so here’s Your Song Saved My Life:
You’ve made it a Beautiful Day for people who need help:
And now for controversy. For some reason, people hate Coldplay. I don’t get it. Their music is happy. At one of the Biden/Harris Inaugural events, they played Sky Full of Stars, a song that’s on my “Exuberance” playlist — just listen to the intro, is it not the epitome of exuberance? So I’m putting this here, for joy, exuberance — and because the people who donated are awesome, like a sky full of stars.
And one more upbeat song, Empress by Snow Patrol. It took a lot of thought to find an unequivocally happy SP song, but I love this band. My avatar picture is me getting a hug from the lead singer. He is very tall. I am convinced Empress is about the 2017 Women’s March. The timing is right, and the words:
But on the streets
You can see them gathering
And in your heart
You know they feel like you do
Sound and pulse and volume
Hands just reaching out for hands
This is almost overload
I said almost overload
Anyway, this is a happy song, by a band I love:
So I wanted to say thank you to everyone who donated, or who spread the word, or even just sent good thoughts. I love music, so I thought that would be a good way to say it.