So many shows...

I haven't updated the shows since last June!  Here's most of them:

Bucko: Whaleman - challenging, incredibly performed
The Skivvies: Pride Rock - so much fun!  so much underwear!
Fallen Heroes, Rising Stars: A Juneteenth Celebration Through Dance - great cultural experience
A Night with Janis Joplin - where concert meets theatre exactly the right way
Andrew Bird (Mountain Winery) - delightful night under the stars
Splendour (Aurora) - beautiful performances, interesting considerations
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - technically amazing, a deep and physical look into autism
Matt Nathanson (Wente) - so fun!!  beautiful little outdoor stage
Hamlet (Phoenix) - fights looked really good!  show was great!
South Pacific - not a show i will probably ever see again
Shakespeare or Space Wars - take 2.  :) still great
Outsidelands: Gorillaz, Wild Horses, Vance Joy, Metallica, Empire of the Sun - filled with perfect moments and great love and great friends
Lady Gaga - great musician
Something Rotten - so much energy and hilarious
Shannon and the Clams - awesome girl band
Constellations - thoughtful work on perspective
Beach Blanket Babylon - with mom and dad!
Alicia Olatuja (SFJazz) - beautiful voice
JD McPherson and Nikki Lane - so much energy and fun
Elixir of Life - my humble return to the (park) stage
Paco de Lucia Project - MIND BLOWING
LCD Soundsystem - disco ball!!
SFIHHDF - still my favorite
Bright Star - was worth waiting for the end.  great performances
Snap Judgement - interesting smart night of storytelling
Norm Lewis (Feinstein's) - completely charming
Circus Veritas - defy gravity
Black Rider - standing the test of time and showing the tragic beauty of a broken heart
Aladdin - delightful!
Audible presents Fresh Voices with Becky Braunstein, Jesse Hett, Kenice Mobley, Joe Nguyen, Bret Reybould, Bethany Van Delft, Emily Winter and host Sean McKenzie / Doc's Lab - some of it was good. :)

We're No Doctors - really cute. 

Asian AF - kind of funny and kind of weird 

The JMJ Project: Proof of Life (Potrero Stage) - interesting ideas around how we represent ourselves.  i think.  

Thomas Dimuzio w/ Matt Waters (Center for New Music) - awesome!!
Brass Mafia - upbeat fun all day
What They Said About Love (Marsh) - love takes work
Tune-Yards - wow, so complex and confident
Skeleton Crew - touching, hopeful
Streetcar Named Desire - well performed
Glen Hansard - so much depth and emotion
Weightless - beautiful, inventive fable, exceptional muscians
Heisenberg - finding and defining love
Retolt.  She Said.  Revolt - soren was my favorite part
Hooded, or Being Black for Dummies - relevant, fun show with tough subject matter
Wolves (MTC) - teenage girls...
Alvvays, The Drums - loved the light work, loved the drums, alvvays were great
Amadeus (Davies) - live orchestra!
Jamiroquai - groovy
Head Over Heels - brilliant!
The Mystery of Love and Sex - really well done
Django Django - so great!
Vietgone - i loved everything about this show :)
Japandroids - fantastic drummer, super loud
Kendrick Lamar - we showed up twice, it was totally worth it
St. Vincent (WeWork party) - sexy
Editors - pretty good
David Henry Hwang & Jeanine Tesori - curran stage, inspiring
Flash Gordon Live - super cute and fun
The Mushroom Cure: A Psychedelic Journey - challenging audience, interesting look at ocd and a journey to relief

Cultivating joy

Brene Brown talks about the importance of cultivating joy as a way to conquer hard times.  A sort of "filling your cup" so that when bad things happen you have a well to draw from.

This idea made sense to me when I first heard it.  Do things that make you happy.  Sure.  I do that all the time!  I'm good at it.  I get it.  But, then, someone walked into YouTube with a gun and started shooting on a day when I was supposed to be there and, as I stood safely at my desk in Mountain View, shaking, on ping with the producer who was hiding under the desk in our front of house area, things began to clarify.

After a traumatic event, everything changes.  Sleep, dreams, your appetite, the news, people's casual comments about the news, the way you think about life, relationships, the chances you're so glad you took -- And, the things that truly fill your life with joy become very important.  You cling to them.  You counter every startling noise, every nightmare, every shaking fear soaked memory with all of the beauty you can muster.  You celebrate kindness, laughter, connection, life... and, you do your best to remember that things are okay most of the time.  You remember the joy because, without it, you might lose hope.

Bad things happen.  And, the only thing we can do when they happen is confront them.  Work through them.  And, in the meantime, do everything possible to fill our lives with as many good things as we can so we have a well of joy to draw from.