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President Biden's national security adviser met early Sunday with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to discuss a wide-ranging security agreement between the countries.

BEST PRACTICE is proud to present Belly, an exhibition of new paintings and sculptures by Los Angeles-based artist Aaron Douglas Estrada. Belly examines the metaphorical expression “belly of the beast,” a phrase used throughout history for being in the heart of a challenging situation. The work explores identity, the dynamics of commodities, and navigating through life’s everyday struggles. Each artwork becomes a repository for acts of decolonization and a testament to self-preservation rituals. It serves as an archive for memories, with the intent to both honor and question. This exhibition contains a diverse array of materials, sounds, and paintings. These include chandelier webs crafted from chains, hand-painted subwoofer music boxes that serve as veladoras (candles) filled with bouncing beans accompanied by audio clips. The sculptural works incorporate salvaged materials from random encounters and gifts from loved ones. The paintings are transformed from drop cloth canvas into serged tapestries that reference Indigenous textiles and cobijas. These materials allude to the intricate nature of identity and its challenges within a consumption-driven economy. This intricacy forms a web of socioeconomic factors that ultimately shape the very essence of our being. What does it mean to confront adversity, honor heritage, and exist in a world both challenging and beautiful? Aaron Douglas Estrada is an artist whose work explores the relationship between the body and its surroundings, moments of play, and the process of decolonization. As a first-generation Salvadorian native of Los Angeles, he draws inspiration from his upbringing in the city and his interactions with diverse cultures and lifestyles. Through his artistic practice, he documents the materials he encounters and captures the energy embedded within them, reflecting on collective memories and everyday life. His work serves as an archive for these memories, incorporating songs, sayings, and cultural symbols that carry multi-layered histories into his sculptures, paintings, murals, public artworks, and installations. Related links: Best Practice: website | Instagram Aaron Estrada: website | Instagram

An Afternoon of Fashion, Jazz, and Education: Many Shades of Pink & A Healthier Me annually celebrates resilience and strength by honoring breast cancer survivors around San Diego County. This incredible afternoon will have breast cancer survivors rocking the runway. Local Designer: Tanya Jenkins of Nea Eshe Live performances: Harpist: Mariea Antoinette Saxophonist: Erisa Nicole Emcee/DJ: Hariel Corsair All proceeds will go to MSOP to continue providing FREE mammograms, breast exams, and breast health education in the underserved community. MSOP's goal is to address breast health disparities and save lives. Please click the link to RSVP and pay for the Fashion Show Brunch ($40). Related links: Many Shades of Pink: website | Instagram | Facebook

R.B. Stevenson Gallery is pleased to present the exhibition "Seen & Forgotten" featuring new paintings by San Diego artist Stephen P. Curry. How to visit: The exhibition opens with a reception for the artist: 5-8 p.m. Saturday October 21. Gallery will be open at 1 pm. for early viewing. On view through November 22, 2023. Gallery Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday Contact: Phone: 858.459.3917 rbstevensongallery@sbcglobal.net "Still life painting is a questioning of beauty in light of our immediate reality. These paintings begin with imagery of current events that are depictions of destruction, violence, and death in the initial underpainting process as a way to influence, contradict and subvert the act of observation and the painting process as well as the final opposing representation of the beauty of nature. These contradictory images exist simultaneously to engage in a conversation in the seen and the unseen or forgotten. At the same time challenging, yet playful compositional choices are meant to break with traditional still life and illusionistic representational effects are intentionally brought up short by the physical nature of the paint itself. Drips and splatters, dabs and smears, paint does what paint does." -Stephen P. Curry Related links: R.B. Stevenson Gallery website | Instagram | Facebook

San Diego Civic Organist Raúl Prieto Ramírez will be joined by the San Diego Youth Symphony. No charge admission (free and open to the public, with first come, first served on-stage seating). Visit: https://www.spreckelsorgan.org/

"La Traviata" is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on "La Dame aux Camélias," a play by Alexandre Dumas fils, adapted from his own 1848 novel. The opera was originally titled Violetta, after the main character. Related links: Pacific Lyric Associate Opera: website | Instagram | Facebook California Center for the Arts, Escondido: website | Instagram | Facebook

Join us for a light-filled healing night on your yoga mat! Divine Light healing works deep in the aura to initiate physical, mental, and emotional transformation and spiritual upliftment in every area of life. It increases self-reliance and self-confidence, helps release past traumas and negative habits, accelerates the development of talents and abilities, and increases harmony in relationships. Neil Mintz will facilitate the event involving certified Divine Light healers. The theme for this healing night is Building Confidence: Low confidence is one of the most significant blocks to success in any area of life. It keeps us from fulfilling our destiny and limits our joy and inner peace. Low self-esteem is not part of who we are; it is a deep-rooted belief that can be changed. We'll start this healing night with a short discussion on confidence. Then, you'll lie on your mat while you receive light from a certified Divine Light healer, targeted to build your consciousness of spirit. For more information visit: spiritualarts.org Stay Connected on Facebook

Artonic Quartet is thrilled to partner with Soprano Tasha Koontz, FF Collective, and the University of San Diego to present a program premiering music from The Schemes and Scandals of "Fat Leonard" Francis. Experience modern sonic storytelling with this dramatic ensemble composed of Artonic Quartet, made up of San Diego Symphony members, joined by soprano Tasha Koontz, featuring music by Caroline Shaw, John Adams, Phillip Glass, and San Diego's own Tommy Dougherty. Each piece on the program has its own tale to tell, including the world premiere of music from Dougherty's Schemes and Scandals of Fat Leonard, based on a true story of epic bribery and blackmail aimed at the U.S. Navy, and selections from Evergreen, the newest classical album from Pulitzer Prize winner Caroline Shaw where the singer improvises fresh melodies. In 2013, Malaysian military contractor Leonard Glenn Francis (known as “Fat Leonard”) was arrested in San Diego in an NCIS raid after years of maintaining control of the U.S. Navy’s massive Seventh Fleet by subording Navy officers with lavish parties and extravagant gifts which included luxury goods and prostitutes. At his hands, the Navy—a pillar of the American understanding of honor— had fallen prey to unthinkable corruption and the largest military security breach since the Cold War. Schemes and Scandals unearths the unheard female voices buried in the rubble of the far-reaching but largely under-publicized scandal to ask what is left when “honor,” patriotism, and the men who cling to them crumble. The program will also include a pre-concert informational session with Robert Gonzales, the world's leading "Fat Leonard" scholar. Related links: Artonic Quartet website FF Collective website | Instagram California Festival website | Instagram

Four-time Newberry Honoree, three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner, MacArthur Fellow, and National Book Award-winning bestselling author Jacqueline Woodson visits the San Diego Central Library @ Joan Λ Irwin Jacobs Common to present her latest Young Adult novel, Remember Us. An audience Q&A and book signing will follow the presentation.

Modeled after pub quizzes in Ireland and the U.K., Geeks Who Drink is an authentic homegrown trivia quiz. It’s a great way to drink with friends, without burning brain cells. And it’s where useless knowledge means everything. Our quizzes cover everything from Hungary to The Hunger Games, from science to sports, from the Billboard Hot 100 to Better Call Saul. Each quiz consists of seven rounds of eight questions each, in a variety of formats, including audio and visual rounds. Teams can be up to six players, so bring your smartest friends (or some likable dummies)—or come solo. We can always help you join a team! No reservations needed, just show up! Winning teams get bar cash and other prizes, depending on the venue. Bonus questions sprinkled throughout the quiz will net you additional goodies. But mostly it’s about establishing your dominance—or at least pleasantly surprising yourself. You’re into that, right? For more information visit: geekswhodrink.com Stay Connected on Facebook