Department of silver linings: In the garden where WASHINGTON POST classical critic MICHAEL ANDOR BRODEUR nervously arrived Saturday afternoon to see his first concert in nearly four months, there were flags in the ground to mark spots where listeners could stand six feet apart from each other. "It felt odd at first," Brodeur writes, "but also oddly luxurious if you’ve ever been vexed by the personal space afforded by seats in a concert hall." Like having an entire row of airplane seats to yourself. Little luxuries you've always dreamed of, finally available, and now you want nothing more than someone to talk to in that middle seat or an overzealous fan bumping into your shoulder every couple of seconds. Today is day 100 for me. You should have enough food in the house for 14 days, they said. LOL. March 16 was my first full day of self-quarantine. SXSW had just been canceled, a controversial decision that was going to cause a lot of economic pain and ruin a lot of people's weeks. If you had mentioned that the real issue was whether they might have to cancel the *next* SXSW, the 2021 version, you'd have been laughed out of the room. The only live music I've heard in person (sort of) since then has been the nightly 8 pm horn-and-percussion jam for first responders. From my house in Los Angeles, I can't see any of the musicians but the sound seems to be coming from every direction and it never fails to make me smile. I've listened to a lot of amazing new recorded music (artists are truly stepping up right now, in multiple ways for multiple reasons). I've watched countless livestreams. I've become a (slightly) better cook. I've discovered REAPER, a surprisingly full-bodied digital audio workstation that's proved a godsend for working with faraway songwriting collaborators on a budget (after trial-and-erroring our way through some lesser online options). I've watched, also from afar, the live music business do its creative best to serve the needs of the Michael Andor Brodeurs of the world along with tens of thousands of musicians and crew members trying to salvage a living and an army of promoters and venues trying to salvage a business. Full stage productions in front of empty houses. Small stage productions to an audience of (literally) potted plants. Virtual festivals. Drive-in tours (which, like their non-drive-in counterparts, seem to be having a weirdly hard time booking women). Wear masks, please, to any such options that require you to leave your house, your apartment or your car. That's the only message I have today. Because the only thing I know for sure about how this is going to play out is that tomorrow is day 101... LIVE NATION wait, what?... BATMAN FOREVER director JOEL SCHUMACHER, who died Monday, was largely responsible for turning a flopping single from SEAL's second album into a career-defining hit. "I owe my career in large part to Joel Schumacher," the singer says in a five-minute INSTAGRAM video... The RECORDING ACADEMY's 40-member board now includes 17 women. Nine or 10 more would be nice, as there's still a lot of work to do... Managers, agents and lawyers launch the BLACK MUSIC ACTION COALITION, plan to meet with heads of labels, streaming services and others to "mutually develop a plan to address the deeply rooted systemic racism in our industry"... Guitar auction winning bids: KURT COBAIN "Unplugged" MARTIN acoustic, $6 million. PRINCE custom-made Cloud electric, $563,500. Two of my favorite guitar players ever but, from a comparative value standpoint, you are objectively wrong, guitar auction bidders... For your consideration (literally): THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL, the 11-minute musical version, shot in quarantine to raise money for BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS, MUSICARES and SWANS FOR RELIEF... RIP BRIS and FREDERICK C. TILLIS.