Cleveland & clippings

In Cleveland, watching the blizzard & helping Mom get ready for Passover. Last night we escaped I mean went out to the movies ($5 night! Free popcorn! We dont' have that in NYC) and saw The Class. French immigrant schoolkids & a dedicated teacher who makes mistakes. No easy answers - unlike an American movie, where all the parts would be clearly delineated & some kind of solution - or at least resolution - found. I laughed, I cried. I was also struck by the [oh damn, gotta go help Mom. I'd like to write more about the French school system sometime. I went to 2nd grade in France, and was delighted to see that children are still asked to stand when an adult enters the room - though I loved the fact that the principal in the movie carefully explains to the African & Arab kids, "This is to show respect to an adult. It is not submission or humiliation." I do think that common standards are useful. You're welcome to rebel against them if you want, but at least the entire society can agree on what they are first. There's a big deal right now in the NYC subways about giving your seat to someone who clearly needs it. I'm always amazed at the hulking young brutes who sit (legs splayed, also taking up 2 seats because, well, I guess that painful genital condition just requires air) while old ladies balance precariously before them. Do they really not know you're supposed to offer your seat? I realize they may not. If no one ever told them, why should they? But a guy on crutches has been posting a blog with photos of offenders, and I was shocked to read that while most of the comments have been "Yeah!" some have been "Screw you, I'll sit wherever I want!" In the words of the Professor: What do they teach them in these schools? (Not that I think this must be taught in school. Surely your parents should teach you that? It's just a phrase I use a lot to mean, well, you know. Kids today.]

As deliasherman told you, we loved Next to Normal, which is in previews on Broadway. Here is an interview with our friend's best friend, the star of the show, Alice Ripley. She is just amazing. We got to go backstage. I have the bliss.

Much Ado About INTERFICTIONS 2: Auction Seeks Blisteringly Competent Admins to Undertake Tasks that

*WAH! They didn't tell me my Subject line couldn't go on forever! Make that:
...that are Way, Way Beyond People Like Me, but which Wonderful You can do with One Hand Tied Behind Your Back

You've already been to the Interstitial Arts Foundation website and seen the list of authors chosen for the second volume of Interfictions (2), edited by Delia Sherman & Christopher Barzak. And a lofty crew it is, too! Congrats to all, and a thousand thanks to everyone who sent in stories. Delia said they were all remarkable.

With luck you've also subscribed to the IAF Blog RSS feed, so were among the first to learn that cover art has been chosen from the many pieces sent to the IAF Flickr pool! . Alex Myers, you're the It!

Interfictions 2 will be published by the IAF w/Small Beer Press in November 2009. To celebrate - and to support this quixotic venture - we will be running another auction, and will be inviting people to create Wearable & Portable Art based on the stories in the new anthology (which, in a complicated way I am not yet at liberty to disclose, will be offered to artists ahead of publication - cool, huh?) as well as the first anthology. But PUT DOWN THAT BRUSH/NEEDLE/HANDBAG! I didn't say Now. Because first WE NEED TO ORGANIZE. ktempest Bradford, who ran last year's auction with great splendor, has posted a call for volunteers on her blog. Please read it, and do what she tells you. It will be fun!

[Why am I rabbiting on about this? Well, I am the IAF VP - and one of the co-founders. See? And read other people's essays here and here. And then do consider Becoming One of Us.]