~~Tuesday, January 16, 10:30 a.m.: The Lisa Leizman Dance Company will answer the question "What is Dance?" in January's installment of the Young Peoples' Performing Arts Series. The group will offer a variety of short pieces, including selections from "Sleeping Beauty" and more whimsical favorites, to children from 2 to 6 years old.The dances will suggest, says Leizman, that “dance is kicking up your heels in your sparkly shoes, turning yourself into amazing shapes, clapping your hands in rhythm or pretending you’re a bird, a lemur or a starfish.” Children get in free to these 45-minute shows. They're on the third Tuesday of each month. A $5 donation from accompanying adult is gratefully received.

~~Monday, January 22, at 6:30 p.m. Anastasia Christie starts a new series of ballroom and Latin dance classes that will run on Mondays through February 26. A choreographer as well as a teacher, Christie has 17 years of dance experience and has been a prizewinner in many ballroom competitions in Russia and Europe. Ballroom dance classes are from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.; Latin from 7:30 to 8:30; and Latin, level 2, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. For further information and fees, go to her Web site www.socialdanceschool.com/

~~Friday, January 26, 7 to 10:30 p.m., the Northampton Youth Commission will sponsor the Main Event Benefit Concert to raise money for the creation of a youth center serving middle school students in Northampton. “Bullseye,” “NorWhale” and “Stand Up Get Down,” three student bands, chosen by members of the Youth Commission from a pool of applicants, will play. Admission is $5 The Northampton Youth Commission is a group of young people between the ages of 13 and 18 whose goal is to explore issues of concern to their peers and work toward solutions for those issues. The concert has been planned by, staffed by and created by young people interested in this project.

The Northampton Center for the Arts is on the third floor at 17 New South Street in the Sullivan Building of the Old School Commons. Its office and galleries are open Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For lots more about ongoing programs, renting the space, etc., visit our Web site, www.nohoarts.org

DEBIN BRUCE
SUSAN BERGERON-WEST
CHARLES STERN
JANET FRAIDSTERN
MAUREEN DENNING AND CHARLES ENOS
LARRY SLEZAK
TERRY ROONEY
ANNE BURTON
DEAN NIMMER
BILL MYERS
KATHLEEN TRESTKA
ANITA HUNT
KATHY SERVICE & TIM DECHRISTOPHER
DAVID SMITH
JEFF MACK
LYNN PETERFREUND
BRADLEY FOX
KAREN AXELROD
AACO (AMERICAN ARTS COLLECTIVE ORGANIZATION), In memory of our artists friends who were victims of AIDS and in honor of Aids Awareness Day, December 1st
KELSEY FLYNN
LYN HORAN
HILARY PRICE & KERRY LABOUNTY
BRONWEN HODGKINSON
BRIANA TAYLOR
DORIS MADSEN
BETSY DAWN WILLIAMS
MARY WITT
JOAN AXELROD-CONTRADA
MAUREEN DENNING AND CHARLES (Donation made to Humane Society in Jamoka's name)
DARYL LAFLEUR
WEDNESDAY NELENA SOROKIN
LINDA BATCHELOR

I get lots of email and LOTS of spam mail. When I see an email from an address that I don't know and which does not correspond to my address book or subscriber list I agonize over whether or not to open it.

This past week I got an email from an unfamiliar name. After agonizing (other neurotic people will understand the zillion daily agonies syndrome), I opened it. It was from Minerva*. Or so I think. It had no greeting and no signature so I used the name in the email address as my guide.

Minerva had included me on a long, unsupressed (yikes!) list of press contacts. Minerva is not a subscriber. I emailed Minerva. I wrote, "Hi Minerva? (guessing at your name, I apologize if it is not Minerva), My name is Mo and I got this email with a press release and images from you. Since there is no note or greeting I am assuming you sent it for inclusion in my newsletter?"

I amiably went on to explain with nice and polite language and smiley faces that the newsletter is a community and is free and I limit posts to free subscribers and that my list is protected and never shared or sold etc. and asked Minerva if she wanted to subscribe. She wrote back to say she had gotten my name as part of a list of press contacts from her husband's art teacher, Zeus*. She further stated that when her husband got home they'd have to have a discussion as to whether or not to join the list and would email me should they come to the joint decision to add their email address to the subscriber list.

I don't want to ever just ignore a possible submission yet I also want to mainly include events from subscribers only because I made that rule and I think it's a very nice rule, actually. I think we are a community. I like it when we support each other. This is my gift. I don't even know most of the artists whose work I promote in this newsletter but I do care what all other artists are up to and want to support them if I can, in this small way, and I want everyone to care about everyone else and go to their receptions and life to be one big lovefest of mutual admiration and support. And so I try to rigidly impose this rule. If wanting to enhance and enforce a community spirit is wrong, then I don't want to be right (Oh, the drama!).

Anyway, never heard back from Mr. and Mrs. Minerva. Evidently this is a big decision and one that got vetoed. Whatev.

Wanting to avoid future conversations explaining what sending press releases to my email address might entail and to save my 5 typing fingers future explanatory work, I decided to write to Zeus and explain who and what I/this newsletter is/am/are, hope to be, free to be, you and me, and all that rainbow and unicorns shit.

So I wrote to Zeus (not a subscriber) and said, "My name is Mo and Minerva said you gave her my email address as part of a list of press contacts, which is perfectly lovely, but I want to explain what this is so in the future if you want to give out my email address, which is all perfectly fine, you can explain to the recipient(s) how it works so there won't be any confusion. Please, thank you, humbly please".

Well, Zeus ruffled. Maybe he was confused by my run-on sentences or maybe the smiley faces cancelled each other out. Zeus wrote back, "Who are you? Have we met? Why are you writing to me? What have I done wrong? How did you get my email address (um, your public website, Zeus?). I have done nothing wrong. I do not know you. Who told you I gave out your email address? I don't even know you or your email address. Who are you? Forgive me, but I do not recall ever meeting you". Sigh. I have actually met Zeus like 5 times over the years but no matter.

So, having inadvertently created panic and indignation (!!) I wrote back and attached Minerva's original email to me explaining where she got my email address, added a few more smiley faces and explanations and humble humbleties, bowed and curtsied, and extended an invitation to join the newsletter list.

More questions accompanied the reply, "Can I see this newsletter? What is this newsletter?" etc etc. I sent a link to an old newsletter and Zeus wrote back saying, "Nice. good luck with it". and that was that. No new subscriber notice from Constant Contact for Zeus.

Earlier in the week I had gotten another submission from another non-subscriber. When I explained about the newsletter he said he'd let me know if he should decide to subscribe. I didn't manage to find out where he got my email address from and never heard back.

I guess I shouldn't have used my main email address for this newsletter as I'd likely now have to completely cancel it to avoid future confusion, should things get crazier. And I guess now it's floating around on unsupressed lists. In a perfect world, I'd have an auto interface like the excellent one on local.masslive.com where you are forced to type everything in all nice and adhere to size and character count parameters but I don't have that programming skill and can't afford to have one built for me. Maybe I'll hack into masslive and steal theirs!

And because I feel rejected by these folks (Jesus! It's a FREE thing already), I want to run out and win powerball and buy a car for all current subscribers on this list. THAT would show them. Then I could call myself Moprah! So, before passing along my email address to people as a press contact, please explain perhaps that it isn't print and that it has a few simple and FREE guidelines. Thanks so much!

Pictured: Harvey Ball in his Worcester Office.

The irresistible smiley face flowed from the pen of Harvey Ball, a graphic artist in Worcester, Massachusetts. The year was 1963. Harvey was hired by the State Mutual Life Assurance Company to design a logo that would uplift its employees after a company merger had hurt company morale. The logo was to accompany a "friendship campaign" that the company came up with to encourage employees to smile as they went about their work or interacted with customers.

Thinking about what would inspire employees to smile, Harvey decided the most simple and direct symbol would be a smile itself and that is what he drew. A simple smile, and two eyes, not too perfect, but appealing in its simplicity. He made the background yellow, like a bright cheery sun. Harvey was paid a $45 fee for his timeless creation.