Moving on. We all do at some point, often reluctantly. In this issue of InTheFray, we offer four perspectives on the timelessness of age, four flashbacks of a world that was and insights on the world that is.

ITF Travel Editor Michelle Caswell begins with advice on where not to spend your 30th birthday — unless, of course, you need A bad day in Cambodia to realize that aging isn’t half bad compared to living under the Khmer Rouge’s brutal regime. Speaking of getting older, ITF Contributing Writer Rhian Kohashi O’Rourke discovers that a woman with a head of white hair is not nearly as obsolete as young women fretting over that dreaded First gray hair seem to think.

We then turn to ITF Copy Chief Erin Marie Daly, who finds what has been lost in the world of digital music and, in the process, uncovers relics of the past in one of New York’s newest treasures, The Vintage DJ. And in Guatemala, James Rodriguez captures the pain and closure felt by families who lost relatives in the country’s 36-year internal conflict when they finally receive the deceased’s remains after a two-year wait.

Rounding out this month’s issue, Terry Lowenstein waxes poetic about the past and present while perusing a family photo album, observing fashion trends, and making the daily commute.

Coming next month: ITF’s take on the changing shape of language in the 21st century.

Laura Nathan
Editor
Buffalo, New York

Laura Nathan-Garner

With Valentine’s Day looming, February greets us with commercials reminding us to buy timeless gifts — diamonds, anyone? — for our sweeties. But some of the most timeless presents cannot fit into a jewelry box or be gift-wrapped. And though some may have been mined as recently as the diamonds Zales wants to sell you, many come from another era and don’t sport a price tag.

In this issue of InTheFray we explore relics of the past and their value to the present. We begin in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, where Sasha Vasilyuk treats us to some Russian intellectual football, better known as “KVN,” a game show of comedy and music sketches in which Russian immigrants participate to hold onto a fragment of their past. In Detroit, Scott Hocking and Clinton Snider look at the city’s cyclical nature, from wasteland to thriving metropolitan area, to deserted area, to booming urban centre. In RELICS, their art installation, the two ask how long it takes the old to be forgotten. Meanwhile, across the pond, Jacquelin Cangro discovers Giants among us on a visit to Postman’s Park, where everyday people’s achievements are commemorated.

We then offer three different relics of love: ITF Literary Editor Annette Hyder and ITF Contributing Editor Kenji Mizumori’s Mixed Media Valentines to loves come and gone; a quilt that Rachel Van Thyn’s mother put together One piece at a time, using squares spanning three generations; and Jen Karetnick’s musings On vintage handkerchiefs passed down by her grandmother.

Rounding out this month’s stories is ITF Travel Editor Michelle Caswell’s interview with Easily angered activist Tom Hayden, who shares a veteran critic’s insight on the Iraq War, desegregation, political apathy, and making a difference.

Enjoy!

Laura Nathan
Editor
Buffalo, New York

Laura Nathan-Garner

ITF has received a nomination for the 18th Annual Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards — its fourth nomination to date — and will be vying with some of the most respected names in mainstream and alternative journalism, including The Nation, MSNBC.com, and Salon.com. ITF's nomination this year was for Erin Marie Daly's article, "How Many Strikes?"

Tania Boghossian

PLEASE NOTE: We have transferred all the user accounts on our oldinthefray.com site to this site. Use your username and password to login. If you forgot your password, select "forgot password?" in the menu above to reset it. Or, click here to register for a new user account.

With Saddam Hussein’s recent execution, we have been promised that the former dictator’s end spells the dawn of democracy in Iraq. Yet Hussein continues to haunt Iraq, from the Kurds who remain tormented by their inability to convict the dictator of genocide, to the sectarian violence engulfing the country. From the martyrs to the victims to the criminals to ordinary people, the past infiltrates the present, not just in Iraq, but around the world as we embark on 2007.

In this issue of ITF, we inaugurate our new site, InTheFray.ORG, with the publication of more of the high-quality, inspiring, and groundbreaking writing and art you have come to associate with ITF. Here we examine the many ways the past informs the present.

We begin in New York, where Vidya Padmanabhan discovers how cabbies — many homesick for their native India or Pakistan — find belonging and business advice in the city’s Cabbie joints, South Asian restaurants. And in Brooklyn, a former police officer’s granddaughter grows nostalgic for accountability and responsibility as Alexis Clark considers the police brutality responsible for Sean Bell’s death in Lead by example.

Afterwards, we visit Chicago’s north shore, where Beth Rooney captures the colorful lives of African refugees as they attempt to rebuild their war-torn lives on a Strange shore. Halfway across the globe, Melissa Lambert sees a civil war’s toll when she ventures On the edge of Mozambique, where rebuilding remains a complicated process, one that breathes life, however mysteriously, into tourists’ fantasies of beauty and belonging.

Reflecting on the roots of her own ignorance about Africa, OFF THE SHELF Editor Nicole Pezold reviews Charlayne Hunter-Gault’s book New News Out of Africa. As she reveals how many of the continent’s countries are embracing democracy and eliminating poverty and disease, Hunter-Gault offers strategies for the media to highlight the “real” Africa.

Meanwhile, in Amman, Jordan, Best of ITF So Far writer Rhian Kohashi O’Rourke takes A sip of Egyptian Tea as she recounts how an older doorman finds humor and camaraderie in a young, clumsy American woman. Back in the United States, Larry Jaffe, the International Readings Coordinator for the United Nations Dialogue among Civilizations through Poetry program and the Co-Founder of Poets for Peace/United Poets Coalition, reflects on growing up Jewish in Sub Urban America and muses on the intolerance and ignorance that loom today. Speaking of coming of age, Megan Hauser reminisces about the realities of using optical illusions to protect herself in Bad eyewear can mark a child.

Rounding out this month’s stories and launching our newest department — the Activist’s Corner — is Folklore photography, former ITF Travel Editor Anju Mary Paul’s interview with photographer Martha Cooper about documenting urban culture and using the camera to inform, transform, and inspire awareness and change. Each month the Activist’s Corner will feature an interview concerning the challenges faced by contemporary activists and offer ideas for how busy people can improve their communities. This department will also feature links and other resources from grassroots organizations of interest to you, our readers.

Along with the Activist’s Corner and a more aesthetically pleasing site, InTheFray.ORG allows readers to post their own profiles, connect with other members, set up personal blogs, and upload images and video and audio files. In coming months, we plan to launch additional features, including video and audio podcasts.

Now that we’ve launched the new site, we’re looking for testimonials from readers aboutwhat InTheFray means to them. If you can help us, please emaileditors-at-inthefray-dot-org with any words you want to share. Pleasemake sure to include your full name and city.

We hope you enjoy our new home and encourage you to email us at editors-at-inthefray-dot-org with feedback on the new site.

Happy New Year!

Laura Nathan
Editor
Buffalo, New York

P.S. We would like to dedicate this new site to Oya Hadimli, a friend of InTheFray, who passed away in November. Thank you for inspiring us with your vision and passion for a world without borders.

Laura Nathan-Garner

Growing up in Texas, I long believed there could never be too much spice — and that everyone shared that belief. But thanks to the northern waiters and waitresses who squint, push their heads forward like geese, and say, “Are you sure you want it extra spicy? It’s going to burn your mouth,” I have learned that testing the limits isn’t always preferable.

In this spice-laden issue of InTheFray, we ask when it’s best to say “when,” and when it’s worth pushing ourselves. We begin with stories about restricting our spice intake: Tran Le Thuy looks at how Iraqis are risking their lives — and concealing their identities — when accepting Fulbright scholarships to study in the United States. Meanwhile, in The spice of life, Rachel Van Thyn watches sugar and spice nearly kill her older sister and learns a valuable lesson about second chances — and eating healthy.

Speaking of second chances, the Amish school shootings give April D. Boland the wake-up call she needs to say that violence against women is no laughing matter in Breaking the silence. And while guest columnist Lyz Baranowski is not offended by Madonna’s use of the crucifix to raise money to combat AIDS in Africa, she sees it for what it is — self-promotion.

Rounding out this month’s stories are three tales of the upside of spice: Poet Jen Karetnick imagines what a food critic might serve up, while Lisa Tae-Ran Schroeder, hoping to discover that which American Chinese restaurants lack, goes Searching for spice on a visit to China’s Sichuan Province.

Finally, in Points of encounter ITF Board member Randy Klein gives us a hint about just how spicy the new ITF site is going to be when we formally launch the Activist’s Corner, our new department,  along with our new design in 2007. He talks with filmmaker Ronit Avni about her documentary Encounter Point and using a video camera to raise awareness about the grassroots efforts of Israelis and Palestinians to forge peace.

We look forward to introducing you to ITF’s new look and feel on January 1. But before we ring in the new year and our new site, we’d like you to vote for your favorite ITF stories of 2006. We will publish them next month in our BEST OF InTheFray 2006 issue. So what are you waiting for? Vote now (and not just for the Best of ITF)!

Laura Nathan
Editor
Buffalo, New York

Laura Nathan-Garner

Emily Alpert's article "Gender outlaws" won second place in the online media category of the 2006 National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Excellence in Journalism Awards. To learn more, visit this page.

ITF Magazine

With the seasons changing, there’s a peculiar thrill in the air: the thrill of new beginnings, second chances, unexplored possibilities. For many of us, this is the season for abandoning our comfort zones and taking risks.

In this issue of InTheFray, we pay homage to those who are taking flight this season. Catherine Hoang takes us to the Thailand-Burma border, where refugees in the Karen Women’s Organization are staying behind to create a homeland. In “Choosing uncertainty”, they are sacrificing a new life in a more secure country.

And in his poem “Three blind mice”, John “Survivor” Blake asks, “What kind of a world lives for the fire next time and runs from the rain.”

Thanks for reading!

Laura Nathan
Editor
Buffalo, New York

Laura Nathan-Garner

Just in time for the beginning of a new school year, this issue of ITF explores the unanswerable contradictions of living. Remember when two plus two equaled four? Those were the days.

Those were the days before you moved away and developed your own tastes, your own convictions. Before there came a time when returning home involved a complex analysis of yourself, your roots, and your mom’s lawn ornaments. Before ITF Literary Editor Michelle Caswell’s personal essay, Love without grammar.

It was time before anyone smacked a label on your forehead saying you were this or that and had to stay that way forever. Before anyone defined you for himself and insisted that you accept his definition. Before Daphne Rhea’s two poems exploring the limits and possibilities of sexual identity.

Those were the days when it still seemed like there were simple solutions, if only people would wake up. Now, even if people do, it’s not clear it will be in time, as Michael Standaert’s review of  Bjørn Lomborg’s book, How to Spend $50 Billion to Make the World a Better Place, concludes. Even with $50 billion, it’s not clear exactly where to start.

Those were the days when soccer was enough to bring everyone together. But wait, it still is, as Alexandra Copley shows in her piece on the cult of the beautiful game in Brazil. As the world grows more complex, some things still add up.

Nicole Leistikow
Managing Editor
Baltimore

Nicole Leistikow

In the face of record temperatures, many of us rationalize wasting gas and not walking the dog. While running from our air-conditioned homes to our air-conditioned cars to our air-conditioned offices and back, we can’t imagine staying outdoors longer than necessary.

But not everyone can escape to someplace cool. In this issue of InTheFray, we pay homage to those who continue to seek a place to call home and examine what it means to be homeless, to lack the comforts others take for granted, to lead a life of uncertainty, to be an outsider in a world where everyone seems to have someone and someplace to call theirs.

We begin by visiting three kitchens. First, Inez Hollander, whose own middle-class existence has grown increasingly tentative, takes us to the soup kitchen where she volunteers in “Homelessness hits home.” There, she discovers how ordinary the people she serves are and how the American Dream remains evasive.

Then, on New York’s Lower East Side, Jared Newman learns that even though the anarchist group Food Not Bombs has just one goal — feeding the hungry a healthy meal — they’re often dubbed terrorists. And in Morocco Jillian C. York, who has left the familiarity of her Vermont home to teach English abroad, finally finds acceptance in the kitchen of a Muslim woman in ”For couscous and conversation.”

Back on U.S. soil, Geoffrey Craig discloses the challenges of creating art during and after Saddam Hussein’s regime in his profile of 30-year-old Iraqi artist Esam Pasha. As his illustration of ”Iraq’s art hero” suggests, Pasha, despite creating a life for himself in the United States, remains nostalgic for Iraq.

ITF Travel Editor Anju Mary Paul adds to the mix in her review of Devyani Saltzman’s memoir Shooting Water, a tale of her battles to embrace her identity in the wake of her parents’ divorce while negotiating their respective allegiances to two continents. Registered users can read Paul’s exclusive interview with Saltzman.

Rounding out this month’s stories is Guest Columnist Thomas Rooney’s take on the controversial phenomenon that has rendered many Americans homeless, or at least jobless — outsourcing.

Thanks for reading!

Laura Nathan
Editor
Buffalo, New York

Laura Nathan-Garner

As temperatures rise and the mosquitoes bite, it can be difficult to tell the sunshine from the heat. In this month’s issue of InTheFray, we put things in perspective.

We begin on U.S. soil, where Rachelle Nones, in her review of journalist Doug Tjapkes’ book Sweet Freedom, sheds light on the racial biases inherent in our justice system. And Caroline Cummins spends an evening with This American Life host Ira Glass, only to discover the rock star-like commentator hasn’t yet figured out how to handle a live audience.

We then turn our sights overseas, where James Mutti learns just how normal India can be after a rickshaw driver asks him to explain why foreigners are always so rude to Indians.

We conclude this month’s journey in Rwanda, where Melanie Wallentine discovers that the courage required of a marathon runner in pain is nothing compared to that expected of the rebuilding nation’s citizens each day.

Thanks for reading!

Laura Nathan
Editor
Buffalo, New York

Laura Nathan-Garner

In this issue of ITF, we explore the tricky proposition of peace. It’s a state more often missed than celebrated, more often yearned for in its absence than lauded in its presence. In many parts of the world, it remains fragile, held together by borders, troops, and guns, the very forces that often threaten it. Often imagining peace and making it the subject of our words and music is a laborious task.

What separates us from others anyway? Guest columnist Brigid Moriarty kicks off this issue by positing the provocative idea of doing away with borders in Waging peace by deconstructing what keeps us bound.

Next, in Through the Looking Glass, ITF Contributing Writer Penny Newbury remembers her time in East Timor, digging latrines and chasing ghosts, after the massacres that followed the 1999 vote for independence.

Then, in Off the Shelf John Bringardner reviews Elias Khoury’s Gate of the Sun, a novel narrated by a Palestinian doctor trying to keep his dying friend conscious by telling stories in this modern  version of Shahrazad’s project in 1,001 Arabian Nights. The result is a window onto the life of Palestinian refugees, displaced by the world’s inability to make peace in the Middle East a reality.

Finally, Vanessa H. Larson writes about a member of a Palestinian Israeli band and the consequences of his attempts to make music with the other side.

Waging peace. If anything, it involves embracing ghosts, burying the dead, somehow accommodating the past while learning to sing new songs.

Nicole Leistikow
Managing Editor
Baltimore, Maryland

Nicole Leistikow

This month ITF supplies ring-side seats at two very different commemorations. Our writers visit a Bosnian graveside, and a Lagos dance party doubling as a memorial service.

Our photo essay this month was created by Joscelyn SG Jurich following her 2005 trip to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Visiting the remains of Srebrenica massacre victims 10 years after the killing, she invites us to bear witness to their family members’ lasting sorrow.

In Nigeria, the passage of 25 years since a grandmother’s death is reason for a party. Jennifer Oladipo visits relatives and learns how to celebrate, Lagos style. Dress your best and bring lots of cash in small denominations for “spraying” — a custom we’re surprised hasn’t made it to Los Angeles.

Nicole Leistikow
Managing Editor
Baltimore, Maryland

Nicole Leistikow