I grew up in NYC public schools, at a time when it would not have occurred to anyone that things like dictionaries or art supplies or school trips or pencils would be a luxury. Which apparently they now are. (We also never imagined there'd be a need for laptops or DVD players, because that would have required very special powers.) Which is why one of my very favorite causes is Donors Choose, through which you can donate to project proposals that teachers submit to the organization.

I am happy to say that this is also a pet charity of über-mensch and all-around adorable person Stephen Colbert, whose latest fund-raising pitch resulted in an event involving his partner in awesomeness Jimmy Fallon. (Basically: Colbert announced that Fallon would be matching a $26,000 donation; Fallon said that if his audience could match the $26,000 by the end of the week, Colbert would perform Rebecca Black's hit "Friday" live with The Roots.) The result was this:

Further proof of Colbert's total heaviosity is that later this week he'll be appearing in the New York Philharmonic's concert version of Stephen Sondheim's Company. Surprised, are you? Not I. He knows his Sondheim, and he can sing beautifully. This is one of the numbers he's going to take on, and though I will be far, far away from the stage, I couldn't be more excited.

And so I've managed to link Rebecca Black with Stephen Sondheim, and I find that unsettling. But rather than thinking too hard about this, let's all go to Donors Choose and pick a music project to support.