Just minutes after I posted about the return of Marilyn "Mom" Raichle—the new interim director of Giant Magnet whose last nonprofit, Foolproof, died of painful debt spasms—I got a message that Raichle wanted to chat about the future of GM.

The interview—including a mysterious sojourn in Los Angeles, the Dalai Lamapalooza, and uncertainty about who's still on staff at Giant Magnet—is beneath the jump.

What have you been doing since the Foolproof debacle?

I spent a year at Harvard studying public policy. It was nice to live in the most privileged city in America for a year.

She had an unpleasant stint at an LA organization she didn't wish to name:

Oh, I didn't work out, but I'm not allowed to tell which organization. I moved down there and it was just too hot. The sun was out every day. I was practically housebound. And somebody gave me a book I should've read before I went down there called Hello, He Lied. I really should've read it before I went down. And I missed the rain.

So what've you been doing since your return?

I've been taking care of my mother. And I was involved with Seeds of Compassion [the five-day Dalai Lamapalooza].

And I've been working on a nonprofit project that will leverage the power of celebrity and film to help charities. It's called "citizen philanthropy" and it's this whole field, but I'm adding the element of fun.

What's that?

It's called HopeFlix and I don't want to say too much about it because it's still in progress.

How long will you be at Giant Magnet?

Six months. I'll help rewrite the job description of the director job and help shape the organization so the board and staff will work together towards a common goal. I was working on Hopeflix but this came along and I love the Children's Festival so much, I just wanted to help.

I heard Giant Magnet's longtime producing director, Brian Faker, has left. True?

Well, I don't know. I heard that he'd left or been let go but I don't think anything's official yet. The board hasn't been officially notified. But I wish he would stay because he's very valuable.

The last few years for Raichle, in sum: the Foolproof debacle, a year at Harvard, a stint in LA at an unnamed organization that ended because it was too hot, Lamapalooza, and work on "Hopeflix."