oneword.

Something amazing has happened today. Truly, gloriously, angel-trumpetingly amazing. If I was Mahalia Jackson, I would literally be breaking into a deep-throated chorus of “Oh Happy Day”. That’s just how happy today is.

A bit of history. A few years ago, I stumbled upon oneword. I wasn’t as much of a writer/geek/internet whore as I am now. shape+colour was just a twinkle in my eye. Beautifully simple, each day oneword gives you – wait for it –  one word and you have 60 seconds to free-flow write about it. Be literal, be poetic, be non-sensical, be Seussian – it’s all up to you. I went to oneword religiously, daily, without fail. Something about the creative simplicity of a little poetic outburst and it’s accompanying mind-drain was therapuetic, cathartic, and mildly euphoric.

And then one dark, evil day, oneword was down. The error message was non-sensical, not a site-based message but just a random geek speak. There was no soothing reassurance, no explanation, no time frame of it’s return. I didn’t realize how much I liked… nay, loved… oneword until I suddenly couldn’t have it. I checked it a few more times and begrudgingly let it go for the day.

Except that it was down the next day too. And that’s why my deepest fears were realized, as each day for the next two weeks I went to oneword and the same completely unhelpful message of broken nothingness still sat there. Eventually, for my own sanity, I had to give up. I checked a few more times, randomly, over the following weeks but after a while it just became annoying. The fucking thing was just gone.

And so, as it is with so many things that are worth loving, oneword slipped out of my life as quietly as it had slipped into it. Until last night. When, for whatever reason and I have no idea why, I went to oneword and it was back. Glory.

Here’s my oneword for today. The word was “substance”:

Created by Arvind Singh, not only was the site back up but with an explanation on his blog about what had happened: server switch error. God damn servers. I’m trying not to think about it too much because I don’t want to jinx it. My beloved oneword is back in action. That’s all that really matters.

826LA: the echo park time travel mart.

Sometimes I come across something that’s so nut-bustingly rad, so pure win, so totally fucking awesome that I’m not sure what to say. This is one of those times. Behold the glory that is the Echo Park Time Travel Mart.

826LA is a non-profit writing and tutoring centre whose mission is two-fold: inspire kids to explore creative writing and inspire teachers to make it happen. Part of a national network of chapters across the US, 826 was co-founded by Dave Eggers, author of the brilliant “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius“. Clearly, these guys and gals are thinking outside of the box. That’s why they created the Echo Part Time Travel Mart as the store front to their new free writing lab. Sometimes, a door and foyer just isn’t cool enough…

Having it’s grand opening to the public last week, the Mart is fully stocked with all your various time travel needs:

Yes, you read that right. Mammoth Chunks. A-may-zing. Besides the unbridled fun of it all, the amount of detail and total commitment to fully flesh out each product blows my mind. They’ve also got a series of wines whose names come from the political and social ideologies of the year they were vintaged. It’s a history major’s wet dream. The wines include Nihilism (bottled in 1901), Optimism (1967), Romanticism (1818), Reaganism (1983), Socialism (1866), and Antidisestablishmentarianism (1871).

The crown jewel in this masterpiece is the space-age Slushee machine, complete with time-travelling out of order sign:

Imagine being a young writer and walking through all that full-on creativity before you get down to writing? Talk about inspiration, this makes me want to move to LA just to volunteer. 826 is my new favourite thing. If you’re in the LA area, 826LA is looking for good folks to help out with its tutoring and workshop programs. Send an email to iwanttohelp(at)862la(dot)com.