My friend, Vodka, and his wife, Kiki have asked me to use pseudonyms on the internet for them. They are tech people. Tech people understand that the internet is a slate that will never really be wiped clean. They also lower-case the internet, as opposed to editors who uppercase it. I wonder what they know that they aren't telling editors. Anyways, Vodka is an actual nickname that I gave to Vodka. It also spawned calling things “Not-Vodka” which means lame. I like vodka and Vodka. Anyways, Kiki chose her own nickname but it has been one of hers historically in her real life so my attempts as K-ter and K-fed were met my dubious stares, or I guess more correctly, in am IM convo silence followed by “no.”
Anyways, we were going to Goodwill to drop off clothes, books and other odds and ends. Goodwill has got some rules. They do not accept toys. It’s "because of the lead," which made sense except they were pointing at a plush toy when that was stated. They do not take magazines which we knew. They also consider comic books magazines. Vodka has enough comic books to make all the other kids hella jealous. (He’s a native, as his wife, so they don’t make people jealous—they make them hella jealous.) He wondered out loud where these comic books could find a good home and by that in the hands of the young boys and girls who need to read cool shit and who maybe wouldn't otherwise be able to get their mitts on these. I mentioned 826 Valencia might take them. He asked what 826 was. And I thought, wait, people don’t know about this? And then I thought only my nerd writer friends probably do. So here’s the thing. 826 Valencia is hella cool.
Why 826 Valencia is Hella Cool
826 Valencia helps kids ages 6-18 with developing their writing skills. They provide after-school tutoring, field trips, workshops, but perhaps most important they fill in the gaps that the existing public school system cannot. They help kids learn how to write their college essay, prep for the SAT, while also teaching them the fun aspects of story-telling, such as creating a zine. It’s cool stuff, because it straddles both concepts of “things you need” and “things that are fun” at the same time. Writing doesn't come easy to many people. We can all see plain as day that our language is changing rapidly due to technology, but many of us will "c u later" on that one. Others, including some truly lovely ones, are markedly more upset about it. It is important that even if we break down into binary codes for online discussions that the beauty of good writing is never lost and how many work environments would just be better if people had stronger writing skills. Ok, I admit sometimes it is comprehension that gets in the way. I just think that being able to express yourself in both spoken and written forms gives you a leg up in life. If you can sound eloquent then you can even get away with bigger social no-no's like sleeping around or being passively-aggressively rude and condescending to silly people.
Like any do-gooder organization they need help to survive: basically both people and computer gear. The mural in front of the building is cool and the shop is “San Francisco’s only independent pirate supply store,” and it offers “a variety of goods, including lard, flags, eye patches, mops, glass eyes and the like.” So well it is like a Letterman joke: mostly funny because it is random. But all proceeds go to 826, which means if you want to be a pirate for Halloween or next Thursday's date night then you should pick up your gear here. And if suddenly you have some extra dough, buy some school supplies for these guys.
826 is always looking for volunteers! I have a friend who volunteers there and he loves it. If you are a writer nerd, like to support writer-nerd causes, like to support up-and-coming writer nerds, and/or don't have any money because you are a writer nerd, you should look into volunteering there.
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