As Facebook stocks ebbed this week, Sixers rode their own depths and heights of their own sorrows and joys with the SMITH community. Some writers offered literary tips on intergalactic travel while others celebrated their own terrestrial journeys, in six well-chosen words at a time. Click on each author’s name below for more Six-Word Memoirs.

Most Heart-Warming: “Life companion found in kennel eight.” - jdm_and_annie (profile image, above).
Toughest Narrative Arc: “Prepared my boyfriends for their wives.” - ton
Most Timeless Advice: “Don’t panic. Just bring a towel.” - mersires
Best Effort: “Fenced backyard but wife left anyway.” - hieronimo
Most Clandestine: “Black undershirt subtly suggests superhero alter-ego.”- Dean6805, the most commented memoir of the week.
Most Artistic: “Painting and traveling; only worthwhile verbs.” - Stranger from SMITH Teens.

Plus: Check out SMITH’s call for submissions of illustrated Six-Word-Memoirs by students, a new eBook with the folks at TED.

Published by TED Books, a division of the TED Conference, this book will be the eighth in the Six-Word Memoir series—and our very first entirely by students.

SPECS
• All illustrated Six-Word Memoirs must be the original work of the artist.
• The Six-Word Memoir should be contained within the work (in any way the artist sees fit) not as a caption alongside the works.
• Multiple submissions allowed.
• Images should be submitted in one of two sizes:
- 1536×2048 (portrait)
- 2048×1536 (landscape)

SUBMIT
• Send your submission to news@smithmag.net by October 15, 2012. We’ll let you know by November 15 if you’ve been selected for inclusion in the book.

• If your submission is chosen, we’ll ask you for a 100-word or less description of yourself and/or your story, along with one personal web link (blog, Tumblr, etc.).

EXAMPLES:
Check out what some others have done with this form on our Facebook gallery and our Six in Schools blog.

COPYRIGHT
Copyright of the work will be shared by the Artist and SMITH and TED Books. SMITH and TED have the right to distribute the work in any media; the Artist also has the right to reproduce the work elsewhere.

Please circulate widely to students, teachers, after-school programs and anyone and anywhere else you think would be interested in this project.

ABOUT SMITH
Founded in January 2006 with the tagline, “Everyone has a story. What’s yours?” SMITH Magazine has become a leader in personal storytelling. SMITH is home of the Six-Word Memoir® project, now a bestselling book series, calendar, board game, live event series and global phenomenon. For more information, visit www.smithmag.net.

ABOUT TED BOOKS
TED Books is a new division of the internationally known TED Conference, and features short nonfiction works designed for multimedia digital distribution through the TED Books app for the iPad, Kindle, and Nook. The books are focused around TED’s core mission of spreading great ideas of technology, education and design. For more information, visit TED.com.

Most Modern Rival: “My husband’s mistress’s is named Siri.” - Level1 (profile image above).
Sharpest Wit: “At a spork in the road.” - annie17
Almost Famous: “I also have a Dragon Tattoo.” - Wench
Best Silver Lining: “Aunt’s will. I get her hats.” - Bevvie
Most Filling: “I’ve eaten the donut of despair.”- Viv
Most Angst-Filled Teen: “Still looking for where I belong.” - Carpe_Diem from SMITH Teens.

Plus: Check out Six-Word Stump Speeches, a collaboration of the National Constitution Center and SMITH.

Since Roedel began taking his morning joe with a dash of SMITH in January, SMITH readers have likewise been wowed by Roedel, whose contributions most notably include stories about raising his autistic son such as Six-Word Memoir: “Doc said, ‘Autistic. ‘ I replied, ‘Artistic?’” and the My Life So Far piece entitled “Why Do We Kiss?”

“On paper, I am the least-abled father you could ever imagine who is tasked with the responsibility of caring for a child living with a special need,” says Roedel. (“Asshole in mirror is too self-critical” is another Six-Word Memoir of Roedel’s.)

“Make no mistake, watching your child struggle under the weight of autism is a very hard thing to endure,” says Roedel. “Often times when I write about my son Noah ‘s obstacles or hardships, I am writing from a place of heartbreak. Some of my Six-Word Memoirs are born out of absolute raw emotion.”

Recently, Roedel very graciously took a few moments from his busy life as a stay-at-home father of three, freelance writer and frequent burner of pancakes to answer six questions from SMITH.

Name: John Roedel
Town: Cheyenne, Wyoming
SMITH member since: January 6, 2012

We love your contributions since you began submitting them earlier this year. What keeps you coming back to SMITH?
The other writers! SMITH is packed with amazing and talented writers with such an eclectic collection of perspectives and stories. Even though I come from the windy and groundhog world of Wyoming, I feel connected in a very unique way to these other contributors.

I stalked the site (in a non-creepy manner) for a while before I felt like I could try and offer anything that compared to the content I was seeing. I love reading the other authors’ varied perspectives and experiences because it reminds me how large the world can be.

And even though I have only just joined this community recently there are already quite a few memoirists that I have grown to respect and admire. I try and suck up to them whenever I can in hopes that I can learn from them.

How do you come up with your Six-Word Memoirs?
I don’t really have a system that seems to always work. I just take an inventory of what I am thinking about or of how I am feeling at the exact moment that I am going to write something. Whatever thoughts or emotions that are lingering around my conscience will line up and make their case as to why they should be published.

Some days I may write a piece about a delicious truffle I had for dinner the night before, other times I may write about how clowns scare me to the point of bladder release. The one thing I try not to do when coming up with a Six-Word Memoir is to worry about what anyone else will think about it.

Since you write about your family quite a bit, would you tell us a little about them?
I suckered my high school sweetheart Jennifer into marrying me right out of college. Jennifer and I have been married for fourteen years this month. There is no doubt I hit the “Relationship Power-Ball” with her.

Over the past fourteen years, we have created three rompin’, stompin’ boys. Noah is twelve, Riley is nine, and my youngest, Logan, is five going on 45. On their own, each is a sweet little kid who strives to do the right thing. However, when they pool their powers together, they transform into a roving gang of street thugs.

My oldest son, Noah was diagnosed with autism almost ten years ago. This diagnosis transformed the life of our family in every way possible. We are a very tight group because of all that we have been through.

Would you tell us a bit about your writing life?
I’ve been writing for myself for a good chunk of my 37 years of being alive. However, I have the self-esteem of a radish and the thought of having other people run their eyes across anything that I may have penned is something that makes me really nervous.

Even so, I started blogging years ago after my eldest son was diagnosed with autism. I was in a very emotionally bottled-up and dark place in my life. While I felt compelled to scream my feelings and worries to the universe, I did not think that anyone would actually want to spend the time reading my blog. Turns out, I was wrong. I was shocked when a great many people began to follow and comment on my inner and crazed ramblings.

Since those early years of blogging, I have been published in various parenting magazines. I also wrote a chapter in a book about fathers of autistic children. Although being published has been a rewarding experience it is not main the reason why I ever sit down to write anything. Honestly, I write because it is cheaper than having to sit down with a mental health professional.

Are there certain authors that particularly inspire you and why?
I’m drawn to authors who are brutally honest about their experiences, feelings, or own personal failings. They don’t pull punches in order to make the reader like them. They just tell it like it is. It seems like these types of authors are often the funniest as well!

Writers like David Sedaris and Danny Evans are the ones that I look up to. Recently I have moved away from what I usually read, and have finally started to embrace the beauty and wisdom of Maya Angelou.

Finally, John Roedel, what’s your Six-Word Memoir today?
I repeat mistakes to make sure.

Best Obituary: “Wish life plan had rollover minutes.” - L2L3
Most Bittersweet: “Still a daughter this mother’s day.- notjustagirlintheworld
Most Relatable: “Older than everyone else my age.” - KtlinDee
Proudest Parent: “My children are my ‘real job.’ “-Believe
Most Oedipal: “My Mom was the original MILF.” - Loon
Most Literary: “Your rhetorical questions are my novels.” - ammotc, from SMITH Teens.

Narrative in search of a plot. - notjustagirlintheworld

Meditation: Personal search engine via inner-net. - trust2020

Learned little googling myself, searching instead. - calondon

Day 1,275. The job search continues. - marymc

Searched for magic. Found books instead. - lyricall

Heard whispers. Searched frantically. Found Kindle. - ctgoods2

Searched for God. Came up empty. - RMC

Raiding Wardrobes. Forever searching for Narnia. - ActorAuthorHuman

Searched for other half. Found me. - Daniel_Phelps

Searches for safety are frequently misguided. - norwegiangrumblybird

You need to go search yourself. - kira324

Searching for answers in others’ questions.- sandsunsea

What’s your most wicked Google search? - Amapola

Over-shared. Over-searched. Overloaded. Overdone. Life? Overlooked. - reens82

Photo from Flickr user shanegorski.

Best Wordplay: “New house. New closets. Same skeletons.” - JohnBigJohn
Best Derivation: “Hell’s other people, yet I’m lonely.” - PKELLY, with one of the most commented and favorites memoirs of the week.
Best Imagery: “Aerobics instructor brain atop astrophysicist body.” - wayword_angel
Most Self-Aware: “No concealer today. Strife completely exposed.” - gothamcitygirl (profile image, above).
Most Meta-Modern: “I like to Powerpoint my worries.” - BanjoDan.
Best Attitude: “Every move I make is dancing.” - fortunegoddess, from SMITH Teens.

Plus: Check out our winner’s of our Six-Word Drama challenge on SMITH Teens.

Tomorrows Friday. We we so excited.
- Hannahmo

Good Friday. What a huge understatement.
- CuriousAngel

Another Friday night with my cat.
- Amiee

It is Friday. I’m in love.
- Laurcore

Glazed eyes. Pasted smile. Happy Friday.
- ctgoods2

Practicing safe Six on Friday night.
- Renegade

Needed: Girl Friday Monday through Thursday.
- wayword_angel

We only invoke Dionysius on Fridays.
- Alyosha

5am Friday: baby crying, cat puking.
- Larry Smith

Friday. That’s good enough for me.
- Susan Breeden

Below are the brief, bold, backward-glancing submissions of those memoirists who will be receiving a free copy of The Drama Years: Real Girls Talk About Surviving Middle School: Bullies, Brands, Body Image by Haley Kilpatrick with Whitney Joiner. Enjoy their explorations of friends, fears and coping strategies, and thanks to all who entered!

Wasted precious time perfecting my looks. — songwriter
Overzealous caterpillar, then a meager butterfly. — norwegiangrumblybird
Cropped out of the friendship photo. – always
Skip lunch: how it all began. – FaeNotMyName
Ignored them, stuck nose in book. — lacrossemiddie
Preppy. Emo. Scene. I was everything. — smallsaddenedsearching.

Most Universal: “Even as “adults,” encountering mean girls.” - DynamicDbytheC
Best Imagery: “He’s a Flintstone. I’m a Jetson.” - TwoScoops
Most Honest: “Lifetime unpaid internship: being a daughter.” - ton
Best Wordplay: “Menopause: complex sentence with no periods.” -canadafreeze (profile image, above), with one of the most commented and favorites memoirs of the week
Most Self-Aware: “Revelation: I am the Fourth Stooge.” - wackjob
Funniest: “Asshole in mirror is too self-critical.” - JohnBigJohn, with one of the most favorited memoirs of the week.

This week’s student Six-Word savants attend Ridgeview High School in Orange Park, FL. English/Language Arts teacher Susan Mullen begins her lesson plan by trying to convey the power and art that can be encompassed in something as small as a single sentence. “I’ve been using lessons and activities from a wonderful book by Stanley Fish, How to Write a Sentence and How to Read One. Understanding this concept and being able to put it into practice will make students more adventurous, confident writers. No amount of speech drills or memorization of grammar words will help them find this sort of writing mastery,” says Mullen. She then asks her students to find beautiful sentences in every day life while reading, listening to music or just experiencing the world. These sentences were shared with the class in a Beautiful Sentence Gallery day. (Among some of the sentences showcased: “Dude looks like a lady!” and “Don the Brobe, Take the Broath.”)

Mullen segues the class into a lesson on writing in the Six-Word Memoir form. “Student comments like, ‘How long does it have to be?’, ‘What do we have to write about?’, and ‘I don’t like writing!’, precede all sorts of writing assignments,” explains Mullen. “So it’s a joy to be able to respond to these queries when introducing the Six-Word Memoir. Everyone can write six words.” It turned out to be a fruitful assignment for all, even the more reluctant students. “Some students hinted at the pain of their lives, others the hope, still others their passion for sports, friends, faith. Some students were proud of their work, and shared it with friends, others remained anonymous. The bulletin board of collected memoirs is still a favorite hang-out spot as students consider one another’s words,” Mullen says.

Student Kelly M. says “a Six-Word Memoir to me wasn’t just throwing any old words together and turning in an assignment, it was finding just the right words to explain my life. After tons of narrowing down and crossing out, I finally settled on, ‘Head in clouds, feet tied down.’ You really have to know yourself and your history to write such a heart-spilling memoir.”

Mullen reports that one student formalized his apathy and isolation with the memoir, “Nobody cares, so neither do I.” It was a frightening sentiment, she says, “but one that gave me the opportunity to look a young man in the eye and tell him how I about much I care about work, about language, about him. Like so many assignments in the English class, big and small, the incredible power of words ended up taking center stage. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Student teacher and partner in Six Words, Leteia Schwander, adds that everyone was excited to try their hands at writing Six-Word Memoirs. “Usually there is a resistance from a select group of students, but this time everyone was very receptive. We gave them the option to do whatever they wanted, color, cut out pictures from magazines, or keep it simple.” Schwander wrote some sixes of her own, including my personal favorite, “Nomadic sorta life, stress and strife.”

Fellow student Eric. K says, “It is said that you can learn a lot about a person by the contents of a purse or wallet. I’ve learned more by seeing what people can say in six words.”

In the spirit of that sentiment, I’ll let the photos of a few truly inspirational Six-Word Memoir projects from Ridgeview High take it from here.

At this year’s South by Southwest Interactive Festival, SMITH founder and editor, Larry Smith, and Andrew Macguire, founder of InternMatch.com, led a panel about how small business can offer an effective and ethical internship program. We had a great conversation with the assembled crowd (a large one, especially given that we were scheduled the same time as the festival’s biggest star, Anthony Bourdain), and we ended our chat with our “Six Rules for Rocking an Internship Program.”

1. Promote your hiring brand, not just your position.
2. Hire for cultural fit as well as skills.
3. Manage expectations early.
4. Use carrots & sticks.
5. Check in. Check in. Check in.
6. Treat your intern like your future boss.

And over at InternMatch, a site that matches great interns with great companies, Andrew Macguire revisit parts of the conversation and amplifies it with a terrific and informative blog post.

While in Austin, Andrew and I were also asked to do an interview with Jennifer King, an HR Analyst for SoftwareAdvice.com. That conversation, “What Does a Successful Internship Program Look Like?,” details much of our high points on this topic and can be seen in this video (above). Thanks to Andrew Maguire for being such a perfect co-leader of this conversation and to everyone who came out to our talk.

March 6, Los Angeles: The Moment reading and show at Los Angeles so-cool Gallery at The Bootleg, 2220 Beverly Boulevard, 7-9pm, with actor Stephen Tobolowsky, Ray Richmond, Rich Ferguson, Rebecca Woolf, Sascha Rothschild, Jeremy Toback, Elizabeth Jayne Liu, Laura Cathcart Robbins, Christine McDonald, and Craig T. Williams.

March 8, San Francisco: The Moment reading at SF’s indie gem, Booksmith, with Caroline Paul, Aaron Huey, Steve Silberman, Matthew Zapruder, Kirk Citron, Mo Clancy, Julia Halprin Jackson, Christine MacDonald, Michael Castleman, Ellen Sussman, and Caitlin Roper. RSVP on Facebook.

April 3, Washington, DC: Six Word Story Show on “The Jewish Life” at Sixth & I, with NPR’s “Voice of Books” Alan Cheuse; writer, comedian, storyteller and molecular biologist Adam Ruben; media and social change maven Rachel Sklar; writer and comedian Lynn Harris; economist and rap video scribe Russ Roberts; and former Washington Post and PoliticsDaily.com writer and two-time National Chicken Cooking contest contender Annie Groer.

April 4, NYC: The Moment writers joins Mira Ptacin’s monthly Freerange Nonfiction series at Piano’s, 158 Ludlow St. in NYC. Line-up TBA!

June 14, Boston: The Moment reading at Brookline’s Booksmith, our favorite bookstore in New England. Line-up TBA!

June 15, Portland: SMITH teams up with the nonprofit writing center Telling Room to bring The Moment to SLANT, a live storytelling show at SPACE Gallery in Portland, Maine.

“My peeps are awesome,” McConnell says of her fellow SMITH Magazine contributors. “They keep me laughing.”

We can’t get enough of Mary McConnell, known as MaryMc on SMITH, whose 2,000+ Six-Word Memoirs embody the roll-up-your-sleeves, can-do spirit that is so essential to our community. “Mary will do it, no problem!” reads one of her typical Six-Word Memoir. “My theory used to be that everything could be funny, eventually,” says McConnell. “I realized I was wasting a lot of time waiting for eventually to come.”

McConnell’s year hasn’t been the easiest thus far. (In one recent Six-Word Memoir, she writes: “‘I’m in the process of dying.’” Backstory: “Yes, Dad. You are.”) Even so, McConnell insists on soldiering on with grace, wit and a healthy sense of the absurd. “Felt the need to explain purchases,” writes McConnell after she purchased 12 pairs of high-waisted granny panties (for her 82-year-old mom, not for herself, she wished she’d explained to the bored teenager at the cash register).

Despite, and in many ways because of, McConnell’s busy life as an illustrator, house refurbisher, mom, daughter, wife, and sometimes-employee of Target, McConnell has helped make SMITH Magazine the warm and inviting community it is today. Indeed, in March, 2011, McConnell illustrated a gift of Six-Word Memoirs from L2L3 and other SMITH members (check out the lovely piece here) that celebrated the birth of founder Larry Smith’s son. “My peeps are awesome,” McConnell says of her fellow contributors. “They keep me laughing.”

McConnell took the time to answer SMITH Magazine’s six questions from her home in Syracuse, NY.

Name: Mary McConnell
Town: Syracuse, NY
Member since: September, 2009

You’ve been a member since September 2009 and have written more than 2,000 Six-Word Memoirs.
Whoa, seriously?!

What keeps you coming back to SMITH?
I love the format. I love the community feel. I love the feedback, the support, and the characters I’ve met.

A couple years ago I had a subscription to Newsweek. In the front, there was always a Six-Word Memoir about some current topic [Ed. Note: This was our "Six-Word Letters" collaboration with the weekly magazine.] It quickly became my favorite part of the magazine. Once I found SMITH, I let the Newsweek subscription expire.

What do you do when you’re not contributing to SMITH Magazine?
I’m just a mom/wife/daughter who’s trying to keep it together during these “sandwich generation” years. As of this week, I illustrate patterns and prints for several different clothing lines. (That’s the backstory to the Six-Word Memoir “Interviewed on whim. Hired on spot.”) Prior to that, I managed a nonprofit community center, taught art to inner-city first-graders, taught design to masters students at Syracuse University, bought dilapidated houses and restored them as rental properties (and I am currently working on one of those now). I’ve also done freelance design and illustrated a number of books. Oh, and I worked at Target for the week of Black Friday.

I’m lucky to have creative outlets like drawing and painting, as well as physical ones, like tearing a house apart and putting it back together. I swing a mean sledgehammer!

Are you particularly close with any of our other long-time SMITH contributors?
L2L3 has been my buddy for almost as long as I’ve been submitting to SMITH. God bless her for her wit, sarcasm, and demented, yet spot-on view of the world. She is a great listener, sounding-board, source of information regarding dealing with crazy people, and the creator of the fudge-induced mouthgasm. I had an opportunity to meet her in person recently, and I missed it because of my stupid week-long Target career.

We noticed that you commented on L2L3’s Six-Word Memoir: “He asked! He finally asked!! Yes!!!” Wedding proposal?
Actually, L2L3’s puppy finally asked to go out to piddle. It’s a momentous occasion for dog-moms. It’s sharing the little victories that makes the SMITH family so awesome. I was so happy for a friend I’ve never met. It made my day.

What’s your writing life like?
I’ve always loved writing, but it was my high school English teacher Bruce Emra who convinced me it was something I might want to pursue. He entered a one-act play of mine in a national competition, and I received an honorable mention.

I’ve written several children’s stories that I sent out to a number of publishers. No acceptances, but my son enjoyed hearing them growing up. Now, I keep threatening family members I’m going to write a book. They’re a non-stop source of absurd material.

Finally, Mary McConnell, what’s your Six-Word Memoir today?
Life kicks ass. Kick it back.

On Callie’s thirteenth birthday, her family surprised her with a SMITHTeens birthday cake of epic proportions. Not only was the SMITH Teens logo depicted perfectly in green frosting, but friends and family decorated the cake with their own Six-Word Memoirs. Sounds deliciously literary. About the SMITHTeens community, Callie says: “It’s such a supportive place. I always find memoirs I can relate to and it’s nice to know there are other people going through the same things I am. I just feel understood and accepted by the members. Going on the site always brings a smile to my face.”
To find out more about this thirteen-year-old Six-Word musical memoirist check out her answers to our “Six Questions For…” interview below.

Name: Callie
Place: Ohio
Member Since: May 2011

What is it about Six-Word Memoirs that you enjoy so much?
I’ve always been someone who likes to talk a lot and who has an extensive amount to say about everything. I like the challenge of trying to confine these big stories I speak into just six words. It also gave me a new way to look at the world and a new way to think. I like that I don’t have to take a lot of time to put together a story- I can just take a couple of seconds and express myself.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
Writing is big for me—all types. I’ve worked on short stories and long stories, poems and novels. I participated in Nanowrimo and achieved my word count goal this year! My favorite thing is to write songs. I’ve played guitar for two years and I’ve been writing songs for a long time. My friends and I started a band when I was five. That didn’t last, but it planted the seed of songwriting in me and it became a great way for me to express myself. Whenever I feel something, good or bad, I can write a song about it and I can always count on songwriting to take me out of a bad mood. I have hundreds of song fragments but have created three ‘albums’ of songs that I feel proud of to give to family and friends.

What’s your favorite book or story?
This is a hard one! Usually I like realistic fiction and some fantasy. I love Sarah Dessen’s books, I love the Harry Potter and Percy Jackson series. I love the Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter, and Crooked River by Shelley Pearsall (who I got to meet at my school once!). I love anything by Jane Austen, and my favorite story of all time is Pride and Prejudice.

What kind of cake was your Six-Word Memoir cake?
It was vanilla cake on the inside. Every year my mom makes me and my brother a special cake for our birthdays. Last year she made me an amazing guitar cake and the year before she made a beautiful sun and moon cake. I knew I wanted the SMITHTeens logo on the cake because it has been such a big thing for me this year, but when I finally saw the cake it brought tears to my eyes. I didn’t expect to see all the memoirs from my friends and family. It was really meaningful.

Favorite memoir(s) on the cake?
This is so hard to choose because I absolutely love them all. If I had to, I would choose “She is music to our ears.” which my grandparents wrote. I love the play on words and it meant so much to me that they wrote one.

And finally, what’s your Six-Word Memoir right now?
Expecting empty oyster. Found a pearl.

January 9, NYC: The Moment book reading at McNally Jackson Books, 7pm, 52 Prince St., with A.J. Jacobs, Alan Rabinowitz, Mira Ptacin, Matt Dojny, Karol Nielsen, Jerry Ma, Piper Kerman, Vivian Chum, and Gillian Laub.

January 26, Brooklyn: The Moment book reading at Greenlight Books, 686 Fulton St. Brooklyn 7:30pm, with after-party for SMITH Mag’s 6th anniversary. With Josh Axelrod, Summer Pierre, Daniel DiClerico, Alaa Majeed, Julie Metz, Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, Piper Kerman, Vivian Chum, Jeff Chuch, Fiona Mazel, Colin Nissan, Emily Steinberg, Cheryl Della Pietra, and Gillian Laub.

February 2, Los Angeles: The Moment book reading at L.A.’s Chevalier’s Books, 7-8:30 pm, with Rich Ferguson, Rebecca Woolf, Sascha Rothschild, Ray Richmond, Jeremy Toback, Elizabeth Jayne Liu, Ellen O’Connell, Laura Cathcart Robbins, and Christine McDonald.

February 14, NYC: Six-Word Story Show at 92YTribeca, 200 Hudson St., 7 pm. With Rachel Shukert, Deborah Capon Kogan, Robin Gelfenbien, Mark Lukach, and more. Details TBA on our Facebook page.

February 25, London: Six-Word Story Show at the London Jewish Book Festival. Theme: Revelations. With: Shalon Auslander, Jami Glassman, Francesca Beard, David Mills, and music by Lail Arad. At the show’s end the audience is invited to share a Six-Word Memoir during a “Six-Word Slam.”

March 6, Los Angeles: The Moment reading and show at Los Angeles so-cool Gallery at The Bootleg, 2220 Beverly Boulevard, 7-9pm.

March 8, San Francisco: The Moment reading at SF’s indie gem, Booksmith, with Caroline Paul, Aaron Huey, Steve Silberman, Matthew Zapruder, Kirk Citron, Mo Clancy, Julia Halprin Jackson, Christine MacDonald, Michael Castleman, and Ellen Sussman. RSVP on Facebook.

March 29, NYC: Six Words on the the Jewish Life at 92nd Street Y (uptown), 1395 Lexington, with Elizabeth Wurtzel, Deborah Copaken Kogan, Amichai Lau-Lavie, Rachel Sklar, Lynn Harris, Anthony Giglio, and Gillian Laub will start with a Six-Word Memoir and then reveal the backstory in six minutes. At the show’s end the audience is invited to share a Six-Word Memoir during a “Six-Word Slam.” RSVP on Facebook.

April 3: Six Word Story Show on “The Jewish Life” at Sixth & I in 600 I St. NW, Washington, DC. Details TBA.

April 4, NYC: The Moment writers joins Mira Ptacin’s monthly Freerange Nonfiction series at Piano’s, 158 Ludlow St. in NYC.

For three years prior, I wandered in the media desert, looking for funding or a fancy publishing partner. I got meetings because I had been working in magazines for a while and had a prototype created by legendary art director Robert Priest (whose SMITH logo still graces these pages today). I preached the gospel of what I called, “A new kind of magazine, a print/web hybrid that would be written by everyone and edited by professionals.” And then I was shown the door.

What to do? It was time to stop looking up and start looking around, as well as inward. My co-founder was my old college buddy, Tim Barkow, who frequently reminded me that we’d never create something new if we attempted to do so the old way, with the old rules. Inventive independent media makers like Dave Eggers, Shoshana Berger, Deanna Brown, and Lisa Haines all said the same thing: just do it, dude. And so we did. On January 6, 2006, National Smith Day (a day which existed already in honor of John Smith, one of the early Jamestown, Va., settlers, and/or 19th century mountaineer Jedediah Smith), we launched SMITH online.

I handled the content and editing. Tim programmed and designed the site from scratch with the help of Wordpress, the platform we still use. Our friend, Alex Hart, gave us free server space, because he’s the kind of guy who has server space. Lisa guided as we we started to turn a passion into a viable business proposition. Rachel Fershleiser later joined and became my incredible Six-Word Memoir co-editor. Jeff Newelt, aka JAHFurry, brought comics to SMITH, further expanding the ways we could tell stories here. Along the way, to crib from one six-worder I love, “Many hands have kept us afloat.” *

In previous posts I recount our origin and our mission, but the short story is that SMITH was inspired by my grandfather, a small-town pharmacist who knew everyone else’s story but was notably shy when discussing his own. When I asked him to tell me the story of his life, he said, “Oh, my story, who would care about that?” So I tricked him. I told him I wanted to test my new video camera—”Just tell one story about coming over from Russia when you were three” —and then he didn’t stop talking for hours. So came my “aha! moment”: Everyone has a story, you just have to remember to ask. That’s our origin story, one I love, and recount (along with the history of the Six-Word Memoir project) in a talk I gave at PopTech in 2010.

We’ve been asking for six years now. Our Six-Word Memoir project has been wildly popular, with more than half a million six-worders on SMITH and our site for younger scribes, SMITH Teens. We’ve seen Six-Word Memoirs used as a teaching tool across the world, as an ice breaker in speed dating sessions and suicide prevention groups alike, on bottle caps and in company mission statements. Along the way, we’ve published five books of Six-Word Memoirs, as well as a UK and a Japanese edition, and a sixth homegrown book, Six Words on the Jewish Life coming in March, 2012. A number of ambitious comic projects, including A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge and The Pekar Project sprung from this site. This year saw the release of our Six-Word Memoir Calendar and Six Word Game, a partnership with the consulting company Mercer for “Six Words About Work,” a wild ad campaign with MINI Cooper, and a live event series at the 92YTribeca. We just released a book that’s comprised of more than six words, The Moment: Wild, Poignant, Life-Changing Stories from 125 Writers and Artists Famous & Obscure.

Ultimately, SMITH is just one thing above all else: a community. In six words and more this community shares stories with honesty, humor, grace and passion each day. As a SMITH member who goes by the name MrsPremise wrote in a comment recently, “I love this community, the books are the bonus.” I could not agree more.

As such I’ll leave this anniversary post with a sentiment that I was truly floored to hear waft through the airwaves as I finished up a segment on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” just a few days ago, where I was invited to talk about The Moment book. Here’s the transcript:

NEAL CONAN: We’ll end with this email from Laureatte, and she writes: “Greetings from Shady Valley, Tennessee, home of a SMITH mag member. Who would have thunk? That’s the beauty of SMITH Magazine and its projects like “The Moment.” Bits and pieces of lives from all over the globe transform into words, and go on to touch the lives of others. It’s truly a democratic phenomena, accessible to anyone. Sharing important moments from our lives is what we all long to do. We’re all encouraged by projects like “The Moment.”

I’m encouraged, inspired and grateful for a community that does amazing things in six words and so many more. Happy SMITH day to us all.

*Among those hands is the SMITH community member who voluntarily copyedits our blog—thanks, Leigh!

Photos: Six image (top) by Bert Rodriguez, The Rubell Collection. Thanks to @lizziewurtzel for the six.

“All of them have been featured at one time or another,” says LeBlanc. This prolific sixer recently took a few minutes out of his day to answer six questions from SMITH Magazine.

Name: Lynn LeBlanc
Place: “An island in the middle of Pontiac Lake, in the middle of White Lake Township, in the middle of Michigan.”
Member since: April 27, 2010

How did you get started writing Six-Word Memoirs?
When I retired from teaching about three years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to SMITH. I wrote a couple of Six-Word Memoirs, and once I got the idea, I couldn’t stop. I crank out an average of ten a day.

What keeps you writing Six-Word Memoirs?
Writing Six-Word Memoirs has become my accidental hobby. I keep thinking that I am running out of ideas for memoirs, but the world is a complex place and it lends itself to countless topics on which to write. Writing Six-Word Memoirs compels me to boil down a salient idea. Every word demands weight. I envision this genre blossoming and becoming a staple in America’s schools. I wish I’d still been teaching when this began happening. I think I will be penning these things as somebody pulls out my plug.

You’re a very active member of the SMITH community. What do you enjoy about being a part of our community of writers?
One of the friendlier features of the community is the way we share our ideas via the comments section. We encourage each other. We try to out-do each other. We entertain and comfort each other. We, in short, make each other better writers.

Which SMITH members have you collaborated with?
I’ve collaborated with Scarecrow, LisaMoans, Renegade, and, yes my friends, I know and love the inimitable Wackjob.

What do you hope to write next?
A novel in which every sentence is six words long.

Finally, Lynn LeBlanc, what’s your Six-Word Memoir for today?
SMITHmag has become my surrogate muse.

If you’ve found this post at SMITH or clicked on the link from your “verification email,” you’re probably new to our storytelling community. Whether 6 or 600 words, that is our passion, our drive: storytelling. Our tagline is “Everyone has a story. What’s yours?” Here’s part of ours.

The most popular neighborhood in the SMITH community is Six-Word Memoirs. More than half a million Six-Word Memoirs have been written and shared by our members and on our site for teen scribes, SMITH Teens. We’ve created and published seven books of Six-Word Memoirs (including a Japanese translation) and are always working on more. (For a history of the project, watch this video from the PopTech conference). Who knows? Your memoir might be part of our next book! The heart and soul of Six-Word Memoirs happens right here on the website where smart, fun, engaged and thoughtful community members share parts of their lives in six words every day.

You can write as much or as little as you like. Some members post multiple memoirs daily, others share sporadically and a few “write and run.” If you poke around the site and start coming back regularly, you’ll be welcomed by other members and will experience what a true community SMITH Magazine is. So what makes a great community? Great community members. Here are six secrets to having a great experience on SMITH.

1) Show and Tell. When you sign up and create a profile (we ask only for very basic, not-so-secret info) you’ll be able to add a photo or icon that will appear with each of your posted memoirs. You can also answer a few questions about yourself that will give others a sense of who you are. Both are optional but recommended to help make the online connection with your Six-Word neighbors.

2) Give More Than Six Words. When members stick around a while and engage with other writers, the site and often the lives of each member get richer. Go beyond posting memoirs. Read others’ memoirs and stories. If it moves you, confuses you, relates to you or astonishes you, leave a comment in the box—one member comments on one new member’s story every day. If you love it and want to save it on your personal page, click on “Favorite.” Or if you’re feeling shy, send a private note to the author via the “Contact Me” box, found under each person’s name on their personal page. Click on their name below the memoir to get to the personal page.

3) Ask For Help. Every SMITH community member was once a newbie here. Everyone has grappled with glitches and gremlins yet came out swingin’ with awesome memoirs. Several members have become what we refer to as “power users.” These are the folks who post, comment, question and communicate with other members on a daily or almost daily basis. You’ll have no trouble figuring out who they are. These members possess a varied and useful cache of information about how to navigate this site smoothly. They are usually generous with both their time and knowledge. Use the “Contact me” box or the “Comment ” box (if the question pertains to a specific memoir or story). Asking a question can be a great ice-breaker! For less-than-live help with technical issues on the site, check out the Help page.

4) Civility on SMITH. Freedom of speech is a marvelous privilege that, regardless of country of origin, we all share here. “Do unto others” is an equally marvelous rule of thumb, regardless of religious preference, to use around the world and here on SMITH. For specifics please read our Terms of Service, where you’ll find our number-one rule: Be polite. In general, criticism is okay, while name-calling or otherwise trashing someone or their memoir is not.

5) Spread the Word. Like what’s happening here? Tell your friends, family, co-workers, etc. Keep SMITH infused with new blood and creativity. We have great buttons to click and share memoirs that you love. Email it, Facebook it, Tweet it or shout it from the rooftops. SMITH is a small, organic operation that’s never spent a dime on marketing. We count on our community to help get the word out. Know a teacher? Tell him or her. One of the most wonderful things to emerge from the Six-Word Memoir project is how teachers from across the world have taken the form into their classrooms. To encourage sixes as a learning tool, we’ve created two free teachers’ guides anyone can download. And on our blog we regularly feature classrooms, from after-school programs to art schools, and even Yale Law School.

Really want to become involved and spread the word? Go live! Organize a Six-Word Meet-up in your own community. Pick a place to meet, whether a living room or cafe, and swap Sixes and stories with others near you. SMITH editors also hold live story shows a few times a year in NYC and elsewhere. Come join us at an upcoming show!

6) Keep Writing. Many SMITH members have written thousands of stories. Over at Smith Teens it’s not uncommon for some members to write thousands (really) of Six-Word Memoirs. For our part, we promise you that an editor reads every story and makes a point of featuring the best of the daily memoirs on the front page of SMITH. On our blog you might be one of our picks for Memoirs of the Week. And each “Member of the Month” is rewarded with a legendary SMITH tee.

For more on our various story projects, live events and ways to keep up with SMITH via our newsletter, Facebook, Twitter, etc. read an earlier welcome note. For more on SMITH, read our About page, FAQ and birth story.

We’ve got a lot going on, but our mission is quite simple: SMITH is a place for passionate, personal and true storytelling. We hope you’ll jump in.

With a half-eaten sandwich in one hand, Sherman Bausch counted six words on his fingers: “My beard likes the meatball sandwiches!” Elijah piped up with a ponderous six-word question: “Why is fire so hot, Dad?” And Amanda Bausch opined on life with her quirky family: “Better than I could have planned.”

“I’m pretty sure I was counting my words for the rest of the day,” says Bausch, who joined SMITH Magazine’s online community that evening.

Recently, between cycling, yoga, raising her son Elijah, and visits to Saucy Burt’s, Amanda Bausch took a few minutes to answer six questions from her home in Minneapolis.

Name: Amanda Bausch
Town: Minneapolis, MN
Member since: September 24, 2011

What do you enjoy about being a part of the SMITH Magazine community?
The Six-Word Memoirs really appeal to me. I sometimes like filling in the backstory as well. So often you read something and say “I could have written this.” I don’t consider myself a writer at all, but I do take photos. I think that these little memoirs are just like photos. They capture that second of thought, that moment that you may forget the importance of. That kind of documentation appeals to me.

What keeps you coming back to SMITH?
I think it’s that SMITH is easy to come back to. What I mean is that I don’t have an enormous amount of time to read or write, but I can usually read a quick story or a couple of Six-Word Memoirs at some point during the day, often while on the bus. I’ll also forget to read anything other than Goodnight Moon, but then I remember, “Oh! There are other things to read!” It’s nice that I can just start again on SMITH.

What place does word play have in your family?
Elijah had a bit of trouble with his speech early on so a focus on words became more and more important. We’ve had times when we speak in rhyme or haiku, and we’ve had singing days, but the day at Saucy Burt’s food cart was our first six-word day.

Having Elijah means there are very few quiet spaces. There is a lot of talk, a lot of questions, and lots of opportunity to learn. We play with words daily. Rhyming games, alphabet games, making up stories, we do a lot of it. We are a house of (pretend) songwriters, too. We sing about a lot of things…quite often badly with really ambitious rhymes.

Why is storytelling important to you?
Storytelling is amazing. I’ve never considered myself a great storyteller, probably because I’ve been around so many amazing ones. My Aunt CJ is one of the best storytellers I’ve ever heard; her stories about family can make time pass in an instant. Anything I know about my family history pretty much comes from her stories, true or embellished. I love that a story can make you feel anything an action can. It’s a great way to bring someone into a moment.

We’ve started telling a lot more traditional format stories lately. A few weeks ago Elijah asked me to tell him a story about “Finn the Fish.” Neither Sherman nor I know where this came from, but the stories started. Finn the Fish does a lot of things, including drive a convertible and ride on a train. He has friends named Vinnie and Monkey with a Tail. At the end of every story, Elijah responds “Tell me another Finn the Fish story.” Thinking of these stories on the fly is seriously hard work.

What do you aspire to?
At this very moment? Right now, I’m a full-time, stay-at-home mom. I’m all about putting up enormous Christmas trees, doing hot yoga, telling Finn the Fish stories, making killer French silk pie, and watching Dr. Who. I’m sure that’s not all. Photos, parenting, yoga, learning, loving, walking. That’s probably the top six. My dream-world aspirations? I’d love to teach yoga and to really have it help people like it has helped me. And in my dream world, Elijah would be potty-trained.

Finally, Amanda Bausch, what’s your Six-Word Memoir?
Finn the Fish needs more adventures.

Okay, Elijah, you can give us one, too!
My brain wants to not sleep.