Folks who spent time at Cal in the early 1990s will recognize that phrase. It was used by the university during a fundraising drive to build more structures on the campus. My dream requires similar contributions, but not in monetary form.

I have a dream that, someday, Sneh! will be more than just a place for my random mumblings. I have a dream that someday men and women of all ages, races, genders and sexual orientations can come to Sneh! and be entertained, not by the piddly crap I call humor, but by the written work of those who have come before them.

My initial intention with this site was to create a place where writers -- whether they call themselves poets, novelists, journalists or daydreamers -- can share their work with a modest Internet audience. I wanted to create a virtual workshop for verbal artisans.

Unfortunately, at about the same time I began putting this all together, I got laid off from my job and was forced to create a site that demonstrated my meager HTML skills. The workshop idea fell by the wayside as Sneh! became my personal show-off site. Now that I have much more HTML and design skills under belt, I look back on this site and see I didn't have all that much to show off to begin with (what you are currently seeing is an intermediate redesign -- it's better than it was, but far from being as good as it could be).

In that time, some wonderful sites that display the writing of others have been created. The Fray, a revolutionary site that demonstrates some incredible design using very simple web technology, is probably the best I've seen out there, with Salon coming in a close second. Both are wonderful places to be published, but neither seem to provide the kind of feedback working writers need to improve and develop their craft.

The point: I'm looking for a few good writers willing to put in the time and effort to get an online, continuous writer's workshop off the ground. The way I see it, we need someone with strong graphic design skills, preferably with UI experience, and at least one more HTML scripter. We'll be needing server space that provides us with our own CGI-BIN directory and/or access to message boards. And, most importantly, we'll need excellent editors and writers to keep the content fresh and exciting. This is not a job one person can do alone.

While money is always nice, I see no reason why we can't go the non-profit route. Maintenance costs could be underwritten by advertising or sponsorship (to a limit -- the content should NEVER be driven by advertising. It's an idealist statement, but with idealists at the helm it's one that should work).

I know there are folks out there who hear me talking about "my dream" and may be thinking I'm a control freak who will want everything my way. The fact is, I'm not. I have distinct ideas of how things could and should be run, but I'm very familiar with the concept of committee and am always happy to compromise. Frankly, I'd like this thing to grow beyond any of my own expectations and be as organic as possible. I have no design specs and no real structure, just some ideas on what I think would help writers trying to get their work published and improve their craft.

If you're interested in helping start this up, please let me know. Sneh should be a place where anyone can come and not only feel comfortable, but feel like it belongs to them.