The idea for Dragon City Journal came to me when I was living in Hong Kong in 2003. So it is a reference to that “dragon city.” My intent and calling it a journal was to distinguish it from “blogs” (a goofy term that inclines one to think of dried-up bubble gum stuck under the tops of old grammar school desks) that concern themselves with what people were wearing or eating that day, or with terse, inane utterances about other subjects that subsequently came to be the primary substance of what are now called “tweets” (a term which inclines one to think of the stupid little notes you passed to the girl sitting in front of you just after you stuck that bubblegum under your desktop).
Rather, I wanted DCJ to be about intermediate form essays, at the length of, or slightly larger than, pieces that one might find in a newspaper or magazine—somewhere between 1000 and 1200 words. I also felt that each essay should be attended by a graphic or a photo that added further substance to the subject of the essay. Stylistically, I would use what ever came to mind, or seemed appropriate: exposition, narrative, fantasy, satire, or any combination or permutation that seems to suit advancement of my theme.
Themes for DCJ’s essays come from subjects and topics which I (think) I know about or am willing to take a risk expounding about: cities and urban life (urbanism), travel; cinema and other media; books; religion and metaphysics; politics and government; and current affairs. Sometimes the subject will draw upon my own personal experiences and history and is cross-indexed as such. On occasion I will do a fictional short story, usually under the authorship of Sebastian Gerard, and sometimes a satire piece under the authorship of Ba Feng Gu (my alter ego “correspondent” in Hong Kong.)
DCJ is connected with it’s sister site, UrbisMedia-Ltd. and they can be accessed within each other (see About UM for its purpose and function). Each site has its own separate URL, but they are intimately related since they both revolve around my principal theme of cities and urban life. The newly designed sites now offer the opportunity for readers to respond and comment directly on the website, to receive notification as soon as postings are made, and it features RSS feeds.
If you haven’t already, I hope you will make Dragon City Journal the first thing that you read in the morning and the last thing you read it night (right after you pray “Now I lay me down to sleep . . . and Jesus please don’t let Homeland Security shut down Dragon City Journal and waterboard the editor”).