Not Again!! Once again I try to pull a dream into reality...

Sorry for the lack of updates in the last few weeks readers-- I've been busy. Recently while contemplating my own selfish and sometimes foolish reason for being in Japan, I remembered that I am here to first and foremost have a set of experiences that I wouldn't otherwise be able to, or at the most have a hard time experiencing back in my own country for various reasons. For a long long looooooong time I often wondered why it was so hard for me to work in my chosen field, mass communications... I went to school to study it twice even--just in case I missed something the first time... But alas-- it seems whenever I land a job in the fifth estate, I end up getting laid off, pushed into another department, or my contract simply doesn't get renewed. I guess it's me-- I'm a creative type to be sure, but definitely NOT a corporate suit. Hell, I hate wearing neckties to church (the few times a year you actually catch me in a church--that's a whole 'nother conversation...) Basically what I'm saying is, I work hard for what I believe in, and the nanosecond that I feel my hard work isn't being appreciated, or worse, being taken for granted ,or even worse still, being taken advantage of-- I start acting really bitchy and let my feelings be heard, seen and felt. So it's no surprise that I'm not really trying to work in some faceless corporation's PR unit... I just don't fit in.

Ok so back to me being in Japan. Of course I came back here 9 months ago to just ESCAPE my boring-ass, monotonous, monotone, any-other-boring-sounding-adjective-goes-here life. Check the back issues of the blog from last year to see what I mean-- just look on the right side in 2008 and you'll see what I mean. Anyway I came here I guess to recapture some of my good vibes... and see if I could make my one chance to do something seemingly impossible (for me anyway) possible... To be a success somehow doing something I love, in the place that I love. No secret, I love Japan... even with all it's idiosyncrasies, irritations, inconviences, and other words that start with "i", I still gots love for this place. But I want more. I'm selfish that way. In the same manner I like to blog, I want EVERYONE to feel the same feeling at least for 5 seconds, that I do... Yep, I know, I am a tad narcissistic. There, I said it, happy now? So with these self-serving reasons in mind, I've banded together with 4 other like-minded folks here in Nagoya and created a new magazine-- RAN Magazine.


So what exactly is this rag we've slapped together? Well its kind of a conglomeration of all the foreign voices here in this city-- If you live in Nagoya and you're not Japanese, and have been here long enough for the shine to wear thin, then I don't have to explain... But to the others:


We want to expose you to things that exist, even if
they aren't so P.C.. We're not trying to be politically
correct, we're trying to be useful and informative,
even entertaining. Life isn't perfect, neither are we. Not
everything is funny or cute, but some things are. We hope
we can show you some of both. And, we want you to let
us know what you like, what you think, how you feel and
what's on your mind.
We hope RAN will be a truly multicultural piece of work.
We hope it will be a "bulletin board" of ideas, events,
and opinions, expressions and thoughts from a wide
variety of people. The racial boundaries of yesterday are
dissolving before our eyes, but traditions die hard.
RAN hopes to shed light in dark places. We want
to connect people in order to build a society of people
looking forward with hope and optimism—
based on what we've learned, and are still learning—a true
community of open-minded people.
We're into music, food, sports, fashion, politics, humor,
culture, spirituality, relationships, shopping, travel, language,
adventure, friendship, community, and more. We're not
into hate, but if you are a hater, send us your feelings and
comments. We'll talk about them.
RAN is about healing and progress. Let the dead bury
the dead. We're into the future...
It's about the society we're building, not the one that's
falling apart. But we've got to learn about what we've done
wrong to be able to do it better. Society is at stake. It's our
"family" outside of our homes. Everything is connected.

So I invite everyone that is a part of my world-- whether you're in my machi or back in the states, or wherever in the world you've happen to be-- I invite you to follow me on this journey here with this new magazine. As editor-at-large, I am responsible for making sure all the contributors and collaborators are doing their tasks accordingly and also from a technical standpoint, make sure the grammar, written style, and continuity is in check-- I also tend to write 2-3 articles per issue too... I am also in charge of the online presence, so check out www.ranmagazine.com in the next week or so-- we release the magazine in print form bi-monthly, but we want to build an online community, so as articles get done, they'll have their own discussion forums tagged to them--in this manner I hope we can tie our communities together. Also while I am on this subject, I want to make it clear that it's also my intention to make a Japanese companion site in the near future too--It's not fair for the English readers to have the ability to flame our pants off, without the Japanese readers not being able to take part!

Sorry for being long-winded this time ya'll-- but I hope you understand why I've been incommunicado lately.... Love and Peace as always!


BTW-- StreetSide Media is STILL going strong-- I'm using the name as a freelancer for now with websites and multimedia here--stay tuned for some new developments with that, and yeah RAN is a part of the family... www.streetsidemedia.com
Foreword p2 June18
www.streetsidemedia.com | www.ranmagazine.com

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