Zaijian….

chinglish

Books have been virtually replaced by blogs. But, puns aside, many of them showcase the transformative elements Pablo Neruda* suggests as essential to written art in Ars Magnetica:
“From so much loving and journeying, books emerge.

And if they don’t contain kisses or landscapes,
if they don’t contain a woman in every drop,
hunger, desire, anger, roads,
there are no use as a shield or as a bell:
they have no eyes and won’t be able to open them….”

Here I have I have tried to smooth the stubble of memory, share poetry, attempt humor, journal my social conscience, and reconcile my longings while shoutng to you in some far-off room. I leave here absolutely bewildered that anyone, other than my long-suffering friends, ever returned to listen. I am grateful you did.

I have been blogging here for three years. Before that, and even after years of Inter-networking, I preferred pen and paper, collectible stamps and sturdy envelopes for communication. And I’ve encouraged others to do the same: I am still a volunteer guide in a museum dedicated to the fading art of letter writing. But, I have come to love the greedy demands of this electronic mistress…

I have dozens of stamps on on my Internet passport and new friends in every lit or barely distinguishable corner of cyberspace. Borders have become nothing more than a minor inconvenience to imagination. And the sound of every heavy footstep, or gently spoken secret I heard during my travels became a metaphor I couldn’t wait to share with you. I leave with 100 story drafts shouting themselves hoarse behind the walls of this website who will know freedom some other way, some other day. Spend some time reading the blogs listed on my blogroll and you’ll find an abundance of world-class writing and expression wothy of the praise of Neruda….

This has not always been easy: I have been threatened in the “real world”, physically and professionally, for my exposes on education and murder and I have been alternately heckled for my levity and publicly scalded for my stubborn severity. It can alter one’s world view if allowed to, but I have hopefully resisted such change. That is also another way of saying that I wasn’t intimidated away from my keyboard; instead I have patiently waited for lies to erode, truths to evolve and change to manifest as I continued to offer written screenings of my inner and outer landscapes.

Most of the out of the ordinary reactions to this blog were expected: If you start a fire, you’ll draw a crowd and if you try to put one out there will always be someone to complain of the cold you left in its place.

I will remain active with the dreamblogue because it is a journey mandated by my heart. I will tend to it diiligently, but being a little low on physical reserves these days, I need to be smart about allocating my energies. Yes, I will be still be doing SEO and charity work, though I will be selective and only take on projects to which I know I can give proper attention. And yes, I can hear my friends laughing at the idea of me slowing down: I have always had just two speeds: “Wide Open” and “Stop”, but I am learning how to drive again…

As for writing: A book, Confucious Slept Here, is in the works, but will develop and manifest without concern for deadlines….And I will contribute to the dreamblogue (of course) and intermittently to a China Business Consultant Blog currently under construction…

I have decided to allow the blog to rotate previous stories onto the front page for a while…so, things will be here for a bit….

If there is no doubt without faith then I believe that nothing can be taken seriously in the absence of mirth. So, as I say goodbye (this time for the last time,) and yield to my decision with with as much of a smile as I can muster.

*With a hat-tip to Tess Gallgher’s Portable Kisses and the Neruda Translation by Alastair Ried

Posted 2 August, 2007 in Entertainment, Guangzhou, Travel in China, New Blogs, The Great Firewall, Guangzhou China, The Sharpest Guy on the Planet, Censorship, China Book Reviews, Charity in China, Beijing Olympics, China Law, UK SEO EXPERT, China Business Consultant, American Professor in China, 中文, Chinese Education, Hainan Island, 中国, In the news, Expats, Teaching in China, China Editorials, Intercultural Issues, China Expats, Hong Kong, China Humor, Hong Kong Blogs, China Cartoons, China Business, Confucius Slept Here, Just Plain Strange, Photos, Weird China, China Photos, Cancer Journal, American Poet in China, The Unsinkable Ms Yue, China web 2.0

46 comments to “Zaijian….”

Liz, August 3rd, 2007 at 2:43 am:

  • Your blog has been my second bookmarked favourite and I will dearly miss my nightly check-in here. I was introduced to Onemanbandwidth through my daughter, young Stephanie (http://www.midnightinchina.blogspot.com/) who has since returned from China with a greater determination to return to this fascinating country. We are watching and cheering you on in this next stage. All the best to you!

    Liz

The Professor, August 3rd, 2007 at 3:38 am:

  • Thank you for the kind words….

    I read Jade Rain’s blog despite it being blocked here in the mainland….I hope to see her back….We need her here….

    Please let me know when she is writing again..She has a gift for the written word that deserves more attention…

    I hope to see you at Blog of Dreams…

    L

Peter, August 3rd, 2007 at 10:31 am:

  • Sorry to see that you stop blogging here Lonnie. Hope you won’t take down your writings, as I like reading up on your old stuff. :-)
    Hopes for the best, Professor :-)

nileey, August 3rd, 2007 at 1:10 pm:

  • sad to know i won’t be expecting great reads here anymore, but all the best and will check out blog of dreams moving forward…

The Professor, August 3rd, 2007 at 1:49 pm:

  • Nice to see you again….Thanks….I hope you are feeling better and that your “blood pressure” is down :-) medicine here can be daunting, aye?

    I hope to archive some of the old articles in a new place….Some of them ….I do still mourn for the 4-500 posts that were lost in the great msql storm of 2006…..Some of the pictures and quotes by others were priceless…

    I wish you were not censored here, but I will keep coming over until they put me in cyber-jail…

    L

The Professor, August 3rd, 2007 at 1:55 pm:

  • Nileey:

    Glad to see my Gummi friend here….You blog makes me hungry of late….

    I long for the day when you are out from behind the Great Firewall too…

    I hope to see you soon…

    L

dave, August 3rd, 2007 at 3:23 pm:

  • Those of us who read China themed blogs will miss the balance you provided.

    Dream on and blog on.

The Professor, August 3rd, 2007 at 4:08 pm:

  • High praise from the man who tipped me off to information that led to dozens of posts….

    I really value you and your world-view DMP….

    Please don’t stop writing to me…

    L

Happy Cookies, August 3rd, 2007 at 6:11 pm:

  • ohhhhhhhhhhhhh, nooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
    feel sorry about that, but giving my best wishes for your health.
    well, it’s not a good timing for me, as I just started to come back to this website and reading again, since there were so many reasons that kept me away from internet for a long time.
    you know, saying goodbye is always a sad thing, but really hope you well with everything. Though I’ve never been in your class, but I respect you and all of your website. I just introduced this website to a professor in manchester yesterday, he wanted to take your blog as a case study to his students, what a coincident!
    Could you pls send me an email or let me know your email address? hope we could keep in touch. and best wishes for you.

Meg, August 3rd, 2007 at 7:53 pm:

  • You’ll be very missed, you’re leaving a big hole on my China blogroll.

The Professor, August 4th, 2007 at 2:53 am:

  • Hi Again!

    Sorry that you were away for so long… I hope the rest was productive….

    Let’s not lose touch: I am at lonnie.hodge at Gmail.com….I really would like to keep up with you…
    a case study? Is he a Psychiatrist? :-)
    I hope to hear from you soon….

The Professor, August 4th, 2007 at 3:02 am:

  • Hi Meg,

    I remember first finding you, a long while back, through John’s “Hot” new blog list…You were one of those newcomers that the China expat blogging deservedly embraced immediately…..

    I am glad we are connected through social networks so I can keep up with you even when your blog service is censored out here…

    I hope to keep up with you….

    L

Happy Cookies, August 4th, 2007 at 4:07 am:

  • haha, of course he is not a psychiatrist!!!!!
    he is a professor of information management, and something related, his subject is something about how to use the internet raise the popularity and use the blog to make money, or do business.

TaiTai, August 4th, 2007 at 6:01 am:

  • Farewell One Man Bandwidth, may flights of angels sing thee to thy rest.

    I’m certain the Dreamblogue will be an enormous success, and I look forward immensely to reading of your adventures.

    With enormous respect,

    TaiTai

The Professor, August 4th, 2007 at 7:34 am:

  • Did you come to Oneman to bury him or praise him?

    Hey Tai Tai…Some great adventures ahead….And I know you will right there harassing us all the way….

    One of the best things about this blog: It allowed me to meet people like you….

    More to come….

The Professor, August 4th, 2007 at 7:35 am:

  • And yes, I went to your blog many times….I have the pictures you put up…They are a collector’s item: I am in a suit!

    I am happy to correspond with your professor friend at any time!

    L

Yuyen, August 4th, 2007 at 8:36 am:

  • Hi!

    I’ve discovered this blog just now. It’s a shame it’s contents will no longer be available in a week. I would’ve liked to read your blog through.
    That and I also have some questions. Maybe I could contact you some other time?
    Thank you for your time,

    Yu

The Professor, August 4th, 2007 at 8:49 am:

  • Anytime….

    The teacher in me loves questions….:-)

    I will put the archives up somewhere….what few posts are left…

    My mail:

    lonnie.hodge at gmail

jon, August 4th, 2007 at 10:44 pm:

  • hello! thanks for the comment—it was like a message from a celebrity or something. I wasn’t expecting it. Too bad you’ll be leaving wordpress though…

    As a student studying poli sci with a particular interest in East Asia, I’ve really enjoyed reading your entries (even though I just discovered this blog a couple weeks ago). Hopefully you’ll leave your old entries up so I can read through them in the future.

    Anyway, I guess i’ll be checking out the Dreamblogue now!

Happy Cookies, August 5th, 2007 at 4:00 am:

  • He is not my professor, though i wish he were~ He is just a friend of mine.

The Professor, August 5th, 2007 at 6:52 am:

  • Jonathan,

    I appreciate the comment…

    I enjoyed your blog….I will be leaving some entries up and rotating what is on the front page….I will keep you on the blogroll here….

    Actually this is an independent blog….I used the Wordpress extension when I first opened it just because I thought it would never last more than a few posts….Now three years and 1000+ articles later….

    I will keep coming over your way…

    Best with your studies…

    L

Meursault, August 5th, 2007 at 8:15 am:

  • We’ve never met, but I’m sure I would have liked you if I had. Keep smiling Mr. Hodge.

    M.

The Professor, August 5th, 2007 at 10:27 am:

  • I hope we still connect….David and I will be like horse manure (my mother’s old saying) and hence, will be everywhere this year, so maybe sometime we can connect: shanghai? We are in need of options to keep us away from People’s Square :-)
    Be well M…

    L

Alex, August 6th, 2007 at 1:38 pm:

  • I’m surprised you’re ending OMB, since you recently re-jigged the design of this site (a re-jig for the better).

    The Dream-blogue is an interesting project and idea. I expect it’ll be pretty time consuming, therefore the decision to focus is sensible.

    OMB will certainly be missed, still, the China blogosphere is always transforming and morphing, I guess this is such a morph.

    Best wishes and the best of luck.

    Alex

The Professor, August 6th, 2007 at 4:16 pm:

  • Alex,

    Thanks….

    I have really valued our lively debates….Most of the time we agree and when we have not agreed it has been a respectful division…

    And I really like what you are up to at CWM and sincerely hope it is a huge success…

    The dreamblogue will also morph a hundred times in the coming weeks, but all for a good cause…

    I will be a frequent visitor to your site….

    L

Fish, August 7th, 2007 at 12:51 pm:

  • Zaijian, OMB. Wo hui yizhi guanzhu ni.

    Yi lu zou hao!

The Professor, August 7th, 2007 at 1:27 pm:

  • 谢谢…

    彦志

Daily Tea Leaves, August 8th, 2007 at 3:17 am:

  • That you for all of your great posts. You will be missed. Hmmm, that sounded a little like an obit…

The Professor, August 8th, 2007 at 3:51 am:

  • You have fast become one of the most enjoyable voices in the China Blogsphere Josh….

    Your subject matter has been fresh, fun and informative….You have a newcomer’s eye and an old hand’s heart…

    I am looking forward to semi-retirement and lots of good reading over at your place!

    Thanks for your support of the dreamblogue….Maybe we can talk you into an interview with David about the journey….???

    I still hang with Mark Twain on the Obit’ thing….:-)

Carlos, August 8th, 2007 at 2:02 pm:

  • Long time no c,Lonnie.How r u doing these days? Just say “hello” 2 u from Beijing.

    HAHAHA~~~

The Professor, August 8th, 2007 at 3:45 pm:

  • How are you? How did your duty as a guide go?

    Lots of trouble brewing at your school….Sigh…

    I hope you are well….

    I Miss your smiling face…

    L

atai, August 9th, 2007 at 10:17 am:

  • hey… i’m really speechless…

    anyway, do keep in touch! :)

The Professor, August 9th, 2007 at 4:58 pm:

  • Keep up with things on the blog of dreams…It is solely for charity and we are hoping to do some good…”

    I still get your way often even though Blogspot and the PRC are not buddies…. :-)
    I hope to get to your part of the world sometime….Got room on the couch?

Carlos, August 10th, 2007 at 6:12 am:

  • Fine! we had a really good time in Beijing. How is your blog of dreams?I’m dying to know something about that.

    If you don’t write blog,how can we reach you?

The Professor, August 10th, 2007 at 8:40 am:

  • lonnie.hodge at gmail

Jenn, August 11th, 2007 at 4:42 pm:

  • Awww. Well, I’ll keep visiting the Dreamblogue!

China Law Blog, August 19th, 2007 at 12:15 am:

  • DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!

Pink, August 21st, 2007 at 3:03 am:

  • I’m so sorry to hear that. Best wishes for u.

The Professor, August 24th, 2007 at 12:54 am:

  • Thanks D…

    I will still be haunting the corridors of cyberspace and reading the best law blog on the planet….

    I still want to know what a Grinnell is….

Nita, September 10th, 2007 at 4:06 am:

  • At first I couldn’t quite believe that you were wrapping things up and was not even sure why. Well, I guess I am a little late here…but if you start another blog, let me know.
    Regards,
    Nita

Jackqueline Lou, September 22nd, 2007 at 4:14 am:

Roy, September 24th, 2007 at 1:17 am:

  • It’s pretty sad. I’ve been reading this regularly for the past 5months.

    Anyways, anyone checked out YOURmailTOtheWORLD.blogspot.com? I think it’s got a pretty good concept?

sam, September 28th, 2007 at 1:13 pm:

  • hi professor, nice blog here. i am a chinese, if any one want to know more about china, i can help you and i ‘d like to be your good friend. my msn :

    hevenwang@hotmail.com, any thing can be discussed.

Tony, October 12th, 2007 at 9:58 am:

  • I am very happy there exist such a blog about china,some advices and opinions set people think and very incisive. we all just normal people liveing in this magic country.
    Sometimes we met good things,sometime we met bad things,which could happened everywhere around the world.Although the china and the west have different culture background,some opinion quite different,but I think we all want our life be better instead of worse. Stand at this point I think,there isn’t that different between human being.
    And as a native chinese, I am welcome you come here,and hope you have a nice trip.

Fotograf i Helsingborg, October 23rd, 2007 at 9:29 pm:

  • Thanks for your comment. Nice blog you too.

Sandy, November 1st, 2007 at 9:44 pm:

  • I’ll miss catching up with you Lonnie. All my hopes for your health and happiness. Please keep in touch.

    Sandy

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