The holidays are over and it is time to buckle down and get back to work, Urban Paradoxes included. It is still our goal to have a soft launch of the e-zine mid-January. Since the inception of Urban Paradoxes as a serious look at the urban experience, we have been guided by a "manifesto" of sorts:

• We will playfully encounter, passionately experience, and intelligently challenge urbanity in all of its aspects.
  
• We will create an urban magazine that is a "must read" among intelligent urban dwellers.
  
• We will write Urban Paradoxes for ourselves, knowing that our passion is contagious.
  
• We will focus on creating a quality magazine, not wealth.
  
• We will go to the source for ideas.
  
• We will not be afraid of debating issues among ourselves or in "print."
  
• We will not be afraid of polarizing readers, understanding that if a lot of people hate Urban Paradoxes, it probably means that a lot of people love Urban Paradoxes.
  
• We will "hire" only people who are infected with a passion for urbanity and the mission of Urban Paradoxes.
  
• We will embrace our evangelists as "non-employees" who want to sell the merits of Urban Paradoxes; we will make it easy for them to do so.
  
• We will never take the defeatist seriously; we will never allow defeatism to set in.
  
• We will celebrate our successes (and those who make them happen); we will forgive, and see, our failures as learning experiences.
  
• We will not depend upon others to do our job. We will not focus on creating work for work's sake, but rather on delivering a value-added product.
  

If you have not already done so, please check out the website and pages regarding submissions and advertising. And as always we appreciate your feedback and suggestions.