And thus ends my three-and-a-half year association with Hyphen magazine. I'm a few decades of pages away from finishing my massively long thesis, whereupon I may be called "master" and will take that ability out into the world for a while -- away from San Francisco and away, presumably, from Asian America's ground zero. (I'll still be blogging at Other Magazine's blog on Sundays, so please check it out.) Except for Melissa, Hyphen's founding and current Editor in Chief, I'm the last of the founding editors to leave the magazine, or to leave town ... or both. In response to the exodus Hyphen has recently recruited a whole new crop of editors, none of whom are up on the staff page yet. (Hey guys, why not post little intros in the comments section below or in your own blog entries? Who are you, anyway? Don't hide!)

It's not exactly the end of an era, not even for me, but it is interesting to watch a new nonprofit move from the craziness of establishment into the calmer waters of stability. (Not that Hyphen is out of the woods yet. It is still a volunteer-run nonprofit. Send those checks and endowments here!) There have been a lot of disagreements, fights, tugs-of-war, breakdowns of communication and workflow, occasional reneging and betrayals, and sometimes just plain failures. There's also been the slow, steady, periodic release of an increasingly professional, increasingly vision-fulfilling magazine. Which was the whole point.

I like to think that what kept the thing together through some pretty serious setbacks was a sometimes inarticulate, but always passionately felt, commitment to quality. We've held and expressed that commitment since the beginning, when none of us had any idea what we were doing, and were simply incapable of producing a magazine of the quality we dreamed of. Hyphen is a lot nearer to the goal of being able to produce that magazine now. (What's missing more than anything is the steady funding that would enable the magazine to professionalize its staff. But I already mentioned that above, didn't I? I did already say donate, right?)

The personalities, tastes, and obsessions of the new staff will continue to develop and change the flavor and content of Hyphen, as it should. The one thing that needs to be passed on, as Hyphen grows up, (beyond the mission, of course) is this passion for quality. It is an obsession with getting the last drop out of yourself so that your piece is, not as good as you would want it to be (that should always remain out of reach lest you become complacent), but as good as you can make it right now.

Sometimes we haven't been sure how much of that effort is getting across to you, our readers. Please, please help us, help our new editors, and help Hyphen grow in quality by giving your feedback, fully and often. You can start in the comments below, or in the comments section of any of these blog entries. You can email letters to the editor to hyphen (at) hyphenmagazine (dot) com. Or you can wait for a few months until the new reader survey goes up on the website (keep an eye out!) This magazine is for you, so keep Hyphen honest.

So now I'm gonna say goodbye and keep it brief. Thanks for listening, and I hope you keep on listening. Bye now!