About
On The Dockyards: How Did This Project Actually Start? (2009–2013)
Welcome to The Dockyards! This was the initial logo of the website (used between early 2015 and late 2019).
At Hard Rock Café Bucharest in January, 2020.
This website was initially created as a separate personal blog on the WordPress blogging platform in late 2009. At that time, its main purpose was to represent a useful digital outlet through which I was able to easily publish and store media content as well as related articles on various subjects (most notably regarding the hobbies and diverse occupations or activities I had as a teenager).
Nonetheless, over the passing of time, this website had slowly (yet steadily) developed into something much more significant. That is exactly why I ultimately decided to take one step further with it in the Spring of 2015 and turn it into a proper domain of its own, after a brief hiatus from blogging which lasted between early 2012 to late 2014.
Therefore, all that any visitor will be able to see here still serves me (and, hopefully, can do the same for other like-minded people) as a useful digital teaching platform on which I was able to save various bits of information, some valuable knowledge as well as some fond memories.
Subsequent Development (2014–present)
In the historical old town of Sighișoara/Schäßburg (2015)
It was in the Autumn of 2014 that I decided to re-commence writing on a digital platform, after a brief hiatus from blogging (as previously mentioned). In the meantime, I also tried to refine my way of writing by learning as much as I could with respect to web design, primarily in order to aesthetically match the content that I wrote about.
Briefly put, the vast majority of the articles on this website revolve around Ancient and medieval history, but there are also separate series of posts on sports, real-time strategy video games (within the larger category of IT & technology), music, literature, and even films. For more details on all of the constituent sections of this website please refer to the category drop-down menu on the right sidebar.
The decision of naming the website ‘The Dockyards’ was purely based on my constant, innermost fascination with the sea or the ocean. In this particular regard, ever since The Dockyards was launched, I have been constantly using header images that depict the sea, ocean, or just water in general. For example, the current header image (as of September, 2019) depicts a picturesque medieval castle close by the seaside in the Irish countryside.
The new logo of the website (in use since late 2019 onwards)
Below you can also take a closer look at the header image history of the website (from 2016 until 2018):
- October, 2016–May, 2017: The reconstructed Ósvör fishing outpost museum at Bolungarvík, north-western Iceland;
- October, 2015–October, 2016: The lighthouse from Reykjavik’s harbour (Nordurgardi)
- October, 2016–March, 2018: The black sand beach at Vík í Mýrdal, southern Iceland, highlighting the Reynisdrangar basalt rocks
The Purpose And Motivation For Maintaining The Dockyards
The main purpose for maintaining this website after all these years is to still share as much information as possible regarding the main topics that I decided to write about in the very beginning when this project was initially launched.
In this regard, my personal motivation has alway relied on bringing as many facts as possible closer to my readership while dispelling historical myths at the same time. Therefore, the main long term objective for The Dockyards as a growing website on the world wide web is to still find itself in the proper, truthful direction of historical accuracy combined with high quality media content.
A Brief Personal Description: Personal Interests And Hobbies
Close to high school graduation (2016)
Some of my most significant interests include universal literature, playing on a series of musical instruments (most notably the guitars and the keyboards), listening to music comprising a wide range of genres (from alternative to jazz-rock fusion; one of the reasons why I’m also the webmaster of The Rockpedia), sketching, economy, and biological research (more specifically genetics).
In my spare time, I also do a lot of editing on Wikipedia primarily as a hobby, most notably on the English, French, and German versions. In recent years however, editing Wikipedia transcended into a daily activity rather than an occasional hobby. Last but not least, I feel I should mention I’m a great CFR 1907 Cluj supporter, through good times and bad times.
Additionally, here’s a list of some of some of my all time favourite readings (novels, novellas, and volumes of short stories):
- ‘Nadirs’ (Niederungen) by Herta Müller
- ‘The Master and Margarita’ by Mikhail Bulgakov
- ‘Animal Farm” by George Orwell
- ‘1984’ by George Orwell
- ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ by J.D. Salinger
- ‘Nine Stories’ by J.D. Salinger
- ‘The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- ‘The Dubliners’ by James Joyce
- ‘Finnegans Wake’ by James Joyce
- ‘Three Men in a Boat/Three Men on a Bummel’ by Jerome K. Jerome
- ‘Pebble in the Sky’ by Isaac Asimov
- ‘Fahrenheit 451’ by Ray Bradbury
- ‘Brave New World’ by Aldous Huxley
- ‘Shogun, Volumes I & II’ by James Clavell
- ‘The Pigeon’ (Die Taube) by Patrick Süskind
- ‘Misreadings’ by Umberto Eco
Some of my favourite quotes:
‘If a man can bridge the gap between life and death, if he can live on after he’s dead, then maybe he was a great man.’
— James Dean
‘Smart people learn from their mistakes. But the really sharp ones learn from the mistakes of others.’
— Brandon Mull, Fablehaven
‘The gratification comes in the doing, not in the results.’
— James Dean
‘So many books, so little time.’
— Frank Zappa
‘There is no friend as loyal as a book.’
— Ernest Hemingway
Last but not least, I truly hope you will find this website as useful as possible for you as it is has proven to be for me, so suit yourself and feel free to search anything you wanted to come here for in the first place. Enjoy!
Personal business card
For work-related inquiries (e.g. guest posts or the like) please contact me over this e-mail address: [email protected] You can also check my Europass CV and work experience on my LinkedIn profile here.
Public domain statistics on The Dockyards:
- Statistics provided by Alexa on www.alexa.com
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You seem like an awesome guy! “history, geography, PC/Macintosh games and IT reviews, universal literature, music comprising a wide range of genres.” This is basically me!! minus Macintosh 😛
I apologize for the very, very long delay but thank you for your consideration! 🙂
Hello, nice blog. How I can get update notice in my email?
Hello and thank you for your interest in The Dockyards and for your readership. In order to subscribe, please provide your e-mail address in the pop-up window asking for subscription whenever visiting the website.
I am enjoying looking through some of the clippings. How can I get regular messages, downloads, etc. I find this site interesting.
Thank you,
Ralph
I apologize for the very long delay but you can subscribe via the pop-up window asking for subscription whenever visiting the website. Thank you!
So grateful to have discovered your blog! Thoroughly enjoying your posts on the Transylvanian Saxons… please keep ’em coming. As others have mentioned, it would be fantastic to have a way to subscribe and/or receive email notices. What a treasure! In agreement with Jakob – your interests are invariably on cue with those of mine. Greetings!
Thank you for your appreciation on the series of articles concerning the Transylvanian Saxons!
A very interesting blog, and nicely designed. I have been interested in Norden ever since I took an optional course of Swedish as a 4th foreign language at secondary school (We read En Hergårdssägen by S Lagerlöf by the end of that year).
I have been reading this blog for a some weeks now, and I am looking forward to each new issue.
I was struck by your mentioning “I started to … ‘refine’ my way of writing by learning as much as I could regarding the web design in order to aesthetically match the content … ”
Could you possibly mention your sources? I have been thinking about starting a similar blog myself, but my utter lack of knowledge about web design held me back. I have a Mac.
Thank you for reading the Dockyards. I sincerely apologize for the long delay but now I can answer your question.
I’m currently using Silverclean lite, a theme developed by Iceable Themes. It features two areas where I can insert widgets (a sidebar and an optional footer), as well as a custom menu location (known as navbar), a custom logo and favicon (i.e. website thumbnail), a customisable header image, and a customisable background. In addition, the theme is responsive, meaning that it is compatible with and works well on all digital platforms (i.e. desktop, mobile, and tablet).
I’m still looking forward to creating my own theme for this website but in the meantime I have been using this one. For more inspiration on the matter, I suggest you check the following link on how to create a personal blog/website: http://www.scandinaviastandard.com/a-very-scandi-guide-to-creating-your-own-blog/.
I hope it will be useful for you. Should you have more questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Nice blog. Keep up the good work. Bra jobba.
Thank you for your consideration!
Hi,
As you are interested in music and Viking Age history I will suggest a music project I think you might like. It is Irish and Norse traditional songs in conversation. This video is from the album Dubh agus Geal, Darkness and Light by Northern Lights. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwf_5VnhCQ4
If you are interested in finding out more about this group you can start herehttp://www.lorcanmacmathuna.com/northernlights/index.htm
Get in touch please for more info.
All the best,
Lorcán
Hello Lorcán,
First of all, thank you for your interest in The Dockyards and for your readership. Secondly, I apologize for the very long delay. Thirdly, I have watched the video you linked on Youtube and I sincerely think it is an amazing body of work. I’m even considering writing an article on it in the near future. I have also accessed your website but for some odd way of reason it seems to be currently down (as of mid July, 2020 at least). I hope I will be able to get to know more about this interesting project as I’m willing to promote it as much as I can here on The Dockyards. Stay safe and keep up the good work as well.
Dear Author, I enjoyed reading An Overview on the History of the Vikings and of the Viking Age. Really did like it. May I suggest a few (at most, four) suggestions? I can put them into an e-mail for you, if you request. Each of these is a single-word, word-change suggestion. The suggested changes occur in the Section, Lifestyle, Trade, and Expansion.
Thank you for reading The Dockyards and for your feedback on one of my articles! Any kind of suggestions are most welcome, so please do not hesitate to send yours via the e-mail address specified above. Once again, thank you for your time!
I would like to sign up for your blog. I haven’t found where you make that available
Hello Gary,
I apologize for the very long delay but I am now able to reply to your question. The only way you can subscribe to The Dockyards is by giving your e-mail address in the pop-up window in which you’re asked if you want to be a subscriber. You will then be able to subscribe to the website and get notifications via e-mail whenever a new article will be published. Thank you very much for your readership!
Hello sir
i am interested buying guest post on your website http://www.thedockyards.com/
what is post price
i am waiting your reply
thanks
Hello Hira,
First off, thank you for your readership and for your interest in The Dockyards. Secondly, yes, I’m quite interested in a guest post collaboration with you. We can discuss further details on the collaboration at the following e-mail address: [email protected]. I’m looking forward to your response.
Thank you very much,
Sincerely,
Victor