I hesitated to post this—it’s hard to talk about resources, particularly as higher ed is under attack on all fronts, including from in inside at many institutions—I know writing "our little book lab has a budget" signals enormous privilege—so I’m also raising my hand to keep helping this community

So it genuinely moved me to see that our work @skeuomorphpress.org will have bona fide support from the iSchool at Illinois—not just empty praise or vague encouragement, but actual resources that will allow us to continue our service & teaching missions while expanding our research activities+

Fundamentally they didn’t understand why this hands-on, historical technology was important in this moment—to be really honest, I think upper admin wished I’d stop dabbling with printing presses &c. & apply for more grants for my DH projects—my "real work"—they didn’t see how the 2 are linked+

One reason I left my previous job was that even as Huskiana grew & we had growing evidence of its impact among students & faculty, college leadership refused to put real resources behind it—they’d send tours through & write news stories—but when I asked for resources treated it like my silly hobby+

I don’t think this is a useful barometer, but @eviedc.bsky.social tends to cook at least 8 pies regardless of how many people are coming

Then I started thinking back—when did this start? Hm, around the time the doctor put me on daily allergy medicine & huh, yeah, allergy medicines can apparently lead to what?

Dry. Eyes.

I’m mostly just kicking myself for missing the most mundane answer & spinning out into the worst possibilities

that sounds like an excellent sandwich