Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Fuck That. If I Want to Tell Fab I Love Him, He Can't Stop Me. HE'S NOT THE BOSS OF ME! He's Not the Boss of Anything Now!

Always!
When I closed RYS, Fab was the guy who made the best case for the page to continue. That was more than 5 years ago, and he has repaid me and repaid me a hundred times over by keeping the spirit alive, and by making a place where the misery could be confessed, shared, and left in the dust.

Thank you, brother, for fighting a worthwhile fight, and by welcoming so many voices to our odd, troubled, and inspiring community.

Love,
Cal




26 comments:

  1. Fab is the best. Period. The love he had for this place and its community was infectious. I will miss him.

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  2. Oh, Fabby...how I love you.

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    1. Kimmie of the Kensington KimmiesNovember 23, 2016 at 10:20 AM

      Uh, I saw him first...

      Love you, Fab...be well...clear your mind, love your wife and kids, teach and pray and remember what good you did...

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  3. You saved the page, but on a personal level, you were a great friend when I needed one. I can never express my gratitude I feel for your friendship.

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  4. What in the world would we have done without you? Thank you thank you thank you!

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  5. All the people commenting on this thread are the same ONE person, the ONLY person who writes this trifle. Delusiom much?

    An Anonymous But Skilled Professor

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    Replies
    1. What else are we (they? I?) supposed to do? It's the day before Thanksgiving, we're clearly losers with no friends or family, and all the other proffies have canceled class, so there's no one to teach (and complain about afterward).

      Either that, or RYS/CM et al. is a now decade-old experiment in extended postmodern fiction/performance art, with some members of the audience unwittingly lured into playing a part. I've always rather liked that explanation, and half-hope it's true.

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    2. It's all written by a cat. One of Katie's.

      Delete
  6. Well said everyone. What a gift this place has been. While I never made use of it enough, "in the manner," it is one of my first stops every morning. And even when the posts are sparse, it's a repository of honest to God REAL ideas about this profession which is killing me by degrees.

    Thank you to Fab for running it wisely and well.

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  7. I trusted Fab. I knew that he cared about all of this, and it made it a place where I wanted to be a better version of my normal self - not that I always succeeded.

    When I misbehaved, he reached out to me by email, was respectful beyond what was appropriate, and he never made me feel judged while he was helping me make better use of the forum.

    It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced in countless online "academic" communities.

    His leadership will be missed...

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  8. How needy are the people who run this shit page?

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  9. I don't really know what to make of Fab's note below, about how his personal and professional life has changed, but my own attachment to this page has changed as well over the years.

    I worry that too much time here convinces me that the whole career is a mess, that the troubles are everywhere, and that my next student is sure to be a flake. And that negativity hangs on me sometimes.

    But, at the same time, I've found great comfort here. Nowhere else on the web - and certainly not on my campus - can I get real unfiltered thoughts about the academy. For that, I'm grateful.

    I wish Fab well.

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  10. This is the most functional dysfunctional community I know, and much of that is down to Fab (and all the mods who do the work of drawing and redrawing the boundaries). Many, many thanks, Fab! And many thanks to the incoming/returning RGM.

    I periodically have some of the same concerns as Pissy Prof about how this place may be affecting my attitude toward my job/career (such as it is) in general, and my students in particular. But the major alternatives seem to be populated by people seeing things through rose-colored glasses (or at least convinced that they can control their own and their students' fates if they only try hard enough, choose the right rubric/tech, use the right buzzwords, etc.,etc.), and that makes me feel really grumpy, and misanthropic, and even more disconnected from both students and colleagues. So, yes, the unfiltered view here strikes me as valuable.

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  11. I. Can't. Even. Hugs Fab!

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  12. Just thanks. Long live the RGM.

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  13. You're awesome, Fab. Thanks for everything.

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  14. Long live this page!

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  15. Happy trails, Fab. We will miss you, even those of us who only lurk nowadays.

    Massacre the shit out of dinner today!

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  16. Thank you, Fab, and happy trails.

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  17. I'm rather new, and didn't know much of the history of this page and the one that predates it. I also didn't understand how it worked. That so few moderators have kept it alive for 11 years (Fab as the main man here) I find miraculous.

    Thank who to whoever the RGM is now for keeping it alive. I fully hope to take a role in things in order to keep it going.

    LOVE IT HERE. Saved me several times in my first 2 years of teaching.

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  18. Thanks so much for doing such a huge amount of often thankless work, Fab, and so gentlemanly!

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  19. Take care, Fab! You're the man!

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  20. Fab, I will never be able to thank you enough for keeping this place going for every time that you did. CM has been my savior on more than one occasion.

    So thank you, Fab, for all of the hard work to keep the misery going. I heart you.

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