Catchall (Apr. 20 '25)
A quick little catchall post to round up a few things from the past two weeks.
The BostonDH conference was on April 11th, and it was at the Boston Public Library this year. I went to the one last year at Tufts, and it felt like such a different time, even though only a year has passed. This year, I co-presented with Kelley Kreitz on Critical Mapping in the Classroom. We discussed a project my company has been doing with her for the past year and a half. Roopika Risam gave the keynote talk, and we're also working with her. It was really wonderful to see them in person, but it was especially important to have an academic gathering the week that the NEH was essentially shut down – including the Office of Digital Humanities and all DH-related grants. Libraries are also directly affected by cuts, and it meant something to come together in this space – to have space to talk about what's going on as we're still reeling from these sudden and drastic changes. The event was great – good talks and good people – and I was happy to both catch up with a number of people I've met over the years and to meet some new people.
A fun aside: the last time I saw Kelley in person was at ACH 2019 – my first DH conference. Roopika's the former ACH president, and she actually organized that conference, which was really fantastic. Kelley and I were on the same ACH panel, which one of my current bosses happened to attend – it's where I met him for the first time.
The weekend after the conference was so cold that it snowed two nights in a row. M's first soccer game of the season was canceled, and we ended up having a kind of lovely quiet weekend at home. A couple of weeks earlier, I'd picked up a game that has a really rather silly premise, but it was fun to work on together on an unseasonably cold evening.
And then, as is typical of New England, the weather abruptly warmed up, and we've had a few gorgeous days. Soccer season is always hectic, but it's nice to be outside.
This past weekend, A & I had an anniversary, and we had a low-key but fun weekend – good food, and we went to see Sinners on opening night. I can't remember the last time we went to the opening night of a movie.
We also went for a hike in conservation land that's pretty close by that has a number of decommissioned ammunition storage bunkers from WWII.
And today we joined a friend's family celebration of Greek Easter, which was really lovely and fun. They roasted an entire lamb and made quite a feast. The kids played games, and we enjoyed a low-key and convivial, intergenerational afternoon.
Counterbalancing moments...
