Wednesday, July 1, 2009

This Will End in Tears


After a lot of unhappiness about TFRL and shutting it down, I've decided to try and give it another shot. I know that certain people were offended before, and I can't promise that people who want to be offended won't be offended again, but TFRL has never been about specific people; it's always been a commentary on the process of higher education.

And anyone who thinks that the way higher ed works isn't humorous... well, I don't know what to say to you. It's either funny or depressing, and I will always side with the happy, laughing people rather than the depressed people. I hope you will too.

I am concerned and unhappy that there are some who feel that they can't share 'safely' because of a fear that what they say may end up in TFRL. That was never my intent, and I understand and accept your concern. Real life is (and must be) an inspiration for TFRL, but I don't want anyone to feel that they are fodder for TFRL. I promise that nothing you say will be directly used or mocked in this cartoon... Well, I make an exception for 'generic' high-level administrators, the Governor, and the state legislature (state legislators should be burned at the stake - just sayin').

In the end, my hope for TFRL is that it is real, that it is funny, but that no one feels that it is about them, targets them, or ridicules them personally (see the exceptions above... did I mention burning state legislators?).

And for those of you who don't think that budget crises don't apply to you... just wait until California collapses and we all leave California for your state. This budget stuff won't seem so trivial then.

24 comments:

gilzow said...

*SO* glad you decided to give it another shot!

I am completely ok with you making fun of me in future TFRLs. In fact, I would be downright honored if I were ridiculed in a TFRL episode! :)

Joe Bonner said...

Welcome back! I was disappointed that I discovered TFRL about the time you announced its departure. I'm looking forward to new episodes.

Romouz said...

Yay! TFRL is back... :D i live in a very similar story to the ones u publish, it is always good to know other people share the pain of redesign land !

Karlyn Morissette said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Karlyn Morissette said...

How THIS is a cause for celebration. Welcome back Tony!

Karlyn Morissette said...

OK, that should have been "Now this" obviously...this is what I get for commenting as soon as I wake up :-)

LoriPA said...

Welcome back, TFRL! The happy, laughing people have always got your back.

Jason said...

Hooray! :-)

Anonymous said...

TFRL is popular for the same reason Dilbert was popular. People can identify with it. Especially those of us in the business.

And to all you lame-o's who are offended, get over it. You're just part of the population.

I say keep going. If they lay you off for doing this AT HOME and from YOUR OWN equipment, then they've infringed on your freedom of speech.

Bobbi said...

Yay! This is great news!

Justin Gatewood said...

I'm the web/code guy for a CA Comm. College, and I passed "If Star Trek Was Like Us" post around at a Tech. Committee Meeting (*just for fun to see the reaction), and several people nearly choked to death while laughing...like our Exec. Dean of Technology and Information Resources for example (as we were in the process of forming a Computer Use Policy Sub-Committee no less..LOL). Glad that TFRL is back!

Todd Barber said...

Woo Hoo! Welcome back.

Susan said...

so. stinkin. excited! :-)

Unknown said...

Thank you for reconsidering. Contrary to what some mught believe, the world IS a better place with TFRL.

Nat said...

Please, PLEASE, please offend!

Andrew said...

Welcome back. I'm looking forward to new adventures.

Aaron Riddle said...

Yes! Looking forward to reading more TFRL commentary and humor!

Rob S. said...

TFRL is so funny precisely because it is so applicable to higher ed institions generally and not specific to a single institution or system.

Glad to see you back!

Erik said...

Happy happy joy joy! Glad you're back. If we can't laugh at the frustrating aspects of our jobs, it just gets depressing. Plus, I think framing problems with humor makes it easier to acknowledge the truth and fix it.

Anonymous said...

Wooo Hoooo! Now I feel better about my own redesign project. At least there will be fresh humor for escape.

Maybe you can mix in some of our redesign stories. Then your college will be totally confused.

Anonymous said...

Yahoo! Welcome back TFRL! Very timely, too, now that we "know" that furloughs are "really" to save $$...

Unknown said...

Awesome! Glad to have this cartoon back. It's one of the best.

Anonymous said...

Keep up the great work, I love it.

George Sackett said...

Looking forward to future episodes - Hang in there . . . You bring a smile to a lot of faces - and they look the better for it . . .