As I reached the period of time for which I had consent to make field recordings with participants (October 17, 2019, and following, depending on the type of event and who was participating), this act of public analysis and documentation proved too time-consuming to pursue comprehensively. Transcripts and audio files of “outing”- rather than “memo”-length…
I met Hannah and Sam at a deli in Powell Gardens after a morning of hustling around. I thankfully remembered before I left the house that I would need to go to a local music store beforehand to buy an XLR cable to use with my new shotgun microphone, since today would be the first…
I heard Liz ask Zoe about how school was going, and she said her grades were some good and some bad (two A’s, two F’s). Liz then said, “Oooh, tell me about the A’s.” I ordered an iced coffee and came back to the table. I listened as the group chatted for a bit, then…
The story of my engagement at the fall picnic begins before the event itself. Early in the week of the event, I received an email from Hannah: I’m going to be out of town for much of the month of September, so I will be missing the picnic this Saturday. Since I believe you’re going…
Operating mostly from an instinct I’ve developed as a pastor (say “yes” whenever you can, especially to invitations to make connections in the community), I accepted mentor Marie’s invitation to volunteer at a yearly remembrance event hosted by a racial and economic justice organization she’s a part of. The event commemorates the death of a…
I arrived at the course on my bicycle mid-morning. I could see a group that looked like Hannah and company in a large tent structure. I walked around to one end and came in. Upon entering, I said hi to Deacon Derek, and then sat down and talked to Liam, Hannah’s husband. He asked about…
I have found it difficult to know how much research and facilitation process material to publish. One of my convictions in this project is that we shouldn’t overly and artificially separate unified experiences: process from product, narrative from analysis, and all the being and doing that accompanies research from the research itself. One process milestone…
I arrived early to this second, more regionally targeted mentor thank-you dinner, and passed the time reading in a café a couple doors down from the taqueria. It was the kind of place I think would have felt modestly upscale against the backdrop of the neighborhood’s past identity as a broadly targeted shopping district and…
I arrived early at the Walnut Street Community Coalition to do some other work and take a call. The cafe was large, and open. It included a book store space, a register with various kinds of gift wrap (including Hanukkah-themed), and a long counter. I noticed prominent tattoos on several employees’ arms. I texted Hannah…
Although I had already begun to understand my relationship to Tapestry as genuinely inquisitive, the January 2019 training for new Tapestry mentors was the first engagement in which I took proper field notes. This account and many subsequent accounts are drawn largely from those notes, from which I have removed identifying or seemingly extraneous details.…
