Thursday July 29

r.kelly

brooklyn 2010

After losing a notepad, forgetting where I parked my bike, and going the wrong way in the subway, it's time for a break.
Probably the data is no good, possibly I didn't ask the right questions, but I did have a lot of fun!

Saturday July 24 and Sunday July 25

right before the tournament started at the local park

Traveled to the Bronx from Queens, back to Queens for a Jackson Heights visit, and then down to Bath Beach for an attempted oral history interview that was unplanned. One of the first systematic observations of basketball this summer.

Friday July 23

Volunteered in the morning. Did some fake and not so random scanning thanks to AZ's suggestion. Happened almost by accident to attend a civic meeting that I didn't fully understand, and watched a football game for the first time this summer. So I guess youth do more than just play kirket. Need to take more of AZ's advice to better understand the community. SAT session tomorrow!

Wednesday July 21

Checked time logs, systematic observation at a sports event, biked from Brooklyn to Flushing, and then took it a bit easy with laundry and bike cleaning.

Monday July 19

No pictures today, but started one volunteer position and spent time at another. Played some more cricket (participant observation I guess) and did some informal interviewing and looked at some time logs. Need to speed up before Ramzan arrives. I ought to spend more time watching basketball but there's an incredible array of activities that I will just never be able to cover.

Sunday July 18

And this is me putting in the overtime hours, working hard, doing some "systematic observation" or something like that just as H. Russell Bernard explained!

Saturday July 17

Returned to BK and still recovering from wisdom teeth extraction! Long night of participant observation again and started to see the participation of the community. Can anyone tell me where this photo was taken?

Thursday July 16

More cricket, more notebooks passed out, and two visits to MM. A trip to Eastern Market for some flour, and some more informal interviewing. No pictures today either!

Tuesday July 13 and Wednesday July 14

Rained out on Tuesday... water everywhere! Wednesday was more constructive in getting more participants, including a 5th grader! I printed out the survey instrument, hopefully for translation, and learned about the Pakistani Parade coming up in Manhattan. More than halfway through, only 5 weeks remain. No pictures today!

Monday July 12

hard at work in the field, the tension-free
life of a grad student

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Played cricket and did some brief interviewing. Spent some time at the library, checked out the 2004 edition of Soulside. I witnessed some chess games, and a fairly aggressive debate on the recent stoning of an Iranian woman. A Jew and Muslim went for three roundsn with little ground ceded. I made a flier, but it sucked.

Sunday July 11

Saturday July 11

after a long night of participant observation, long day of chill and rethinking instruments.

BK to Queens

Yes

Thursday July 8

More photos, less data, regular programming will resume after these short messages from our sponsors

Tuesday July 6

biking from here to there, quick ride on the G train to Queens, interviews with two students... what kind of data do i need to prove my point?

Sunday July 4 and Monday July 5

Sunday was spent at a 4th of July celebration. It was a hot day but a lot of fun. I met individuals of various ages and heard the national anthem of two different countries in the span of a few minutes. Most of the MCs spoke in Urdu, and one young man suggested that they should be speaking in English!  I fully agree.

look carefully...

 

Monday was no work, just house work. Rode back to BK in the evening. Note one picture taken during the a national anthem. One young man just continues to play on his iPhone! The 4th of July celebration was the first I've attended in this community. And apparently it was not the only one. It was well attended, on CIAve. I noticed many flags today. 

Saturday July 3

More time relaxing, less time working. Shabash, beta, Shabash.No biking, some informal interviews, some photo taking. Here's something from last night.

Friday July 2

Brooklyn to Queens

Went to Queens, to JHeight, Elmhurst, then to Atlantic Yards in BK then back to Queens (College Point), then down Kissena to downtown Flushing, then home. Saw the Atif Aslam concert was mostly Pakistani and folks from mostly Queens.   Wore a blazer, had business cards, took a good camera this time, and again talked to people I have never met. Wow.

Wednesday June 30

The Purples set a target that is achievable. Maroons chase, and have some early problems, but U has a great game. They slowly chip at the score, and they have suddenly 8 runs to get in 4 bowls. All the Maroons are standing. Tense, holding their heads, with excitement in their faces. Purples are up too, getting worried and nervous. Umer keeps hitting small shots, a four here and there. The Purple coach gets frustrated, exclaims FUCK and throws a ball to the ground. Then he goes and picks it up. The Maroon team yell and cheer like I've never seen them at every run. They protest and advocate to the ref at every play, though they know the ref can't hear them or see them from 60 feet away. It comes to a difference of 6 runs on the last bowl, and Umer smashes it. The ball sails in the air toward the boundary, it seems like this is it. Everybody holds their breath. It seems like minutes pass by. But it is caught. The Purples win the game by only 5 runs.