a couple of months ago, I had this seed of an idea about how a collection of small moments and objects could, combined, capture the strange emotional tone of the pandemic. thanks to readers + a lot of help from colleagues, it launches today: https://www.tampabay.com/special-reports/2020/05/26/the-scrapbook-what-life-has-been-like-these-past-few-weeks/">https://www.tampabay.com/special-r...

I wasn& #39;t even sure if this was an idea when I pitched it, honestly. but @havana58 and @mstark17 saw something in it, and @clairemcneill and @JayCridlin were brilliant in refining it. and we got hundreds of submissions — they were moving, hilarious, surprising

part of that refinement was moving the idea from "archive" to "scrapbook" — something tangible, familiar, non-academic. and @LisaMerklin came through with the fantastic illustrations, which reflected that idea, tied the whole thing together and brought it to a new level

I think Claire was the one who came up with the phrase "the texture of altered life," and ultimately that feels like what we& #39;re going for here — something immersive and nonlinear, sad or funny or interesting in pieces, but way deeper when taken as a whole

anyway, I also really miss my colleagues, and it& #39;s been a balm to collaborate closely with the folks mentioned in this thread, as well as the other folks —  @ashleycdye, @elizhangnyc, @carolynpfox @allisonbgraves, @JennGlenfield — who made this thing happen

also: the intro + first four sections of the project are out today. more sections out tomorrow and thursday, and we& #39;ll be updating the scrapbook as we get more submissions in the coming months. email your stuff to scrapbook@tampabay.com! https://www.tampabay.com/special-reports/2020/05/26/the-scrapbook-what-life-has-been-like-these-past-few-weeks/">https://www.tampabay.com/special-r...