VOICEMAIL MESSAGE:
I want to write your alibi. Begin by describing your day beginning to end. Ultimately, these accounts should reward your own understanding of your life and everyday, so it is up to you how much detail you wish to give. In exchange, I promise to listen dilligently for the next twenty-one days; returning to you a handwritten document. Thank you, and good-bye.
On November 18th of 2018, a man responded to my Craigslist ad titled: I Want to Write Your Alibi. Following the instruction set forth by my voicemail, he called everyday*, for the next ten days. Our exchange ceased after the evening of November 27th, 2018.*he called most days and made up for those which he missed.
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When Brett Kavanaugh’s ‘forward and backward-looking’ high school calendar was presented (and accepted) as his alibi against the sexual assault allegations put forth by Dr. Christina Blasey-Ford, I began thinking critically about my own, disciplined calendar-keeping and journaling practice. For years, I anticipated and recorded my days with such devoutness that I declined social engagements, dreading the immensity of recounting and representation at the end of each day.
I thought about what a privilege it was--to prioritize self-reflection in my life, and I volunteered myself to be somebody else’s scribe—recording days that would otherwise go completely unrecorded, to one day, perhaps, serve as an alibi, if only to one’s self or their loved ones.
I want to write your alibi. Begin by describing your day beginning to end. Ultimately, these accounts should reward your own understanding of your life and everyday, so it is up to you how much detail you wish to give. In exchange, I promise to listen dilligently for the next twenty-one days; returning to you a handwritten document. Thank you, and good-bye.
On November 18th of 2018, a man responded to my Craigslist ad titled: I Want to Write Your Alibi. Following the instruction set forth by my voicemail, he called everyday*, for the next ten days. Our exchange ceased after the evening of November 27th, 2018.*he called most days and made up for those which he missed.
- -
When Brett Kavanaugh’s ‘forward and backward-looking’ high school calendar was presented (and accepted) as his alibi against the sexual assault allegations put forth by Dr. Christina Blasey-Ford, I began thinking critically about my own, disciplined calendar-keeping and journaling practice. For years, I anticipated and recorded my days with such devoutness that I declined social engagements, dreading the immensity of recounting and representation at the end of each day.
I thought about what a privilege it was--to prioritize self-reflection in my life, and I volunteered myself to be somebody else’s scribe—recording days that would otherwise go completely unrecorded, to one day, perhaps, serve as an alibi, if only to one’s self or their loved ones.
re-recorded, verbatim, by my father to protect the identity of the caller.
All names have been changedclick for video excerpt, 00:36
COMPLETE REDACTED TRANSCRIPTION
