About Turntable Memos
Turntable Memos is a slow-brewed editorial project where I explore how spaces and sounds shape the stories we tell about ourselves.
It’s about the emotional and narrative environments we love, stumble into, and learn to build — places that help us grow, reflect, and return to ourselves.
The original seed for this project came from wanting to document reviews of listening rooms, thoughtfully curated gathering spaces, and the music I couldn’t stop playing. I’ve always been drawn to environments that feel intentional. Spaces where people feel good lingering, sharing, and simply being.
But the more I sat with it, the more I realized it wasn’t just about physical space or sound. It was about the emotional atmospheres they create. The way a room softens us. The way a song surfaces something we didn’t know we were holding. That’s what led me to attunement, which now anchors the editorial focus of this project: How do we move through the world with presence? How do we sense the spaces within and around us more fully?
Turntable Memos is a place for that kind of noticing. Part field journal, part reflection space, it blends personal narrative with cultural observation — tracing how sound and space shape our emotional lives. Along the way, I’ll also be spotlighting the people quietly doing the work to make those environments exist.
This is just the beginning. I’m aiming to publish a few times a month, through recurring columns that explore memory, place, design, and subtle shifts in self. Some pieces may take the form of essays. Others might be interviews, creative field notes, music reflections, or stories behind objects and textures.
It’s a work in progress like most things worth tending to.
Thanks for reading. I’m glad you’re here!
—Emerline
About Me
I’m Emerline Ji — a strategy and brand director, writer, and founder building strategies, stories, and spaces that make sense of complexity, deepen connection, and build futures with meaning.
Based in Washington, D.C., with roots in California, New York, and Seoul, I split my time between brand strategy, editorial writing, and making sense of the in-between. Turntable Memos is a slower, more personal editorial experiment.
You can reach me here: studio [at] emerlineji.com
