-i am still trying to fix these damn comments. i may have to switch to a new platform, movable type is not working for me like it used to.
-i picked up this book in spain, it’s my new favourite kids book ever, from a very cool store called “Imaginarium”!
-i heard a rumor (from someone who wrote me) that “the Guerilla Art Kit” was spotted in Urban Outfitters last weekend. which surprised me because it’s not supposed to be out yet. let me know if you have a sighting, i’m very curious.
-quote of the week, “Do you realize that all great literature is all about what a bummer it is to be a human being? Isn’t it such a relief to have somebody say that?”
~Kurt Vonnegut fr. Man Without a Country pg 9
-this morning i got an idea for a new book, (no i’m not telling you about it yet). it is always an interesting feeling because when an idea comes and it is the right one, it grabs a hold of you and you can’t breathe. and then it’s all you think about for quite a while.
-i got a new journal from my husband and now I don’t want to finish the old one but i have a journal finishing policy. (i also have a ‘book finishing policy’ which i sometimes break, and an ‘eat all the food in the fridge unless it’s bad’ policy. there is also the ‘don’t eat anything bigger than your head’ policy which i got from an old boss, he would say it every time we ordered these amazing, very large chicken sandwiches from the St. Lawrence Market).
-thank you so much for all the wonderful comments about ‘wreck this journal’. i really had no idea how much it would affect people. that’s the great thing about being an author.
-three recent interviews/reviews with craft zine (of craft mag fame), on craftcast, by Alison Lee, and also DIY Planner.
-today is my birthday. and i don’t usually mention it but i just felt like it. i guess i am proud that I am still here, still doing this thing called life and having a great time.

apparently my comments are broken. sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused. i’m working on getting it fixed today.
the stories about ‘wreck this journal’ are flowing in, and it is wonderful to hear them. i am overwhelmed, excited, flattered, mushy, humbled, giddy.
please send them directly to me if you feel drawn to do so. you will make my day. info@kerismith.com
more to come soon.

the book is out! the book is out! i’ve already had a few people write me who have bought it and are busy wrecking away. so exciting.
i took mine on the trip with me and was working on it on the plane. I had no idea that it would make the perfect travel book. it was a lot of fun to spend the time poking holes in the pages and scribbling wildly. I was a bit worried that I was making too much noise.
it’s so surreal when you have a book published. I still feel like it’s this thing that I just did for me. hard to believe that it has a life of it’s own now, other people with use it in their own way and bring a new life to it.
weird and beautiful.
i feel like a proud mama.

what is it about travel that makes you want to do everything differently afterwards? i certainly feel different, but maybe not in the ways I was expecting. there is simply too much to tell you. such a mess of emotions, maybe that is the place to start. how do i communicate to you the colours and the heat and the smells of north africa? like no other place i have ever been, it haunts me in so many good and some not so good ways. so complicated a place, it challenges all who visit it in some way.
we were saddened seeing how tourism has impacted the culture of Spain in negative ways, (taking some of their culture away and replacing it with foreign chains and money making endeavors, and also turning the flamenco music into a commodity.) but I will write more about that at a later time.
unfortunately Jeff and I contracted some nasty virus while in morocco and we are still recovering after a trip to er the other night. so I will share with you these few photos taken by my husband and some words for now. time to heal my body.
a few highlights…
…the street in granada that runs along the river into the alabaicin, walking along narrow cobblestone streets into ancient history.
…listening to gypsies play real flamenco while watching the sun set over a massive castle (the alhambra).
…the dogs everywhere, they are a huge part of the culture and are accepted in stores and restaurants.
…the “less work, more play” attitude of the spanish people. we could all learn a lot from them here in north america. we were told that everyone in spain gets at least two months off from work (sometimes more), every year.
…the restaurant “casa paco” in seville, good cheap tapas.
…the indoor food market in the Marcarena, a wonderful neighborhood in seville, with almost no tourists. so colourful and full of life. walked through a street market full of gypsies selling used items.
…reading vonnegut’s “man without a country” on the train and laughing out loud in parts. what a gift he left us, i only wish it was hundreds of pages longer
…finding a quiet pension in a beautiful neighborhood (realejo) lined with orange trees and jasmine, (for only 40E a night).
…finding an english bookstore in Granada after having run out of reading material. you must understand how i felt like a I could breathe again, like an addict who was in need of a fix. whew.
…drinking tinto (a mixture of redwine and lemon soda) in a small family owned bar in sacremonte, built cave-like into the side of a large hill. many gypsies live in actual caves further up the hill from there.
…the village of chefchaowen in morocco (pictured above) where the entire medina is painted in shades of blue, (which is a pigment specific to the area). it is magical at night, filled with candles, and music and the smell of burning cedar (which they use to cook bread with in primitive ovens.)
…the riad we splurged on for one night in Fez, called riad Louna
…drinking mint tea at a place where no tourists would go.

an interview with http://lab-zine.com/issues/1/articles/wreck-interview/ sorry i can,t link it right now.
i think this is one of the best interviews i have done. due to the great questions of the interviewer, joseph robertson.
i am writing this from an internet cafe in morroco. boy do i have some stories to tell but the keys are in different places and it mqkes t*yping difficult so they will have to wait:
love to everyone at home!
k.
ps morroco is the most interesting and chaotic place i hqve v er been.