going offline for a time. not sure if I will have internet access while in transit. I somehow love that possibility. remember when your days were filled with only ‘in the world’ things? like wandering, singing, dancing, general tinkering and idleness.
looking forward to a visit to california, authentic mexican food, (why can no one in this part of the world make a good burrito?), good coffee (peets), the best produce in the world (davis farmer’s market), and lots of family time.
I’ll check in here and then when I can.
see you soon.

“The truth is that wherever you go, people want ideas, want language, want discussion, want space to share and to talk. The Web is great but there is nothing better than people in a room together. I used to be a bit dubious about all these literary festivals happening all the time, but this last visit to Sydney has convinced me of how important, and necessary they are. There is a collective hunger for real things – a kind of self-administered antidote to consumerism and spin. Yes, people spend money, buy books, but it is not about redundant marketing or pointless shopping; it is about really choosing instead of being fed the lie of choice.” Jeanette Winterson
from mrs. tulip

what if your hand could tell stories?

all pieces were found “as is”. no shaping occurred. collected in Troy NY.

I was thinking the other day that I would like to read one book for an entire year. Except I don’t think I have the patience for it, though I wish I did. I remember reading about how Joseph Campbell walked around with Finnegan’s Wake under his arm for an entire year, reading every page over and over until it’s meaning sunk in. Imagine knowing a book and the characters that intimately, so that they become your only literary companions for 365 days? For some reason I am so drawn to the idea of it, how often in this day and age do we study one thing so intently, to the exclusion of everything else? Would you get bored of the thing? Or would you love it more because of the sheer dedication?
For me it would have to be a book with many layers and areas of investigation. What books would be good for that? I fear I do not have the patience for Joyce these days. Moby Dick perhaps? Something with a good mystery. I always wanted to read Charles Palliser’s “The Quincunx”. Or Perec’s “Life: A User’s Manual” (through which I dabble from time to time). Other things on the list, Thomas Mann, Proust, too many others that I am too tired to remember right now.
Too tired to read at this moment. I am currently in between books and waiting for the right one to find it’s way into my hands. These things cannot be forced you know.
also, I can’t seem to get enough of helvetica and orange these days. they don’t necessarily have to be together.
time for sleep.

Hi.
It’s me again.
I know we’ve had our little episodes in the past. Thank you for them. I know at times you’ve frustrated me a bit, but I’m willing to let go of all that because you keep me on my toes. Let me just say that I know you like to mess from people because after a wrote about you several people wrote me and told me that you messed with them too.
But I think it’s great. Really I do. I like that you are keeping us on our toes and opening us up to things that we all would rather not pay attention to. Like the fact that books have a life beyond the author, and that they are in many ways animate things. I’ve always believed that, you don’t need to convince me any further.
But I digress. I am calling on you for another reason entirely. You see I’m working on a new book. It’s something that I think you would really like. Scratch the “think”. I know. And I would like you to come and help me with it. I don’t need you to write it for me, just lend me some of your spirit. That would be perfect. I’m willing to put up with any shenanigans that you would need to inflict on me, (including hiding my books and moving things around a bit.) I don’t mind one bit.
And if you could contact Bruno Munari while you’re at it, maybe he could come and help too. Together we can all make something really great.
That’s all for now.
hope to hear from you soon,
creatively yours,
keri smith
p.s. I miss you.