Pushing Past a Comfort Zone

September 8, 2012June 18, 2013 ~ Kana Smith ~ 98 Comments

I've been laboring under a peculiar species of Writers' Block for the last two weeks. It's not that I haven't had the inclination or the material for writing, but there's Something Important that I need to write about---that I want to write about---but am apparently not ready to write about. And I've felt like I couldn't (or … Continue reading Pushing Past a Comfort Zone

A Lesson on Letting Go

August 7, 2012August 8, 2012 ~ Kana Smith ~ 76 Comments

Here's my GRIN for the day: I have a new client for my freelance writing, and the "job application" I sent him consisted of (1) a link to this blog, as a "writing sample," and (2) a photo of my motorcycle tattoo. I regularly refer to my tats as Stories, but had never considered this … Continue reading A Lesson on Letting Go

Hill-Climbing, Hummingbirds, and Handguns

August 4, 2012July 13, 2023 ~ Kana Smith ~ 34 Comments

This evening, a particular piece of kid-art caught my eye. We have their notes and drawings tacked up all over the place---on the walls, on the fridge---but when something is always there you sometimes stop seeing it. That's the case with this piece , carefully dated 8-2-11 (almost exactly a year ago) with sticker-letters spelling … Continue reading Hill-Climbing, Hummingbirds, and Handguns

Budget Limbo: How LOW can we go?

July 22, 2012July 22, 2012 ~ Kana Smith ~ 29 Comments

Yesterday we made the six-hour drive back home from my parents' house, and we hope that Grandy and Boboo are recovering from the chaos of their week-long house-full of US! The kids immensely enjoyed their week, though of course it went by too quickly for them---sleeping in a tent in the backyard, roasting marshmallows for … Continue reading Budget Limbo: How LOW can we go?

“Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens…” (Part 1)

July 12, 2012January 4, 2013 ~ Kana Smith ~ 35 Comments

Well, after tackling the political angle of backyard chickens and mustering our (mostly free) resources, we finally got our start on building the chicken house... Or, to use the Hawai'ian handle, the Hale Moa (HAH-lay MO-wah). We got through the framing today, so here's our chicken-house-building (part one)---mostly in pictures, because I'm saving up most of … Continue reading “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens…” (Part 1)

Boundaries (or… “This Righting Isn’t Write!”)

July 2, 2012August 8, 2012 ~ Kana Smith ~ 42 Comments

She calls herself an editor. In actual fact she's a person with terrible written communication skills (as well as terrible manners) and a dubious grasp of the English language. She pays well, though---more than twice what I used to make per article---so maybe the practice of regularly having to advocate for myself is just part … Continue reading Boundaries (or… “This Righting Isn’t Write!”)

Summer, Synchronicity, Sewage, Stones, & Super-Powers

June 8, 2012August 27, 2014 ~ Kana Smith ~ 24 Comments

My "Radio Silence" over the last week is (I'm happy to say) the result of having been quite thoroughly engrossed in the activities of a first-week-of-summer-holidays with the kids... I started to write a few times, but never got as far as hitting "Publish," so here it is, all at once...Sat, June 2: Summer Holidays, … Continue reading Summer, Synchronicity, Sewage, Stones, & Super-Powers