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Tag: Travel

Pirates of the London Underground

the "tube map," a schematic diagram of the London underground subway
November 15, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 12 Comments

This morning I listed some of the significant maps in my life, and there's another one that stands out in my memory: the London Tube Map! The Tube Map has been periodically updated, and stylistic flourishes added, but the basic design of this subway-diagram was created in 1933, by a smart fellow who realized that … Continue reading Pirates of the London Underground

The Lost Map

watercolor map of the world, with pins in many countrires
November 15, 2025November 16, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 22 Comments

WordPress used to have a widget I loved. I love maps in any case---I'm a certifiable cartophile, and this map I loved in particular. A blogger could put this widget on the side of the page, and its map showed all the countries in which the blog had been read. SO cool. I can still … Continue reading The Lost Map

Better Than a Fairy Godmother

fairy godmother
November 12, 2025November 12, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 26 Comments

What could possibly be better than having a Fairy Godmother? Having a REAL one, of course! When my dad was in grad school and my parents lived in Married Student Housing, they lived upstairs or downstairs (I forget who was where) from Klaus & Karen Sitte, and they became fast friends. The kind of prank-playing … Continue reading Better Than a Fairy Godmother

The Balance of Context

still photo from the film "Fiddler on the Roof"
November 11, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 15 Comments

My sister and I were always avid readers, but she used to get carsick if she tried to read in the back seat. We had what felt to us like a "high tech" piece of equipment at home, in the form of a stereo that could tape vinyl records onto cassette, so my mother made … Continue reading The Balance of Context

Avoiding “Sketcher’s Block”

an open book of drawing prompt, with watercolor paintings for each prompt, and the open watercolor box
November 10, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 10 Comments

I have a weird relationship with drawing and painting. I'm utterly ignorant, have never taken so much as a weekend workshop, couldn't tell you if that Italian word describes a painting technique or a musical instruction. I've figured out some stuff, just playing---some stuff about light and shadow and perspective, at least. You can generally … Continue reading Avoiding “Sketcher’s Block”

Portofino

AI-generated image of Portofino---citrus-colored stucco buildings and anchored fishing boats.
November 9, 2025November 9, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 16 Comments

I've been revisiting old poetry, thinking of taking up the poet's quill again... It's poetry-writing in which I took my Master's degree, but I discovered "creative nonfiction" (the personal essay) late in the game, and it's that genre I really fell in love with. They didn't offer a degree in creative nonfiction, anyway, or I … Continue reading Portofino

A Ramble, and An Ode to my Frameo

drawing of a breakfast table on a patio on Maui at sunrise
November 5, 2025November 13, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 7 Comments

GoodReads tells me I'm "behind" by 9 books. It's measuring against the pace I have to average, in order to meet my reading goal of 310 books this year. I've spent the year playing leapfrog with that number---sometimes I'm a number of books ahead-of-pace, obviously sometimes the opposite. But we're coming up on that time … Continue reading A Ramble, and An Ode to my Frameo

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"As for me, I am tormented with an everlasting itch for things remote. I love to sail forbidden seas, and land on barbarous coasts."

~ Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

  1. JT Twissel's avatar
    JT Twissel on What is WRONG With People?January 11, 2026

    Oh lord. Some people seem to be immune to shame don't they?

  2. Peter A. Taylor's avatar
    Peter A. Taylor on A Pain in the NeckJanuary 11, 2026

    I didn't survive the Vietnam War to spend my old age explaining my worth to people half my age. I…

  3. Mags Win's avatar
    Mags Win on What is WRONG With People?January 11, 2026

    You have a lot stronger stomach than I do. I admire you for being able to stay in the business…

  4. yusefasabiyah's avatar
    yusefasabiyah on A Pain in the NeckJanuary 11, 2026

    Yes, but didn't it become obvious your views were shaped by deceit and betrayal? I wish things were different today…

  5. thomasstigwikman's avatar
    thomasstigwikman on What is WRONG With People?January 11, 2026

    Hmm I am glad I am not having dinner soon. But you are right. This kind of behavior is not…

"It is not down on any map; true places never are"

~ Herman Melville, Moby-Dick

What is WRONG With People? A Pain in the Neck If the Present is a Gift, so is the Past Cow Physiology 101 The “Year in Books” On the Palm Tree as an Antidepressant Untitled Dragon Biography The Christmas-Tree Trade-In
  • What is WRONG With People?
  • Burning the Script
  • Blogger Call to Action: Please Help Me Happy-Dance
  • Amazing Grace, how sweet the SOUNDS
  • One of My Very Bad Habits
  • A Pain in the Neck
  • Breaking my own Rules: Observations from the NaNoWriMo Lab Notebook
  • A Forum on Freelancing
  • Adventures of The Spermudgeon & The Scribbler
  • Call for WRITERS!

"Not all those who wander are lost."

~J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

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