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Tag: Writing

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

Lost & Found

lost & found box
November 14, 2025November 14, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 14 Comments

I just got sucked into the "Daily Prompt." I've been peripherally aware that the daily writing-prompt was a Thing, having seen blog-posts that responded to it---but I hadn't really paid attention. My brain is a busy enough place that I don't generally "go looking" for a prompt. But I do go for a daily stroll … Continue reading Lost & Found

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

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

Cross My Heart

photo of the writer's wall with cross-stitch pictures pinned to it
November 8, 2025November 13, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 6 Comments

When I was a kid, I loved paint-by-number kits. I remember they always came in three-packs (three paintings of horses, three paintings of lighthouses), and I loved everything about them. I loved the tiny paint-pots, all connected in a little plastic row. I loved stirring up the oil paints with a toothpick, watching the sludgy-looking … Continue reading Cross My Heart

The User’s Manual: 13 Rules

AI-generated cartoon of the writer's desk, with a thick manual labeled "Kana" beside her typewriter
November 7, 2025November 7, 2025 ~ Kana Smith ~ 17 Comments

Joshua Pantalleresco, who recently had me as a guest on his podcast, "Just Joshing," has ten Life Rules he tries to live by. I asked, after we went off the air, and he rattled them off for me. Number One is "Show up;" Number Ten is choose the option that's more fun (all other things … Continue reading The User’s Manual: 13 Rules

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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. EllenV's avatar
    EllenV on Clearing OutMarch 21, 2026

    When I want a break from cleaning stuff out of my own house (actually stuff volume mostly under control these…

  2. The Luttie Board's avatar
    The Luttie Board on The Accidental Cat LadyMarch 17, 2026

    Another one good situation how love grows in an unexpected ways. Just amazing, from one cat to five. I am…

  3. isabellaawentworth's avatar
    isabellaawentworth on The Accidental Cat LadyMarch 7, 2026

    Cats are the best! They're a lot of work, but they're still the best. I loved reading your story!

  4. ivythissmalllife's avatar
    ivythissmalllife on The Accidental Cat LadyFebruary 25, 2026

    I'm so happy to have stumbled upon this post. My daughter and I (both allergic, plus I'm also asthmatic) started…

  5. NEERAJ SINGH's avatar
    NEERAJ SINGH on The Accidental Cat LadyFebruary 23, 2026

    so beautiful ♥️

"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
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  • History of a Helm-Hog
  • Past, President, Future
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"Not all those who wander are lost."

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

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