What’s that you say? The holiday season is in full swing and you need something stimulating to work on before you sink into a sick-of-cheesy-songs-in-the-supermarket, blinded-by-tacky-yard-decorations, chocolate-induced seasonal slump? Well then, it’s a good thing you’re reading my blog.

Choose an image from T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock” and illustrate it through art, audio, video, or any other creative medium.

My last month has been remarkably uneventful and, at times, crushingly boring. Work, work, and then–for good measure–some more work. The weather here has been gorgeous (sunny and warm nearly every day) but sometimes I go several days at a time without feeling the sun on my face for more than five minutes.

I arrive at work just after sunrise, and often leave after dark. Go home, eat, fall asleep. Repeat. Haven’t written. Haven’t drawn. Haven’t picked up my mandolin. My camera has been sitting in a desk drawer for three weeks.

On Saturday afternoon I was off to Spain. You might remember from my last post that Eid al-Adha, the Muslim festival which includes sheep sacrifice, was coming up. Well, rather than listen to thousands of dismayed sheep bleating across the city (and smelling them roasting later on) I opted to travel to northern Spain. My goal, San Sebastián, (Donostia in Basque) was only two flights and a three-hour bus ride away.

On the first flight I sat next to a young man who had never flown before. Through him, I remembered the wonder of seeing the tops of clouds for the first time. It was great seeing the look in his eyes in the moment when the plane lifted off the runway.

I received a request last week to share a little more about work, about religion, and about my sleeping habits. For those of you who don’t know, don’t care, or just haven’t had the time to meticulously stalk me on the internet, I’m working at the American School of Tangier as Educational Technology Specialist/Head Librarian. If you think that sounds like a lot of work, you’d be right.

There are advantages and disadvantages to being in charge of a library. Nonetheless, some pretty exciting things are in store for the library and AST’s one-woman EdTech department. Hold on to your hats, and stay tuned to my blog for further updates!

As well as setting a really dangerous precedent of two blog posts in one week, I’m also getting into the bad habit of posting a lot of images and very little text. I’ll try to get better about that, though I secretly believe that people are, in general, too lazy to read lot of text anyway.

As promised, here are my four most recent paintings. They’re actually finished, which is more than I can usually say! We’ll see about continuing this trend.

I’m going to save up for a couple of canvases so next time I don’t have to paint on paper.

I’m still here! Despite my hectic work schedule, I’ve gotten quite a few art projects done over the past month. More on that later. But now, a sneak preview of my next project!

Two years ago, when I was afflicted with horrible sunburn and confined to the house, I started a tradition of decorating notebook covers with strange collages. As I was completely sunburn-free last August, I missed my opportunity. But this year I’ve revived the tradition! Not only that, but I’ve revived it with poetry. This year’s notebook brought to you courtesy of T.S. Eliot and The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.

So I finished writing the short story for my individual study last week, and decided to draw some accompanying illustrations.

I draw on everything. Really, everything. And the drawings are usually bizarre. I’ve scanned a few scraps from notebooks and calendars, just for you. Ready? Be bold, be bold, but not too bold.