Another impending move, another house sold … the semi-peripatetic life has suited me for creative, financial, and spiritual reasons since the days of my youth. I am happy to report that the present days (and what “youth” remains) are still being spent in the pursuit of adventure and whatever alluring-but-elusive glimpses of magic may be attained amid this mortal coil. Speaking of the Sweet Bird of Youth, however, I fished-out these photos from yesteryear during the recent packing process. The first pic was taken in Biarritz, France, September 2002, as I was reclining on a couch in the hotel room, windows wide open to the rhythm of Atlantic waves caressing the shoreline at sunset. The sounds of cooks and servers getting ready for evening customers could be heard in the restaurant just below the room and in others along la croisette, but it was hardly disturbing. People don’t rush madly to accomplish anything in Biarritz, in September or otherwise. Their furtive preparations had instead the effect of a lullaby, as might be discerned from the expression on my face. And, no, this was not a selfie. Selfies didn’t exist in 2002. Whatever the case, we’ll call this one “The Alchemy of Biarritz and Kava Kava”.

(By the way, dinner that night was stupendous: duck confit and langoustines.)

AS FOR THIS NEXT photo, all definitions and explanations escape me, at least insofar as aesthetics are concerned.  I only know that the shot was taken during the same  European expedition in September 2002, but in the heart of Paris. Apparently I was feeling “priestly” that day, though I can assure you it is merely a trick of the light and a Nehru-collared black button-down of which I was fond at the time. I suppose the crucifix was a bit much, but I was fond of that, too. I wonder whatever became of it? Hell’s bells, we’ll just call this “Father J Crossing the Seine” and leave things at that.

Keep moving, y’all.

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Jonathan Kieran is the author of the Rowan Blaize series of epic contemporary fantasy books (Brightbourne 2012), as well as the critically acclaimed (Midwestern Book Review, Manhattan Book Review) Confessions From The Comments Section: The Secret Lives of Internet Commenters and Other Pop-Culture Zombies. His work has also been featured on The Daily Dot.com and in a plethora of other ‘zines, papers, and alt-weeklies. Click on the book covers above and to the right if you want to learn more about Jonathan’s titles and perhaps spend some of your hard-earned money on his multi-formatted gifts to the human race.

Jonathan is currently writing and illustrating a new masterpiece of epic dimensions. Drop-in once in awhile for updates. Mr. Kieran promises to provide them, but only once in awhile, because he doesn’t get paid to blog endlessly for free.