Morrissey flying high in Lowell

Yesterday was a very difficult day because of the violent blocus and all the hypocrisy of most of my colleagues who, as they did the day before, spent their time walking in the corridors, watching from the windows and laughing at the black bloc (the useful idiots of the Far-Right and the Macronie, which is itself quite far on the right-wing spectrum; most of them are not even pupils) outside Alcatraz gates, instead of teaching to the few kids who bravely came to school, but, when the situation started to degenerate, they hastily organized a meeting in order to claim "our right to security", leaving the kids in the hall, near the entrance, with the vie scolaire staff.

Ironically, in order to attend this clueless meeting, I was obliged to cancel a course by some of the well-known envious bullies who do not even respond to my bonjour, but who are so interested about my private life that they invent and spread all kind of false rumours about me, in a sort of bizarre real-life, school version alliance of Morrissey-solo, the NME and The Guardian, and whose malicious and ridiculous attempts to humiliate and to hurt me by ostracizing me in the salle des profs, ignoring my e-mails, sabotaging my work and making stupid jokes, would make my former middle school bullies blush.

After voting for the droit de retrait (I was the only one who abstained from voting) I left the meeting and all the negativity exuding from my colleagues and, after looking in vain for my students, I came back alone to my empty classroom, instead of watching the black bloc destroying the gate and rushing in, as the others stupidly did.

The best and the safest thing to do was, in fact, to stay in the classrooms, as it is recommended in case of an alerte intrusion. While finishing the cahier de textes and sending e-mails to my students (I hate to call them pupils) I listened to Morrissey and The Smiths on YouTube.

I had to close the window in my classroom because the air outside was polluted by the toxic fumes of the numerous mortiers de pétards and fires lit by a bunch of minus habentes and I was worried about the kids, the birds, the other animals and the plants and trees, but I did not fear for myself: it was not the first time I had to face this kind of situation and I have never been scared by it.

As I am fearless by birth, I always hold my nerve and this has a positive effect on my students when there are situations like these riots; moreover, I always avoid the news and all the social media which scare the people and drive them mad, and I strongly recommend my students to stay well far away from all the communication noise produced by all these media.

This morning I woke up early, as usual (I am an early bird by nature) but I stayed in bed and had a little more sleep until 8:40, which was quite a grasse matinée to me.

After breakfast, I needed a bit of serenity, so I decided to draw Morrissey in Lowell. I am quite satisfied with the result, even if I drew the portrait so quickly (just 35 minutes) that the head's angle is not the same than it is in the photograph I took my inspiration from.

If I have time, I will make another drawing inspired from the same photograph during next school holidays.

I do like the way Morrissey puts leaves and flowers in his trousers: it is not the same way he used to do at the time of The Smiths, and this makes sense to me, as Morrissey is not just The Smiths, but he is himself and, even if Time has slightly changed him, as it normally happens to everyone who (thank God!) has not prematurely died and who does not fool oneself by sticking to the past and faking an eternal Youth, Morrissey is the same and he will never change at his core, and this is one of the many reasons I hold him in high esteem.

Short article and Bic ballpen drawing by me.

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