Everyone has that desire at some point in his life to seek understanding of his place in the universe but very few of us actually go ahead and try to discover the answer to the age old question, “Who am I?”
Many visionaries, artists, writers, scientists are believed to have been inspired by some place which gives wings to all their inventions, creations, art pieces, books and ideas. Indeed, mankind is truly a remarkable creation.
One such visionary is Sarah Taibah. A dreamer, believer, an optimist and a charming young woman, Sarah is in a quest to seek the truth. Nomadic in her ways, she is not only an artist but also a writer and a blogger and has made her mark on the Saudi art scene by publishing her maiden collage based book, “Junk”. The book released in 2011 is made out of scraps of drawings, doodles and all such things which were essentially dug out from the garbage after her mother threw them out. For Sarah, these treasured pieces of art are her means of escape from reality. We had a brief chat with her about her passion and her work.
Who is Sarah Taibah?
I am an illustrator, an artist, a writer and blogger of everything: nonsense and sense. I can draw and write what comes to mind without the need of a filter anytime and anywhere.
You are an artist with many talents- you blog and you sketch pieces connected to your thoughts. Tell readers about that.
I started my blog “Lastika” back in 2010 when I was studying for my bachelor’s in graphic design in Dar Al Hekma College. I write as a method of expression but not in my normal state. During those moments I escape to an alternative reality where my comfort zone lies. I also illustrate but in the old school form with pencil, pen and paper. I only use computers in my work unless it is absolutely necessary.
Your blog is mostly written in Arabic. It’s a breath of fresh air since many Arabic speaking bloggers write in English nowadays. Why do you write in Arabic?
I don’t follow trends-I do what makes sense to me and the words in my head are Arabic so I let them flow as they are without any need for translating them. Why should I translate anyway? In order to be truthfully creative, one must find the method best suited for them whether they are words in a language they’re most comfortable with, music, photography, painting or drawing.
When it comes to writing it has to be deep, true and honest and I choose to write in Arabic. Why would I take five minutes to write in English when I can go right ahead and scribble in Arabic, plus there are things that can’t be written in English to express how I feel.
You’ve come a long way since publishing “Junk.” What have you been up to since then?
I’ve moved to San Francisco, California to pursue my MFA in Illustration and in the process of finding myself and my purpose in this life I am seeking to find the true ‘me’. I write a lot- everything that comes to mind and I endeavor to turn my words into visuals. I contacted one of my best friends, who was majoring in film making, and told him that I have all these thoughts and I want them out and in visuals. He was still in his second semester at the time but the result was exactly the way I wanted it. The video is a harmony of my visions, writings, drawings and realizations all in one.
Tell us about the video.
I named it “Let me grow naturally”. It’s really about the realization that I am still searching for who I am. I believed that leaving home for another location is the answer I was seeking because I did not fit in with the majority. Contrary to that belief, I found out later that I do not really belong anywhere but in a place that I like to call my 3rd space- a place where I am who I am, a place where nonsense makes sense and everything disorderly is perfect and everything is synced.
I express my freedom in the video profoundly. I am a woman with ideas and beliefs not constricted by religion, I’m an artist that draws as I please; a speaker of the truth and most of all, I am a free soul. I couldn’t have done this movie without the great talents of my friend Hashem Ainousa. It means so much to me.
Do you go to your 3rd space often?
Yes, it’s where I fit in. It’s my go-to place for inspiration when I’m stuck and what’s more, everyone must have one. It’s very helpful when one is searching for an interesting concept to write about or a drawing.
Your art is quirky, weird, cute and somewhat moody- you don’t stick to one style. Where do you find the inspiration when you create your art?
Almost everything inspires me. I could be walking in the street and see something interesting and base my concepts on that. Most of them are created in the streets of San Francisco, whether it was a blog post or a sketch. It’s a colorful city and full of life- it’s a great place to be. It’s expanded my horizons and I started drawing up a plan for what I want to do in life. I’m also very attached to the past, good or bad.
How does the past influence you?
I do my best to live with the ‘now’. I don’t have high expectations for the future though if something great happens, it would be a fantastic experience, but if it doesn’t go my way, I will accept it and move on. The past for me is always good. For example, I’m obsessed with classical old Egyptian movies because Egypt is a part of me. I go to Egypt almost every chance I get and I experience Egypt in all its aspects. I know the accent, I know the streets and I love everything about it.
Your drawings are very connected to your feelings yet somehow disconnected. How do you find the distinction?
When I’m up against a mental block, it is hard to do my art or writings but I always head back to a blue room in my brain that I’ve created to get that connection back. I’m an extremist when it comes to emotions. If I’m really happy or sad I am able to create something, whether it is a sketch or a post in my journal or blog. I feel that when my life is in a roller coaster, I get much more creative and inspired.
If I need inspiration, there are three things that help me: first is walking in the streets of San Francisco; there is art everywhere, always something new.
The second would be browsing the Internet, you always find something exciting there and the third would be going back to my old work, I always wonder who the girl who drew this picture is and what she was feeling at the time. I dig for old memories and experiences most of the time which really helps. Memories are a great help- I have a lot of polaroid pictures hung around my room, old writings, and old art work to get me going again.
What are your plans for the future?
I want to teach design because I love it. I want to also illustrate and write children’s books for Saudi publications, as well as teach kids the art of theater, comedy and drawing and so much more. I am definitely going to create my own freelance design and illustration studio InshaAllah. It’s something that I know I can be great at. I would also consider working for a design house that is specific to art and design more and lastly I plan on publishing a story book every now and then, for children or adults.
Sarah’s work has been exhibited in the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, the Flower Pepper Gallery in Los Angeles and the International Museum of Women. Sarah was the only Saudi ambassador who participated in Muslima Online Exhibition as well as the pancake and booze art show. Be sure to follow Sarah Taibah’s latest on her website www.sarahtaibah.com along with her Twitter account @SarahTaibah and on her Instagram page, Lastikaart.
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Sarah Taibah: A dreamer and an optimist
Sarah Taibah: A dreamer and an optimist
Why this US cold snap feels bone-shattering when it’s not record-shattering
The brutally frigid weather that has gripped most of America for the past 11 days is not unprecedented. It just feels that way.
The first quarter of the 21st century was unusually warm by historical standards – mostly due to human-induced climate change – and so a prolonged cold spell this winter is unfamiliar to many people, especially younger Americans.
Because bone-shattering cold occurs less frequently, Americans are experiencing it more intensely now than they did in the past, several experts in weather and behavior said. But the longer the current icy blast lasts – sub-freezing temperatures are forecast to stick around in many places — the easier it should become to tolerate.
“We adapt, we get used to things. This is why your first bite of dessert is much more satisfying than your 20th bite,” Hannah Perfecto, who studies consumer behavior at Washington University in St. Louis, wrote in an email. “The same is true for unpleasant experiences: Day 1 of a cold snap is much more a shock to the system than Day 20 is.”
‘Out of practice’ because of recent mild winters
Charlie Steele, a 78-year-old retired federal worker in Saugerties, New York, considers himself a lover of cold weather. In the recent past, he has gone outside in winter wearing a T-shirt and shorts, and has even walked barefoot in the snow. But this January’s deep-freeze is “much, much colder than anything I can remember,” he said.
Steele’s sense of change is backed up data.
There have been four fewer days of subfreezing temperatures in the US per year, on average, between 2001 and 2025 than there were in the previous 25 years, according to data from Climate Central. The data from more than 240 weather stations also found that spells of subfreezing temperatures have become less widespread geographically and haven’t lasted as long — until this year.
In Albany, about 40 miles from Steele, the change has been more pronounced than the national average, with 11 fewer subfreezing days in the last 25 years than the previous quarter century.
“You’re out of practice,” Steele said. “You’re kind of lulled into complacency.”
Coldest week someone under 30 may have felt
Climate change has shifted what people are used to, said several climate scientists, including Daniel Swain of the University of California’s Water Resources Institute.
“It’s quite possible that for anybody under the age of 30, in some spots this may well be the coldest week of their life,” Swain said.
Jennifer Francis, a climate scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts, said, “humans get used to all kinds of things — city noise, stifling heat, lies from politicians, and winter cold. So when a ‘normal’ cold spell does come along, we feel it more acutely.”
We forget how cold it used to be
People forget how extreme cold feels after just two to eight years of milder winters, according to a 2019 study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Americans have gone through a much longer stretch than that.
Over the past 30 years, the average daily low in the continental US has dropped below 10 degrees 40 times, according to meteorologist Ryan Maue, former chief scientist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But in the preceding 30 years, that chilly threshold was reached 124 times.
“People have forgotten just how cold it was in the 20th century,” Texas A&M University climate scientist Andrew Dessler said.
Their wake-up call came late last month, when the country’s average daily low dipped below 10 degrees three times in one week.
Regardless of how it feels, extremely cold weather presents dangers. People and vehicles slip on ice, power can go down, leaving people freezing in homes, and storms limit visibility, making commuting to work or even doing basic errands, potentially perilous. More than 110 deaths have been connected to the winter storms and freezing temperatures since January.
Shaking off our cold ‘rustiness’
As this winter’s frigid days stretch on, people adapt. University of San Diego psychiatrist Thomas Rutledge said people shake off what he calls their “weather rustiness.”
Rutledge explained what he meant via email, recalling the period decades ago when he lived in Alaska. “I assumed that everyone was a good driver in winter conditions. How couldn’t they be with so much practice?” he wrote. “But what I annually observed was that there was always a large spike in car accidents in Alaska after first big snowfall hit. Rather than persistent skills, it seemed that the 4-6 months of spring and summer was enough for peoples’ winter driving skills to rust enough to cause accidents.”
That’s Alaska. This cold snap hit southern cities such as Dallas and Miami, where it’s not just the people unaccustomed to the cold. Utilities and other basic infrastructure are also ill-equipped to handle the extreme weather, said Francis of the Woodwell Climate Research Center.
While this ongoing cold snap may feel unusually long to many Americans, it isn’t, according to data from 400 weather stations across the continental US with at least a century of record-keeping, as tracked by the Southeast Regional Climate Center.
Only 33 of these weather stations have recorded enough subzero temperatures since the start of 2026 to be in the top 10 percent of the coldest first 32 days of any year over the past century.
When Steele moved to the Hudson Valley as a toddler in 1949, the average daily low temperature over the previous 10 winters was 14.6 degrees . In the past 10 years, the average daily low was 20.8 degrees .
As a younger man, Steele used to hunt in winter and sit for hours on cold rocks.
“I could never do that now,” he said. “I’m rusty. I’m out of practice.”
