Monthly Archives: July 2018

Make Someone Smile

Posted on July 18, 2018 by JMN

“Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing,” the street artist Banksy wrote in 2001. “And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty, you can make someone smile … Continue reading →

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Dear Mother… Charles

Posted on July 17, 2018 by JMN

Charles gave me a copy of his “translation” of Arthur Rimbaud’s “Le bateau ivre” (The Drunken Boat). I put “translation” in quotes because Charles readily admits that his version derives from other English versions of the poem, since he doesn’t … Continue reading →

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“Displeasing little man”

Posted on July 17, 2018 by JMN

Soon Proust was disenchanted by his goddesses. As Weber notes, his “idealizing vision of his ladies changed over time into something darker.” To the Comtesse de Chevigné [Laure de Sade, great-granddaughter of the Marquis], he wrote, “What one used to … Continue reading →

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“She’s so competitive”

Posted on July 17, 2018 by JMN

“It’s funny when they talk about women, saying, ‘Oh, she’s so competitive,’ and it’s almost a put-down… For me, what’s the alternative? To try to lose, or to not give your best? ‘Competitive’ means you’re concentrating, and you do everything … Continue reading →

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Ambiguous Headline of the Day

Posted on July 17, 2018 by JMN

“Putin Is Running a Destructive Cybercrime Syndicate Out of Russia” (NYTimes). Hmmm… I run a raccoon out of my wood shop now and then. (c) 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rabbits restrained.

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“Sonnet: Day of a Salesman”

Posted on July 16, 2018 by JMN

Sonnet: Day of a Salesman He spoke of where he had to go, greater doings, how and when; what he was for now he did not seem to know, knitting his brow often over it but none the wiser. He … Continue reading →

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Non-natives 3, Natives 1

Posted on July 16, 2018 by JMN

“English is a global language with many native and nonnative varieties. Worldwide, nonnative speakers of English outnumber natives by a ratio of three to one. Even in the United States, which has the largest population of native English speakers, there … Continue reading →

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Mono a Mono — Exegesis and Hermeneutics

Posted on July 16, 2018 by JMN

My theology chops are modest at best. One monotheism has been dinged by another as being slightly quasi-mono because of the Trinity and the saints and mariolatry. The dinging party severely prescribes oneness (one God, one Messenger), whereas the dinged … Continue reading →

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Dilettante, heal thyself

Posted on July 15, 2018 by JMN

I’m curious about too many things, which is why I haven’t achieved distinction in anything. Consider this fascinating article in today’s NYTimes about perfumes: “The Difference Between Perfume, Cologne and Other Fragrances” by Tynan Sink. Here’s an overview, but read … Continue reading →

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My father at the end

Posted on July 14, 2018 by JMN

I helped him poop and pee; wiped him, washed him, lotioned him, shaved him, fed him, dispensed medicines, tugged his lanky six-foot-three frame back to semi-recumbent each time it slid down his bed. He was stoic, docile, acknowledging, laconic at … Continue reading →

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