Monthly Archives: December 2020

‘A Different Philosophy’

Posted on December 31, 2020 by JMN

“What everybody is talking about right now is, what happened to pneumonia?” he said. “What happened to a lot of deals, a lot of common flu deaths, why is everything being reported Covid now?… We’ve heard that hospitals are getting … Continue reading →

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‘I Belong to Brazil’

Posted on December 30, 2020 by JMN

The 1940s debut novel of Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector (1920 – 1977), “Perto do Coração Selvagem” (“Near to the Wild Heart”), is described as the “reflections of a young female protagonist determined to live freely in a world ordered by … Continue reading →

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Neruda XCIV

Posted on December 29, 2020 by JMN

[XCIV]Si muero, sobrevíveme con tanta fuerza puraIf I die, survive me with so much pure forceque despiertes la furia del pálido y del frío,that you awake the fury of the pallid and the cold,de sur a sur levanta tus ojos … Continue reading →

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Alternatives to Fact

Posted on December 28, 2020 by JMN

“I think that perception and comprehensible information based in truthful reality is what has been burned to the ground,” he says. “Answers are lit on fire like burning leaves in the wind. Nobody really has any facts.” Never at a … Continue reading →

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Salman Toor

Posted on December 27, 2020 by JMN

Ligaya Mishan’s early-December essay on cancel culture is well worth reading (“The Long and Tortured History of Cancel Culture,” NYTimes, 12-3-20). Initially, however, I was distracted from the essay itself by the paintings of Salman Toor which figure among the … Continue reading →

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Missionary Phallacy

Posted on December 26, 2020 by JMN

Shere Hite (1942-2020) published “The Hite Report” in 1976. It gathered candid feedback from women suggesting canonical sexual congress was not the be-all and end-all prescribed by male-centric orthodoxy. Two more best-selling studies followed in 1981 and 1987. Hite’s work … Continue reading →

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Language and Music

Posted on December 25, 2020 by JMN

“It takes a lifetime to learn shakuhachi. The earlier you start, the longer it takes.”(Japanese saying quoted by Zac Zinger on Adam Neely’s podcast. The shakuhachi is a bamboo flute.) I learned Spanish because I had to. From puberty forward … Continue reading →

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Virago

Posted on December 21, 2020 by JMN

A correspondent said she was reading a “virago book.” I said. “Is it by, or about, one?” It turns out Virago is a distinguished publishing house. As if on cue, this informative review of Lennie Goodings’s memoir appears. Virago started … Continue reading →

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Neruda XCV

Posted on December 20, 2020 by JMN

[XCV]¿Quiénes se amaron como nosotros? BusquemosWho else has loved like us? Let us seeklas antiguas cenizas del corazón quemadothe ancient ashes of the burnt hearty allí que caigan uno por uno nuestros besosand there let our kisses fall one by … Continue reading →

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Beyond Noise

Posted on December 19, 2020 by JMN

The painter William Bailey died in April, 2020, aged 89. He taught for many years at the Yale School of Art, and is said to have influenced generations of students. In 2010, Bailey decried the amount of “noise” present in … Continue reading →

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