Monthly Archives: June 2022

Hacer de Tripas Corazón

Posted on June 30, 2022 by JMN

Facts don’t speak for themselves. They’re spoke by the folks that make ‘em up. (Marjorie Lauren Zayphod-Beeblebroxx, “When Your Gut Talks to Ya,” Podex Press, 2022) “Marjorie Lauren” is a made-up person (cap doff to Douglas Adams). Don’t take her … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lone Star Statecraft in Action

Posted on June 28, 2022 by JMN

The scaffolding that supports the letter of the edifice of the law erected for the citizenry by the solons of the state of the land of the brave in which we live is the prepositional phrase. In May, 2022, Texans … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Is There an Exception Rule for ‘a Anti-abortion’?

Posted on June 28, 2022 by JMN

The pro-life movement is inevitably bound to some kind of conservatism, insofar as a anti-abortion ethic is hard to separate from a conservative ethic around sex, monogamy and marriage. [The bolding is mine. —JMN] (Ross Douthat, “The End of Roe … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Allez-y, Braves Gens! — French Lesson

Posted on June 27, 2022 by JMN

British LBC radio presenter Nick Abbott explains the Tory lock on governance in the UK like this: During elections, factions on the Left wrestle each other to the ground in feuds over ideological purity. Meanwhile, the monolithic Right, comprised of … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

‘It’s This Old, Fatal Love for the Landscape’

Posted on June 25, 2022 by JMN

The quotation in my title is from nature writer Robert Macfarlane. His book The Old Ways featured British war artist Eric Ravilious, killed in a plane crash in 1942. In the book, Macfarlane “points to the way the artist would … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

‘Telescope’ by Louise Glück

Posted on June 23, 2022 by JMN

Occasionally a poem is so frictionless it stabs without hurting. My second reading of “Telescope” by Louise Glück was to someone far away over FaceTime. You’ve gotta hear this! I chirped. There is a moment after you move your eye … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , | 5 Comments

A Lash of Good Tongue

Posted on June 20, 2022 by JMN

“To sit fast badly is better than to be thrown easily.” (Wright, A Grammar of the Arabic Language, p. 124) [sū’(u)-l-istimāk(i) ẖair(un) min ḥusn(i)-ṣ-ṣirƸaẗ(i)] Wright cites the phrase to illustrate the formation of the [ism(u)-n-nūƸ(i)], noun of kind, aka nomina … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

‘To Translate Is to Look into a Mirror…’

Posted on June 18, 2022 by JMN

Benjamin Moser reviews Jhumpa Lahiri’s book “Translating Myself and Others.” The book deals with her decision at age 45 to begin writing in Italian, which for her was an entirely learned language. “Art is not — should not — be … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The American Week

Posted on June 14, 2022 by JMN

Monday: A law is born in the House of RepresentativesTuesday: The law dies in the SenateWednesday: A mass shooting occursThursday: The scene is taped off and sealedFriday: Thoughts and prayersWEEKEND! Monday: A law is born in the House… etc. (c) … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Bah-BOOM-BOOM Riff Ripped

Posted on June 13, 2022 by JMN

First published as https://ethicaldative.com/2022/05/22/bah-boom-boom-riff/ . To Her, Still One’s home is her castle,a refuge from hustleand bustle, the jostle of mobs;nest in which refuge to seekfrom the insults that bristlein digital wallowsand rants of apostles of doom,by the wherry that’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments