Author Archives: JMN

Unknown's avatar

About JMN

I live in Texas and devote much of my time to easel painting on an amateur basis. I stream a lot of music, mostly jazz, throughout the day. I like to read and memorize poetry.

Methanol Republic

Posted on August 21, 2019 by JMN

A Nobel laureate-in-waiting will spirit the drinkability out of antifreeze. Enlightened governments will protect their populations. Unicorns will pasture in Central America. These potables are flagged as suspect in this article: Guaro Montano, Guaro Gran Apache, Aguardiente Estrella, Aguardiente Barón … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Cedric Benson (1982-2019)

Posted on August 20, 2019 by JMN

The death of a man in his young prime, and of his passenger on the motorcycle, is an unmixed tragedy. I have nothing but respect and condolence for all who mourn the cruel loss of these two lives. What strikes … Continue reading →

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

“Ida, Not Georgia”

Posted on August 18, 2019 by JMN

Roberta Smith writes of an exhibition at the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts entitled “Ida O’Keeffe: Escaping Georgia’s Shadow.” I don’t warm immediately to the work of Ida Ten Eyck O’Keefe (1889-1961), but I’m glad it has survived against … Continue reading →

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

“A Saved Man”

Posted on August 17, 2019 by JMN

I admire Renoir for the valor with which he carried on his work into old age, arthritic hands and all. I don’t care much for his nudes. Nor am I as fond of Boucher as he was, but I get … Continue reading →

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

Four Rules

Posted on August 17, 2019 by JMN

Krugman is a Nobel laureate with a knack for being right and wry. I value him for his thinking and for his rhetoric. Last year, after an earlier stock market swoon brought on by headlines about the U.S.-China trade conflict, … Continue reading →

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

“Amped Up to Grotesqueness”

Posted on August 17, 2019 by JMN

Gina Beavers’s work hits a sweet spot for me. It’s impossible not to bumble where the talent has gone already, but I intend to explore serial, inflated, anatomical detail myself. Her idiosyncratic aesthetic… [offers] canny statements on contemporary bodies, beauty … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Help Drill

Posted on August 17, 2019 by JMN

Help fix inaccurate voter rolls Help address shortages of voting machines Help address shortages of provisional ballots Help formalize the rules around counting absentee ballots Help increase participation in the 2020 census. Help increase youth turnout Source: Melanye Price, “Stacey … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | Leave a comment

Kudos to Automattic

Posted on August 17, 2019 by JMN

This commentary by Kara Swisher made me glad to be on WordPress. … Tumblr has landed with WordPress, a former rival and the kind of company that it probably should have been with all along. [Founder, Matt Mullenweg] is one … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | Leave a comment

Song of the Ottoman: Original Poem

Posted on August 16, 2019 by JMN

Our past is our mystery. It is the tangle we have made of our hopes when we have come up to them. The future alone is clear. (Robert Henri) INTRO What it is not is an ottoman. What it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged | Leave a comment

Where Cate Sits

Posted on August 14, 2019 by JMN

“My father was born in Texas. My mother is Australian. I’m married to a British citizen. So I sit in some weird fork in the road.” (Cate Blanchett, Stephen Colbert Show, 8-12-19)

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | Leave a comment