Author Archives: JMN

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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.

Song of Theirselves

Posted on August 11, 2019 by JMN

I’ve been at Amsterdam dinners where everyone is speaking brilliant English, but the minute I leave the table they switch back to Dutch. If all we know is English, we won’t know what the rest of the world is saying … Continue reading →

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Here Lies a Scotsman

Posted on August 10, 2019 by JMN

There once was a Second Amendment paladin in the Houston area who lay in wait one night to discharge his Ruger into the belly of a nefarious shadow on his castle’s driveway; having done which he laid his weapon down, … Continue reading →

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Tuba Career

Posted on August 10, 2019 by JMN

As for what comes after the life-altering experience of “GLOW” — what will define her next persona — [Betty] Gilpin doesn’t know, but she has a hunch. “It feels like I’m in this room that I didn’t know existed, and … Continue reading →

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Disquieting Skein

Posted on August 8, 2019 by JMN

It has dawned on me in the last few days that the model of government from above visited upon the yielding heads of the governed by an all-powerful executive comports somewhat with what I take to be certain tenets of … Continue reading →

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Ascribe It to Editing Lapse

Posted on August 8, 2019 by JMN

Domestic terrorism includes violence by Americans who belong to anti-government militias, white supremacist groups or individuals who ascribe to similar ideologies not connected to Islamic extremism. (Frank Figliuzzi, “I Predicted More Hate-Based Violence. El Paso Won’t Be the End of … Continue reading →

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Fashion Landscape

Posted on August 6, 2019 by JMN

Down to the details — jeweled buttons, transparent blouses and velvet trims among them — these fashions subvert gender lines. (“Fall Fashion: The New Androgyny,” NYTimes, 8-5-19) (c) 2019 JMN

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Ouch!

Posted on August 6, 2019 by JMN

“Our problem was what laid underneath all that: the way things really were, despite what we taught in civics class.” (James Comey, “Mr. President, Please Take a Stand Against Racism,” NYTimes, 8-4-19) No disrespect to Mr. Comey, but what lay … Continue reading →

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Today’s Useful Moral

Posted on August 6, 2019 by JMN

If you want a clear answer, ask a clear question. Adapted from Steven Strogatz, “That Vexing Math Equation? Here’s an Addition,” NYTimes, 8- 5-19) Strogatz reprises an online debate about the answer to this equation: 8 ÷ 2(2+2) = ? … Continue reading →

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Morbid Rumination

Posted on August 6, 2019 by JMN

The violence that erupts continually in an “advanced” country has trapped me in a morbid rumination that has two horns. First: Given our pervasive gun culture, along with the persistence of capital punishment as a remedy-at-law, why is the firing … Continue reading →

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What We Are Just

Posted on August 6, 2019 by JMN

In this essay Sara Nolan affirms with wit and grain her sense of the “godliness of the everyday” brought home by the birth of babies of any species. I glimpsed it with sugar ants. We are just creation playing its … Continue reading →

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