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.

Amazing Apology

Posted on July 8, 2019 by JMN

The man who wrote the words of “Amazing Grace” was a reformed English slave trader. He wrote the following: “I am bound in conscience to take shame to myself by a public confession which, however sincere, comes too late to … Continue reading →

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The Saving Grace of Dinghies

Posted on July 6, 2019 by JMN

I have had a soft spot in my heart for the humble dinghy since boyhood. At age 14 I ordered the plans for building a one-design sailing dinghy called the El Toro. Regrettably I never got the thing built, but … Continue reading →

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Art… (and Love)

Posted on July 6, 2019 by JMN

“Art and making things — particularly making things — are essential to our salvation,” [Milton Glaser] said. “I come to work every day and I sit down and I feel so happy, because I’m capable of taking something that exists … Continue reading →

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Patrician Passion With an Accent

Posted on July 5, 2019 by JMN

The drama – featuring the kind of flat, chirruping upper-middle-class English accents that aren’t usually voiced on screen – is intriguing and uncompromisingly high-minded, right on the laugh-with/laugh-at borderline, but interestingly unafraid of mockery. (Peter Bradshaw, “Vita & Virginia review … Continue reading →

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The Guardian on Relationships

Posted on July 3, 2019 by JMN

“How to tell your best friend you’re in love with them — by those who have taken the plunge” (Sirin Kale, The Guardian, 7-1-19) In days of yore this headline would not invite the interpretation that you love your best … Continue reading →

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“Sagacious Show in a Handsome Shack”

Posted on July 3, 2019 by JMN

Brice Marden’s artistic and cultural crossing of boundaries is exciting. In the mid-1980s, the abstract painter Brice Marden veered from his early monochromes and grids to calligraphic circuits, inspired by his reading of the… poet Hanshan, or Cold Mountain… Black … Continue reading →

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New Old Proverb

Posted on July 3, 2019 by JMN

… “Skinfolk,” as the old proverb goes, aren’t always “kinfolk.” (Jamelle Bouie, “Kamala Harris Doesn’t Have to Believe in Joe Biden’s Innocence,” NYTimes, 7-1-19) This old proverb is new to me. It has the virtues of a good proverb: pith, … Continue reading →

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Musico-Logic Circles

Posted on July 1, 2019 by JMN

“Circular argument”: An argument whose conclusion is the same as one of its premises. (Quora) I flail about in music theory, often ending where I started — insufficiently informed and grandly blogging my perplexity. To feed this cause I’ve been … Continue reading →

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Shooting Stardom: When Teenyboppers Write Subheadings

Posted on June 29, 2019 by JMN

Two of the biggest Spanish-speaking global pop superstars discuss joining forces for the first “Watch the Throne”-style pairing in Latin music. (Joe Coscarelli, “How J Balvin and Bad Bunny Made Their Surprise Album, ‘Oasis’,” NYTimes, 6-28-18) In the universe of … Continue reading →

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“Our Blue-Eyed Girl”

Posted on June 29, 2019 by JMN

… Tourism secretary Miguel Torres Márquez tweeted a video of a pristine Cancún beach with the comment: “We’re looking after Cancún, ‘our blue-eyed girl’ and all the beautiful beaches of the Mexican Caribbean.” (David Agren, Seaweed invasion threatens tourism in … Continue reading →

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