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.

Art Embraced

Posted on October 25, 2018 by JMN

[stifled guffaw] “Generally people don’t like to live with complicated subject matter,” Mr. Simons said. “But I have to feel the artwork stands for something that is important to me. I don’t like the idea that it has to fit … Continue reading →

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“Lobotomized by Rage”

Posted on October 25, 2018 by JMN

Maybe it’s always been naïve to think about culture in a moral vacuum. Art comes from someplace and brings with it at least a little of wherever it has come from or whoever has made it. Why not keep those … Continue reading →

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“Free Solo”

Posted on October 25, 2018 by JMN

[Reminds me of my mother — a historian, teacher, librarian, scribbler. (Ahem. I wonder who follows in her wake!) At her funeral I said of her grammarian and authorial chops: “For her, there was a good way and a better … Continue reading →

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Whitman on Abraham Lincoln

Posted on October 25, 2018 by JMN

“None of the artists or pictures have caught the deep, though subtle and indirect expression of this man’s [Lincoln’s] face,” he wrote. “They have only caught the surface. There is something else there. One of the great portrait painters of … Continue reading →

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How I Roll

Posted on October 25, 2018 by JMN

For a time I lunched once or twice a week with two other coltish scapegraces. One was a professional poet fellowshipping in the public schools under an arts grant. The other was the executive director of the local arts council … Continue reading →

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To the Hubbard Group

Posted on October 24, 2018 by JMN

I apologize for leaning on this group. I follow in Martha’s footprints insofar as craving an outlet for my thoughts. It’s odd to me that I feel more affinity with Hubbard than with where I live now. Hence this misuse. … Continue reading →

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1987: Response to “A Fable”

Posted on October 24, 2018 by JMN

[From CB to HH & JMN:] I sat relishing the feel of the florescent light on the cheap fabric of my imitation Henry Grenthel shirt and listened as Teena’s phone conversation wafted up the ventilation system like the plaintive cry … Continue reading →

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Jenny Saville

Posted on October 23, 2018 by JMN

The nude self-portrait “Propped,” by Jenny Saville, was bought by a telephone bidder at Sotheby’s on Friday night for 9.5 million pounds, or about $12.4 million… But before anyone had time to reflect on its significance, Banksy’s $1.4 million “self-destructing” … Continue reading →

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“Emphasis on the Right Syllable”

Posted on October 23, 2018 by JMN

[Neil Tennant is one half of The Pet Shop Boys, a long-running pop music duo (unknown to me) whose other half is Chris Lowe. At age 64, Tennant comes across In The Guardian interview as articulate, witty, and thoughtful in … Continue reading →

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Understanding Lyrics

Posted on October 23, 2018 by JMN

My sister told me I had to listen to “One Headlight” by Jakob Dylan and The Wallflowers. A friend had introduced her to the song. “Before you hear it,” she said, “I just want to say, you’re going to find … Continue reading →

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