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.

Stag Country: The Endicotts weren’t from here…

Posted on October 7, 2018 by JMN

The Endicotts weren’t from here. They came in the fifties from one of those towns the other side of Buckwaller. Rowena Endicott was a flouncy thing, half silly, always showed more leg in her skirts than was necessary. Her and me co-captained … Continue reading →

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1987: A Mark Twain Anecdote

Posted on October 7, 2018 by JMN

[In a letter to my mother I cite the following quotation from “God’s Fool,” the biography of Twain that I was reading. ] I do seem to have a whole lot of interest in a lot of arts and things. … Continue reading →

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Leonardo’s Weird Faces

Posted on October 7, 2018 by JMN

[All images are from Frank Zöllner, “Leonardo da Vinci: The Complete Paintings and Drawings,” Taschen] [Leonardo’s] drawings often of men and women with strangely deformed or exaggerated features — which he called “visi mostruosi,” or “monstrous faces,” and which scholars … Continue reading →

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The Scream

Posted on October 7, 2018 by JMN

There was a time I literally screamed in my own dining room, about something that didn’t warrant such a scream… It was so — to use a word I use a lot in my first book — *inappropriate*. There were … Continue reading →

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Meatballs and Mothers

Posted on October 7, 2018 by JMN

Quotation of the Day “There were a lot of things being said about my mother that day, a lot of it bad stuff and depressing. But the best one was ‘Hey, Canha, your mother’s meatballs aren’t that good.’ ” — Mark … Continue reading →

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Fiction’s Mission

Posted on October 7, 2018 by JMN

[Quotation from a 1993 interview of David Foster Wallace, one of several that Michael Schur, creator of sitcom “The Good Place,” keeps in his office.] Look, man, we’d probably most of us agree that these are dark times, and stupid … Continue reading →

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1987 Correspondence: “The other topic…” [redacted]

Posted on October 3, 2018 by JMN

[Dear Mother,] The other topic grabbed me almost as I was leaving Philadelphia. I picked up a hotel copy of the Inquirer and sort of skimmed the article about [Name] resigning as head of [Organization], which means, apparently, either “[Phrase]” … Continue reading →

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There’ll Always Be a Japan

Posted on October 3, 2018 by JMN

Ogata was speaking at the podium when the chairman, Shinya Kutsuki, asked her if she had something in her mouth. She explained that she was sucking a lozenge because she was suffering from a cold and did not want to … Continue reading →

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Boosler, Eisenberg, Cage, Aznavour, Hockney

Posted on October 3, 2018 by JMN

Men, she sighs, expect her to cook breakfast the morning after sex. “They want things like toast,” she says, exasperated. “I don’t have these recipes.” (Jason Zinoman, “The Comedy Master Who Hasn’t Gotten Her Due: Elayne Boosler,” NYTimes, 10-1-18) “I … Continue reading →

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Old Mother Goose

Posted on October 1, 2018 by JMN

This is a painting based on a badly faded image in an old children’s book I possess. The image is an illustration by Anne Anderson, a Scottish illustrator (1874-1952). It’s intriguing in various ways, prominent of which for me is … Continue reading →

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