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.

Ottoline Morrell on T.S. Eliot, 1916

Posted on November 3, 2018 by JMN

“He is obviously very ignorant of England and imagines that it is essential to be highly polite and conventional and decorous and meticulous.” (Quoted by Louis Menand, “Practical Cat, How T.S. Eliot became T.S. Eliot,” (The New Yorker, September 19, … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | 2 Comments

Out-tut-tutting the Tut-tutters

Posted on November 1, 2018 by JMN

Doesn’t one write for oneself primordially? That alone will keep me powering out the posts ‘til kingdom come. If any one of them catches another eye, its ice cream on the frosting. I often bend double laughing at my own … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 3 Comments

Wordsong

Posted on November 1, 2018 by JMN

Kakistocracy. Kleptocratic kakistocracy. Kleptocratic kakistocracy of pettifoggers. Kleptocratic kakistocracy of pettifoggIng snollygosters. (c) 2018 JMN.

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Horacio Cardo

Posted on November 1, 2018 by JMN

Some of Mr. Cardo’s earlier works were painted in oils, to which he added fabric, lace and plaster of Paris to create various textures. Later on, he created dramatic illustrations with ink and acrylic paint that he altered with digital … Continue reading →

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Alex Katz at 91

Posted on November 1, 2018 by JMN

“I was in the abstract art world, socially – they all thought I was really stupid. The poets all liked my work – I had some of the smartest people on the planet buying my work. I knew I was … Continue reading →

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Limits of Art?

Posted on November 1, 2018 by JMN

What kind of change his or any political artist’s work can actually achieve remains an open question. In his book 9.5 Theses on Art and Class, the art critic Ben Davis argues that political art is not a force on … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Quotations | Tagged | 4 Comments

Martha Nussbaum, Philosopher

Posted on October 30, 2018 by JMN

She is also known for helping to advance the so-called capabilities approach to economic development, which holds that progress should be measured by things like increases in life expectancy and education, rather than simply by increases in income. Her work, … Continue reading →

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“… Mind of a Genius at Work”

Posted on October 30, 2018 by JMN

One note Leonardo wrote to himself reads, “Make eyeglasses to see the moon larger.” The first known record of a telescope came around a century later. (Elisabetta Povoledo, “In Leonardo da Vinci’s Scientific Notebook, the Mind of a Genius at … Continue reading →

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Subjoins Mons Veneris? Nope

Posted on October 30, 2018 by JMN

This week, the European Space Agency released a picture taken by its Mars Express orbiter that showed what it described as “a curious cloud formation” stretching from east to west near Arsia Mons, the southernmost in a string of three … Continue reading →

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Marmite versus Vegemite

Posted on October 27, 2018 by JMN

Faced with delay in receiving my mail-order Marmite, I recently ordered for the first time a supply of Vegemite as backup. They were, I assumed, essentially the same product under different labeling. Far from it! Here’s what I discovered. Consistency: … Continue reading →

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