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.

Belle’s Interview by the “Horn & Haggler”

Posted on July 19, 2018 by JMN

If you’re gonna put this in the newspaper, hon, I want you to get it right. My name is Garnet Belle — Belle with an ‘e.’ I was a Brumbacher before I married Montgomery Clyde Hatch. My granddaddy Willibald Urqhardt … Continue reading →

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Dear Mother… By the way

Posted on July 19, 2018 by JMN

By the way, I meant to mention that Charles and I have had it round about “regional” writers. The introduction to the book he gave me starts by making a big point that the three writers featured are “Texas writers.” … Continue reading →

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Shed Down by the River

Posted on July 18, 2018 by JMN

From the street it’s nondescript: long and low, homely brickwork giving way to corrugated metal, no windows. Flat, pedestrian, a second-rate, seedy, industrial-looking structure on a humble side of town. Patio and doorways are on the opposite side facing inward … Continue reading →

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Requiem for a Walking Stick

Posted on July 18, 2018 by JMN

You sweet bastard. Just two days ago I transferred you from the risky environs of the patio to the security of the Jatropha bush. Now I find you again on the patio inert, apparently expiring. What has hurt you? Or … Continue reading →

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Seduction by Menu

Posted on July 18, 2018 by JMN

“The menu should read like a poem,” Ms. de Boer said. “You should seduce the diner. People don’t know they want to eat deep-fried mackerel with aioli, so you’ve got to tell a story and get them on your wavelength.” … Continue reading →

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Make Someone Smile

Posted on July 18, 2018 by JMN

“Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing,” the street artist Banksy wrote in 2001. “And even if you don’t come up with a picture to cure world poverty, you can make someone smile … Continue reading →

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Dear Mother… Charles

Posted on July 17, 2018 by JMN

Charles gave me a copy of his “translation” of Arthur Rimbaud’s “Le bateau ivre” (The Drunken Boat). I put “translation” in quotes because Charles readily admits that his version derives from other English versions of the poem, since he doesn’t … Continue reading →

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“Displeasing little man”

Posted on July 17, 2018 by JMN

Soon Proust was disenchanted by his goddesses. As Weber notes, his “idealizing vision of his ladies changed over time into something darker.” To the Comtesse de Chevigné [Laure de Sade, great-granddaughter of the Marquis], he wrote, “What one used to … Continue reading →

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“She’s so competitive”

Posted on July 17, 2018 by JMN

“It’s funny when they talk about women, saying, ‘Oh, she’s so competitive,’ and it’s almost a put-down… For me, what’s the alternative? To try to lose, or to not give your best? ‘Competitive’ means you’re concentrating, and you do everything … Continue reading →

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Ambiguous Headline of the Day

Posted on July 17, 2018 by JMN

“Putin Is Running a Destructive Cybercrime Syndicate Out of Russia” (NYTimes). Hmmm… I run a raccoon out of my wood shop now and then. (c) 2018 James Mansfield Nichols. All rabbits restrained.

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