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.

The Parable of Angus Burdoo

Posted on November 22, 2025 by JMN

“Interdependence is no longer our choice… It is our condition. We will either build healthy interdependencies and rise together or suffer through unhealthy interdependencies and fall together.” (Dov Seidman, quoted here) Picture a man who engenders a lovely daughter. In … Continue reading →

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Never Too Many Books

Posted on November 21, 2025 by JMN

… Peter-Ayers Tarantino[’s aesthetic] recalls that of maximalist bibliophiles of centuries past, including Marcel Proust and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, was formed during a life on the road. In the Abstract Expressionism section, Tarantino extracts, almost without looking, a thick … Continue reading →

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And One More Thing…

Posted on November 17, 2025 by JMN

I adore compression and spareness, and Infinite Jest, finished at 7:29PM on 11-16-25, is bloated and prolix. It tells you something that it’s a novel with footnotes. Hundreds of them. During the periods when I ground my teeth, it tracked … Continue reading →

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‘I’m Too Old to Paint Such Beautiful Things’

Posted on November 15, 2025 by JMN

Monet made the comment about being too old before starting to paint the town feverishly. I’ve seen enough of his paintings for now. They’re on pillowcases and doilies. They’re everywhere!  What I relish is seeing the man himself feeding the … Continue reading →

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Middlesex Praise God, Texas View

Posted on November 13, 2025 by JMN

Imagine Middlesex — it must exist — a town, maybe a “village,” not a city. It’s in The Shires — wherever that is — an English village situated on a stream whose name is sufficiently spelt with three letters. The … Continue reading →

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Time’s Wingèd Hotrod Tailgates Our Patoots*

Posted on November 11, 2025 by JMN

 “It’s easier to turn an aquarium into fish soup than to turn fish soup into an aquarium.” (Russian saying) Time’s wingèd hotrod tailgates our patoots.The piper that denies it is pie-eyed.Rosin up the bow and lick a toad!Time’s wingèd hotrod … Continue reading →

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Review of ‘Infinite Jest’ (Don’t Worry, I’m Jesting!)

Posted on November 9, 2025 by JMN

I haven’t finished listening to the novel on my new Audible subscription, but I see no reason not to review it. It’s twenty-seven Titanics of insanity steaming with breakneck slowness over an eternity of pages towards a who-knows-what species of … Continue reading →

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Enshittified* Cadence of the Unitaries

Posted on November 6, 2025 by JMN

“When she says, ‘We have failed you,’ she means ‘We, the Democrats,’ okay?”— Speaker Mike Johnson(Say What? Archive) We.Other. Smother. Blight. Slight. Smite.Are.Invert. Divert. Revert. Subvert. Pervert.Not.Condemn. Conflate. Confuse. Concoct. Conspire.Them.Suck. Wreck. Mock. Block. Duck.They.Judge. Fudge. Dredge. Dodge. Purge.Are.Garble. Wrangle. … Continue reading →

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Oh Besity! (Anthem)

Posted on November 4, 2025 by JMN

Oh Besity! With tendernessOur country stands for thee,Staunch rampart against slendernessFrom sea to shining sea. Oh Besity! Forsake us not,No di-et shrink our girth.Caloric excess be our lot,Our destiny from birth. Ours the fat and ours the cream,All exercise to … Continue reading →

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The Buck Stops… There (CAGA)

Posted on November 2, 2025 by JMN

“My message to America is, first, the fact that your government is failing you, right now. Poverty is not red or blue, is not a Republican or Democrat issue. If you are in a position that you can’t feed your … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , | 2 Comments