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.

Silver Threads and Goldarn Needles

Posted on June 17, 2024 by JMN

Last month, delegates to the [Texas Republican] state party convention approved a platform that would effectively require a kind of electoral college for statewide elections. To win the governor’s mansion, a candidate would need to carry a majority of Texas’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | 5 Comments

Protect the Rim, Kill the Note

Posted on June 15, 2024 by JMN

I got a charge out of Ernie Barnes’s painting titled “Protect the Rim.” The surreally long figures, the lofty rustic hoop, and even the knocked-together frame all have a quirky charm. In a parallel world, my grandmother’s capacious lungs powered … Continue reading →

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Raise Your Hand If You Know What ‘Paratactic’ Means

Posted on June 12, 2024 by JMN

In an essay, Meghan O’Rourke writes the following: Ambivalence is, like so much poetry, paratactic. (Poetry, June 2024) Ambivalence is a state of mind characterized by mixed feelings. Parataxis is a rhetorical move. It daisy-chains independent clauses, leaving it to … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology, Commentary | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

The Grub Was Tasty, The Salutes Crisp

Posted on June 10, 2024 by JMN

There was a light salad that turned plates into minor works of art adorned with fennel, green peas, other vegetables and assorted petals gathered around a puddle of vinaigrette. A dish of chicken, rice, artichoke and carrots followed — which … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Paradise Flown

Posted on June 6, 2024 by JMN

“People are not always great at predicting their own behavior.” (Kristen Soltis Anderson) The founding myth of the civilization teeming beneath my bird feeder says a mature Cardinal fancied an underage squirrel. From their unnatural union sprang a creature with … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged | 6 Comments

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Posted on June 5, 2024 by JMN

This blog nets it out. You rarely sacrifice more than three minutes to EthicalDative: Bish, bash, bosh. <Instant of Appreciative Reflection> Smash LIKE. You’re done. PS: A supportive comment can substitute for the canonical <Instant of AR>. Be so kind? … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 8 Comments

‘I Don’t Agree With What I Said’

Posted on June 2, 2024 by JMN

In a delicious Onion skit a befuddled member of a clueless television news panel ends up saying, “Yeah, I don’t agree with what I said!” It’s a wicked sendup of vacuous cable news, but also sparks a thought: What if … Continue reading →

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It Stirs, Not-Knowing-Ness

Posted on May 31, 2024 by JMN

“You need to have some sense of awe, mystery and not-knowing-ness to have faith in the possibilities of the world and what God has done.” (Abram Van Engen) IT STIRSWhat are we seeing?I don’t know, but there it is.It is … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged | 4 Comments

Hilltop Experience

Posted on May 28, 2024 by JMN

There must be a type of experience that isn’t uncommon among folk, yet is felt individually as epochal and singular. I classify it as contemplation of a certain prospect from a particular height in circumstances which combine to induce a … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

‘The Brushstrokes Don’t Make Shapes’

Posted on May 25, 2024 by JMN

Chuck Close’s approach to painting is intriguing. It’s as if he invented pixellation avant la lettre. “This new body of work is more abstract, and quieter than any previous ones,” Close told the artist Cindy Sherman in a 2018 interview. … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged | 7 Comments