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.

‘You Can Make Something and You See It. But Then You Have to Spend Your Life to Get the World to See It’ (June Leaf)

Posted on July 2, 2024 by JMN

Painter and sculptor June Leaf died on July 1, 2024, aged 94. “She is that rare thing in painting today: a poet with a taste and a talent for complex images.” (Hilton Kramer, 1968) In Paris, Ms. Leaf told Hyperallergic, … Continue reading →

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The ‘Jolly Bunch of Pen-Pushers’

Posted on June 29, 2024 by JMN

For me the skills of cartoon and caricature are from on high, which is why I relished this article about Philip Guston. It told me much I didn’t know. He was the son of Ukrainian Jewish immigrants in Montreal who … Continue reading →

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Un-Contained

Posted on June 25, 2024 by JMN

The text is Marvin K. White’s “From Containment to Expansion: A Tenderloin Meditation in Two Parts” (Poetry, July/August 2024). Part 1 contains 82 the’s, 41 does not contain’s and 41 pairings that span the elemental (sun-fire), the metaphysical (circle-infinity), the … Continue reading →

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Nick Ferrari Hobnobs With Toffs at the Garrick Club

Posted on June 21, 2024 by JMN

Just the other day I spied Reginald-now-Lord Fairfax at his usual perch in the smoking room of the club. I greeted Reggie, ordered a brandy, and inquired after his father-in-law Rufus-now-Lord Driscoll, whose alleged dalliance with a domestic has triggered … Continue reading →

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‘The Bright Light Done Come, and There Was No More Whippin’s’

Posted on June 19, 2024 by JMN

June 19, 1865, inaugurated Juneteenth. My title is from the words of a former slave in Texas about its effect on her and her family. (Quoted on “The History and Meaning of Juneteenth,” from “The Daily,” New York Times Audio) … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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