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.

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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

Transcendental Hokum

Posted on May 23, 2024 by JMN

it’s raining in Athens too, a brood of stars jump on the hood as I race onto Route 441 & sob over a cold voice on the radio explaining God. (Abhijit Sarmah, “In Her Last Phone Call”) I harbor the … Continue reading →

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Real Meat or Die!

Posted on May 18, 2024 by JMN

… Determined to assert their alterity, they make sure that they’re always facing backward. (Cole Swensen, “Birds on Statues”) From Tallahassee to the seathe state of Florida shall belab-grown meat and climate free. SourcesDionne Searcey, “‘We Will Save Our Beef’: … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | 9 Comments

Red Alert: Portrait Riot!

Posted on May 16, 2024 by JMN

I warm to Jonathan Yeo’s smoldering rendition of Charles the Third for the fastuous havoc it wreaks on canvas, not to mention expenditure of fiery pigment. It will inflame disdain in all the right quarters, though reportedly not in his … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged | 4 Comments

‘Six Persimmons’: Asymmetry and Ambiguity

Posted on May 15, 2024 by JMN

In a show called The Heart of Zen, “Six Persimmons” was displayed for three short weeks in late 2023 at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. It was “painted with ink on paper in the 13th century, probably by … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , | 13 Comments

Incantation With Discreet Avowal

Posted on May 12, 2024 by JMN

To all who need them: Thoughts and prayers from the legislatures.Thoughts and prayers from the donors.Thoughts and prayers from the councils.Thoughts and prayers from the courts.Thoughts and prayers from the boards.Thoughts and prayers from the embassies.Thoughts and prayers from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Anthology | Tagged , , | 2 Comments