Author Archives: JMN

Unknown's avatar

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.

‘What rough beast, its hour come round at last…’

Posted on August 6, 2022 by JMN

“We’re going to draw a hard line in the sand for morality,” Precinct 4 Commissioner Clint Ives said… “I applaud their efforts to defeat liberalism…” (George Coryell, “Victoria County [Texas] sides with group that wants city library books removed,” victoriaadvocate.com, … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

New Word: ‘Yean’

Posted on August 5, 2022 by JMN

I’ve bumped into yean, a novel word, in the serendipitous way that study of a foreign language affords. The word is classed as ‘Archaic.’ Of course it is. Another recent discovery of mine, objurgate, is’ Rare.’ I wonder if I … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Don’t Do to Me Whatever That Means

Posted on August 3, 2022 by JMN

From the stagnant backwaters of my brain, objurgate bubbles up unsolicited. Is it even a word? Where have I ever heard or set eyes on it? Objurgate. My smidgin of Latin alerts me to what the word has in common … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Garabatos

Posted on August 1, 2022 by JMN

The Spanish word garabato (‘scrawl’) has a staccato pop to the ear, like a spate of rim shots. It evokes line and form in a night on the town, gadabout and roguish, flirting with all and sundry, living it up, … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The ‘He-She —> They’ Transformation (2)

Posted on July 30, 2022 by JMN

(Continued from https://ethicaldative.com/2022/07/26/the-he-she-they-transformation-1/) A pronoun is only as stable as the noun it stands for. If Niamh does not always, or ever, identify-reveal as she, nor Oisín as he, their customary pronouns aren’t fit for purpose. At the same time, … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Secret of Drawing Is to Make a Mark

Posted on July 28, 2022 by JMN

Complexity is what we create; our familiar cussedness comes out and easily defeats us. The harder things in life are the simple ones. Whenever I manage to disregard the rulemonger holding class in my skull-room, the method-nazi intoning, You are … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Don’t Let the Prefect Be the Enemy of the Gay

Posted on July 27, 2022 by JMN

Where I live, a powerful local official causes a contribution to be withheld from an organization planning a pride festival in the town square. The official does not wish the county’s name to be associated with a drag show, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

The ‘He-She—>They’ Transformation (1)

Posted on July 26, 2022 by JMN

In respect of gender, Arabic nouns are divisible into three classes; (a) those which are only masculine [muḏakkar-un]; (b) those which are only feminine [mu’annaṯ-un]; (c) those which are both masc. and fem., or, as it is usually phrased, of … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Which One Is ‘They’? A Way Almost to Tell

Posted on July 24, 2022 by JMN

Let’s work together, good citizens: Go ahead and write they instead of he or she if you must, but keep the -s ending on the verb. It will result in phrases such as they wants. People will want to amend … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Which One Is ‘They’? A Way Almost to Tell

Posted on July 24, 2022 by JMN

Let’s work together, good citizens: Go ahead and write they instead of he or she if you must, but keep the -s ending on the verb. It will result in phrases such as they wants. People will want to amend … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments