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.

Can We Be Over ‘So’?

Posted on December 10, 2022 by JMN

I think I’ll forfeit my fortitude when the next person who’s asked a question starts his answer with “So.” It’s like answering queries with “Therefore….” — Where are you from? — Therefore I was born in Poughkeepsie, but grew up … Continue reading →

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Gone, Not Forgotten

Posted on December 9, 2022 by JMN

Greystoke, old dear, we hardly knew ya and you’ve broke our hearts. Purr in peace. (c) 2022 JMN — EthicalDative. All rights reserved

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A Dying Hero’s Own Thoughts and Prayers

Posted on December 8, 2022 by JMN

Vicky Phelan died of cervical cancer last month at age 48 in County Limerick, Ireland. She had been an advocate for fellow victims of botched Pap smears. Her ringing demand for freedom from callous, corrupt leadership has universal application. “I … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

‘We Were Limpid, So We Were Not Turbid’

Posted on December 5, 2022 by JMN

A verse of classical Arabic can be tightly packed. Besides immersion in grammar, what’s most useful to this student of the language is a highly Congruent (1) translation. It amounts to what’s called a “trot,” and is the least likely … Continue reading →

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The Fellow’s Garrulous, But a Decent Painter

Posted on December 5, 2022 by JMN

He talks about a narrow, closed view of the world in which a contempt for America – the home of “degenerate” jazz for the Nazis, the capitalist enemy for the GDR – was a constant. “Until I was about 20 … Continue reading →

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Once Was Lost, But Now Is Found

Posted on December 1, 2022 by JMN

“We were flabbergasted. It has taken 100 years to rediscover Atlantic City.” [Petulant style note: Equally flabbergasting is British journalism’s insufferable convention of not setting off titles with quotes or italics. What two researchers rediscovered was not the coastal city … Continue reading →

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Bill Lynch Painted on Wood

Posted on November 30, 2022 by JMN

“I realised that the art of the 20th century is the fruit of personal revelation,” Lynch wrote, “while ancient art is the product of mystery initiation.” I’ve no idea what Bill Lynch (1960 – 2013) meant by his incantation about … Continue reading →

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On Saying and Meaningness

Posted on November 28, 2022 by JMN

I painted it all tried to paint my thoughts / And caught so little / The world still grows it grows relentlessly / And yet there is always less of it(From “The Old Painter on a Walk” by Adam Zagajewski, … Continue reading →

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Sensing the Presence of Vinegar: Food Poetry

Posted on November 25, 2022 by JMN

(A squalid detail to put behind us: “vichyssoise” is misspelled in the review as “vichysoisse.” Slipshod, to be sure, but my esteem for Pete Wells’s writing remains intact. Even Homer nodded.) Pete Wells said once that when he became restaurant … Continue reading →

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Less Democrazy, More Malumacy: El señor Fútbol señala al insigne artista colombiano

Posted on November 22, 2022 by JMN

“I will say something which is crazy, but less democracy is sometimes better for organizing a World Cup. When you have a very strong head of state, that is easier for us organizers.” (FIFA secretary general Jérôme Valcke, 2013) Nota … Continue reading →

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