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.

“The Psicologo” from Las Palabras de Javier

Posted on July 3, 2022 by JMN

“The Psicologo” by Javier Sánchez https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/59634996/posts/4099865441 I share a post by Javier Sánchez for the enjoyment of a real friend, and imaginary ones, who, along with me, study Spanish. Javier takes wicked potshots at moving targets in his zany, deadpan, … Continue reading →

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The F-Word Is Spawning

Posted on July 1, 2022 by JMN

When words turn flammable we call them “f-words.” They’re too hot to utter. F***. — The granddaddy of f-words. All f-words trace their ancestry to this one. It’s unsafe for print and held flammable by stare decisis until Alito. In … Continue reading →

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Hacer de Tripas Corazón

Posted on June 30, 2022 by JMN

Facts don’t speak for themselves. They’re spoke by the folks that make ‘em up. (Marjorie Lauren Zayphod-Beeblebroxx, “When Your Gut Talks to Ya,” Podex Press, 2022) “Marjorie Lauren” is a made-up person (cap doff to Douglas Adams). Don’t take her … Continue reading →

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Lone Star Statecraft in Action

Posted on June 28, 2022 by JMN

The scaffolding that supports the letter of the edifice of the law erected for the citizenry by the solons of the state of the land of the brave in which we live is the prepositional phrase. In May, 2022, Texans … Continue reading →

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Is There an Exception Rule for ‘a Anti-abortion’?

Posted on June 28, 2022 by JMN

The pro-life movement is inevitably bound to some kind of conservatism, insofar as a anti-abortion ethic is hard to separate from a conservative ethic around sex, monogamy and marriage. [The bolding is mine. —JMN] (Ross Douthat, “The End of Roe … Continue reading →

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Allez-y, Braves Gens! — French Lesson

Posted on June 27, 2022 by JMN

British LBC radio presenter Nick Abbott explains the Tory lock on governance in the UK like this: During elections, factions on the Left wrestle each other to the ground in feuds over ideological purity. Meanwhile, the monolithic Right, comprised of … Continue reading →

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‘It’s This Old, Fatal Love for the Landscape’

Posted on June 25, 2022 by JMN

The quotation in my title is from nature writer Robert Macfarlane. His book The Old Ways featured British war artist Eric Ravilious, killed in a plane crash in 1942. In the book, Macfarlane “points to the way the artist would … Continue reading →

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‘Telescope’ by Louise Glück

Posted on June 23, 2022 by JMN

Occasionally a poem is so frictionless it stabs without hurting. My second reading of “Telescope” by Louise Glück was to someone far away over FaceTime. You’ve gotta hear this! I chirped. There is a moment after you move your eye … Continue reading →

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A Lash of Good Tongue

Posted on June 20, 2022 by JMN

“To sit fast badly is better than to be thrown easily.” (Wright, A Grammar of the Arabic Language, p. 124) [sū’(u)-l-istimāk(i) ẖair(un) min ḥusn(i)-ṣ-ṣirƸaẗ(i)] Wright cites the phrase to illustrate the formation of the [ism(u)-n-nūƸ(i)], noun of kind, aka nomina … Continue reading →

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‘To Translate Is to Look into a Mirror…’

Posted on June 18, 2022 by JMN

Benjamin Moser reviews Jhumpa Lahiri’s book “Translating Myself and Others.” The book deals with her decision at age 45 to begin writing in Italian, which for her was an entirely learned language. “Art is not — should not — be … Continue reading →

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