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 Voice

Thomas Hardy and his first wife Emma had long been estranged when she died in 1912: her death prompted a series of poems which are viewed as being … The Voice This wonderful music by Thomas Hardy sends tremors. The … Continue reading

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Travesía (12)

Versión castellana del poema “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” (1856) de Walt WhitmanEnglish text at http://www.poetryfoundation.orgSpanish Interpretation by JMN [Translator’s note: The whole of part 8 follows. The poem has 9 parts.] (8)Ah, what can ever be more stately and admirable to … Continue reading

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‘Inclusive Writing’

The French controversy over “inclusive writing” has surfaced.* Cole Stangler, “France Is Becoming More Like America. It’s Terrible,” NYTimes, 6-2-21.Annabelle Timsit, “The Push to Make French Gender-Neutral,” http://www.theatlantic.com, 11-24-17. Here are examples that have been cited: les musicien·ne·s (the musicians)les … Continue reading

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Adoration of the Cat

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A hoary plot line of melodrama reduces the hero and heroine to dire straits; they’ve tried everything in their power to escape doom; the soundtrack crescendos in a minor key. “Pray,” he says. “It’s in God’s hands. Only a miracle … Continue reading

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Exponential Obscurity Rectified*

*Scruple dictates that I confess to having added to the fog of blather by blatantly erring in my attempt to run the numbers in the original post. A bright lad has shown me the light, and the revised numbers do … Continue reading

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Shows and Prose

Along comes more NYTimes torqued and taut art talk of the sort that sweeps me up. … Several gorgeous self-portraits made toward the end of his life. Their precision is astonishing… It’s clear that what most interested Ellis about ink … Continue reading

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Sparring With Blushes

“My English is chaste, and all licentious passages are left in the obscurity of a learned language.” (Edward Gibbon) In the Middle Ages, several women poets of Arab Spain (al-Andalus) were known for their erotic and satiric verses composed with … Continue reading

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‘A Fisherman Holds Up a Trout He Caught’

El hijo de su madre has stumbled upon an El Dorado of found poetry in the “Outdoors” fishing column of a local newspaper. Bink Grimes’s lavish rundown of the piscatory scene pulses with staccato verve, inside lingo, and riptide granularity. … Continue reading

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E Pluribus Nihil

Archaeologists of the far future sifting through America’s plastic ashes will peg the collapse of its civilization to two insidious language events: (1) When America dissolved “talking about problems” into “having conversations around issues.” (2) When America demoted “national” security … Continue reading

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Adverb Rebellion

This passage from a fellow blogger (cap doff to) caught my eye: Reality? Well it starts to mock back at your face, you get surrounded by the clouds of regret, cry on the ashes of your pretentious bliss and feel … Continue reading

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