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 Other Virus

The cartoon by Brendan Loper is tagged “Very good people.” The tagline evokes the Unite the Right “Tiki-torch” rally of August 12, 2017, held in Charlottesville, Virginia. A self-declared white supremacist rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing … Continue reading

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Carta a Nuria

This gallery contains 1 photo.

Te pongo aquí un cuadro reciente, tonto y burlón, mal logrado por supuesto, de ejecución turbia, hiciera lo que hiciera. Está pintado sobre otro cuadro que hizo tu abuelo, mi papá. El suyo fue un desnudo masculino sentado, visto de … Continue reading

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Monsieur

All respect to Pierre Cardin’s memory and legacy. I’m no fan of censuring yesterday’s culture for not living up to today’s expectations. But in matters such as gender parity it doesn’t seem unfair to observe dispassionately how an artifact may … Continue reading

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Pub Apocalypse?

A good pub feels a bit like a living room: a familiar, informal space where you can have a pint with friends and strangers… Enjoying a drink in a room that has been used for the same purpose for hundreds … Continue reading

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‘The Flag Is Also Waving You’

Someone who studies flags is a “vexillologist.” There’s a North American Vexillological Association for persons devoted to this study. In the 18th and 19th centuries, a flag was not so much a symbol as a practical way to tell from … Continue reading

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Alice Trumbull Mason: ‘Adamantine’

In the matter of electing to be born of illustrious forebears Alice Trumbull Mason, of Litchfield, Connecticut, chose well. Her rumbling name preserves affiliation with a “well-off family of old New England stock.” (All stock isn’t equal even where egalitarian … Continue reading

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Cardin Made His Bed and Lay in It

“I wash with my own soap… I wear my own perfume, go to bed with my own sheets, have my own food products. I live on me.” The proudest garment in my closet was once a blazer with the Pierre … Continue reading

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‘A Different Philosophy’

“What everybody is talking about right now is, what happened to pneumonia?” he said. “What happened to a lot of deals, a lot of common flu deaths, why is everything being reported Covid now?… We’ve heard that hospitals are getting … Continue reading

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‘I Belong to Brazil’

The 1940s debut novel of Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector (1920 – 1977), “Perto do Coração Selvagem” (“Near to the Wild Heart”), is described as the “reflections of a young female protagonist determined to live freely in a world ordered by … Continue reading

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Neruda XCIV

[XCIV]Si muero, sobrevíveme con tanta fuerza puraIf I die, survive me with so much pure forceque despiertes la furia del pálido y del frío,that you awake the fury of the pallid and the cold,de sur a sur levanta tus ojos … Continue reading

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