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.

‘Burden of Representation’

Posted on December 11, 2020 by JMN

Roberta Smith writes of the Rothko painting that it “presents a glowing stack in brown, red and black on a red ground.” She describes the Church painting as “an expanse of shockingly deep red sky with a little sun peeping … Continue reading →

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Pronounce This!

Posted on December 9, 2020 by JMN

Wrangling among logocrats in the Anglo-Empyrean over how to pronounce something in the common language that separates us is good for a brief detox from the trumpical pandemia. In August a Twitter-turd toss from Down Under landed on National Public … Continue reading →

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Fewer Miracles, Less Time

Posted on December 8, 2020 by JMN

Beatification occurs when the Pope declares a dead person to be in a state of bliss. It permits public veneration and is the first step towards canonization. Canonization occurs when the Roman Catholic Church officially admits a dead person into … Continue reading →

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Knots Bound XCVII

Posted on December 7, 2020 by JMN

[XCXVII]Hay que volar en este tiempo, ¿a dónde?One must fly at this time, to where?Sin alas, sin avión, volar sin duda:With no wings, no airplane, fly without doubt:ya los pasos pasaron sin remedio,already the footsteps passed by irredeemably,no elevaron los … Continue reading →

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“That Was Now, This Is Then”

Posted on December 6, 2020 by JMN

The very title of Vijay Sheshadri’s volume of poems, reviewed by David Orr, has the jewel-beam of poetic crystal to it. I keep rolling it on my tongue, as if it makes some kind of sense of the moment. Orr’s … Continue reading →

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Pithy Gristle

Posted on December 5, 2020 by JMN

David Orr reviews Vijay Sheshadri’s volume of poems “That Was Now, This Is Then” (Graywolf Press). Reviewers who are poets are especially equipped with spicy pronouncements. Poetry has a long, proud history of acting as if readers don’t exist. Often … Continue reading →

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Incandescent Kandinsky

Posted on December 4, 2020 by JMN

I’ve lost the article from which I clipped this painting — something about vicissitudes and provenance. No matter, the painting is the thing. It trips and snares me. It’s like a knotty, naughty doodle done with psychedelic syrups from a … Continue reading →

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‘High-End’ Jinks in ‘Opulent’ Joints

Posted on December 3, 2020 by JMN

Ninety-one people broke the state’s 50-person limit at an October wedding held at the North Fork Country Club in Cutchogue, NY. Afterwards, 30 tested positive for the virus and 156 wound up quarantined. In a second New York event in … Continue reading →

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Less Majesty

Posted on December 1, 2020 by JMN

Lèse-maj·es·té: “the insulting of a monarch or other ruler.” Oliver Dowden, the UK culture secretary, wants Netflix to play a “health warning” before The Crown so viewers are aware that the historical drama is a work of fiction. “It’s a … Continue reading →

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Pictures Matter

Posted on November 30, 2020 by JMN

Richard Frishman is a photographer based near Seattle. You can follow his work on Instagram. (Photographs and Text by Richard Frishman, “Hidden in Plain Sight: The Ghosts of Segregation,” NYTimes, 11-30-20) (c) 2020 JMN

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