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 Naked and the Fungible

Posted on April 27, 2020 by JMN

In 2008, an IBM study that sought to identify “workers who are “virtually indistinguishable from others’ in terms of the value of their contributions to the workplace” was reported. (www.workitdaily.com). It’s pointed to when you Google “fungible.” In 2020, Kara … Continue reading →

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Only a Little Too Much

Posted on April 26, 2020 by JMN

Holland Cotter reviewed in February “Vida Americana: Mexican Muralists Remake American Art, 1925-1945” at the Whitney Museum of American Art through May 17, 2020. Cotter traces a thread of Mexican art history leading from the “big three” — Diego Rivera, … Continue reading →

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Hunker Work

Posted on April 24, 2020 by JMN

I’m at my dining room table sketching now. And they’re raw sketches. Just a Pilot pen on tracing paper. (Frank O. Gehry) I’ve actually been busy doing drawings similar to one from 2018 called “Anxiety Drawing.” They were black, and … Continue reading →

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Blurred Slur

Posted on April 23, 2020 by JMN

Language is awash in slurs: racist, ethnist, nationalist, sexist, ageist, classist, occupationist, sexual orientationist, “ism-ist,” and so on and so forth. The human race is a slurring race. I’m far from wishing to resurrect offensive words from their just entombment. … Continue reading →

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Bit of Lemonade

Posted on April 20, 2020 by JMN

The restaurant business is suffering from the corona-crash like many other sectors of commerce. Legitimate concerns are expressed for the many workers in food and hospitality whose livelihoods are blighted now. There’s a certain irony, therefore, in the thesis of … Continue reading →

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Coerced Stability

Posted on April 20, 2020 by JMN

Author Yi-Zheng Lian, a professor of economics at Yamanashi Gakuin University in Japan and contributing Opinion writer for the NYTimes, makes a crucial point in this article about Covid-19: Of course, the virus isn’t Chinese, even if its origin eventually … Continue reading →

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The Power of Negation

Posted on April 20, 2020 by JMN

The 15th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution was ratified 150 years ago, on Feb. 3, 1870. It prohibits denying or abridging the right to vote on the basis of race. The right of citizens of the United States to … Continue reading →

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Gladys Nilsson

Posted on April 19, 2020 by JMN

You and Jim [Nutt] have a significant collection of work by self-taught artists, such as Martín Ramírez and Joseph Yoakum. What draws you to that kind of work? The work that interests me is by people who have a need … Continue reading →

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Move Fast and Fix Things

Posted on April 19, 2020 by JMN

In late January Kara Swisher paid tribute to Clay Christensen, who died that month at age 67. Christensen was a Harvard professor of management whose seminal book “The Innovator’s Dilemma” appeared in 1997. His ideas on “disruptive” technologies influenced the … Continue reading →

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The Latest Thump

Posted on April 19, 2020 by JMN

This article by David Quammen appeared on January 28, 2020, in the NYTimes. That seems a long time ago in light of what has transpired in February, March, and half of April; however, the article has aged well. Quammen is … Continue reading →

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