Category Archives: Commentary

Opinion or analysis concerning whatever’s on my mind.

A Defense of Women Via Sarcastic Tirade Meaning the Opposite of What It Purports to Affirm

Posted on December 2, 2023 by JMN

[Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice ironic bloviation. The message buried in a made-up rant full of ludicrous rhetoric (posted previously) is that the assertion “It never happened,” or that an encounter was “consensual,” implies … Continue reading →

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The Deep-Rooted Mendacity of the Weaker Sex

Posted on November 29, 2023 by JMN

Swaggart. Trump. Weinstein. Epstein. Windsor. Brand. Rose… the list goes on. When will such men be spared the allegations of conniving women? It’s the one time the word “liaress,” feminine of “liar,” would be a useful addition to the language. … Continue reading →

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Love the Beasts

Posted on November 17, 2023 by JMN

“Fauve painting is not everything,… but it is the foundation of everything.” (Matisse) I have an affinity for the stripe of painting perpetrated by the Fauves. Their manic attack with brush and pigment gestures offhandedly toward trees, water and sky. … Continue reading →

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Please, Your Majesty. Say, ‘We Are Not Amused’

Posted on November 14, 2023 by JMN

… A consummation devoutly to be wished.”(Shakespeare) Evangelical euphemisms like “Grab ‘em by the prissy” and “Kiss my aft” have hopped from bully rally to pulpit rave in American discourse thanks to the God lobby. But, Britannia, oh dear! “Fuckpigs,” … Continue reading →

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The Saucy Song a Painter Sang

Posted on October 31, 2023 by JMN

I’ve pondered how much to grudgingly admire the towering raspberry Tadaaki Kuwayama gave rhetorically to the practice of art. His expressed approach oozes iconoclastic gore in the spirit of outré versecraft from the pages of Poetry. … He wanted to … Continue reading →

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Mrs. Muzzle

Posted on October 20, 2023 by JMN

By Monday morning, a furious Mrs. Muzzle pounced on Uncle’s lap, took her petite paw and gave his smirking lips several wicked whacks. But he … Mrs. Muzzle

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‘She Didn’t Do Innocence’

Posted on October 18, 2023 by JMN

“With students, sometimes she suggested that they try silence, not working at all. That, she believed, might be best for someone who was writing the wrong poems or producing too much.” (Colm Tóibín) She insisted on calling herself a writer. … Continue reading →

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‘Somewhat Impenetrable to Outsiders’

Posted on October 8, 2023 by JMN

“Cricket is first and foremost a dramatic spectacle. It belongs with theater, ballet, opera and the dance.” (Trinidadian Marxist thinker C.L.R. James) Cricket may be “somewhat impenetrable” to outsiders, per The Times, but only to those who resist penetration. The … Continue reading →

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It’s Only Money, Ladies. Play Cricket!

Posted on September 27, 2023 by JMN

At this summer’s edition of the Hundred, a short-form cricket tournament in England, umpires for the men’s games — all of them men except for Redfern — were paid three times as much as umpires at the women’s games, seven … Continue reading →

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‘I Worry That It Will Feel Pointless to Even Try to Create in Public’

Posted on September 24, 2023 by JMN

But even those of us who don’t have a job directly threatened by A.I. think of writing that novel or composing a song or recording a TikTok or making a joke on social media. If we don’t have any protections … Continue reading →

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