Category Archives: Commentary

Opinion or analysis concerning whatever’s on my mind.

Mistakes Were Made

Posted on June 8, 2019 by JMN

I’m haunted by that sentence in Lincoln’s second inaugural: “And the war came.” (David Brooks, “The Racial Reckoning Comes,” NYTimes, 6-6-19) David Brooks is well haunted. Lincoln could make words punch above their weight. His mastery lends killing clout to … Continue reading →

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Elephant

Posted on June 8, 2019 by JMN

I’m no connoisseur of illustration, but this one strikes me as having a distinctively painterly quality to it. It has introduced me to the work of J.S. Pughe (1870 – 1909), who is well documented in Wikipedia. The graphic appears … Continue reading →

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Poet Brand

Posted on June 7, 2019 by JMN

(c) 2019 JMN

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Language As Landscape

Posted on June 4, 2019 by JMN

“Deadwood” (HBO, 2004-2006) created by David Milch, repelled and astounded me when I caught it adventitiously in re-run several years ago. I couldn’t look away from it as I kept thinking, “What the hell is this? It’s amazing!” I told … Continue reading →

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Poetry for the Kitchen Slops Bucket

Posted on June 4, 2019 by JMN

Lucasta Miller is the author of “L.E.L.: The Lost Life and Scandalous Death of Letitia Elizabeth Landon, the Celebrated ‘Female Byron.’” Landon’s “scandalous” death occurred at her own hand with prussic acid at age 36. Even today, Letitia Landon provokes … Continue reading →

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Francophilia

Posted on June 1, 2019 by JMN

Where I live I have not encountered in recent memory an American who knows, or wants to know, French. Roger Cohen’s encomium to the language and culture is touching. It’s poignant to share French love with another outsider. To be … Continue reading →

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Pursuant There Two

Posted on June 1, 2019 by JMN

The threads of spirituality and of blogging are starting to intersect for me. The bedrock of my spirituality is the intuitive knowledge (not faith) that what made me made every virus. If I were assisted by something religious it would … Continue reading →

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Cricket Talk

Posted on June 1, 2019 by JMN

[Paraphrase] The bowlers were boys from the groundstaff. One had the temerity to bowl a beamer at Viv Richards. Viv shot the kid an icy glare. The kid bowled him an apologetic delivery. Richards creamed it for four into the … Continue reading →

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Two Takes

Posted on May 29, 2019 by JMN

If there were a muse named Ironia, it strikes me that she would be an inspiration for Rutene Merk and Lynn Hershman Leeson. The two images below have little in common other than depicting females. They both incite interest, however, … Continue reading →

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“Strangeness”

Posted on May 28, 2019 by JMN

Science, art and language collide a lot in the field of theoretical physics, it seems. There are appealing language touches in the work of Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann profiled in this article. He “mischievously” named his theory of elementary particles … Continue reading →

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