Category Archives: Quotations

Things people said.

‘All Good Writers Think They Suck’

Posted on April 14, 2023 by JMN

My title quotes a spicy remark by Harlan Coben on a British talk show aired on March 24th. He continued: “Only bad writers think they’re good. We all get beat up. We all have impostor syndrome.” Coben’s comments contrast pertly … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Foobar to Fix ‘They’

Posted on April 12, 2023 by JMN

To automate Spanish verb conjugation with Java code I created variables to hold the gamut of subject pronouns available to English and Spanish. Here were the varieties of “you”: String youS = null; // “you” singular familiar = “tú”String YouS … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Stand Tall for the Third Amendment!

Posted on April 3, 2023 by JMN

“I will defend my Second Amendment right to use my musket to defend my Third Amendment right to never, ever allow a British soldier to live in my house.” (Mark Russell, 1932-2023) (Robert D. McFadden, “Mark Russell, Piano-Playing Political Satirist, … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged | 5 Comments

A Jamaica in Texas

Posted on April 1, 2023 by JMN

Me gusta vivir donde se celebran fiestas de esta índole. ¡Viva la raza humana! ¡Viva la harmonía! ¡Viva la compaginación de los pueblos! ¡Vivan los tamales hechos en casa! San Luis Catholic Church in Yorktown will host its annual Jamaica … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , | 1 Comment

‘I Am on the Side of Tears’

Posted on March 31, 2023 by JMN

“All we can do now is pray.” Famous last words. Prayer is the recourse of the desperate when there’s no recourse. It’s the last croak from the isthmus of the fauces before humanity lies facedown in the mud. When you … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Pausing With Your Eyes

Posted on March 25, 2023 by JMN

I’ve looked into what the exaggerated gaps between words or phrases in lines of verse are all about, curious whether or not they should affect my reading and, if so, how. A writer named Emilia Phillips calls them visual caesuras … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

‘You Have to Be Interested in the Playfulness of Poetry’

Posted on March 22, 2023 by JMN

[Billy Collins] sat on a bench and watched some students playing Wiffle ball on a quad. “You have to be interested in the playfulness of poetry to want to keep writing it,” he said. Then, as if to shoo away … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , | Leave a comment

‘I Discovered That the Act of Writing Is Also an Act of Drawing’

Posted on March 21, 2023 by JMN

Lebanese-American painter-poet-novelist Etel Adnan (1925-2021) was interviewed by Gabriel Coxhead for the June 2018 issue of Apollo. I’m drawn to her work for how it mingles Arabic language, painting and poetry. Quoting from the interview: Perhaps most interesting, in terms … Continue reading →

Posted in Quotations | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

‘They Can Feel Almost Like Exquisite Texts to Be Read’

Posted on March 18, 2023 by JMN

… Each [painting] presents so much information that you have to move in close for further contemplation and deciphering, trying to figure out how the paintings were made and which of their weird little details are accidental, which deliberate. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Dawn of the ‘Inherently Improbable’

Posted on March 11, 2023 by JMN

For the observer of language, phrases are the news. Today’s newsmakers are “inherently improbable,” “AI persona” and “crypto world.” “Inherently improbable” Florida wants to change the legal definition of actual malice to include any allegation that is “inherently improbable.” The … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Quotations | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment