Tag Archives: writing

“The Psicologo” from Las Palabras de Javier

Posted on July 3, 2022 by JMN

“The Psicologo” by Javier Sánchez https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/59634996/posts/4099865441 I share a post by Javier Sánchez for the enjoyment of a real friend, and imaginary ones, who, along with me, study Spanish. Javier takes wicked potshots at moving targets in his zany, deadpan, … Continue reading →

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Hacer de Tripas Corazón

Posted on June 30, 2022 by JMN

Facts don’t speak for themselves. They’re spoke by the folks that make ‘em up. (Marjorie Lauren Zayphod-Beeblebroxx, “When Your Gut Talks to Ya,” Podex Press, 2022) “Marjorie Lauren” is a made-up person (cap doff to Douglas Adams). Don’t take her … Continue reading →

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Lone Star Statecraft in Action

Posted on June 28, 2022 by JMN

The scaffolding that supports the letter of the edifice of the law erected for the citizenry by the solons of the state of the land of the brave in which we live is the prepositional phrase. In May, 2022, Texans … Continue reading →

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Is There an Exception Rule for ‘a Anti-abortion’?

Posted on June 28, 2022 by JMN

The pro-life movement is inevitably bound to some kind of conservatism, insofar as a anti-abortion ethic is hard to separate from a conservative ethic around sex, monogamy and marriage. [The bolding is mine. —JMN] (Ross Douthat, “The End of Roe … Continue reading →

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‘It’s This Old, Fatal Love for the Landscape’

Posted on June 25, 2022 by JMN

The quotation in my title is from nature writer Robert Macfarlane. His book The Old Ways featured British war artist Eric Ravilious, killed in a plane crash in 1942. In the book, Macfarlane “points to the way the artist would … Continue reading →

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Crisis Antidote: Neighborhood Bookshops

Posted on May 27, 2022 by JMN

The small shops are sprouting where their readers are, in residential areas, keeping alive the rich literary scene that made Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, one of the cities with the most bookstores per capita in the world. “Argentina may always … Continue reading →

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A Good Outing: Roger Angell (1920-2022)

Posted on May 24, 2022 by JMN

“It is foolish and childish, on the face of it, to affiliate ourselves with anything so insignificant and patently contrived and commercially exploitative as a professional sports team,” he wrote in his book “Five Seasons” (1977). “What is left out … Continue reading →

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How Poetry Feels About Itself

Posted on April 12, 2022 by JMN

Rae Armantrout’s poem “Smidgins” fulfills an imperative of lyric, which is “Don’t be gassy.” Also another imperative, which is “Talk in riddles.” My crumpled, wrinkled / blurt / of flesh. // “Let’s face it,” / it says. * … Ravaged … Continue reading →

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On ‘Love Letter to a Dead Body’

Posted on April 2, 2022 by JMN

I’m intrigued by the tension in Jake Skeet’s [sic] poem: Its title juxtaposes love with death, and its rhythms press against the nettle-like images. The first stanza’s images are scarred and rough with “burr and sage,” “bottles” and the “cirrhosis … Continue reading →

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Whomever, Whoever … Whatever

Posted on March 31, 2022 by JMN

A bilateral agreement such as the one proposed between China and Solomon Islands undermines that sentiment and shows a limited appreciation for security of the region as a whole by whomever was the leaked draft’s initial author. (Mihai Sora, theguardian.com, … Continue reading →

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