Tag Archives: writing

“Monk was the reason…”

Posted on June 25, 2018 by JMN

Monk was the reason I went to work for Barker Tools, what was it, sixty-nine, seventy? He was district manager working out of Kingsville. Hired me as a field rep. You bumped into some squirrely sons-of-britches in the oil patch, … Continue reading →

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The Northernness

Posted on June 25, 2018 by JMN

“If you’re full of beauty and positive things it’s harder for stuff to get to you. Joy is not a luxury that you can tack on when you’ve sorted everything out, joy is how you will sort out your problems… … Continue reading →

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“Doubtless your streets…”

Posted on June 25, 2018 by JMN

Doubtless your streets teem with miscreants and errant strollers. The windows of your cottages must be festooned with mock lace. Your doors surely sag on their hinges. Your tiny gardens must be rank with common gillyflowers and copied statues. Your … Continue reading →

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“Laughter is breath…”

Posted on June 25, 2018 by JMN

“Laughter is breath, it alters your being, and it allows you to move on, and keep living.” (Anna Mackmin, quoted by Patrick Barkham in The Guardian) There’s so much to like in the blog world. As one finding his feet … Continue reading →

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“Homecoming went well…”

Posted on June 20, 2018 by JMN

Homecoming went well this year. The Stags played the Mott Mohicans here and won 49-7. Stoop Harcourt pulled the “Sensation of the Stag Nation” float in the Saturday parade with that old Allis Chalmers tractor of his. His daughter Lirick … Continue reading →

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“When did you stop beating your wife?”

Posted on June 20, 2018 by JMN

“Through his mysterious and appealing lectures, they were guided away from the cold sobriety of genuine knowledge into the picturesque realms of pseudoscience….” (Grete de Francesco, “The Power of the Charlatan,” quoted by John Ganz in an opinion piece in … Continue reading →

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“A Modest Proposal”

Posted on June 20, 2018 by JMN

Jonathan Swift wrote that the babies of the poor should be spitted, roasted, and consumed. The quotation, in Latin, crowns the main gate to Baldershanks, Sir Alistair Chichester’s estate in Chichesterton-Upon-Hogg. Many have dismissed the Swiftian proposition as merely a mischievous … Continue reading →

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This just in!

Posted on June 19, 2018 by JMN

The restaurant in the UK House of Parliament has changed the name of a classic British dessert known as “spotted dick”; henceforth it will be called “spotted richard.” (Eater, June 18, 2018) Spotted dick was featured in the cozy supper … Continue reading →

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“What Philip Roth Didn’t Know…”

Posted on June 13, 2018 by JMN

Dara Horn states that Roth’s caricature of women reveals a lack of empathy, and deems it a literary failure, made more egregious by a lack of curiosity. (“What Philip Roth Didn’t Know About Women Could Fill a Book,” NYTimes) Definitions … Continue reading →

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Tweet in haste, repent at leisure

Posted on June 13, 2018 by JMN

Once I excerpted the following from a New Yorker article and flagged it in a tweet: “The Odd Future charge has been led by…Tyler Okonma, known as Tyler, the Creator… Hodgy Beats, a diminutive, quick-tempered rapper,… is half of the … Continue reading →

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