Bluntness

I've also been told I have little tact, so if this offends you simply ride on.

Sunday, May 12, 2019

From Mother's Day to Notre Dame

It's Sunday.  It's Mother's Day, a holiday initiated by Hallmark Cards to sell... cards.  Now every retailer in America wants you to buy something for Mom.  Oh, and it's not just big box retailers.  Anybody who has any item or product available for you to purchase, wants you to buy one for Mom.  You can buy your Mom a special phone, or tablet, or bicycle, or Kitchen Aide appliance.  I have to admit, however, this year we didn't get in truckloads of flowers.  Our main display was Toro lawn mowers, something Mom isn't too keen on getting.  Our big sales event is going to be Memorial Day and that makes Mother's Day small potatoes.  This doesn't mean we're going to ignore this faux holiday, rather we seem to be giving it the unimportant attention it deserves.
Evidently there's going to be an architectural contest for designing the new roof of Notre Dame.  It hasn't been announced yet, but designs are already being submitted across the Internet.  I guess about 55% of those surveyed feel it should be rebuilt to its original form, however the French do not have a very good reputation for detailed restorations.  Rather, they have been groundbreaking when it comes to innovative architecture, the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre being just one example.  People hated it when it was revealed... and now it's iconic.  While many feel the new roof should represent the religious aspects of Notre Dame, I'm fairly positive the secular, culture importance will win out; like it or not, the building is evolving.  Turning the rooftop into a more public space, a park perhaps, seems much more appropriate then the edification of an old style.  The cathedral is turning into a monument for the ages.


What ever design is eventually chosen, you can bet the French will hate it... at first.

12 comments:

  1. I fall into the keep it as it was camp.

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    1. I'm all for updating since the old has burned away.

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  2. my cats gave me a book for mother's day.

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    1. My dogs gave me biscuit kisses... oh, wait, I'm not a mother....

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  3. I think I would like it restored as it was. Don't know why really and I am happy to be proved wrong but that's just my gut feeling. But God knows what the French will do. I just hope they make it impressive.

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    1. That's why I love the French... so much unpredictability they can be relied upon to do something different.

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  4. I couldn't care less about Mother's Day or Notre Dame, and I'm happy with that.

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    1. I like the age of Notre Damn, not so much what it stood for in the past, but as the possibility of becoming one of the great culture centers in human history.

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  5. That will be interesting to see what new roof will be installed. I have read that the French hate, hate, hated the Eiffel Tower and wanted it torn down, in its early days. Now of course the Eiffel Tower is quite beloved by many.

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    1. There have been a number of suggestions, from being built entirely with stained glass to a crystalline flame for a spire. This will be fascinating.

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  6. I usually send one or three Mother’s Day cards. They seem to live it and I like sending them.
    The French May be quite continental, but I would not mess with that iconic design. Yet again, there’s the Louvre.

    XoXo

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    1. "Yet again, there's the Louvre," made me laugh because it is soooo true.

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