The Emerald Midget

this is ok.

it has happened before. it will happen again. it has been lost before. it will be lost again. and again. and again. and again. art and architecture are transient, and temporary, and 850 years may seem like a lot to the individual, who will live maybe 100 if they are very lucky and very healthy, but even the pyramids at saqqara have only existed for about 6000 years and that’s still not all that much, if you consider the grand scheme of things.

yes, this is terrible. as someone who is deeply religious and literally a professional historian with a focus on art and architecture, this is terrible. im mourning. im gutted. im horrified and upset and miserable. but.

it’s not over.

victor hugo wrote hunchback because notre dame du paris was in the process of collapsing and falling apart, and revitalized the entire world’s focus and love for this church, and that was not even 200 years ago. it led to it being renovated.

the roof has fallen in. the scars of fires are on its buttresses. the rose window has fallen out. the beams and piers have collapsed. the spire has toppled. the stones have suffered, and will suffer again, but it is not gone.

renovation work is essential. sometimes things collapse and burn and break and have to come back. it’s not a terrorist attack, it’s renovation, an accident, but we have so much evidence, history, carefully documented everything on one of the most studied places in the world.

Obviously everyone is shocked but here’s a few important key facts:

The roof is completely gone. Part of it dated back from the 13th century but the rest was from the 19th. The stone arch roof under the top roof is fine.

One of the three main stained glass rose windows has fallen out. Most of the other stained glass windows are okay.

The spire has fallen down and that’s the saddest part. BUT! It was in the process of being restored and the 16 statues that were there were removed just four days ago! So they’re fine.

The main structure is still here and nothing has “burned down” unlike what some people have been saying.

The “treasure” (sacred objects) is safe.

Yes, I know, the fire is still not completely out and the damage still needs to be fully evaluated. This comment is based on the live coverages I’ve been watching all evening.

However the worst is behind us even if the firemen have been saying it’s a “difficult fire” (”un feu difficile”).

On the topic of works of art that were inside:

You’ve been struck by 🔪

now I am just imagining a very early Egyptian encountering a wild cat for the first time.

human: what the fuck are you?

cat: mau

Marie Kondo’s show is actually the only one I have seen where she doesn’t focus on getting rid of as much as possible, and instead focuses on what they want to keep and how to appreciate the things they enjoy more. And if they want to hang onto useless stuff or don’t want to get rid of anything, that’s fine too? She just shows them how to organise it better.

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE:

Ryan Reynolds on becoming Detective Pikachu!

BONUS

every day the same telemarketing company calls us. I’ve asked to be taken off their calling list, I’ve tried to be civil, I’ve even tried to not answer the phone, yet they’ll keep calling. So now I’ve resorted to making the phones calls as annoying as possible for them.

Having an extended conversation in Mime with the Doctor through a window while the Doctor is also on the other side of a window, while the villain who is in the room they are both looking into watches, flabbergasted.

“You just want to mate?!”

The doctor, on a segway, stonefaced. Donna, also on a segway, in a wedding dress, cracking the fuck up.

“I am Sparticus.” “And I am also Sparticus.”

The Doctor and Donna nervously approaching a stack of books which they are concerned may be alive, reaching out very slowly and carefully to poke them, and collectively shitting their pants as a loud voice goes off behind them.