tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post5420527503158384173..comments2024-01-06T08:38:28.019+00:00Comments on Blaugustine's Other Blog: RAISON D'ÊTREUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-79255178686177731402013-08-02T19:55:41.423+01:002013-08-02T19:55:41.423+01:00Hattie, the heat wave intensified but now it seems...Hattie, the heat wave intensified but now it seems to be retreating and predictions are that it'll be cooler. But weather forecasts are not very reliable, in spite of all that technology cluttering up skies and outerspace!Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-15402481503670953512013-08-02T16:38:30.372+01:002013-08-02T16:38:30.372+01:00I love reading this. And it's nice to hear fro...I love reading this. And it's nice to hear from Roderick, too.<br />I hope your heat wave has broken by now. Hattiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02621439195920479957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-44000874345654231622013-07-31T11:20:26.695+01:002013-07-31T11:20:26.695+01:00Bruce, that's a very good raison d'être an...Bruce, that's a very good raison d'être and certainly figures prominently in my life too. Far from killing the cat I'd say curiosity keeps it alive.Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-85461692492566554362013-07-31T07:12:20.385+01:002013-07-31T07:12:20.385+01:00My raison d'être is my constant curiousity abo...My raison d'être is my constant curiousity about nearly everything. I suspect it is yours as well, dear Natalie.Catalysthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03804837416104556928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-15797605406723979312013-07-30T11:29:33.131+01:002013-07-30T11:29:33.131+01:00Roderick, relieved to know it's not necessary ...Roderick, relieved to know it's not necessary to curtsy and walk backwards in your presence. Not as deep as a saucer eh? So that would be, like, crêpe suzette-deep? Extremely difficult to achieve.<br /><br />My forehead has been hidden under a fringe ('bangs' in American. Why?) since the age of about 5 but I assume it's still very intelligent. The cartoon looks like my cartoon alter ego Augustine more than it looks like me.Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-10488667357036221022013-07-30T07:13:32.271+01:002013-07-30T07:13:32.271+01:00Wisdom? Nah! I'm an ex-journo which means I kn...Wisdom? Nah! I'm an ex-journo which means I know a tiny bit about an awful lot. Saucers are deep in comparison.<br /><br />But not on your forehead, not while I'm around and your comment box is available for acts of self-aggrandisement. I will not have you disfigured. Working from the evidence of the cartoon I am reminded of the literary conceit about "broad intelligent" foreheads. It seems you might have one. If so it must remain inviolate. How about a ballpoint note on your wrist? Actually, you're not at all a wimp.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-41407272950834640682013-07-29T18:31:22.201+01:002013-07-29T18:31:22.201+01:00Jean, glad I struck a chord with you. How's yo...Jean, glad I struck a chord with you. How's your raison d'être these hot and muggy days? Maybe someone should invent a R d'E cocktail for us susceptibles?Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-11914647217207169662013-07-29T18:26:58.983+01:002013-07-29T18:26:58.983+01:00Ellena, "not supposed to know" implies t...Ellena, "not supposed to know" implies that somebody or Something knows our raison d'être but hides it from us. I could go along with that supposition but then I'd get very angry when my legitimate requests for information were left unanswered. I'd demand rights according to the Freedom of Information act.Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-70387494314407029372013-07-29T18:13:50.917+01:002013-07-29T18:13:50.917+01:00Hi Dorothee, good to see you.
Yes, the endless qu...Hi Dorothee, good to see you. <br />Yes, the endless questioning is certainly part of the raison d'etre, if not all of it. But questioning doesn't actually work until it's translated into work: given some kind of shape, structure, function. A question that just hangs in the air, formless, is like an echo, endlessly talking to itself.Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-40189328513453741472013-07-29T18:03:50.326+01:002013-07-29T18:03:50.326+01:00Roderick, the wisdom in your comment is almost gur...Roderick, the wisdom in your comment is almost guru-like. Are you turning into a Zen master? Or have you always been one secretly? Shall I have to get all respectful when addressing you?<br /><br />"If you choose to lie abed then lying in bed becomes the meaning."<br />"The hot weather seemed to be turning you into a wimp."<br /><br />Those two sentences alone are worthy of being carved in stone. Or tattoed on my forehead. <br /><br />I really needed to hear all that you've said and I'm seriously grateful. Really.<br />Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-58430720263749719472013-07-29T17:54:51.656+01:002013-07-29T17:54:51.656+01:00Tom, it was your letter which provoked/inspired th...Tom, it was your letter which provoked/inspired this post so you must take credit for it. Your log jam (blog jam?) can't be any worse than mine has been of late so let's hope for a fast and furious downstream current to un-jam us.Natalie d'Arbeloffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07757081405040926647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-27110913271079997802013-07-29T16:58:37.942+01:002013-07-29T16:58:37.942+01:00Natalie, I love this! Grosses (and hot, sticky - s...Natalie, I love this! Grosses (and hot, sticky - sorry!) bises. Jeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08690685768980280402noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-41097831066506161522013-07-29T14:38:35.437+01:002013-07-29T14:38:35.437+01:00Could it be that we are not supposed to know what ...Could it be that we are not supposed to know what our raison d'être is. The less we know it, the less we can modify or adjust it and maybe the stronger it becomes. -an interrupted short thought of mine -<br />Ellenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14965850008354379369noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-52029254163945870062013-07-29T11:53:34.801+01:002013-07-29T11:53:34.801+01:00great reflection. a thought i had later: maybe one...great reflection. a thought i had later: maybe one of the raisons d'etre for an artist is - beyond the creation - the questioning. <br />Dorotheehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17071668426716077347noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-83483342997448655512013-07-29T08:43:20.068+01:002013-07-29T08:43:20.068+01:00Yes, you have written a blog post (almost a a taut...Yes, you have written a blog post (almost a a tautology there) and I was beginning to despair. The hot weather seemed to be turning you into a wimp. Reminding me of an occasion when my clock was well and truly wiped. I hadn't banked up his open coal fire, I told my father-in-law, because access to the coal hole was outdoors and it had been raining. "Are you sugar or are you salt?" he growled. The put-down's almost mystical qualities left me uncharacteristically speechless. But not today.<br /><br />Surely a <i>raison d'etre</i> is merely the potential for something to happen, it's not a guarantee. It can of course be stated deterministically after the event but that's for critics, not for the writer. It's not something you can comfort yourself with. Saying that life has a meaning is putting the cart before the horse. "May have" is better. It all depends on how you respond to that possibility. If you choose to lie abed then lying in bed becomes the meaning.<br /><br />Just twist things round a bit. In trying to decide whether creativity is your <i>raison d'etre</i> might you equally be wondering whether you've been touched by genius? Yeah, doesn't sound good does it? Not something you'd care to utter aloud.<br /><br />There are a million excuses for not writing a sentence, painting a canvas, coming up with an <i>escalope de veau à la Zagreb</i>. But only one reason for getting these things done. It's either important or it's not. If you want some kind of spur take gloomy reassurance from the fact that most times it isn't important. Reflect too on whether a bad novel completed is better than a work of entrancing beauty still awkwardly located only in the mind of some delicate belle lettriste who's afraid to lay his spatulate fingers on the keyboard.<br /><br />I hope I've not arrived like Joe Bftsplk in L'il Abner, causing disaster and negative thoughts wherever he goes. Reflect finally (and sarkily) on why I wrote all this when I could have been adding a few paving stones to the 17,000 already laid one behalf of Hand Signals. Whether I'm wondering about those forthcoming 103,000 stones (at the very minimum) and might be taking time off to assess their importance.Roderick Robinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16828395545197001637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24746593.post-22673704589815281092013-07-29T08:09:30.039+01:002013-07-29T08:09:30.039+01:00Natalie; I am experiencing difficulties at the mo...Natalie; I am experiencing difficulties at the moment re my blog. I love what you have written, and perhaps your final is what I need right now. "So I haven't answered anything. But at least I've written a blog post." My thanks for possibly loosening my inner log jam.Tomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09028121782477111901noreply@blogger.com