Growing Up Patton

"I have seen war on land and sea.

I have seen blood running from the wounded. ...

I have seen the dead in the mud. I have seen cities destroyed. ...

I have seen children starving.

I have seen the agony of mothers and wives.

I hate war."  

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 1936

This abbreviated quote by the 32nd US President, carved into the granite third 'room' of his Washington DC memorial, is also etched into my mind 12 years after first visiting the site.  It speaks to the pacifist in me.

Poster from the movie "Patton"

It is more than ironic, then, that the movie, Patton,  consistently appears in my personal top three favorite movies of all time. It goes against my 'type' in every way.  Contradictions abound. 

So, when I read that General George S. Patton's (1885-1945) grandson, Ben Patton, was visiting a local bookstore this month to promote and sign his book Growing Up Patton, I was all in. 

I walked into Chester County Book and Music Company expecting to hear some familial anecdotes about the author's famous grandfather.  Ben, author and filmmaker, provided so much more for the audience which was mostly comprised of war veterans and their spouses.

A sense of duty, respect for history, and a deep caring for the troops summarizes the entrenched military legacy of the Patton family.  It's embarrassing to note my ignorance regarding the famous WWII General having an equally infamous son, Major General George S. Patton IV (1923-2004) - a highly decorated Korean War and Vietnam War veteran and Ben's dad.  In fact, the family military history goes back to the Civil War in which Ben's great grandfather, George Smith Patton was a Confederate regimental commander in the Third Battle of Winchester in September of 1864.

Carrying forward this military pedigree could overwhelm even the most intact psyche, but Ben's self-effacing manner and love for his family, especially his dad, comes through within the first minutes of hearing him talk about their relationship.  "My father was the titan in my life," Ben noted. 

Ben's dad was also a persistent correspondent and evidenced by over 100 hours of audio tapes of communication shared between he and his wife and children.  "I learned the value of staying in touch from my father," Ben said, recalling the simple note his father even sent to Ben's newborn sister welcoming her into the world and asking her about being an infant. Personal notes and correspondence in the book provide its warm tone.  This spirit surprised me given the Patton military ancestry. It is clear that Ben's dad took his role as father as seriously as any military commission.  Having only seen his father twice during World War II, Ben's father knew he wanted things to be different for his children - and they were. 

Ben's father maintained a fierce loyalty toward his troops, putting himself in the front lines of war and noted that letting the enemy see him "gave them a target to shoot at." The commanding general believed, "A general should be seen by the enemy and set the example." He added, "Besides I have a certain disdain for the accuracy of their line of fire."   

From FDR Memorial, Washington DC

His dad's all pervasive feelings about strategy and duty were a 24/7 affair as evidenced in his final State of the Division speech given to officers and soldiers of the 2nd Armored Division in 1977: "We gotta think about fighting, we gotta think about attacking, we gotta think about pursuing and exploiting, we gotta think about it all the time."  The thought that followed is the one that is pure Patton, "Frankly I think about little else,  I cannot drive by a piece of ground-even when I'm on leave or pass or taking my wife to the movies - without thinking how I would attack it."

Professional soldiering is a Patton tradition that Ben met with his acceptance into the US Naval Academy.  On the cusp of starting his life there, Ben followed his father's vocational axiom to be authentic and decided to go in another direction.  Ben's authenticity eventually took him into documentary filmmaking and brings him into lives of soldiers in another way.  He films veterans telling their personal war stories in their own words.   "You are the only expert in your life," Ben noted .  "Hopefully this helps our veterans," he added, "I know it helps me reconnect with my father."

As he looked into the audience in attendance at the bookstore, Ben first thanked the veterans for their service. It summarized his feelings about military service, and was particularly appropriate as we approach Memorial Day.  "We must not be hesitant to thank our veterans - it is important to acknowledge them whenever we see them."

The Patton legacy of caring for the troops continues off the battlefield. 

Here is a terrific video in the Smithsonian archives of some Patton home movies, narrated by Ben.  http://www.smithsonianmag.com/multimedia/videos/Home-Movies-of-the-Patton-Family.html

Ben was interviewed on the 10!Show in Philly this month. Here is the video link: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/video/#!/shows/10-show/Growing-Up-Patton/152330625

Universal Truths

The universe gives me plenty to wonder about-  like how the planets each follow a controlled orbital path and how starlight is incredibly old light.  I feel equally protected from and awed by these colossal, constant realities. 

Today, the universe continues to be plentiful but with a sad wonder.  I feel less protected.  I also feel awestruck by some bright lights which have been extinguished much too soon.  Three Boston University students studying abroad in New Zealand died when their van rolled over on May 12. Two days earlier, the son of a woman I've become friends with in the last year died from kidney cancer.

They were all in their twenties. 
They were ferocious about life. 
They were the best of what we can become.

There are many degrees of separation from these young adults and myself.  Yet their orbits are in my universe.  My daughter is a BU student who arrived home from her semester abroad in London on May 11.  She is an acquaintance of one of the students who was hurt and is familiar with those who died. She scrambled to connect with her college friends as, in the vernacular of the day, the news 'blew up' on Facebook hours after she arrived home.  

I understand that a deadly car accident can occur whether one is 9 or 9,000 miles from home but I ached for the parents who not only had to receive such news, but who were so terribly far from their children.  There is a certain degree of parental liberation from fear when our adult children are out of reach.  I can anxiously wait up for my teenage driver who is due home by 11pm but have no reason to lie awake at night when my twenty year old child is hours (or countries) away at college. I cannot affect her comings and goings.  Yet, it all comes to a spectacular halt when news such as the BU students' deaths shockingly arrives.

I felt tension in my chest when my daughter shared the news.  I went to the "what does this mean to me" place.  I clearly understood the capricious nature of the universe as I looked at my study abroad daughter who spent her first night home safe in her familiar room. I recalled how many times I passed that room and thought of her, and texted "Sending you mommy love."  I thought of those families who would not see their study abroad children alive again.  It's a cold fact - this could happen to any of us - anytime.  

The jolt of this news was in vivid contrast to the protracted nature of my friend's son's illness.   I've listened to her as she watched her boy unwillingly submit to cancer's persistent, inhumane call for months.  I never met him, but have witnessed his mother manage the array of emotional and practical burdens cancer brings.  She is exquisite in how she can share her pain and hear about mine with the same intensity.  One of the things she railed against was when I (or anyone else) would separate her pain from ours.  She would set me straight in plain terms.  If I said something like "my problems are nothing compared to yours" she insisted that kind of statement separated her from me and diminished her along with our friendship. 

As startling as it was to hear this, I quickly understood how easily I fell into the faulty chasm of cliche and marveled as I watched others do the same and become schooled by my friend.  Pain is pain. It is one truth.  She shared her conversations, her frustration, the hope and the loss of hope with unforgiving clarity.  She met her son's relentless cancer with a rigid resolve of love.  

The BU parents have been jolted into death's chamber while my friend has been slowly dragged toward it. The speed may differ but the trajectory is the same.   I watched all this from the sidelines wanting to ease the pain, knowing I could not. 

How will they know peace once the memorials and condolences fade? How will they hear life now that that they have been blasted by the sound of death?  I pray that a flicker of strength stirs and grows to sustain them for as long as it takes.  For now, we feel the pain.  

Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message 'He is Dead.'
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

BU Today article re: study abroad accident: http://www.bu.edu/today/2012/three-students-dead-in-new-zealand-crash/

Shoe Me

"Helloooo Lover" cooed Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) as she and Samantha Jones of Sex and the City fame gazed into a Manhattan storefront window memorably fawning over a pair of hot pink Manolo Blahnik heels. It often seemed Carrie's relationship with fashion was her best one, offering her comfort and consistency as she navigated her pseudo-fabulous Manhattan life.


Manolo Blahnik's worn by Carrie Bradshaw

Carrie's love affair with shoes escalated to new heights when her love affair with Mr. Big resulted in her donning blue satin Manolo's (currently on sale at Nordstrom's for a cool $945) for her wedding in the first SATC movie. It was a dreamy, dare I say poignant ("something blue") use of footwear. 

I thought about the relationship between women and their shoes in much more simple terms as my daughter and I recently shopped for her prom heels.  Our trek took us through shoe stores large and small and two department store shoe collections.  My feet did not hurt as much as my eyes when I saw some of the platform wonders before me.  While Nancy Sinatra's 1966 pop song insists these boots are made for walkin', many shoes that day seemed better suited for sittin'.

Literally putting his feet where his designs are, Manolo Blahnik told a Telegraph reporter in 2010 how seriously he takes shoe style and comfort when he explained, "My assistants and I will try out every shoe ourselves, walking up and down the factory floor to make sure that there are no blisters."
http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/news-features/TMG8018703/Manolo-Blahnik-Men-say-my-shoes-have-saved-marriages.html

Shoe shopping with my daughters as youngsters consisted of rushing through being fitted for their shoes so they could head into the larger sizes and don the more extravagant, wondrous ladies footwear.  My staid shoe taste could not have ignited this primal interest. They were imbued by Cyndi Lauper's famed lyrics -Girls just wanna to have fun - as they awkwardly strutted their inner footwear fashionista.  Fancy footwear simply carries its own mystique.       

This photo reminds me of  the sliding board in Upper Darby ThomMcAn store.

Shoe shopping was great fun when I was a kid, but not because of style.  The two-story 69th Street ThomMcAn shoe store in Upper Darby was a marvel for one reason - a sliding board! While street level shopping belonged to adults, access to the children's section in the lower level was either by stairs or sliding board.  Imagine sliding into a store!  I recall cursing the very sad day when my growing foot size relegated me to street level shopping.  The thrill was truly gone.  

High heels, platform shoes (and their challenges) filled my closet floor as a teen and young adult.  I recall purchasing a particularly high pair of platform shoes in those disco pumping seventies and walking uphill to my after school job at JCPenney from the shoe store. I learned the physics of footwear quickly and painfully as I literally took one step forward, and two steps back working my way uphill.  All for fashion.

Today, it is not just high heels, but the stacked platform soles that truly elevate the wearer to wobbly heights.  The shoes beautifully elongate any leg, but a woman's ability to walk seems evermore challenged. Women walking smoothly in these shoes is a marvel.  I recall a lunchtime visit to a podiatrist when I was experiencing foot pain at work.  The doctor picked up my black patent leather pump and shook it in my direction announcing, "This is the culprit!"  Apparently my feet rebelled against the stiff, inflexibility of the fashionable heels. Curses!

The American Podiatric Medical Association web site is blunt about poor shoe choices: "Women inflict more punishment on their feet in part from improper footwear that can bring about unnecessary foot problems. Some of the problems result from high-heeled shoes (generally defined as pumps with heels of more than two inches). Doctors of podiatric medicine believe such heels are medically unsound and attribute postural and even safety problems to their use."   http://www.apma.org/MainMenu/Foot-Health/Brochures/Learn-About-Your-Feet/Footwear.aspx

Mojito by Julian Hakes

Footwear that breaks with the norm like this soleless creation by London based architect-turned-footwear designer Julian Hakes must be fodder for any podiatrist   Called "Mojito," it is a futuristic design wonder and makes me wonder what it feels like on? A girl can dream. In many ways, women's shoe fashions surely keep a steady stream of female patients flowing into podiatrists' waiting rooms.  As the song in A Chorus Line reflects, "What I did for love" could be extended to "What I did for fashion."  http://www.hakes.co.uk/

A recent NYTimes article  "Who Made That Stiletto?" notes the history of the shoe shape, with SATC costume designer Patricia Field weighing in on its place in the world of fashion. Asked if the stiletto will ever go out of style, Ms. Field remarked with aplomb, "It’s like leopard, for example. It’s a classic. Sometimes it becomes highly trendy, and sometimes it gets quieter, but it never goes away."

Junior prom heels

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/magazine/who-made-that-stiletto.html 

On prom night, my daughter and her friend giggled as they realized they had bought the same heels and implored me to take a 'shoe shot.'  It was a timeless rite of Spring as young women transformed themselves for prom night, stepping out both with high heels and expectations, all while standing on solid ground.


CNN International reporter, Anna Coren, interviewed Manolo Blahnik in March, 2012.
The 67 year old designer talks about his Sex and the City exposure in this brief video: http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2012/03/16/talk-asia-manolo-blahnik.cnn

Here is link to the transcript of the entire CNN interview with Manolo Blahnik:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1203/17/ta.01.html

Quilting Artistry

Take a few yards of various fabrics, cut them into measured shapes, and sew them back together.

Bare Bones Quilting 101.

While this is an over-simplification of a treasured and ancient art form, it is at the very least a starting point for even the most elaborate quilts. I recently viewed a collection of contemporary quilts which blew the traditional idea of a colorful bedspread wide open and introduced another creative slant to this art form. So, Quilters, before you slice me and my Quilting 101 definition into measured shapes, put down your rotary cutters and visit the Wayne Art Center’s current exhibition titled “ArtQuilt Elements 2012” which runs until May13, 2012. http://www.wayneart.org/exhibition/artquilt-elements-2012

The exhibit is a juried collection 48 works selected from a pool of 660 entries that vary in every way except for the basic requirement that they contain a layer of batting sandwiched by a quilt top and backing. Once that sole parameter is met, the pieces explode with unique interpretations.

I was grateful to peruse the exhibit with my very accomplished friend and neighbor, Lisa O'Neill, who quilts with such creativity and ambition, she leaves me breathless. Her book Sliver Quilts: 11 Projects *Easy Technique for Dynamic Results introduces a clever quilting technique and is due out this May. (Pre-orders are available on Amazon.) http://www.amazon.com/Sliver-Quilts-Projects-Technique-Dynamic/dp/1607054299/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1334350760&sr=1-3 

I was struck by the diverse artistry as we slowly gazed upon each piece – abstract designs, meditative faces, even a pair of colorful skeletons breathed vibrant life into quilting. These are not your grandma’s quilts. Quilting serves as a metaphor for making sense out of chaos – and, in some of the exhibit entries, sometimes creating chaos from the sensible, as depicted in this entry by Kristin LaFlamme titled War Sucks.

Taking the traditional and turning it on its ear really opened up possibilities not only in design, but in some of the smallest details, such as the intricate stitching in Thousands of Words by Mary Ruth Smith.

(A closer look at the stitching in "Thousands of Words".)

The contemporary exhibit forced me to thoughtfully consider the message in each entry - whether or not the quilter succeeded in communicating a specific idea.  I found several of the written inspirations offered by some quilt makers overpowered the works in a rambling way. I truly believe the work itself should tell the story and a brief explanatory note should suffice. The works with concise notations were consistently the ones that touched me the most - they opened up space for appreciation, instead of telling me what to feel.  As each entry prodded me to understand its maker's intention, I delighted in many of them. Here are a few more personal favorites.  Enjoy!

"Twisted" by Dianne Nunez

"Down Pat" by Pat Budge (My favorite entry)

"Chinmoku:Silence" by Shin-hee Chin

"Forever Yours" by Susan Else (Yes, it is quilted!)

If you are a quilter or are curious about quilting, check out Lisa O'Neill’s blog and website aptly titled “A Thread From the Edge.” http://www.athreadfromtheedge.blogspot.com/

Eclipsed: Women & War

Wife #1.  Wife #2.  Wife #3.  Wife #4.

When people call each other by number, not by name, humanity is seemingly extinguished.

Four women known only numerically to each other embody this loss of humanity as they exist in war torn Liberia during its 1999-2003 civil war.  Their plight was depicted in Monday evening's reading of Danai Gurira's play Eclipsed at People's Light and Theatre Company (PLTC). 

The war takes a sledgehammer to humanity in the play, yet each woman's story challenges audience members to consider what they would do in similar circumstances. How each woman adapts to brutal, inhumane circumstances is the play's foundation.  The many faces of survival are shown in stark dialogue throughout the play, directed by Jade King Carroll.

Each wife is enslaved to an unseen, unnamed rebel commanding  officer. Learning to endure the CO's endless sexual needs along with their loss of identity pits the women in a strange hierarchy of forced respect for each other.  Wife #1 (played by Erika Hicks) reigns high in a twisted status.  Wife #2 (played by Taysha Canales) is pregnant with the CO's child and keeps close track of those 'beneath' her.  Wife # 3 (played by Miriam Hyman) has chosen the life of a soldier over that of a concubine.

Wife #4 (played by Lupita Nyong'o) enters the group early in the performance and is the catalyst for change as she mourns the loss of her youth and her parents while weighing which wife she most wants to emulate.  The strange, unthinkable choices available to these women is captured in a scene where Wife #3 and #4 stand stage right dissecting the reasons to be soldiers, while Wife #1 and Rita stand stage left talking about the possibility that there is a way out.

It is clear that none of the choices offer any real escape, so the women navigate this perilous world in desperate measure.  The arrival of Rita (played by Melanye Finister) as one of many Liberian peacemakers who negotiate with rebel commanders creates inroads in giving the women hope.  Her job is hard fought and frustrating to its core, but she persists.  It offers a glimmer of hope. 

Forcing the women to snap out of a uneasy acceptance of their lot, Rita yells, "They treat us like beasts!," and searches for a next step for these women.  She explains, "You have to see what your life can be beyond this bondage."  Wife #1 flatly replies, "I no know who I is out of war."  The soldier Wife #3 barks out her mantra, "At best you work with the system and now the system is war."

Throughout the reading, the powerful performances tread deliberately on the physical and emotional ravages of war and a world turned on its head.  Desperation breeds choices that cannot be judged.  The playwright offers a robust view of humanity at its worst and then, at the war's end, of humanity hoping to find itself. 

Rita notes toward the conclusion of the play, "The war over. Get back to who you was."  This haunting suggestion only confirms confusion about identity.  Who are these women post-war? They share their real names as they take baby steps into a world seemingly unknown.  Going back may not be the answer, but rather, going forward and finding who they will become starts with how they answer the question, Who am I?

All five performances projected depth and power. The precise dialogue and convincing  portrayals heavily weighted in Liberian dialect kept the audience on edge as we took the bare knuckled journey through a country at war with itself. A brief question and answer period followed the reading. So authentic were the actresses depictions over a two hour stretch, I found it a little jarring to hear them resume their everyday voices and become soft in their comments while answering audience questions.

PLTC's efforts to reach out to the community and spark discussion using theatrical performance as a catalyst speaks to how it sees its wider role.  I was honored to feel the interpretation of this unforgettable work and to think outside my suburban life.  I would have liked more time spent on the question and answer portion of the evening.  When I attended the first reading of the Community Matters series in February, titled Dispatches from (A)mended America, the discussion portion was longer, allowing for some shared decompression. 

 In a fitting footnote, Liberia elected a female President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in 2005.  She was reelected in 2009 to a second term. After years of male driven civil strife, Liberia decided to turn to its women for leadership. It seems more than just.   
 
The reading of Eclipsed was part of PLTC's "Community Matters" series of presentations offered as "an experiment in community engagement."   For information on upcoming free performances in this series check out the PLTC site:  www.peopleslight.org

Gone Fishin'- in the Yemen

The movie, "Salmon Fishing In the Yemen" opens today in theaters and I (along with many other lucky Bryn Mawr Film Institute members) attended a sneak preview in late February.  Not only were we treated to the film, but actress Emily Blunt, who stars in it, was on hand to answer audience questions following the screening. 

Here is the post I wrote for the BMFI blog. Just click on the link at the end to read it in its entirety!

Three things made BMFI’s screening of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen very special:
1. It was a sneak preview;
2. It was free to members;
3. Actress Emily Blunt answered questions after the screening.

It appeared to be an act of movie magic to see the British actress walk down the theater aisle at the film’s end and take a seat next to BMFI President Juliet Goodfriend, ready to field questions. The full house applauded heartily not only for the actress, but for the film in which she stars opposite Ewan McGregor and Kristin Scott Thomas. Ms. Blunt’s visit was a very sweet digestif to the charming comedy.

Filmed in Morocco, Salmon Fishing pairs a visionary sheik (Amr Waked) and Dr. Alfred Jones (Mr. McGregor), a government fisheries wonk, to introduce salmon spawning in the Middle Eastern country. As the sheik’s PR consultant, Harriet Chetwode Talbot (Ms. Blunt) helps both men as the unlikely project becomes a reality. The film shows what the sheik’s seemingly bottomless wallet and the fishing expert’s understated knowledge can produce when they collaborate on the same dream.
http://www.brynmawrfilm.blogspot.com/2012/03/actress-emily-blunt-visits-bmfi.html

Actress Emily Blunt signing posters promoting her new film, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, at BMFI.

Downton Abbey

I am a Johnny-Come-Lately to Downton Abbey.  So American.

The program's buzz had been humming like a hornet's nest and yet, I waited until the final show of Season 2 to watch my first episode.  It was definitely like starting with dessert, and who really can complain about that?  I am hooked!

I quickly reserved Season 1 from my local library and thought I would savor watching each of the seven episodes, sipping on them like a tawny port after a sumptuous meal. 

So dignified. So reserved. So British.

Alas, there was no sipping.

I was gulping show after show, unable to satisfy my hunger for what was to happen next.  Would Mary allow Matthew into her heart? Would Mrs. Patmore ever get off Daisy's back? Would O'Brien grow a conscience?  I needed answers!

While some answers were revealed, more questions arose, continually piquing my interest.
The majestic setting, the detailed period costumes and the highbrow soap opera storylines are tightly woven, leaving little chance to look away.  But, I think the cleverest aspect which keeps me watching is the clipped timing of each scene.  The writing is bright and concise leaving every scene as its own perfect vignette.  Just enough morsels of information are offered, and then it is onto another part of the grand castle.

Dame Maggie Smith as the
Dowager Countess

Not surprising, Dame Maggie Smith brings an estate-sized pedigree to her role as the Dowager Countess, "the irrefutable authority on everything."  It is her unexpected comedic delivery of some of the show's most memorable lines that really keeps things off balance.  When she and her American daughter-in-law, Cora, make an unlikely alliance to find a quick suitor overseas for her eldest granddaughter, Mary, the Dowager Countess goes to what she knows to be true when she flatly states, "In these moments, you can normally find an Italian who isn't too picky."

Or when she enters a brightly lit room recently wired with electricity, she flips open her fan to shield her eyes, and says disdainfully, “Oh dear, such a glare. I feel as if I were on stage at the Gaiety.” Her son, the Earl of Grantham, offers to electrify rooms in her home, to which she snips, “No, I couldn’t have electricity in the house. I wouldn’t sleep a wink; all those vapors seeping about.”  For a look at the top ten Dowager Countess lines, watch this humorous video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVMtffzbAwk

Just as the storyline crosses into the early 20th century, the Dowager Countess represents the pivotal bridge to more stayed times.  She fields change with a stiff sensibility for what is proper and bristles as it seeps in anyway – like an electrical current.

Even though the setting and period are far out of reach, the human themes of love, rejection, equality, class, fear, loathing and secret pasts fuel storylines that travel throughout the stayed upstairs life and the hectic servants’ world below.  The class system is in full flower in this world where servants bow and curtsy to the manor family.  There are, however, even more delineated lines among the servants. When Mr. Carson, the house butler (and highest ranked servant), enters the kitchen while the servants eat, all stand upon his arrival.  A lady’s maid is above a housemaid and poor Daisy, is the lowest of the low, a kitchen maid.  

Siobhan Finneran as Mrs.
Sarah O'Brien

Every one of the 16 principle characters is in some sort of battle to keep their status or to either push through into the next job or gasp! out into the village to work.  All the while, the truth is a commodity for both those with scruples and the unscrupulous.  Where the characters fall on that line of truth changes from show to show- much to my dismay! For example, the hard edged Mrs. O'Brien, lady's maid to the Countess of Grantham, mistakenly thinks she is being replaced at Downton.  In a moment of revenge, she pushes soap where her newly pregnant Lady's foot will land when she steps out of the bath, causing her to fall and miscarry.  Moments before this happens, O'Brien glimpses at the mirror and realizes she does not recognize her scheming self.  But, too late, because seconds later her Lady falls.  Curses! O'Brien!

A quiet but formidable character is the home itself.  The show’s writer/creator, Julian Fellowes, aptly describes the house as a “trumpet blast” and in real life is known as Highclere Castle, a 50-room manor about 1 ½ hours west of London.  Interestingly, the castle was an abbey in its earlier days.  Another example of art imitating life.

The Dowager Countess Paper doll

As for merchandise, there’s plenty.  Mugs and pillows sporting favorite show quotes such as the Dowager’s question “What is a weekend?” or “She is not entitled to opinions until she is married. Then her husband will tell her what her opinions are.”  My favorites are paper doll character cutouts done with a tongue in cheek attitude. http://www.vulture.com/2012/02/print-out-vultures-downton-abbey-paper-dolls.html

So, I now patiently hold my place on the library waiting list for Season 2 to come my way. I shall dig deep, channeling a British sensibility and keep a stiff upper lip. 

In the meantime here are some more favorite quotes from the show.

“First electricity, now the telephone, I sometimes feel I am living in an HG Wells novel.” The Dowager Countess

"It sounds like the cry of the Banshee.”
Mrs. Patmore  (upon hearing the newly installed telephone ring in Downton Abbey.)

"Is there anything worse than losing one’s maid?”
The Dowager Countess

“What we want doesn’t matter. At least that’s not all that matters.”
The Earl of Grantham

“We thought the assassination of an Archduke was a surprise.”
Mrs. O’Brien (her response upon hearing Mrs. Patmore being summoned upstairs to the library. )

“If she’s got a boyfriend, I’m a giraffe.”
Mrs. O’Brien (her response to hearing Mrs. Hughes has a beau.)

“Oh good-let’s talk about money.” 
The Dowager Countess

Link to the PBS website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/downtonabbey/
Link to a video tour of Highclere Castle: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQy-k1Pd290