Jolly good!

If you thought my first blog post of 2013 was going to be something thoughtful and deep . . . you were wrong.

Don’t get me wrong. It was likely going to be. But then, “Downton Abbey” season 3 kicked off in America and everything else seemingly went out the window.

And if it helps to explain anything at all, please know that as I write this post, my inner voice is speaking with a British accent. Cheerio!

But I digress. I love “Downton Abbey” for a lot of reasons. I tend to like British things; I think the time period is interesting and it’s cool to see how they’re navigating a changing society and social rules. It’s a glimpse inside of a life that is absolutely foreign to me and kind of hard to imagine. And, I’m a romantic at heart and can’t resist a good love story, especially ones with as many trials and issues as those on “Downton.”

I mean, basically, “Downton Abbey” is a soap opera with fancy British accents and valets. And I love it.

But one of my favorite characters is the Dowager Countess. She’s so. . . . dowager-y. And awesome. And full of stinging one liners. I loved in the first season when she was unfamiliar with the concept of a weekend. (I mean, come on! Who asks, What’s a weekend?)

One of my favorite things about the Dowager Countess is her facial expressions. Maggie Smith can say more with a look than many actors can with a monologue. That said, let me show rather than tell. . .

This one? Oh, dear. Cora is being annoyingly AMERICAN again. Sigh. The cross I bear dealing with this one.

Guffaw! (Internally, of course. A lady never guffaws publicly.) That is so LUDICROUS! An aristocrat marry a chauffeur?

This one says, That is entirely improper. SCANDAL! There is a pudding course for dinner and NO PUDDING CUPS! And Matthew is wearing a DINNER JACKET, not tails, to DINNER!!!!

Oh, Ethel! Dial down the desperation! I want you happy AND married to an aristocrat, too, but does he have to be MY age?

I AM the Dowager Countess. I WILL get my way. . .

This one? Lady Violet (the Dowager Countess) is thinking: Matthew’s mother and her modern ways. I will tolerate her, but I will not let her have her way!

#DowagerCountess #DowntonAbbey