Recently I had the pleasure of watching Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale in the movie theater. It was an absolute gift to visually stroll about upstairs and down along side those wonderful characters who have grown so dear to us the past 15 years. “Lest we worry about too many changes, Julian Fellowes’s script is stuffed with comforting constants: Lady Mary will be indiscreet, Carson the butler will be scandalized, Lord Grantham will find something to be huffy about and the family will face financial ruin” (New York Times). I can’t think of a better week than this one to escape from headlines and our diminishing democracy, even though I must admit more than an escape is needed. It isn’t even shocking to see such stalwart allegiance to the 2nd Amendment in contrast to the broad dismissal of the 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution as we become a country that fears a jester’s words more than a lunatic’s firearm. There is no push by this administration to reduce gun violence, only the swift sword curtailing free speech. LBJ was a different guardian of the White House when he shared, “It is part of the price of leadership of this great and free nation to be the target of clever satirists. You have given the gift of laughter to our people. May we never grow too somber or self-important that we fail to appreciate the humor in our lives.” Our would-be-king-president reacts differently, by silencing all who don’t echo his mountain of lies. Perhaps, just for today, for your mental health or for a little chuckle, treat yourself to Downton Abbey’s “yummy photography, stunning set pieces and Lady Mary trying on as many fabulous frocks as possible“(New York Times). Of course I hope you read my decade old post first.
Category Archives: Art
Album Covers through the Decades
I see my life flipping back through the album bin. Where did I really start? Probably when my parents met, when for a fleeting second they played with cousins and friends on a beach that eventually became home to all of us once we too arrived on the scene. But back then it was just theirs to run on. So perhaps, this album would be called “Run On Babe.” Their’s was an epic run as was most pictured here along side the colored cabanas resting on that rocky Long Island northern shore. Perhaps you can hear strands of Sinatra and Fitzgerald crooning while surrounded by a big band filling the sultry heat of a beachy summer night?
From the Ashes
From the ashes indeed, and in record time. What a magnificent achievement is the rebuilding of Notre Dame thanks to “about 250 companies and 2,000 workers and artisans from all over France who knew the world was watching, and drove them to give their all for the project of a lifetime” (NYTimes). If you have been lucky, you have walked into that nearly thousand year old building, and have stood in wonder at the very soul of France. My first visit was in 1973 with my 5 siblings and our parents. My second was with my teenage daughter in 1997. But as fortune allowed, I returned with two friends in July of 2018. I think it was the bells that most captured the overwhelming sense of history and simultaneously kept me in the very moment as we listened in awe and delight.
Nine Cent Girl 