How to cope with PTSDAD

Violet Words of Wisdom
(Words by The Dowager Countess Grantham, arrangement by Terri Lynn Simpson)

Vulgarity is no substitute for wit.

Life is a game in which the player must appear ridiculous.
You see, sometimes we must let the blow fall by degrees.
War makes early risers of us all.

Life is a game in which the player must appear ridiculous.

Have we all stepped through the looking glass?
War makes early risers of us all.
A change is as good as a rest.

Have we all stepped through the looking glass?

The truth is neither here nor there, it’s the look of the thing that matters.
A change is as good as a rest.
One way or another, everyone goes down the aisle with half the story hidden.

The truth is neither here nor there, it’s the look of the thing that matters.

I hope we’re in control of something, if only ourselves.
One way or another, everyone goes down the aisle with half the story hidden.
There’s nothing more to be said.


PTSDAD-- Post third season Downton Abbey depression

I'm sure it will hit many of us tonight as we sit down at 9 pm and tune our televisions to our local PBS stations and we aren't greeted by the rear view of a yellow lab.

Granted, some will take solace in the glitz and glamour of the Oscars but for those of us who don't watch award shows, I offer today's poem, violet words of wisdom to fight the PTSDAD blues.  And some suggestions to help you cut back on the period dramas without having to go cold turkey.  (All of these are available on Netflix on Demand.)

Upstairs Downstairs - The original introduction of the US audience to the complex relationships in English aristocratic households.  It's the Bellamys rather than the Crawleys and a townhouse in London rather than an enormous manor house but making sure the ladies get their tea on time is still a challenge at times.








Brideshead Revisited - Set a bit later than Downton, Brideshead offers another perspective on what happens when a middle class lad gets drawn into the world of the aristocracy.

My Life So Far - Colin Firth, a Scottish manor house, an eccentric family, a post WWI setting, and a precocious ten year old who spends his time reading an elicit copy of the racy "Dictionary of Morals" in an attic.  It's worth is just to watch the scene at the dinner party where he comes up with a way for his mother and future aunt to make money to help save the estate. 







Also from the pen of Julian Fellowes . . .

Gosford Park - Downton with deception and murder.  Maggie Smith is joined by other luminaries of British drama-- Alan Bates, Derek Jacobi, Helen Mirren, Stephen Fry, Richard E. Grant . . . basically it might be easier to say who isn't in Gosford Park.  Colin Firth.

From Time to Time - Another Fellowes film featuring Maggie Smith.  Also in a grand house that needs to be saved.  Another war era setting, this time WWII.  Maggie's grandson comes to stay with his estranged grandmother while his mother tries to find out the fate of his father who has been declared missing in action.  Meanwhile, Tolly becomes reacquainted with his grandmother and the house and discovers the house has more inhabitants than he remembers.  A movie more for kids it's reminiscent of the Disney's 70's classic Candleshoe.


Monarch of the Glen - Not really a period piece but another story of a family's attempt to save their destitute estate.  And there is a Julian Fellowes connection as he appears as an actor in the series, portraying Lord Killwillie, frenemy and partner-in-crime of the patriarch of the MacDonald clan.