Enjoy it Again

All I really want to do today is crochet and watch Downton Abbey.

I’ve written before about how I love a good story, and I do. The best way to know when I think a story 
is good (aside from when I go on about it endlessly), is when I want to experience it over and over again: a wonderful book series like The Dresden Files, an awesome webcomic like Girl Genius, and an intriguing television program like Downton Abbey.


I almost didn’t read The Dresden Files. I heard the word “vampire,” and my disinclination for anything involving that crazy fad kicked into overdrive. Admittedly, the vampires of the Dresdenverse are different from your average vampire. Less sparkle and more monster. I’m glad I did, though. They’re fantasy/detective novels that happen to include vampires in the very large pool of bad guys. The intrigue with finding his family, the friendship between he and Murph, and the puzzles that he solves make Dresden’s exploits well worth reading and enjoying over and over again. I’m not quite sure if I’ve read the 13 novels through five or six times, but I’m sure I’ll read them through again before the next one comes out in the end of November.


I can’t count the number of times I’ve reread Girl Genius. It’s gorgeous, wonderfully written, and keeps its readers continually on the edge of their seats. It began its Monday/Wednesday/Friday update schedule in November of 2002, and my husband has observed that if it continues the way it always has (which we can be sure it will), we won’t be any nearer to a conclusion even when another decade has passed. In a world of airships and mad scientists, Agatha lives a relatively calm life until one day when she is swept up into an adventure just like one embarked on by heroes of the previous generation and romanticized by those of her own generation. We check back three times a week to find out whether she’s any closer to finding out who were parents really were (or are), which of her love interests will triumph, and if indeed she will have to “punch every monster in the snoot.”


Downton Abbey is not like every other British period costume drama you’ve ever seen. I mean, it starts out that way, but if all you watch is the first episode, then you’re not qualified to form an opinion. Of course it does have Brendan Coyle (North and South), Hugh Bonneville (various Agatha Christie dramatizations), and Maggie Smith (Harry Potter), but that doesn’t mean it’s just like every other thing these actors have ever done. It’s a wonderful series about the joys and sorrows of all classes of people during the time when great landed estates were still thriving, and the way things change, not only for the people, but for the estate. The first series is about the joys and fears of those at Downton Abbey, set in a time when the class lines were very distinct; the second series blurs those lines, and we see Downton at war. The third series (the one currently airing in the UK) is set in the age of the rapid decline of estates like Downton Abbey, and the effect that has on everyone associated with it.


I can’t help experiencing these wonderful stories over and over. Even though I’ve seen or read them many times, I always find something new with each retelling. It may seem a little silly to keep repeating them, but the fact that I know what happens in the end (whether it’s the end of the novel or the end of the chapter or the end of the episode) makes it more fun for me to watch how things move toward that end.


Now it’s time to relax with my latest yarny project and my favorite show.