I wish we had a piano.
If we had a piano I feel like I could skip watching TV and have Jane-Austen, George-Eliot, Downton-Abbey kinds of evenings. My husband and I would sit around, listen to one of us play music, read books, play cards, gossip about our neighbors and relations, and take periodic turns about the room.
For someone who thinks she’s against TV, I watch rather a lot of it. Not even close to the national average of 4+ hours a day*, but still — more than I’d care to admit. But at the end of the day, after taking care of lovely but often wild eleven-month-old twins, and trying to cram writing and blogging and household chores into their nap times, I’m often too tired to do much else — at least on weekdays. Maybe I can have drawing room evenings on the weekends …
The twins don’t watch TV. We’ve had PBS on only rarely. One twin got deeply into a CGI reenactment of some 19th century naval battle (England vs. the Netherlands?); the other, having just learned to clap, applauded when an audience did (was it during the endless reruns of the broadcast Les Miz?). I don’t want our twins to grow up as TV addicts and I want to preserve their childhood for as long as I can.
OK — full disclosure: this is actually a picture of an experiment to see if babies read lips when learning to talk. You can read the article here. But I had to put in this fascinating/scary/adorable picture!
This is the book that started me thinking, years ago, about drawing room life, the dangers of television and some long-forgotten lessons from The Age of Reason:
Building a Bridge to the 18th Century: How the Past Can Improve Our Future.
And this is the first book I’m going to read during my new drawing room evenings! Stay “tuned” …
* Four hours of TV a day = 28 hours a week, or two months of nonstop TV-watching per year. Yikes. For more spooky TV-watching stats, click here.
ok, ok i will FINALLY go check out Downton Abbey- been wanting to. Will do right after i crochet a doily in my drawing room. 🙂 (we actually live in an 1881 house and i make the kids call it the parlor!)
Great blog- rock on, sister!
xoxo
I think a crocheted doily would look splendid under that “W—-” teacup. Thanks for the comment and the encouragement!
I just wanted to say that I recently started watching Downton Abbey, and I love it!! I’m three episodes into season one. Good stuff.
Now that you know the characters, you can check out which one you are via the personality quizzes (see the links in “Adieu Downton Abbey”). It makes for an even more intense watching experience!
I have to start watching Downton Abbey! I hear it’s amazing. Plus, I LOVE Maggie Smith. She’s an inspiring actress.
Thanks for the comment! Maggie Smith — the Dowager Countess — is fantastically wry and crisp.
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My friend at The Green Cabin Year is living my dream of drawing room evenings. You can read her blog here: http://thegreencabinyear.com/2012/04/22/away-from-it-all/