An Epiphany...

I was born in Scottsdale, AZ.  My parents are from Iowa (good Midwestern stock!).  My ancestors came from Germany, Sweden, Switzerland (recently discovered), France, etc.

While I would not be described as the most patriotic person you'll meet, I do get teary-eyed when I hear a Sousa piece (especially around the 4th of July) or see an American on the top podium step at the Olympics.  I worry about and pray for my three close friends who are in the military and who are currently deployed and my cousin who is a Navy Seal.  I feel that I am participating in "Americana" when I attend a baseball game.

And yet....after saying all of that...I have a confession to make.  I am, unabashedly, .....an Anglophile.  I am.  I had never given it much thought but it was pointed out to me yesterday and it was like the light bulb suddenly flipped on.  After taking stock of my past and current interests....I, Jessica, am an Anglophile.  :)

I have fallen in love with Soccer...or Football.  :)  Dave and I try to catch at least one match in the English Premier League each weekend and we always tune in for the Review Show every Sunday night.  We have both become fans of the Arsenal Gunners and we follow the English Premier League like some Americans follow the NFL or NBA or MLB.  

I am a HUGE Jane Austen fan.  While I adore Pride and Prejudice and think it is brilliant and just ....sparkles....Persuasion is probably my favorite novel of all time.  I am a HUGE English literature fan.  The Bronte Sisters, Wordsworth, P.G. Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh, C.S. Lewis, Byron, Shelley, Christie, Tolkien, Forster, Burnett, Shakespeare, etc....  

I am rather obsessed with British Television.  Programs like......Top Gear (which is probably my favorite show right now and makes me laugh like nothing else)....

and ....Downton Abbey...which I just recently started watching and am now quite obsessed with...

and.....Faulty Towers....which makes me howl with laughter and is just a genius in its slap-stick and non-PC humour ...

and....Jeeves and Wooster....which is one of my all time favorites and instantly brings a smile to my face....

and....the best for last....the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice...which I have seen probably over two dozen times and is what I watch when I iron.  :)

I melt and get weak in the knees for English accents.  I have decided I'm going to live in Highclere Castle someday (the castle also known as "Downton Abbey" and "Totleigh Towers").  Some of my favorite bands come from England: Depeche Mode (my all time favorite), The Cure, Muse, Radiohead, Adele, etc.  

I rather prefer English cars....like...The Aston Martin....

....the Austin-Healey.....

 ....the Mini (which is just sooo adorable!)...

 .....the Lotus (be still my heart)....

....and the Morgan (oh, oh, oh my....).

I adore British Humor.  It is soooo not Politically Correct...does not take itself seriously....holds nothing to be off limits.  I am pretty sure I have the entire script to "Holy Grail" memorized.  

I have a VERY special place in my heart for British music.  Ralph Vaughan Williams is my second favorite composer and I am quite taken with Holst and Tavener.  But nothing holds a candle to the genius and wit of Gilbert and Sullivan....whom I have loved since I was very little! 
Sure...there are things about England and British History and Culture that I do not agree with or find particularly pleasant.  An example: my favorite male saint, St. Thomas More (Jeffery's baptismal saint) was martyred in England.  But, as I have proven, my friend was quite correct in labeling me as an Anglophile.

 I wonder if there is a help group for people like me.  :)