Hey, you! Shut up in my head! (Clutter)

I'm not a big fan of clutter. Having sold a lot of houses, I'm used to pretending no one lives in them, and I guess I like them to look lived in, but relatively free of stackage. You know? Does anyone else's beloved come home and dump everything on the kitchen table? Mine does.

Well, I'm working away on revisions, but my mind is like the kitchen table. I'm thinking of a movie that's on right now. Now, Voyager, with Bette Davis and Paul Henreid. Because I'm fascinated with the 30s/40s, I read a lot of books about that time and the films they made--and also any books I can find written during that time. I'm astounded that some fiction barely survives. Anyway, a lot of people say that Paul Henreid was not lovable, but in both this film and Casablanca, I love him. In this one, where adultery is accepted (without anyone being killed), both characters vow never to give in to their feelings in order that they can share his child. His wife is painted as a self-centered harridan. This movie really makes me think. It could so easily have gone wrong. Even with the harridan--but at one point, PH says that he's "even kinder to Isabella" because of his love for Bette. And they try to stop loving each other. Anyway... the deft characterization just gets me.

Also, I'm reading a couple of books right now. One, Innocent Blood, by P.D. James, has me thinking about the 18 yr. old protagonist, who freely admits she doesn't love her adoptive parents, and they don't love her, but she doesn't mind because she's not particularly lovable. That's some self-awareness for a woman who's really still an adolescent. And yet, she's searching for her "real" parents, and she's made up this huge fantasy for herself, concerning maids and aristocratic visitors to "the family." She clearly needs to be loved and valued and she's measuring herself by some surface goods that are clearly about to slide away from her. I'm already feeling for this girl who isn't lovable.

Thinking is good. But really--I need think about my revisions. I need to clear the clutter--enjoyable, challenging clutter--from my mind and get to my own work. So--if the thinking could just seek low tones (a tip of the cluttered mind to the coneheads--and oh, yeah to the Rolling Stones for the title of this post--as if I didn't have enough going on in my brain pan)--so I can focus on my own stuff...