I’m sure there are activities you do that leave your mind free to roam about, pausing on one inane thing or another before flitting off to something else. For me, these moments of mental window shopping usually occur when I’m in the shower, going for a jog (though it’s only walks I’ve been doing lately), or driving. Usually one random thought shows up, and then it leads to some other random idea, and another, and another, my train of thought jumping tracks until finally arriving at a single place to ponder on some equally inane topic as the one I started with. For example, while I was washing my hair the other day I happened to recall a conversation from the most recent book club meeting when one of the girls mentioned how her mother first met her step-father through an on-line dating service. Her mother had to move to England where her step-father, Hugh, lives. This thought got me thinking about how Hugh is considered a very English (as in Brit) name, though I think of it as more French…but most Hugh’s you come across (not that there are many, though I am married to one) are of the UK variety. This made me think of Hugh Grant, and how he always plays the charming bumbler – a character I don’t much care for except in the case of another actor named Grant, Cary – in “Bringing Up Baby.” This made me try and draw a comparison between Hugh and Cary Grant, but I gave that line of thinking up quickly, because really, there’s no comparison. Which led me to think about how many of the actors of the 30’s and 40’s I like so much better than those of today…Cary Grant isn’t really one of my favorites, but I LOVE Errol Flynn, and Clark Gable, Laurence Olivier, and enjoy Richard Peck, Rex Harrison, and Burt Lancaster (though I guess he comes a little later). From here I began compiling a mental list of my top ten favorite “Classic Movies,” though by now I was rinsing the conditioner out of my hair and just about to step out of my shower. But that list stuck around in my mind, and if you’re curious, check it out – for I’ll add it to my 10 page now.
Oh, and if there’s a movie on this list you have not seen, rent it today!
It was kind of fun to retrace my mental steps and try to play connect the dots with my thought pattern, like following the conversation of my 5 year old.
Melonie Johnson 