And I always smile while I am eating!!



I am watching the all day, all evening salute to Bette Davis on TCM--they are showing "Now Voyager" to be followed by a documentary on her life and then "All About Eve". Don't know how many times I have seen Now Voyager but I know I will be crying just as I have cried every time I have watched Jennifer Jones running up the hill in "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing" after Bill Holden died hoping to find him there and the chorus in the background swells as they sing the title song.

I don't know how many times I have seen "West Side Story" on screen and stage but I tear up every time Tony is killed. And the 100 times I have seen "A Chorus Line" on stage I know I will cry when Paul tells his story.

Films have always affected me in strange ways. Seeing two films this week, "Stop-Loss" and "Shelter" I found myself awash in tears in the last 1/2 hour of both films.

I am a sucker for scenes between fathers and sons, brothers, lovers, any scenes dealing with emotions. The odd thing is that I very seldom, if ever, cry in real life when dealing in emotions with people.

Oh, I can cry at a beautiful sunset but not a friend's dying. I teared up when a lover said they loved me but not a tear was shed when we were breaking up even in the case of the love of my life.

Right now there are tears forming as I listen to the score of Now Voyager as Bette Davis and Paul Henreid fall in love and I know what is going to happen. And now he is doing the lighting 2 cigarettes 'trick' that many lovers for years copied. And as he says, "You are in my heart" and she responds that no one ever called her darling before the tears flow on to the keyboard! Now they are kissing as they part at the airport--you would have to have a heart of stone not to cry! LOL

I know as a child I escaped to the movies, plays and books to get away from the 'real' world and let my emotions flow at, and with, what was happening to the characters. And I entered the world of writing, the best place of all to hide. I guess as an old man that hasn't changed. While I can show my emotions, and do, to all and everyone, for some reason I only shed my tears in private or in a dark movie house.

I'll have to look into that someday--but not today as Charlotte (Davis)is being torn apart by her mother (again) and she just received flowers from her married lover--ah, the drama!!