MILDRED PIERCE

"He did not know, he whose heart was as light as air, he who observed no law in the world but the ordinary laws of nature, he who allowed his passions to follow what course they wanted, so that the spring of his emotions was always dry because he opened daily so many fresh channels--he had no idea with what fury that flood of human passions swells and surges when it is refused outlet, how it gathers strength, and overflows, how it wears away the heart, how it has broken away its dikes and burst from its bed"--The Hunchback of Notre Dame

"A ruler who just plays the lion and forgets the fox doesn't know what he's doing.  Hence a sensible leader cannot and must not keep his word if by doing so he puts himself at risk, and if the reasons that made him give his word in the first place are no longer valid.  If all men were good, this would be bad advice, but since they are a sad lot and won't be keeping their promises to you, you hardly need to keep yours to them.  Anyway, a ruler will never be short of good reasons to explain away a broken promise"--The Prince

"One of these days you may have a weak moment." "When I do I'll send you a telegram--collect!"--Mildred Pierce

Sunday we finished the Netflix series Ozark.  As much as I like shows with smart characters, so many characters being this smart is rather hard to swallow.

Tonight I saw Michael Curtiz' Mildred Pierce for the third time. It's a hard-boiled Joan Crawford melodrama and corny fun, with some great dialogue. (The Kate Winslet version wasn't as good, despite having a handsome look.) Jack Carson and Eve Arden have good supporting roles.

I'm now following over 500 tweeters, and have over 30 followers of my own. (The big topics on Twitter just now are Trump announcing he'll abandon the Dream Act, and Hillary Clinton's weaselly-sounding campaign memoir.)

What weather!  Harvey hit Texas last week, Irma is about to hit Florida, and Jose is already forming.