Introvert insight:

Whatever kind of introvert you are, some people will find you 'too much' in some ways and 'not enough' in others.

- Laurie Helgoe.

There's zero correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.

- Susan Cain.

Blessed are those who do not fear solitude, who are not afraid of their own company, who are not always desperately looking for something to do, something to amuse themselves with, something to judge.

- Paulo Coello.

Beware of those who seek constant crowds; they are nothing alone.

- Charles Bukowski.

Recommended reading - The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir, by Foster Hirsch (2008):

The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir

By Foster Hirsch.

Published by Da Capo.

2nd edition.

Published 2008.

Paperback.

ISBN-10: 0306817721

ISBN-13: 978-0306817724

Description:

Foster Hirsch's Dark Side of the Screen is by far the most thorough and entertaining study of the themes, visual motifs, character types, actors, directors, and films in this genre ever published. From Billy Wilder, Douglas Sirk, Robert Aldrich, and Howard Hawkes to Martin Scorsese, Roman Polanski, and Paul Schrader, the noir themes of dread, paranoia, steamy sex, double-crossing women, and menacing cityscapes have held a fascination. The features that make Burt Lancaster, Joan Crawford, Robert Mitchum, and Humphrey Bogart into noir heroes and heroines are carefully detailed here, as well as those camera angles, lighting effects, and story lines that characterize Fritz Lang, Samuel Fuller, and Orson Welles as noir directors.For the current rediscovery of film noir, this comprehensive history with its list of credits to 112 outstanding films and its many illustrations will be a valuable reference and a source of inspiration for further research.

“Wonderfully readable: Hirsch is clear, knowledgeable, and concise….[The Dark Side of the Screen] is a visual as well as literary pleasure.” – Martin Jackson, Cineaste.

“There has been no extended work as good as Foster Hirsch’s The Dark Side of the Screen, a well-written, imaginatively illustrated book that sees the brief, true heyday as between Wilder’s Double Indemnity (1944) and his Sunset Boulevard (1950), but looks at the prelude and the aftermath, and sets the genre in its larger social and cultural context.” – Philip French, The Observer (London).

“An important examination of what film noir is…The 264-page treatise is not a review source; rather, Hirsch’s academic work delves deeply with a scholarly but not dry approach.” – Skyscraper, Spring 2009.

E. L. Doctorow, on writing:

Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader - not the fact that it is raining,

but the feeling of being rained upon.

- E. L. Doctorow.

On this day in television history - Justified (2012):

Justified

Season 3. Episode 5.

Episode entitled: Thick as Mud.

Released February 14, 2012.

Directed by Adam Arkin.

Written by Graham Yost, Jon Worley, Benjamin Cavell, Elmore Leonard, Nichelle Tramble Spellman, Ingrid Escajeda and Ryan Farley.

Based on the short story Fire in the Hole by Elmore Leonard.

Music by Steve Porcaro.

Cast:

Timothy Olyphant, Nick Searcy, Joelle Carter, Jacob Pitts, Erica Tazel, Natalie Zea, Walton Goggins, Raymond J. Barry, Clayne Crawford, Demetrius Grosse, Damon Herriman, Maggie Lawson, David Meunier, Todd Stashwick, Mykelti Williamson, Neal McDonough, Randolph Adams, Newell Alexander, Michael Scott Allen, Tasha Ames, Tate Ammons, Steve Bean, Valerie Brandy, Stephanie Cleough, Adrian Flowers, Nick Hoffa, Jesse Luken, Jeffrey Markle, Brendan McCarthy, Alison White.

On this day in music history:

Dreamboat Annie by Heart (1976)

Bébé le Strange by Heart (1980)

Sleepless Empire by Lacuna Coil (2025)

Babe’s and Ricky’s Inn (2013)

Dreamboat Annie

Album by Heart,

released February 14, 1976.

Track list: Magic Man; Dreamboat Annie (Fantasy Child); Crazy on You; Soul of the Sea; Dreamboat Annie; White Lightning and Wine; (Love Me Like Music) I'll Be Your Song; Sing Child; How Deep It Goes; Dreamboat Annie.

Bébé le Strange

Album by Heart,

Released February 14, 1980.

Track list: Bebe Le Strange; Down On Me; Silver Wheels; Break; Rockin' Heaven Down; Even It Up; Strange Night; Raised On You; Pilot; Sweet Darlin'; Jackleg Man; Break.

Sleepless Empire

Album by Lacuna Coil,

released February 14, 2025.

Track list: The Siege; Oxygen; Scarecrow; Gravity; I Wish You Were Dead; Hosting the Shadow (feat. Randy Blythe); In Nomine Patris; Sleepless Empire; Sleep Paralysis; In The Mean Time (feat. Ash Costello); Never Dawn.

Babe’s and Ricky’s Inn

Documentary directed and written by Ramin Niami.

Released in the United States on February 14, 2013.

Cast: Ray Bailey, Andrea Balestra, Shawn Barry, Bobby Bryan, Mickey Champion, Charlie Chan, Chu Chu, Grant Cihlar, George Dezz, Ken Frizzelle, Takahiro Fukuda, Eric Garcia, Lady Gigi, Laura Mae Gross, Tony Ibarra, Alvon Johnson, Deacon Jones, Dennis Jones, Richard Martin-Ross, Johnny Mastro, Tokyo Mississippi, Keb’ Mo’, Barbara Morrison, Oklahoma Ollie, Sherry Pruitt, Jeff Ross, Southside Slim, Mike Stoller, Suzanne Thomas, Peter Tork, Ferekiea White, Earl Williams, Gregg Wright.

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Star Trek (1969)

Star Trek: Voyager (2001)

Star Trek: Discovery (2019)

Star Trek

Season 3. Episode 19.

Episode entitled: Requiem for Methuselah.

Released February 14, 1969.

Directed by Murray Golden.

Written by Jerome Bixby, Arthur H. Singer.

Created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Alexander Courage.

Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, George Takei, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Majel Barrett, James Daly, Louise Sorel, Bill Blackburn, John Buonomo, Roger Holloway, Naomi Newman, Sally Yarnell.

Star Trek: Voyager

Season 7. Episode 14.

Episode entitled: The Void.

Released February 14, 2001.

Directed by Michael/Mike Vejar.

Created by Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor.

Written by Raf Green, James Kahn, Kenneth Biller, Michael Taylor, Robert Doherty, Phyllis Strong, Michael/Mike Sussman.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jay Chattaway.

Cast: Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Robert Duncan McNeill, Ethan Phillips, Robert Picardo, Tim Russ, Garrett Wang, Jeri Ryan, Robin Sachs, Paul Willson, Scott Lawrence, Jonathan Del Arco, Michael Shamus Wiles, Michael Bailous, Tarik Ergin, Louis Ortiz, Stephen Pisani, Michael Satterfield.

Star Trek: Discovery

Season 2. Episode 5.

Episode entitled: Saints of Imperfection.

Released February 14, 2019.

Directed by David Barrett.

Created by Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman.

Written by Kirsten Beyer, Sean Cochran.

Based on Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry.

Music by Jeff Russo.

Cast: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Mary Wiseman, Shazad Latif, Wilson Cruz, Anson Mount, Michelle Yeoh, Jayne Brook, Alan Van Sprang, Rachael Ancheril, Bahia Watson, Hannah Cheesman, Emily Coutts, Patrick Kwok-Choon, Oyin Oladejo, Ronnie Rowe, Julianne Grossman.

On this day in television history - M Squad (1958):

M Squad

Season 1. Episode 21.
Episode entitled: Lover’s Lane Killing.
Released February 14, 1958.
Directed by Robert Altman.
Written by Joel Murcott.
Music by Stanley Wilson.

Cast:

Lee Marvin, Kent Smith, Ruta Lee, John Doucette, Angela Greene, Leonard Bremen, Douglas Rader.