Shutterfly Has Taken Over My Life!!

Shutterfly has taken over my life!!  And it's not even a little bit, it's full on.

Some of these projects are for Christmas gifts.  And some of the books I'm making is simply because I can't keep putting off making travel and other family books.  Picture files get lost, damage, etc.  So for the last couple weeks I've been sorting through pictures and putting projects together.

My last UK trip alone had over 10,000 pictures I had to sort through.  A part of it is my fault!  I have very bad picture taking habits, which I inherited from my Mom because she does the same thing.  We take several shots of a single item or scene, the camera pointed in micro angles per shot, so I have to go through each micro angle shot to pick the right image with the right framing.  It's so annoying!  I spend most of my time going through pictures being irritated with myself. :P  Ah man.  But I've been reliving so many great times that it's worth it.

And I've just started going through April's Tokyo trip pictures.  When Steven and Ty got their photos to me they were nice enough to pre-sort them.  Very appreciated.  Then I found and transferred my and my Mom's photos . . . over 7,000. -_-;;

I still need to make the books even if I can't order them in the next few months.  Just make them and wait for when I can buy them.  Turn digital photos into physical reminders.  It will all be worth it.  And as a bonus I'm finally going through all the photos! Yay! Heh. I'm just "blah" right now about it.  I enjoy it, but it gets a little dull.  I've been listening to a lot of stuff, mainly working through the Harry Potter books.  I want to revisit the last book before I turn 38, so I can experience the scenes at the same age as Lupin and Snape.  I'm finishing up the 4th book and I'm older, and it's soooo weird.

So my Shutterfly projects is why I haven't blogged this week, but I'm also getting material to write about, so it's not all in vain.  Sorting through photos takes a lot of time.

I'm going to be so happy when I'm all caught up!!

 

The Lion King, 2019, mini movie review

Rating: C+

So when's a great time to finally write a review for the latest The Lion King movie? The weekend Maleficent 2 is released. Heh, seems like a great time to me. :P  I'm hoping to see Maleficent early next week, but my Dad saw it yesterday, and the things he had issues with I'll most likely have issues with.

But with that said, I've been struggling with what to rate The Lion King.  While thinking about this post I just went back and lowered Dumbo's score from C+ to C-, and even then I might be a little generous.  That's the problem I have with reviewing!  And my doubts as a reviewer.  I change my mind!  Like when I saw The Last Jedi and I was like, "Oh my goodness!  It was so good!!!  I felt like a kid again!!!!!!!!!  Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  And then, literally, I finally woke up from the movie high coma a few days later and realized, "What the crap was that!!!!????"  Or the time I gave Austenland a super low rating, out of irritation, and now it's one of my guilty little pleasures.  Because it just is.  It makes me giggle.

So what do I do about The Lion King??  What would I have thought if Disney wasn't out of creativity and remaking everything?  How would I view this new "live action"--*cough* a different form of animation *cough*--movie if the originally drawn feature film didn't exist as comparison?  Would I think higher of it?

The problem with The Lion King (2019) is that The Lion King (1994) does exist.

And I loved the original as a kid.  Sang the songs!  The whole death scene was freaky, but the animation softens the blow.  Making The Lion King look real adds a scary depth that hand drawn animation lightens up.  The meaning is still there, but not so terrifying for children, whom this movie is aimed.  Technically a family film, but still.

Is the movie beautiful?  Yes.  It's gorgeous.  A shot by shot of the original in National Geographic style.  But the movie lost it's charm with the shift to realism.  The facial expressions in the original movie gone.  And this movie proves how sad it is that original animation is being abandoned, a form of story telling that's getting left behind for new technology.

The Lion King 2019 doesn't add anything new.  The song Be Prepared was just bad.  Scary moments are scarier.  And it's such a copy and paste that I have no need to see it again.  Why should I when I own a copy of the original?

MPAA: Rated PG for sequences of violence and peril, and some thematic elements.

My Holiday Health Challenge

I keep gaining and losing the same 5 pounds.  This has been happening for the last several years.  It's frustrating.  Aggravating.  And after life stresses, this last trip to Disneyland, and my car needing four tire rims and tires, I'm on the upper end again, just in time for the Holiday's!  Yay!! :P

Enough's enough.

I'm tired of it.

I research, get good ideas, and when my plans start working a fall is close behind. Self sabotage? Perhaps.  I've mused over the possibilities.

Regardless of the reasons it all comes down to this: It's the Holiday's now, with Halloween around the corner, pumpkin goodness everywhere, Thanksgiving and Christmas close behind, and I don't want to face New Year's Day with goals I can start now.

Why not start the New Years on a positive note?  Better yet, what if I can actually lose those first 10 pounds that would lead me to positive growth in 2020.  Hindsight's 2020, what about a little foresight, pre-hence?  (How many times are we going to hear that hindsight is 2020?  Especially going from 2020 to 2021?)

So this is what I'm going to focus on, these main six things.  It's going to be a roll out.  A process.  Somethings will take immediate precedence over others as these new habits form:

1. Walk 3-6 miles a day, 15-30 miles a week.  Cardio is important.  This isn't too crazy.  Getting those steps in and it's also easy on the joints.  Walking on the treadmill really is a good workout, especially when you start throwing in inclines and intervals, and I'll finally catch up on some shows and listen to all those audible books I've downloaded.  Win/win.  Cardio isn't just good for building endurance and helping the heart, but it's also a powerful tool for mental health and the mind.
2. Strength train 2-3 times a week, allowing one to two rest days in between.  Two times a week building up to three, mixing it up.  I have resistant bands and basic free weights, plus a ton of DVD's focusing on different styles.  Maybe I'll try a new one each time, or keep to one for a few weeks before moving on.  Keep it interesting. (I'm working the treadmill, so I'll need it.)  Strength training and toning helps with metabolism, burning calories at rest, also builds endurance, and is just positive all around.
3. Get to bed before 11:00 pm!  Some people are night owls, I'm not.  My mind works better when I get to bed before midnight and wake up before eight.  And since I don't drink coffee I have to get my hours.  Plus good sleep = greater control over cravings and keeping cortisol levels down, which is important to weight loss.
4. Drink lots of Water.  Self explanatory. 
5. Increase fiber/magnesium through natural foods, not supplements.  Not going to get too much into this, but the majority of Americans aren't getting enough of both.  They're found in the same foods, a lot of foods that get demonized by modern fad diets.  Fiber is good for bowel health, sustaining a feeling of fullness, and combating sugar spikes.  Magnesium is brain food, good for mental health, good for muscles, and also helps the body with calcium.  
6.  Have one treat day a week.  ONE!!  I have a sweet tooth.  I love sugar.  I probably just like the serotonin/dopamine/whatever spike.  But this is my Achilles heel in weight loss.  And I'm not allowing artificial sweeteners of any kind.  Done the research, haven't found one I'm okay with, but really it's the principle of the matter.  Creating self control.  Man, if I can just conquer this one thing alone I'd see major improvement in the next 2 1/2 months.

And bonus!!

• Keep a gratitude journal
• meditate/visualization 

It's a long list.  That's why I'm building on it and not going full out immediately, but if I can conquer these six points plus two bonuses I would be in an amazing place by New Years Day.

I'm not going to keep blogging about this challenge, but on New Years day I'll let you know how I'm doing, positives and/or negatives.  But I'm aiming at positives!!!

Be The Miracle

(Updated comment, October 13, 2019.  I was so tired when I wrote the original blog post, below this add on.  A couple days ago I got back from Disneyland, the Autumn trip I hinted at a few times in previous posts.  It was supposed to be a much longer trip.  Fly into Vancouver, explore, Disney Cruise down to San Diego, explore, than Disneyland.  A huge part of the trip had to be scrapped, and what was left was Disneyland, as we had non-refundable airline tickets, so Disneyland was kept.

I've been working on Shutterfly projects for Christmas gifts, and there was one particular project I wanted to do which would required all 111 pages.  That's expensive.  And I was waiting for a 40%-50% discount+free pages+free shipping sale.  It was the only way the book would be affordable.  And low and behold!!!  The Wednesday before I left this very sale was posted, and I stared at the screen debating if such a feat was possible as I had to catch a flight Saturday morning.  And I hadn't even started on the book, besides downloading the pictures.  So I went with it.  I had to choose between really cool Christmas gifts vs. pre-written (low stress) blog posts.  I chose the gifts.  

Leading up to the project I wasn't getting good sleep.  In 3 days I only had 15 hours of sleep.  Insomnia.  And I was groggy, my mind already cloudy before this crazy task.  I did it.  All 111 pages with heavy writing.  Many times looking down to see what I was writing, my fingers moving, not looking up at the screen.  And around 4 am that Saturday morning I finished, sending it off digitally to be made without any proof reading.  It was my little miracle.  And this crazy marathon made it possible to order 7 books, because the original price per book would have been $240.18, but the sale price brought each book down to about $30.  No kidding!!!

That's why I had to go for it.  And 3 of the books arrived in the mail the day I got back, and there's surprisingly very little mistakes!  I did leave one of my brothers off the cover, and I asked him in a round about way if he's okay with this, but he was totally chill about it.  I flipped through the book, reading bits here and there, and it's truly amazing it came together in 2 1/2 days.  I still hold to the fact that angels helped me.  I felt my Grandma Stufflebeam off and on throughout while I put this special family book together.

And to add to the below quote, Dieter F. Uchtdorf recently said, "It is your choices that show what you truly are, far more than your abilities."  I think this is also a Harry Potter quote.

Now on to what I originally wrote!!)

"My dear sisters, do not pray for tasks equal to your abilities, but pray for abilities equal to your tasks. Then the performance of your tasks will be no miracle, but you will be the miracle."

~ Thomas S. Monson

I've been dealing with insomnia, and when I'm occasionally awake in the early morning hours I turn on the Mormon Channel app and select the talk radio live stream.  One morning there was a program playing different clips.  I heard the above quote and started crying.  Not being able to remember it correctly I scribbled on a note, "Pray for abilities equal to your tasks, you will be the miracle. Monson."

For a couple weeks I thought about this quote, the paraphrase, wondering about the complete context.  I recently found it, and it's from Monson's talk, "Three Goals to Guide You."

I'm actually writing this after being awake for nearly 23 hours straight while working on a project.  I'm shaking.  My mind is numb.  And yet, even in my fatigue I know I was being helped by angels.  When you pray in sincerity, willing to accept God's will, whatever that may be, miracles will happen.  No doubt.

Searching For Old Technology

It's kinda crazy how hard it was for me to find a working CD player.

The main system I have works for the most part.  The speakers stopped connecting pretty quickly, so I had to hook up unused, although better speakers.  Problem fixed.  But that system always had a problem playing CD's.  Just problems skipping and this clicking sound.

So I ordered a CD player Discman off of Amazon.  It was $20 something.  The reviews looked good, but it didn't work!  Skipped and just didn't play.  And since it's Amazon I didn't want to make a fuss and try sending it back.  Probably should have, because it's a lot of money to waste.

But I want an affordable system that can play my CD's.

I went to Walmart a month ago and found a bunch of Record players.  Record players!  Heh.  I know vinyl is coming back, but it was a little crazy how many options there were.  I did see a couple simple CD systems, but decided not to get them.  Then last weekend while at Target I had to ask where the CD players were, because after wandering up and down aisles of speakers and whatnot's I couldn't find them.  When I was shown their location, they were hidden off to the side, 3 simple little machines.  I bought one, $24 with tax, and so far so good.  No skipping.  But I'm keeping the receipt just in case.

One of the reasons I wanted the CD player is because I bought a few of the Pimsleur French and Japanese CD's, and I just didn't want to take the time to rip them all.  Listen to a lesson a few times, move on.

The nostalgic part of me comes out with this move towards digital and streaming.  When I buy music I still get CD's, just because I like having a physical copy.  The only problem is keeping them all together, and that they take up room.  Before writing this I realized that a set of CD's I had is misplaced, so now I need to find them.  And scattered about are CD folders here and there.  There's a disadvantage to having the physical copies.

There are disadvantages to owning digital as well.  What if you lose the file or the file become corrupt?  If you buy a digital movie on Amazon and stream it, you don't own it, because once the license expires or moves you lose access.  If you buy music and the company goes out of business or changes focus you lose access to being able to download a file if the original is lost or accidentally deleted. What if you can't afford the monthly fees to stream music or media? 

I saw a meme a while back that essentially stated that we once went online to escape the World, now we escape to the World to be free from the internet.  Paraphrased, but the essential meaning.

I'm the type of person who lives in my head.  It seems I'm in my head more than I'm in the real World.  And lately I've been focusing on the real World to find balance.  Technology is leading us away from the physical, and there are many reasons why this is a tragedy.  But there are conveniences with digital, so I just loop in my mind the pros and cons.

Still, it's crazy how hard it was to find a simple CD player.  They're phasing out.  Laptops no longer have an eternal CD/DVD/ETC slot, an outside system must be purchased.  How long until we can't find Blu-ray machines?  While cleaning the garage my Mom found a tub of old family VHS tapes.  We can't even watch them.  As technology propels us forward, a part of us is getting left behind.