Last Christmas, mini movie review

Rating: B-/C+

Kate's life is mess.  She has one night stands, gets drunk, and avoids visiting home.  She depends on friends for a place to sleep and carries her suitcase everywhere she goes, her life in flux.  The two stable aspects in her life is her love of George Michael and the year round Christmas shop she works.  When Tom enters her life Kate begins to find herself again, regaining the part of her she lost when she was sick.  But is this new love too good to be true?

Last Christmas takes place in London and is named after the Christmas song sung by George Michael.  Don't read too much into the lyrics, or you'll give some of the plot way.  Don't sing it in your head!  Stop it!  Yeah, it's a catchy song that always gets a lot of airplay every season, following you from one store to the next.

These days we live in a sea of Christmas movies.  Hallmark, Hallmark Mysteries, and Lifetime air at a minimum of six new movies every week between the three, starting right before Halloween.  Hallmark Christmas movies is a Holiday staple.  I kinda laughed last year when it was announced that Dr. Who wouldn't have a Christmas episode because they were out of ideas.  Hallmark and Lifetime certainly have no problem with their creativity.

And with Last Christmas we have a holiday film for the big screen.

There are aspects of this movie I like.  Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding have really cute chemistry as love interests.  The Christmas shop is charming, and I seriously want to find one.  The growth of Emilia's character Kate was nicely developed throughout the movie.

What I didn't like was the twist.  I can't talk about it!  I get it, it's different, and in a sea of romantic Christmas movies you've got to be different, but I was left depressed even though this movie's meant to be uplifting.

I'm not going to say you shouldn't see Last Christmas, I'm just saying I would have been happy catching up on all the Christmas movies I have saved up on the DVR.

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for language and sexual content.

Geeking Over Gundams

 Seeing the giant Gundam in Tokyo has been a bucket list item for such a long time.  I wanted to visit back in 2015, but couldn't work it out with all the other things my brother Michael, sister-in-law Krista, and I wanted to do.  With this latest trip my Mom, brother Steven, his boyfriend Ty, and I were already planning on visiting the teamLab Boarderless museum, so we were going to be a short walk to the Gundam.  I'm glad I live in a family of nerds, because they were all excited to check it out.

 Was seeing a full size Gundam statue worth the wait and hype? Yes!!

What a silly question. :P

It was fun. And I totally geeked out.  It's so big!  Apparently there's a store, which I would have loved to see, but we were planning on doing so much that there wasn't time.  But for every anime fan/nerd/geek/whatnot, seeing the giant Gundam in Diver City is totally worth it.

(Photos either by Sarah, Robin, Steven, or Ty.

They all got mixed up while working on a project)

5 Reasons Why Soarin' Over California is the Best Version

Soarin' Over California is my favorite Disney ride, so maybe I'm starting this blog a little biased.  It's so relaxing. Peaceful and fun at the same time.  The rolling movements. The scents. And seeing the scope of California's beauty is an added bonus.

When Soarin' Around the World came out I was excited, hoping for the best, but was ultimately disappointed by the updated ride.  Would Soarin' Over California become a distant memory, a fragmented remembrance of a favorite experience?  Rides come and go at Disneyland. The parks are ever changing.  I still miss the rocket ride that replaced the People Movers, but it was removed over structural problems and whatnot.  That was such a fun ride! And it was always breaking down, adding exuberance to the ride when it did work.  And I miss the People Movers. There's just no winning.

When it was announced Soarin' Over California was coming back last June for a month I was excited, and sad I'd miss it, but glad that there was a chance it could be brought back in the future.  Then it was expanded to July, when I did get to go, and I rode it at least 4 times. (Soarin' Over California ultimately went through August, turning a one month return into three.  That's just how awesome this ride is.  And all the message boards and comment sections online praised this old favorite while bemoaning the new, making me realize I'm not the only one who loves this classic ride.)

5 Reasons Why Soarin' Over California is the Best Soarin' Ride

1. Soarin' over California is a celebration of Nature.  Sure, California has many landmarks, and you see the Golden Gate bridge right off the bat, but California has such a vast range of natural wonders.  When the river scene comes on, and it feels like your feet is going to touch the water, it's pure magic.  Throughout the ride you see Oceans, Waterfalls, Mountains, and Deserts. It's all rejuvenating, and it feels like a journey, the sort of things you'd want to soar over.
2. Authenticity! Soarin' Over California feels authentic. They're real scenes. It feels like you're cutting into true moments. Whereas Soarin' Around the World is such a CGI fest it just feels like an interactive movie.
3. Subtle transitions that flow from one scene to the next.  Soarin' Over California just cuts between each scene. No fanfare. No gimmicks. This style of transition adds to the flow and gentleness of the ride.  Around the World transitions with dirt being flown up, kite/bird/plane zooming in and swishing across the screen, flashes of light.  I guess they're trying to make the ride more exciting, but I think it disrupts the flow.
4. Better scents. Around the World does have a nice flower scent, but I'm okay not smelling the grass.  But with Soarin' Over California you have the smell of Pine, the ocean, and the oranges!  I'd love a candle with that orange scent. 
5. No tall buildings in a majority of scenes.  The only way to experience Soarin' Around the World is in the middle section of seats. The curvature of the screen makes the Eiffel Tower and other tall objects bend if you're on the side. It's awkward.  Because Soarin' Over California is more nature focused, the scenes don't have tall objects that get distorted by the screen, therefore making it a better experience for more riders in the theater.

Don't get me wrong, I still like Soarin' Around the World, but it doesn't spark the same joy Soarin' Over California brings.  In my humble opinion it's just a better experience, one I miss every time I visit California Adventure.  And, come on, for a park called "California Adventure" shouldn't Soarin' Over California be a staple? It's the most California part of the park!  Especially since so much of the park is getting rebranded.  It would have been cool if each Soarin' ride was different, highlighting the areas in which each Soarin' ride was based. Soarin' over France. Soarin' over Japan. Soarin' over Florida.  That would be so neat.  And yet there is a California version that's still very much loved, yet it gets brushed aside.

Midway, mini movie review

 

Rating: B+

Even though I've grown up watching World War II documentaries, I don't know much about what happened in the Pacific during this war.  It's a shame, as I have a Great-grandfather who served in the Navy during both World Wars, and my Grandpa R's brother was a POW under the Japanese.  I don't know much about either.  When my Dad was a Marine he served on the USS Midway aircraft cruiser, named to honor the battle. He wanted to fly planes, but bad eyesight is a family thing, so when he was on the Midway he ate in this room where he could listen to the planes land.  One day he had to do something and missed his routine lunch and an airplane crash, spreading fire in the room where he ate.  His life was saved that day, and that's what I think of whenever I hear "Midway."

As for the movie, Midway shows the escalating conflict between the US and Japan, the tensions, attack on Pearl Harbor, and then the subsequent attacks in the Pacific and beyond.  If you know history, you know how this story goes.

So much historical focus is on mainland Europe and England during this time.  Conflict with Germany and Italy. The holocaust. D-Day. The air raids in London and elsewhere.  The Narnia kids getting sent to the countryside (fiction, but still showing an aspect of the times).  Just that part of the war seems so overwhelmingly massive.  Then throw in the Pacific, Japan, China, and then you realize why this really was a World War.  And it's amazing humanity survived.  We forget.

I've read some reviews that says the dialogue is cheesy and whatnot, but I don't mind it.  As tragic as this time was, I still love the outfits.  The music!  The start of swing dance.  It was a time of rationing. Sacrifice. Human vigor and determination.

There's a lot of characters.  People come and go.  It's war.  And there are moving parts everywhere changing, contributing.  Portraying this one aspect of WWII is a huge undertaking, and yet, even with everything going on, it's easy to follow along and get involved with some of the characters.  And what's nice about this movie is that it focuses on so many real people who actually fought and served. 

War is awful, yes, but we shouldn't forget the past. Learn from the mistakes. Grow from the strength of others. Understand. The battle of Midway was only 77 years ago.  It hasn't even been a century!  And yet I wonder what my Great-grandfather and Great-uncle would think of the fact that my siblings and I love visiting Tokyo and are learning Japanese.  They would think it unbelievable!!

We can't forget.

And it was nice that in the showing I attended there were so many ages.  I thought I was going to be the youngest, but there were high-schoolers there as well.  And everyone in the theater was getting into it, holding their breath at times.  And at the end there was some clapping.  I found myself quite emotional and glad to become more fully aware of this time in history.

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for sequences of war violence and related images, language and smoking.

Capturing Moments in Time

 

This picture is of the last trip my Grandma and Grandpa took to California a couple years ago.  It was spontaneous.  Unplanned, and with the way my Grandpa's health was deteriorating we knew it was his last chance.  He passed away last year.  My Grandma is my last grandparent still alive, and I make sure to visit her a minimum of once a week.

My Grandpa left my Grandma when my Mom was 13, so after his second wife, my Grandma R, died and Grandpa moved up here to Utah to live with us, it was interesting watching my Grandma and Grandpa interact.  My Grandma is a prime example of forgiveness and service. Everyday she drove here and took him out to lunch, something most people would never do, and yet she did.

These last few weeks I've been buried, literally, in memories.  Going through pictures. Organizing them. Searching old hard drives and computers. It's been a monumental task I'm only halfway through.

And while searching I stumbled upon a gem: a short little audio clip of my Grandma and Grandpa talking while I sat in the front of the car, waiting for my Mom who ran into a store, sharing an experience they had before they were married.

Grandma: One Sunday afternoon Grandpa had just baled the hay on our farm, and so I went out to drive the truck and Paul climbed up on the hay, or on the truck, and there was a bale loader on the side of the truck where you'd pick up the hay bale, and the bale of hay would go up the loader, and then the guy on the truck would take them off and stack them on the truck.  Well, I think it got up a couple/three bales high, and the bale of hay, I don't know what happened, but the bale of hay was going up the loader, and all of a sudden this little guy... *laughs*

Me: Grandpa?

Grandma: Grandpa, Grandpa Paul fell off the top of the truck, hit the bale of hay, and bounced onto the ground. The hay broke his fall. And Dad, Grandpa E, come running over to the truck, and ran up to where Paul was, and when he saw that Paul was okay he started to laugh.

Me: How far did Grandpa fall?

Grandma: Off the top of the hay...

Grandpa: I was up about four or five tiers.

Grandma: No, we never filled it that, I don't think it was ever, made the bale, I don't know.

Grandpa: I was stacking the hay and the truck bumps.

Grandma: Anyway, He got up and he says, "I'm going to go into the house and get a drink of water."

Grandpa: And you never saw me again.

Me: That was his excuse to get out of it?

Grandpa: *laughing* Never saw him again! I think that was the last time, and he accused me of making him fall, but I think he just lost his footing.

Grandpa: She went over a rock, see...

Grandma: No, I didn't.

Grandpa: And the truck went Wuwuwuwu and around bang bang bang!

Grandpa: No I didn't. It only went Wuwuwuwu when you fell off. *laughs*

Me: Was this in Riverside?

Grandma: Yeah, it was Arlington then, but then they incorporated it into Riverside.  That was our little farm that we had there.

Me: Was this when you were just married?

Grandma: No, it was before we were married.

Me: Before you were married.

Grandma: Yeah, he used to come out all the time.  If he wasn't on the base doing something, he was on the farm. And he and your Uncle Harry, or your Mom's uncle Harry, your uncle Harry too, he used to sit out on the bales of hay with Harry's pellet gun and shoot the roosters in the behind.

Grandpa: We did not.

Grandma: Yes, you did.  Because one Sunday Mom decided to kill the big ol' rooster and have him for Sunday dinner.

Grandpa: Full of bullets. *laughs* Full of pellets.

Grandpa: *laughing* it was full of pellets, the rear end. It was full of pellets!

(Then Grandpa's cell rang, and my Mom got back into the car.)

A moment captured! And listening to it brings all the feels.

A while back I thought I lost a bunch of audio files I'd recorded, other interviews and my Grandma Stuff's funeral, other stories, etc, and I was heartbroken over it.  Felt it for days. But then a couple weeks ago I found the files in a place it shouldn't have been, that I swear I checked a few times.

Getting all this stuff sorted, combed through, saved, etc, is going to take a bit of time.  I'm the family historian!  Self appointed title, really.  I guess being single with no family of my own allows me the time, but it's sad, too, recording other peoples stories with their family (technically my family, too), feeling like I'm losing time.  Well, it is what it is, and I'm glad I'm able to do it, and had the foresight to record what I've recorded.  Just wish I'd done more!!  I've got a lot of work with this. I want to put a book together for my family with stories and pictures. I need to interview my Grandma more, get more stories. And I need to start recording my parents as well.  My nieces and nephew are interested in family history, and they love the photo books I put together.  They fall asleep reading them some nights!  I know they'll appreciate all this work one day. I'm doing it for them.

Until next time, don't put off talking to a loved one. And if someone in your family shares a story, write it down!  One day you'll be glad you did.

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.