Books I read in 2022

This year, I set another goal of books to read in my Goodreads account. Because I’d struggled the previous year to read anything for fun, only finishing 3 books in 2021. For 2022, I decided to go low this year, and set my goal at 10 books. Happily, as I finished a book last night, I have made it to 12 books read for 2022! I already have my book picked out to read in January 2023, so I am going to take a chance and go back to challenging myself to read one book a month in 2023.

Looking back on the list, it’s an eclectic mixture of science fantasy (Star Wars), young adult romance, mystery and autobiography. I enjoyed just about all of them, and am happy that I was finally able to make time to read again.

Of the books I read this year, I have to say that my favorite was the “Ink Black Heart” by Robert Galbraith. Galbraith is the pen name of J.L. Rowling as she branched out to write a series of murder mysteries. I happen to be a huge fan of the way J.K. Rowling writes characters and immediately fell in love with these Coroman Strike murder mysteries. I have found that I preorder her books when I know one is coming and read it as soon as it arrives. This one was 1400 pages long yet I managed to finish it off in less than a week.

I ranked three books at only 3 stars this year. Of those, my least favorite was probably ‘Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing’, an autobiography by Matthew Perry. It’s not that I didn’t appreciate Mr. Perry sharing his personal story, but it was hard to read with it’s nonlinear storytelling. I did appreciate his bravery in sharing that he found God through his struggles with alcohol and drugs throughout his adulthood.

Rather than continue going through each book, I am going to try write a post for each one. This might give me an impetus to write again in this blog to get back in the habit of writing here again.

I hope that as you close out 2022, you can reflect back on accomplishments both large and small and look forward to what the universe has in store for you in 2023.

Catching up

This blog has sat here, fairly unattended for longer than I’d meant it to sit. I only come here to write things when the spirit moves me, and when I have time. Those two things haven’t happened concurrently in quite a while. Work has been terribly busy, yet exciting, in spite of my working exclusively as a teleworker since March of 2020 when the pandemic sent us all to our home offices.

I believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for a return to the office, but I don’t know what the “after” will look like. Many of my coworkers are happy and productive working from home, myself included. But we are torn because we miss one another, the camaraderie, the friendships, the time between meetings when we got to discuss the latest shows we were watching or upcoming concerts we couldn’t wait to see, or even the latest political games being played on the national stage.

My husband and I both work at the same place in the same field on the same projects so we’ve attended many of the same meetings from his office (the basement) or mine (our first floor spare bedroom). Our home is farther than most from our place of work, making it nice to skip that drive. He uses it to sleep in and I have used it to work early and late in order to catch up on all of the things I need to do. I’ve been working two jobs for quite some time, and can never fit it all within a 40 hour work week.

Our oldest is off at college now, and I have yet to adjust. I suspect that I never will. Our youngest is in her junior year, so we’ve begun her search for college as well. These years, that I knew would go by too quickly for my likings, have flown by even faster than expected. I am painfully not ready for our children to leave the nest, yet also proud of their accomplishments and their maturation into the people they have and are becoming. I may be biased, but I happen to think that our kids are two of the most amazing people in the entire world.

I hope that the last year and a half has treated you all as well as can be expected and that you and your family have been able to take advantage of unexpected time together. While I will never be happy that a pandemic raged across the world, I have been blessed with more time with my children ahead of their departures for college and beyond, as we all hunkered down at home doing remote learning and teleworking. For that, I will always be grateful.

I wish you well and will try to check in more often.

RSM

Drawing a Day – Suzy in my Home office

I used to use this space as a motivation to do more drawing. At first I was trying out the iPhone app Brushes, and would do drawings on my iPhone whenever I had the chance. About two years ago, I made a new years resolution to do a pen and ink drawing a day. I kept it up mostly for all of 2018, and have since continued it. I don’t draw every day, but have drawn more in the last two years than I had in the decade before.

So, I am going to try to get back to sharing things here on my public blog site. Up to now, I only share these drawings on my instagram page. That page is private so really only a handful of people ever see them. Still, that’s more than ever read this blog.

The above drawing was done from a photo I took of my cat Suzy, snuggled up in the cat bed I set up in my home office. Neither of my cats had been using it in the months since I put it in the office, so that morning, I had rearranged how it sat on the box you see in the drawing. Just like that, Suzy came in and apparently approved of the update. This drawing is just pen and ink in an 8×5 sketchbook I carry around. I didn’t scan it in for the image, so you get to see my thumb on the left side of the paper, holding the book open.

Hopefully more drawings to come!

Its been a long time…

I’ve been thinking about restarting this blog. Well, not so much restarting as just writing things in it again. With the introspection brought about by this pandemic, I’ve started to write in my personal journal again after about a year of just not finding the time. It feels like time to do so here.

Blogs have long been replaced with the quicker feedback destinations like Facebook and Instagram (or even Snapchat) but I still love reading them. I still read the blogs of the people I’ve followed over the years when a notification comes through my email inbox that they’ve published something.  A few of the folks I do follow have taken to posting their articles on Facebook rather than a personal blog space. I will read those but I miss personal blogs.

Since my last posts, so much has gone on that I’ve thought about writing about. The Star Wars sequel trilogy came to an end. The Mandalorian season 1 aired on Disney Plus. I’ve read a few books. Fell in love with Hamilton. Oh, yes, and a Pandemic came through the world and shut everything down. My children are in high school and while they were home for the last quarter of their school year from March to May, they are both back in school for a blended in person/remote approach. We are knee deep into the college searching/application experience with our oldest. My husband and I have been working from home full time since March. and we miss Disney World.

In the time since I last wrote something, my country seems to be topsy turvy. The anger is front and center, and our press seems to relish in stirring the pot. I miss the days where people shared the good.  Focus on the good. 

In the words of one of my favorite Disney podcasters, now more than ever is it important to Choose the Good.

Hopefully more posts to come.

 

 

 

Learning lessons about myself as I teach my son to drive

My son has his temporary driving license, and for the past several months, he and I have been spending hours of time driving per the requirements to get his official license.  He dragged his feet in the beginning and wasn’t really interested in getting his license, but after a lot of practice, I think he’s developing into a really good and confident driver.

I expected to enjoy my time teaching him how to drive. The two of us spend a lot of time together in the car as I drive him to and from the 45+ minutes from our house to his school.  What I didn’t expect is to learn about myself and who I am through his observations of my teaching.

One such insightful comment came from him last week and it made me feel so good about myself that I wanted to compose a little post about it on my long neglected blog.

As we drive along, I give him a running commentary from the passenger seat about how fast to go, or where to turn at the next light or stop sign, or that he’s either too close on one side or should slow down or go a bit faster, etc.  It’s not that I am constantly talking. He often asks for the above information as he’s driving along. We’ve had a great time together, and I’ve enjoyed teaching him how to drive. 

Being an engineer, I don’t just tell him, this is a 25 mile and hour zone, or this area is reduced speed, I give him the whole reason why different roads are marked how they are, etc.  I’ve never just taught him in an “I said so” sort of way. I have always told him and his sister the “why” about things.

Earlier this week, as we were going through a residential area, he made a comment about my running commentary. He thought it was so very like me to tell him what I did. I was telling him to make sure he drove 25 mph in the residential area  because there might be people around and we don’t want to accidentally hurt someone, rather than telling him that he might get a ticket if he exceeded the speed limit especially in a residential area. He loved that my reasoning involved making the world a better place, rather than just trying not to get into trouble.

And with this observation my son gave me perhaps one of the greatest gifts he could give me. He summed up for me that he saw in me who I hoped I actually was. I have always tried to do the right thing because it was the right thing, not because I would get into trouble if I didn’t. I try to live each day trying to make the world better for my having been there, rather than just trying to stay out of trouble.  My son let me know that I am living what I hope to be. I am modeling the person I am trying to be.  It says a great deal about him, as well. He observes people and really sees them as they are.

I will miss these driving lesson days.

Books I read: 2018 Edition

For the last couple of years,  as my children are older, I have returned to reading. I have always loved to read. My favorite past time when I was a teenagers was to curl up with a book and my cat and dog in our living room and escape to a new world. While my favorite literature types are science fiction and mysteries I don’t necessarily limit by reading to just those.

This year I challenged myself again to read one book a month and I was successful!

This post is meant to summarize those books, and give you a few sentences of my thoughts of each one. Presented in the order I read them last year, here are the Books I read in 2018.

George Lucas: A Life, by Brian Jay Jones

Truth be told here, I read about half of this book and listened to the audio book for the other half. Star Wars is the most important piece of entertainment in my life, and I’ve read several books, articles, and other pieces on its creator, George Lucas. I definitely enjoyed this one and it solidified my opinion that Mr Lucas himself would have done something far different and much more uplifting than the new sequel trilogy.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, by Elizabeth Gilbert

I picked up my second book of the year on recommendation from an internet friend of mine. As with the Lucas biography, I listened to the audio book of this one, primarily because Elizabeth Gilbert herself reads it.  It was definitely inspiring for my creative side. I read “Eat, Pray, Love” with my sister a few years back and was surprised at how much it resonated with me. This book, while smaller, did the same. It helped me with my 2018 resolution to draw more.

It’s Your Universe: You Have the Power to Make It Happen, by Ashley Eckstein, Stacy Kravetz

I had to read this one even though it’s really more for pre-teen and teens as they are figuring out who they want to be, because it’s written by Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano and founder of HerUniverse.com. I adore Ashley, for Ahsoka and for Her Universe and for her infectious positivity. Bucket list for me would be to finally meet her and thank her for being a shining light in my Star Wars fandom. The book is adorable, and meant to be written in, as young girls do their own dreaming for their future.

Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty

I read this one because it one goes back to my love of mysteries and because I saw there was an HBO miniseries retelling staring Reese Whitherspoon (whom I also love). I typically like to read the book before seeing the movie. Yes, that always leaves me disappointed, but it allows me to enjoy the book without being spoiled by the movie. I had also “The Husband’s Secret’ by Ms. Moriarty a year or so ago, and enjoyed her ability to intertwine mystery with drama. After reading the first chapter, I worried I wasn’t going to like how this one ended, but I m happy to say that it ended just as it should have. That is all I will say.

Most Wanted, by Rae Carson

After seeing, and loving, Solo: A Star Wars Story, after definitely not expecting to, I thought I’d pick this one up and read some backstory of a young Han and Q’ira in this new Star Wars Canon. This is definitely a young adult novel, with only a few characters, but it added some relationship backstory between Han and Q’ira that dovetailed nicely with their relationship on the screen.

A New Hope (Star Wars: Novelizations), by Alan Dean Foster (Ghostwriter), George Lucas (Story & Screenplay)

Feeling the need to go back to my Original Trilogy love, I broke out my old copy of the original Star Wars; A New Hope novelization. It was a bit of a pallet cleanser for me after all of the disappointment with Disney’s direction of the Sequel Trilogy. I read this over and over again when I was young, and it brought me back to those days. Still such a wonderful story, and wonderful world building. Nothing today comes close to how much I enjoyed Star Wars as a kid.

Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn, #2), by Timothy Zahn

Mr. Zahn has written the only stories I will ever accept as those that follow the end of Return of the Jedi in the Star Wars universe (in spite of Disney Designating all Star Wars Expanded Universe materials as “Legends”).  I hadn’t read the first of his new Thrawn books when this came out this summer, but I decided to jump in anyway. I read this in less than a week on our annual trip to Canada and loved every page. The action here takes place in two timeframes, prior to the fall of the Jedi and prior to the events of A New Hope, and focuses on Anakin and Padme and Darth Vader and Thrawn respectively. I found my favorite parts were those of Anakin and Padme. What surprised and delighted me was that as I read, I heard the voices of Matt Lanter and Cat Taber, the voice actors to provided their voices in the animated series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. If you’re a Clone wars fan, or a Thrawn fan, or both, I highly recommend this one. I have the first book in this trilogy and have it on my to read list for this year.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom

This one had been on my list of books I was interested in for a while. My daughter had to read it for her summer reading between 7th and 8th grade, so as I did with my son with his last summer’s reading, I read along with her and we had our own little Book Club. I didn’t expect anything from it and found it to be both melancholy and really charming.  After complaining about having to read during the summer for a couple chapters, my daughter fell in love with it too. It made us both smile and cry. Beautiful reminder that we all have an impact in the lives of others.

Unqualified, by Anna Faris, Chris Pratt (Foreword)

I am not quite sure why I read this one. I am not an Anna Farris fan. I am, however, a Chris Pratt fan. I love him as Peter Quill in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (Guardians of the Galaxy) and I appreciate that he’s one of the few folks in Hollywood willing to be open that he is a person of faith.  Written before they separated, this book has a bunch of anecdotes from Anna’s life before and during her relationship with her then husband Chris. After having read it, I found myself sad that they couldn’t make it last. Definitely a fast read and something I didn’t spend much time thinking about.

Season of Storms, by Susanna Kearsley

These days, I would have to say that Susanna is my favorite author. I read her “Winter Sea” several years ago and was instantly hooked on her time traveling drama/romance style. I’ve read one of the Outlander books, and while those are similar, I grow tired of all the terrible things that keep happening. Susanna is obviously a hopeless (or is it hopeful) romantic and it shows. There’s always a happy ending. I got my youngest sister hooked on her too, and now I have to catch up with her and get through more of her books.

#sleevelife: Losing Half of Myself and Finding the Rest, by Jonathan P Dichter

I’ve been listening to Jonathan Dichter on various Disney parks related podcasts for so long now that he feels like a friend. Over the last year, he has recounted his experience having gastric surgery and losing over 100 pounds. His health and love life have made dramatic improvements and his positivity and perseverance shows in this book. I bought it to support him, but read it to join him on his journey. Those considering the surgery will get a first hand look at what it entails. I wish him nothing but much success and happiness.

Sharp Objects, by Gillian Flynn

This is another book I read in anticipation of possibly watching the movie/miniseries version. I love Amy Adams, so I thought I might eventually watch the adaptation. I still haven’t. I read “Gone Girl” before it was made into a movie and, well, I hated it. It was well written and constructed but the two main characters were so awful, the reader just couldn’t like any of them.  This time, it was slightly different. I actually thought the main protagonist was sympathetic at times. Still, it was another book filled with broken and messed up people. I don’t really enjoy these sorts of stories. After two strikes, I don’t plan on reading any more from Ms. Flynn.

And the last book…continuing the theme of reading the book before watching the movie:

Crazy Rich Asians (Crazy Rich Asians, #1), by Kevin Kwan

I read this book in four days. That’s a record for me these days, when I have very little free time and have to borrow time from my sleep to do any reading. “Luckily”, I was home due to the government shutdown, so in addition to cleaning out the basement and taking things to Salvation Army, I did some reading. This one was completely a light beach read. Loads of drama and back-stabbing. Had the title and character names not been Asian, this story could have been set in any rich family, which tells me that money does the same thing to people, no matter the culture. I was intrigued by Singapore and its history, and might actually add it to my list of places to see one day.

And that was it.  Looking back over the list, again my reading was all over the place, from beach-reads and drama, to dark materials, Star Wars inspired and autobiographies.  I’ve challenged myself again to read another 12 books in 2019 (and have already finished one). I Look forward to putting together my summary in next year’s first blog post.

Happy Reading!
RSM

Of Fathers and Sons: Phil Collins “Not Dead Yet” tour

Last night, the night before a significant birthday of mine that will not be named, I went to see what proved to be a really fantastic and unexpectedly emotional concert. Phil Collins in his Cleveland, Ohio appearance of his “Not Dead Yet” tour. One of the first concerts I ever went to back when I was in college, was the Genesis “Invisible Touch” tour back in 1987. I went with some of my very best friends in college and had the absolute best time. Phil was an amazing drummer and I loved the album and enjoyed the whole show.

Fast forward many years (and how the heck did *that* happen) and some friends at work wanted to know if my husband and I would like to see Phil as he did one more tour that, thankfully, took him through Cleveland. My husband, being a drummer, and knowing I loved Genesis, said yes! So last night, the night before my birthday, and a school night, we went downtown to enjoy dinner and some music.

You can read several wonderful reviews of the concert here and here so I won’t go into depth about the sets and Phil’s performance. What I will say is that it was surprisingly emotional . When the show opened, Mr. Collins walked out to center stage with the help of a cane. Apparently he’s recently had surgery and his foot isn’t in very good shape, so he would not be playing the drums. Instead he sat on a stool and sang every song from the front of the stage. His voice was sometimes soft, and at times, timid, but it was still the same Phil Collins voice I remembered from college. As he continued through the set, he became stronger in song and presence. His band and backup singers were delightful and it was obvious to the audience that there was love and admiration all around.

That wasn’t nearly the emotional part. No, that came when Phil introduced his band. He started with the horn section, because no Phil Collins or Genesis song is complete without horns. Then moved to the guitars, percussions, backup singers and keyboards. He skipped over the drums and the audience was on the edge of their seats waiting to find out who the young man was on the drums.

Turns out that the young man in question was Phil’s 17 year old son, Nicholas Collins. When introduced. the audience could not have beeb more loud. Yes, I cried. That was it for me the entire night. If Phil couldn’t play the drums, his son was there to carry on for the next generation. Maybe it was because I was about to turn a milestone birthday or maybe it’s because my own children are starting to mature and grown into teenagers who are their own people but I was deeply touched.

Here’s a little youtube video I found of the father/son duo during this tour.

If you can see Phil Collins on this tour, whether or not you’re a fan, it was definitely a wonderful time. Last night’s show was sold out, but I suspect there might have been one or two tickets still remaining here or there. I’d recommend it without hesitation.

Thank you again, Mr. Phil Collins, for your music, for your gift and for sharing both with the world.

RSM

Solo: A Star Wars Story – I honestly loved it in spite of myself.

When Disney announced that the next stand alone film in their Star Wars film schedule would be a young Han Solo movie, I was livid. Harrison Ford is and always will be Han Solo. Full Stop. That’s it. That’s all. No questions. I wasn’t in the least bit interested in seeing someone else play the role.

I’m still not.

I was already unhappy with Disney and their sequel trilogy from The Force Awakens. Oh, the use of story elements/beats from A New Hope didn’t bother me. That part was fine. It made the film feel like it was in universe. No, if you’ve read anything here on my blog, you know that what upset me the most was the misuse of my favorite characters. They acted in ways that were outside of how they would act. Things happened off screen that shaped key decisions and actions that were so far out of who I knew these people to be, and  we were just supposed to accept it. I always hate when plot devices trump characters. (Han wouldn’t have left Leia and Luke would never ever ever ever! have run away from his responsibilities…oh, and he wouldn’t have had a “moment of weakness” and tried to kill his man-baby nephew).

Then came The Last Jedi. I didn’t hate it like other people did, because Mark Hamill really went for it and was just wonderful. The humor was stupid. Admiral Holdo was annoying and unnecessary. Everything she did should have been action given to Akbar. Nothing about the movie surprised me. It followed exactly what I thought they’d set up in the depressing new Trilogy. That isn’t to say I liked it or thought it subverted expectations. It met mine. Mine were low. That was not a good thing. I left the theater feeling released. At this point, I don’t care where the story goes, and don’t plan to see Episode IX. That’s not being vindictive, I just honestly and truly don’t care about what happens next.

That makes me really sad.

But a funny thing happened the last few months, and I ended up going to see Solo: A Star Wars Story on its opening weekend.  After Ron Howard was brought on board as director, and he started to tweet out little things like a shot of the Spice Mine (of Kessel) and the Millennium Falcon and other little fun easter eggs, I started to warm up to the thought of an adventure with Han and Chewie. It’s hard to dislike Ron. I’ve loved his other movies: Willow, Apollo 13, so I knew he could make something I might enjoy.

Then I saw the trailers.

The first one was unremarkable, but subsequent ones started to look fun. I listen to the podcast Rebel Force Radio and as they started to talk more and more about their thoughts on the trailers and I started to get more and more excited. I really needed Solo to help undo the damage that the new sequel trilogy has done to my enjoyment and excited anticipation of Star Wars.

My children are currently done with Star Wars. My daughter thought The Last Jedi was terribly boring, and my son just isn’t into it enough to want to go to the theater to see the latest films. (The MCU is a different story for both of them). So my husband and I took in a matinee on opening weekend. And I found it delightful.

I was very anxious for about the first 5-10 minutes. I feel like I’ve been burned with so much disappointment, that I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about yet another Star Wars movie that let me down. Then there’s the scene Han pulls out a “thermal detonator”. I won’t spoil the details here, but suffice to say that it made me smile, and then I continued to smile for the rest of the movie. The subtle nods to the original trilogy and the prequels were all around. The laughs were subtle. No one was brooding or a hollow shell of their former selves. The double crosses were expected, and the adventure was fun. I absolutely loved Alden as Han and while Lando was all the buzz before the film came out, it’s the Han and Chewie relationship that develops on screen that is the heart of and the most fun part of the movie.

As I left the theater, I couldn’t wait to buy the soundtrack and return to see it a second time. None of my fellow Star Wars friends went out to see Solo in its opening weekend. Their interest in Star Wars has been severely dampened by the depressing The Last Jedi. Honestly, mine is too. But we’re taking it out on the wrong movie. Solo feels like something George Lucas would have made. Ron Howard does a great job of capturing the fun feeling of the original trilogy.

I will be sitting out Episode 9 when it hits theaters next year, but I am happy that I caught Solo: A Star Wars story while it made its first run. I only wish the two times I did go see it could help it in the box office because I want to see another adventure of Han and Chewie.

The bright spot in the Star Wars Universe: Star Wars Rebels

I cannot believe I haven’t yet written about the final season of Star Wars: Rebels! Rebels had a four year run, and ended with its final episode this past February. The final season was broken in to two parts, and the episodes themselves were run in blocks of two per week to fill an hour time slot. The show aired on Disney XD and was available via the Disney XD app usually the day after.

The head creative gentleman in charge of Rebels is the person in all of the Disney Star Wars machine who really gets what makes Star Wars, David Filoni. Mr. Filoni learned under George Lucas himself doing Star Wars: The Clone Wars, and Rebels carried on the same spirit that was evident in TCW. Rebels feels more like Star Wars than anything that’s come out since the Disney acquisition. I am both sad that it ended, and grateful that it was on television at all.

I have much more that I want to write up about Rebels, like actually getting into the details of the show, but this will hold my place and serve as a reminder to come back to it. If you didn’t watch Rebels while it aired, Disney did put all four seasons up on the Disney XD app back in February when the show was airing its final episodes. I haven’t checked if they are still there. I highly recommend watching.

Yes, it’s a show aimed at children so expect the good guys to prevail in the nick of time and don’t expect anything too depressing. There is loss, and the final half of the fourth season packs a lot of emotional punch. In the end, I believe that the original trilogy was meant for kids and that Star Wars is really meant for kids. It should be hopeful. It should be cause for cheering. Ultimately, I think this has been lost in the new Disney trilogy. But then, if you’ve read any of my posts over the last two years, you are very aware of this.

Until next post.

May the Force be with you.

RSM.

About that upcoming Han Solo Film…ugh

Backstory: Star Wars was my rock and my refuge during any and all of the dark times. It shaped who I am and my career path. It is what I love. My office is filled with Star Wars memorabilia.  I think you who have read my posts here already know this.

This brings me to Solo: A Star Wars Story. Let me say that this is my emotional response to the film, not the trailer. I have almost no emotional response to the trailer. The best I can say about it is that it looks like a generic science fiction film. This is a response to the existence of the film itself. I don’t care who they cast as Han in this film, Harrison Ford will always be Han for me. I loved reading the backstory (now Legends) books that came out in the 80s precisely because I could see Han as I knew him in my head while reading the stories. I am not interested in seeing another actor try to take on the role. This film just really needs to not exist. That’s really the beginning and the end of it for me.

I feel like this film is unnecessary (and yes, I know that no film is really necessary). So, I don’t care if it’s good or bad. I don’t care if it’s funny or not. I don’t care if the actor they case is any good or not. I am sure he’s a fine actor. And I love Ron Howard, so I am sure he’s done a fine job directing. I just don’t plan to see it. I know that makes me sound like all of those Star Wars fans that everyone is tired of listening to their rants, but it is how I feel.

I know that with this post, I just continue the negativity that almost all of my Star Wars related posts seem to express these days. I don’t like feeling this way, and I don’t like what the fandom is becoming. We are all angry and some of us express it in different ways.  However, I do hold Disney responsible for their part. Yes, the fans complained to/about George when he made Ep I, II, III (well, I didn’t, I liked them), but with them, he didn’t undo anything that had come before. Nothing about Luke, Han and Leia and their efforts and adventures through Eps IV, V, VI had to change with the events of the prequels. In my opinion, much if not all of Ep VII, VIII so far have been about undoing the past, and that hurts. I think that’s where those of us who are unhappy are coming from.

How funny that I feel this way, when just 5 years ago, I couldn’t give my money away fast enough to acquire Star Wars things. I collected all of the figures, all of the books, all of the things! Flash to now, and I will still buy things with Luke, Han and Leia but I no longer look forward to new Star Wars things coming out and definitely don’t collect merchandise of these new films, and neither do my children.

It is what it is.

MTFBWY