It's been one of those days where I feel like I've prematurely become a relic to the times we live in. Took a trip to my home state's largest indoor mall, and man what a bummer that place is. Nearly half of the store fronts are shuttered and empty (permanently). I never thought I'd live to see the day when physical retail at large would die off, but it's coming sooner rather than later. This huge, multi-story mall has nearly nothing in it. A multi-floor parking garage that's entirely unnecessary at this point. Only one major retail establishment still remains there. It's such a drastic change, even from just 10 years ago.
All this to track down one of the only places where I could pick up a new release on CD, rather than order it online or just download it. But then my car doesn't have a CD player, that's too old-hat for today's infotainment systems, so I then tracked down an actual portable CD player to connect to my car's stereo because I've been meaning to get one as I have a large CD collection and no desire to load them all onto my phone.
It's times like these when I feel like I've become this stubborn old relic; holding onto the last remaining scraps of a by-gone era. In my head, things should still operate as they did in the 90s and 00s; this also speaks to why I am retro game collector as well. I'm not adjusting to the change, I don't like the change, frankly. It seems like things change just for the sake of it, and not because the old way was broken. I feel like yelling at clouds and telling youngsters how it was "in my day", and I'm not even that old. The change is so rapid now.
By the way, I will recommend Chevelle's NIRATIAS (Nothing Is Real, All of This Is A Simulation). I'm enjoying this one, it feels eerily relevant and ominous. It has a sci-fi dystopian theme about it. I interpret it as a sort of reproach on modernity, could be that's just the mood I'm currently in. It's good.