Movies

It starts with a recommendation or seeing a trailer or reading an article about a movie I want to see. I log into my Letterboxd account and add the movie to my Watchlist. Except on the rare occurrence I go to an actual theater, I will watch the movie from one of the many streaming services available to me. When I have time to watch a movie, I will select it from my Letterboxd Watchlist first. This lends itself to wanting to see the movie first, THEN finding out whether its available on a streaming service. I hated that method, so I pull movies from my Letterboxd Watchlist into my personal PDS as their own records. I have automation that will enhance those records with updates, including the available streaming options. I have a personal website that shows my "media diary", which includes seeing which movies from my Watchlist are streaming. This has drastically reduced the amount of time used in the "what do you want to watch" discussions. I always know exactly what I want to watch on each streaming service.

Music

Music recommendations are more difficult to come by, now that I'm in my 50s. Instead of getting suggestions from friends like I used to do when I was younger, I rely on Spotify playlists to expose me to newer music. I found a playlist that plays the current Top 40 Billboard Adult Alternative songs. The owner of the playlist curates the list to match the Billboard list. His playlist has become a treasure trove of new music for me. Each time I hear a song that I feel drawn to in some way (reflexively sing along or playing air drums, etc.) I will click the Like button. This will populate a "Liked Songs" list. I have a category for those on my website too. Then I have the option to listen to double curated music.

Books

I add books I want to read to my obviously named Want To Read Goodreads bookshelf. I have a custom list on my local library's website where I add the same book. I use the custom library list to track the availability of those books. From there I reserve a book, which the librarians pull from the shelf for me to checkout. After I read the book, I will log my review on Goodreads. The automation I set up will pull the RSS feed from Goodreads and update their PDS record. My website shows both the books I want to read, and the books I have already read.