A few weeks ago, I started watching the multipart science fiction show 3 Body Problem on Netflix. It’s an absorbing and original story about a future invasion of Earth by an alien planet, and it’s got enough twists and turns to keep me riveted for four episodes.

The snag is that 3 Body Problem has eight episodes in all, and when I stopped watching after the fourth, I promised myself I’d pick it right back up, but of course I didn’t. Eventually, maybe, I’ll get back into it. But if I’m being honest with myself, I know there’s no way that’s going to happen. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy the show, it’s just that other things have moved front and center. And that means 3 Body Problem will remain an open loop in my life, like Prime Video’s Reacher or, for that matter, Marcel Proust’s Remembrance of Things Past — just another thing I keep meaning to finish but never, ever will.