Book review: Out of Time, Into You

Out of Time, Into You by Jay Bell

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

I’m going to keep this brief, and I didn’t rate the book on Goodreads because I don’t want to harsh the author’s mellow there. I am going to harsh it here, though.

It took me a long time to finish this book because a lot of it is dull. Nothing much happens, and while I’m perfectly fine with a story trundling along on mood and atmosphere, here it just never amounts to much.

Reggie Valentine is a gay and apparently sex-crazed 19-year-old Black guy who, messing around with an old stone gate with a friend, suddenly finds himself thrust back in time to 1959. There he meets Daniel Parker, a straight-laced young man deep in the closet, as was the style at the time. They fall in love, have the requisite explicit sex that is mandatory in any romance novel, and the story just putters along, with the realities of 1959 kind of pushed off to the side. About three-quarters into the story, there is finally An Incident™ in the form of a police raid on a secret dance club for queer folk. Reggie gets roughed up and spends a week in jail. Daniel, being the son of a well-connected white doctor, escapes unscathed. This is enough to convince Reggie to try the gate again, with the plan being for him and Daniel to both return to the present (2022, in this case).

NOTE: The “science fiction” part of the story is completely nonsensical, and don’t even try to figure out the time travel/possible timeline stuff.

The story seems to end tragically (spoilers ahead) when Reggie makes it through, but Daniel doesn’t. Reggie reunites with the now 80-something Daniel and the story ends with him somehow convincing Daniel to rekindle their relationship, despite being literally four decades apart in age. We are spared further explicit sex scenes between a 20 and 80-year-old man. I found this kind of gross, especially since Reggie comes across throughout as kind of a creep obsessed with sex. He even tries to convince Old Daniel to get it on by pointing out he won’t be around much longer, anyway. I know it’s supposed to be “true love” but it comes across completely differently to me. Reggie feels more like a Character in a Novel than a believable person, and he’s often unlikeable, despite the author clearly not trying to make him this way.

I kind of regret slogging through this story just to get a weird, gross ending. But I think it cured me of seeking out further gay romance stories, at least ones involving time travel, so there is that.

Rockin’ New Year’s Eve, 2024 style

Which means going to bed before 11 p.m. Technically, I might still be up reading at midnight, so I might be awake for the calendar to flip from 2024 to 2025, the year in which flying cars and baby machines become reality.

I am surprised as I type this that I haven’t heard any fireworks. Maybe people are just quietly drinking heavily instead.

Happy new year.

UPDATE: It seems one person had a small cache of fireworks, and they set them off precisely at midnight. It lasted less than a minute, so my drinking heavily theory was probably correct.

The song most stuck in my head in 2024 is from 1976

And that song is “The Things We Do For Love” by 10cc, released as a single late in 1976. It was a big hit in Canada, peaking at #1, and I clearly remember it all over the radio at the time (I was about 13 years old, so just developing my taste–or lack thereof–in music). I found the song to be catchy, but schmaltzy, and declared it worthy of being mocked. I mocked it, with my friends, because we were extremely cool kids in our own minds.

The song resurfaced for me when I watched a few pop songs on YouTube from the late 70s/early 80s, which told the YouTube algorithm that I wanted to watch these videos to the exclusion of everything else, thus my home page became clogged with almost nothing but. One of the songs clogging things up was “The Things We Do For Love” and it made me reassess this now 48-year-old song. And it’s still schmaltzy, and still catchy, but there is more to it, that almost indefinable something that makes it more than just a tidy pop song.

I’m not a music-titian, so I can’t use the proper terminology to describe the things, but as a layperson, it comes down to these:

  • The song starts with lush background vocals that serve as an intro, swelling to the “start” of the song. It’s a welcome variation from the usual verse/chorus structure.
  • Piano and guitar are both featured and used well.
  • The lyrics, given the song title, are not as banal and mindless as one might expect. They’re not deep, either, but at least they’re not cringe-inducing.
  • Did I mention the background vocals?
  • The whole production is very lush and layered for a pop song.

The only down note (ho ho) is the way it fades at the end, as was the style at the time. It’s not terrible, but it still makes me think, “They didn’t know how to end the song.”

And they actually made a video for it, which is positively quaint. The two main band members appear to have just walked off the street and picked up their instruments, which is a fair bit better than having them wear matching sequinned jumpsuits.

I can’t say the song has made me want to check out the entire 10ccc oeuvre, but I did listen to “Not in Love” later and almost a half century later, I finally learned this is the song featuring the repeated, whispered vocal “Big boys don’t cry, big boys don’t cry”, which my friends and I mercilessly mocked at the time. It still comes across as just kind of weird in 2024, but at least I now know where the weirdness originated.

Anyway, that’s my Song of the Year 2024. I know I’ve heard contemporary music, too, but can’t think of a single song that stuck with me.

Clearing skies for 2025

Here’s hoping that 2025 will be better than 2024. I mean, maybe aliens will save us. FOR DINNER. Or maybe they’ll save us because they find us worth saving. It could happen.

And if it doesn’t, then maybe 2025 will be better in other ways. I can’t think of them right now, but I am optimistic that they will come to me in time. Presumably before 2025 concludes one year from today.

Clearing skies, as captured by me on my officially ancient iPhone 12, December 28, 2024

2024: The Year in Review (Spoiler: It kind of sucked)

I wasn’t sure how to summarize the year. It was not a good year. Bad things happened, and the stage is set for more bad things to happen in 2025. Global politics are a mess and fascism is on the rise.

I won’t even mention the U.S. election except to say that Americans have given themselves a generational black eye by putting Trump back in the White House when he belongs in jail. So much for accountability and consequences.

For me, the year was a series of health-related issues. I got sick twice for the first time in years, one minor illness, one that lingered a bit. I hurt my right knee again, but managed to bounce back and resumed running sooner than I had in 2023. I even posted some of my best run times in two years, which was nice. But health problems dogged me right to the end. I am only a day out from weeks of antibiotics to deal with a bacteria infection. This wiped out most of December, but I did manage to lose weight and keep most of it off as a result.

My return to running yesterday ended in disaster, as noted in an earlier post, when I tripped and fell hard on a sidewalk. A day later and I feel like I’m recovering from a car crash. Do not recommend.

Strata nonsense consumed much of my time. Too much. Stress was a constant companion. I don’t see light at the end of the tunnel, or dark. I just see the tunnel and it is very long.

Hopefully I’ll emerge from it in 2025.

May we all get through the next year intact.

Good riddance to 2024.

A cat trying, symbolically, to run from the year that was:

EDIT: Comics Outta Context had an apt choice to ring in the new year:

December 2024 weight loss report: Down 2.2 pounds

The best news is I’m down for the month and also down for the year. Hooray!

The not-as-good news is I was close to being down a decent bit more, as three times during the month I hit 165.2 or 165.3 pounds, including just a few days ago. In these past few days, despite no drastic changes in eating, my body weight suddenly started swinging wildly up and down. But even though I gained 0.6 pounds this morning, it couldn’t erase the rest of the month’s weight loss, meaning I am still down 2.2 pounds for the month and 5.7 pounds for the year.

These are pretty small numbers and I remain, as of today, some 16+ pounds short of my goal, but at least I am moving in the right direction.

December complications:

  • In the first week, I developed a bacteria infection, which kept me from running for four weeks. This is probably why I suffered the slight shrinkage of muscle mass. It did lead to a massive 3.1 pound overnight weight loss in that first week, and by the end of the month, I’d kept about two-thirds of it off, which is pretty good!
  • That second run–yesterday–resulted in me tripping and hitting the sidewalk hard, so I’m unsure how soon I’ll be running again. We’ll see.
  • The general lack of activity, associated stress, and discomfort did subdue my appetite for large periods, but once it improved, I came close to using food as comfort again. Bad!

In terms of stats, for the month, they have mostly improved. For the entire year of 2024:

  • Body fat went from 25.2% to 25.3% (neutral)
  • Muscle mass went from 30.5% to 29.7% (bad)
  • BMI went from 24.7 to 23.8 (good)

A mixed bag.

2024 was a mixed bag, indeed. Here’s to 2025 being a nice lean bag.

Stats:

January 1, 2024: 172.3 pounds

Current: 166.6 pounds
Year to date: Down 5.7 pounds

December 1: 168.8 pounds
December 31: 166.6 pounds (down 2.2 pounds)

Body fat:
December 1: 25.9%
December 31: 25.3% (down 0.6%)

Skeletal muscle mass:
December 1: 30.0%
December 31: 29.7% (down 0.3%)

BMI:
December 1: 24.2
December 31: 23.8 (down 0.4%)

Historical: January 1, 2022: 182.8 pounds

Run 906: The revenge of sidewalk, plus the first run in 28 days

Brunette River in winter dress, pre-run.

The good news: I completed my first run in 28 days!

The also good news: My pace of 5:53/km was slightly better than expected, given the extended time off (due to infection).

The not good news: At the 1.95 km mark, I tripped on the sidewalk just past the river trail and gravity won. Summary:

  • Laceration of left elbow. Did not break the skin.
  • Scraped right knee. It’s a pretty standard scrape.
  • Left hand: Torn skin, bloodied.
  • Right hand: Torn skin, bloodied, but more so. The right hand absorbed the majority of the fall.
Wound/Bandage update: I appear to have hurt my upper left thigh somehow. There is no visible bruise, but a few lacerations. It is very sore. It also seems my right wrist absorbed a lot of the impact and when I flex it a certain way it becomes very unhappy. Not a sprain (I think), just sore.

I now have four bandages/gauze covering various parts of my body. Kids, learn from me: Tripping on a sidewalk is not cool. Don't do it, no matter what those other kids say.

But let’s start from the start. I have been battling a bacteria infection for most of the month, and the last time I ran was on December 2nd. I felt I was ready to run again, so did my stretching and opted for a short 2.5 km run on the river trail. I dressed accordingly (running pants, rain jacket) and headed off. The first km was better than expected, with a pace of 5:46/km (I was expecting something closer to six minutes). I figured the second km would be slower, and it was, but not for quite the reason I expected.

When I run the river trail, I normally head past the gate at the far end, run down the sidewalk to where Cariboo Place meets Cariboo Road (they like cariboo around here), then turn and head back. I was heading toward the intersection when my left foot managed to perfectly connect with an uplifted section of sidewalk, causing me to trip. I had time to ponder whether I would regain my balance or go down. Given the momentum, it was inevitable that gravity would win, and it did.

I want to say I looked to my right and could actually see the skin tearing on my right hand, but that doesn’t seem possible, so maybe my brain was adding spice. As I laid on the ground, I did look at my right hand, which was bloody, then my left hand, which was also bloody. I paused the workout.

I stood up and, with nothing actually broken or sprained, resumed the run, being a bit more cautious on the sidewalk part. I kept going and finished the 2.5 km, with an average pace of 5:53/km, which is decent for a run that included me falling down.

Other than the tripping part, I experienced no issues or discomfort. This is good and is encouraging for regular runs going forward.

The hands are cleaned and bandaged now, but are stinging a little. Getting them cleaned and bandaged was a bit of an ordeal. They will probably sting for a while yet.

I am including photos of both my left and right hand, taken shortly after the fall (just after I finished the run), so the blood looks very fresh, like I had just murdered someone. The photos are behind spoilers, for obvious reasons. This looks worse than my previous tripping incident: Run 449: Foot meets tree root, tree root wins

NOTE: Bloody hands
Left hand
Right hand
The scene of the crime.

Stats:

Run 906
Average pace: 5:53/km

Training status: Strained
Location: Brunette River Trail
Start: 1:47 p.m.
Distance: 2.51 km
Time: 14:47
Weather: Cloudy, some sprinkles
Temp: 5°C
Humidity: 90%
Wind: light
BPM: 149
Weight: 166.0
Total distance to date: 6,387.5 km
Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation)
Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 6 (157.5/284/441.5)

A look at Netflix’s “casual viewing” (that is, most of Netflix)

This article is just all-around depressing: Casual Viewing

Such slipshod filmmaking works for the streaming model, since audiences at home are often barely paying attention. Several screenwriters who’ve worked for the streamer told me a common note from company executives is “have this character announce what they’re doing so that viewers who have this program on in the background can follow along.” (“We spent a day together,” Lohan tells her lover, James, in Irish Wish. “I admit it was a beautiful day filled with dramatic vistas and romantic rain, but that doesn’t give you the right to question my life choices. Tomorrow I’m marrying Paul Kennedy.” “Fine,” he responds. “That will be the last you see of me because after this job is over I’m off to Bolivia to photograph an endangered tree lizard.”)

And:

Netflix’s “views” might look impressive on paper (even Sweet Girl, the TNM starring Jason Momoa as a vengeance-seeking survivalist whose MMA-trained daughter takes up his cause, was viewed 6.7 million times in the first half of 2024), but these figures remain a sham. To get to 6.7 million, Netflix first tallies the film’s “viewing hours,” the total amount of time that users have spent streaming the movie. Here, Netflix makes no distinction between users who watch Sweet Girl all the way through, those who watch less than two minutes, and those who watch just a few seconds thanks to autoplay, or skip around, or watch at 1.5x speed. All this distracted, piecemeal activity is rolled into Sweet Girl’s total viewing hours (12.3 million at last count), which the company then divides by the program’s runtime (110 minutes, or 1.83 hours) to produce those 6.7 million views. According to Netflix’s rubric, two users who watch the first half of Sweet Girl and close their laptops equal one full “view”—as do 110 users who each watch a single minute.

To compensate for reading this, here is a cat watching a TV with more attention than a typical Netflix subscriber:

File Explorer, how I hate thee

Eventually I’ll probably crash File Explorer by just opening it. It seems to crash a lot now, regardless of circumstance.

And I don’t troubleshoot it anymore, because there are so many possible reasons it might be crashing. I just live with it. Or spend more time in Linux Mint, whose file manager does not constantly crash (yet).

Has it really come to this, feeling fondness and nostalgia for Windows 95? I’m sure it was horrible in its own way, and I’ve just blocked the details, but still.