I want:

• a spacesuit
• a fire extinguisher

some simple things that make me happy

1. Putting together a homemade spaghetti sauce with lots of veggies and spices.
2. Throwing my Outback in low gear and powering up a hill (particularly if said hill leads to Williamstown).
3. The sound of a squash ball hitting the wall.
4. Watching a lathe on automatic feed turn down material.
5. Turning on a radio and instantly hearing a song I’ve been thinking about but haven’t listened to in a long time.
6. Writing useful functions that work properly and integrating them into my codes.
7. Watching a charcoal drawing take shape.

events on my mind

1. Squash ladder match #3
2. Binghamton Airshow
3. Ithacafest
4. Williams Reunions
5. AIAA Guidance, Navigation, and Control Conference and Exhibit
6. Jonathan Coulton concert in New York, NY
7. Spore Creature Creator Trial release

roofball rules, as explained to me at the ‘73 reunion

• The court is the back side of Tyler House; the ball is a tennis ball
• Service is from beyond the sidewalk on the right of the court
• The serve must hit the slate roof on the far left of the court and must hit the slate elsewhere on the roof to be legal (the “two-slates rule”)
• The other team must catch the ball and return it to the roof from the point where they catch it
• If the ball intentionally hits a window on the building, it is a fault on the throwing team
• A team scores a point when their opponents fail to catch the ball on their serve
• The game is to 11 points, and must be won by 2 points