1975 Diary

I've had this in my office for a few years. I was a 7th, then (in the fall) an eighth-grader at Kearney Junior High School in Kearney, Nebraska. During the summer, it's mostly a record of tennis tournament results and some notes on "practical jokes" and magic.

Seems like I should type it in, even though it's impossibly boring [such concerns haven't stopped me in the past—why now? ]

Finger pointing

I stubbed my right pinky finger at morning basketball, but only have myself to blame. It was an easy pass to me and I was lazy in catching it.

The photo doesn't do justice to the color; it's ugly. Maybe it's broken?

We visited Cole's soon-to-be middle school today and I was reminded of another playtime mishap. It happened when I was in middle school (of course, it was called "Junior High" back then). Some girls were playing a game where they took one of their saddle shoes almost off their foot, leaving toes still in the shoe. They were having a contest to see who could kick off their shoe the hardest at a wall, about 20 feet away. I could hear the loud whack as each black and white and shoe slammed into the wall. The wall had a ledge, and I climbed up on top of it. I surprised them by jumping to the ground between the high velocity saddleshoes and the wall. I took Mary Luth's right saddleshoe directly in the left eye, which survived despite this Darwinian pressure in favor of its extinction.

in the Guardian

For example, it was very difficult for an Me-109 to shoot down a Stringbag. The trick was to wait for the enemy to come almost within range, then cut right back on speed, and make the steepest possible turn at 60 knots. This was a "sixpence inside a half-crown" and the fighter could not bring its guns to bear.

[ From an obituary of Lord Kilbracken. I've got to figure out how to get myself a cool title like that—"Lord Kilbracken." Nice. I like these Guardian "Old Boy" obituaries, with their inevitable introductions describing youthful indiscretions—"Born in Belgravia, he had just finished with Eton, and was ready for Oxford, when he chose to enlist. School life had not been uneventful; he had been Eton's unofficial bookmaker (with a daily turnover of £30) and was almost expelled when discovered..."—and then later, more sober accomplishments. The best obituaries are always Churchillian. Joshua said is it's possible to buy certain similar-sounding titles, maybe he said "Lord of the Manor" is one of that type? He did say that the droit du seigneur no longer applies. I must enquire. ]