Here are two amusing things that happened at TASSP 2025.

For the first time, someone referred to one of these couches as a “fidget spinner couch”. I’ve been coming to TASSP at this hotel since 2022 and never once did I make that connection. But it certainly does look like a fidget spinner. It’s also not super-comfortable — it’s too low to sit on the low area, and too high to sit on the high area. But the fidget spinners get a lot of use, especially on the second floor, which is the main TASSP floor.

This one takes a bit more explanation. A few holidays ago — can’t remember if it was Thanksgiving or July 4, but I’m leaning toward Thanksgiving — my daughter and I were at my parents’ house and I made a cake in an aluminum pan. I wasn’t feeling like eating the edges, so I cut a piece out of the middle. This absolutely scandalized my daughter, who has still not forgiven me. Well, at dinner on Saturday night I wasn’t in the mood for the crispy edges of the garlic bread, so I cut the middle of it out and ate it, and then texted her a picture. Her response:

It’s the little things that make me happy, like the two of us having in-jokes that we share. And even though she shakes her head or gives me disapproving looks, I know she appreciates them too.