I hadn't really planned it, but I've just noticed that today's advent calendar posts seem to have been traveling backwards through time, starting with 1978, then 1977, and I'm pretty sure this one is from Christmas Day 1976 when I received my very first videogame, Pong (well, knock-off Pong). I think that recently finding out that my mom now has more in common with Dick Clark than simply an abiding love of bloopers and practical jokes might have me a little nostalgic for a time before I was really aware that my parents were ever going to die. Not that mom's health concerns are that serious, but the whole thing has had me somewhat stressed and distracted since Thanksgiving-time, temporarily derailing a few things such as exercising, eating, sleeping, my general go-get-em attitude, etc.. But a brief trip to the gym at lunch showed that it thankfully has not gone out of business, life has been continuing along pretty smoothly even without receiving my full attention, and my new iMac totally kicks ass on Pong, so I think it's about time to give this 21st century another chance.