Out-guilting my mother, noted holiday celebrations expert Ken Goldstein notes that he’s already bought my Christmas present, and handily provided a direct link to it so that I can precisely calibrate the appropriate item to reciprocate with.

Some might say that the creation of one’s own personal fan club might be a fair exchange, but far be it from me to point something like that out.

Now, Ken is referring to our happy days at M-2K when we toiled under initial release posters from the fine folks at Demotivators – Ken’s was “Apathy”, while mine was something about silver linings and big, black, scary clouds.

Last year, it should be noted, Ken and his crack staff arranged for me to get a special letter, signed by the director of the FBI, in a gentle teasing gesture to my concern over the erosion of civil liberties in our great nation in the recent past.

So many choices! No small, inexpensive skee-ball games appear to be available, I’m sorry to say (memo to the ball-bearing manufacturers of America: get with the program, folks!).

More tomorrow, natch.