Martha says: Much of my life is the same since I wrote to you last year except now we’re 70, Gabriel is 6, Ezra is 3, and Elijah is 2.  I’m still enjoying a whole day with each grandchild once a week. Gabe is in first grade and excelling at reading, math and friends. Ezra looks like he’ll be the family athlete, eagerly pursuing anything physical.  Elijah is talking up a storm and pretending to do everything he sees us do. I’m still volunteering at the New England Quilt Museum once a week and glad to have some new helpers. And I’m helping Bob’s sister, Lee, navigate the health care maze.  She moved to a better apartment location in Burlington, MA this summer and is thrilled that her car is in its own garage this winter.  I’ve made quilts and toys for fun which you can see here.  I’m looking forward to skiing with the kids and starting ski lessons with the grandkids this winter.

We vacationed at Timberlock this summer with all the Supniks for the first week, then spent our quieter 2^nd week resting up after chasing 3 kids around.  I visited my family in Rochester in May when several cousins graduated from college so there were more Presberg cousins in town than usual.

Bob says: This year has been entirely consumed with grandchildren, animé, volunteer computer support, and simulation, more or less in that order. Martha has covered the sprogs, so I'll focus on the other topics.

My animé group (Orphan Fansubs) had a banner year, releasing more than 40 projects. This is a result of getting some additional volunteers, but it's also the result of the increasing availability of older shows, both on physical media and on streaming sites. Older animé is, to paraphrase Forrest Gump, like a box of chocolates: you never know what you're going to get. However, in 2017, there was nary a dud in the bunch. The group will continue to focus on shows that were never translated, particularly those that are stranded on aging analog media like laserdiscs and VHS tapes.  

I volunteered as a computer support person for Carlisle's Council on Aging, and it has been an eye-opening experience. From dropped and broken hardware to seriously infected systems, I've had fun and challenging interactions almost every month. As a result, I've become seriously concerned about the state of computer security, particularly around "smart" devices, which typically have very dumb security. It's turned me into a technology Luddite: I have no smart devices in the house and intend to avoid them at all cost. In addition, I continue to renovate old computers and give them away to people in need in the surrounding communities. Finally, I implemented a complete upgrade of the computing environment at the New England Quilt Museum, thanks to a rare technology grant. This included new systems and software. The last piece should be finished in early 2018.

The simulation work is now in the hands of a group of Internet enthusiasts. I mostly kibbitz from the side. However, I'm still the "go to" guy for understanding obscure hardware/software interactions, and I continue to develop new code on a small scale.

Jonathan says: Well, we're parents of a two-year-old. Elijah's running, talking up a storm, playing simple video games, cackling madly, and testing limits. We had fun seeing the whole family together at Timberlock this year. Larissa continues to work for Boris FX in Boston, which acquired Genarts last year. Jonathan is still working for Funkitron from home and enjoying learning the Unity engine. Isabella passed away over the winter, and was replaced by Skandalous, a 20-year-old grey Arab gelding with a lot of sass, but a loving disposition. The dogs are starting to show their first signs of old age. Luke continues to think that there's nothing abnormal about a cat and a two-year-old being best friends. Kaya (our other cat) continues to think there's everything abnormal about this arrangement.