Further proof that I'm slipping: so far, I've missed every single Tetris reference in Against the Day. Could the real reason behind the delay between Mason & Dixon and Against the Day be not the amount of time it took to research and write the thing but a video game? Which begs thusly: is it possible that Thomas Pynchon himself has kicked my ass on a network game of Dr. Mario? Because: whoa. How cool would that be? I might have to drop dropping my Dr. Mario habit.