So, "dpkg --configure -a" failed.

I opened up a shell and tried invoking dpkg manually on the .debs.

****
alex@alex-laptop:/var/cache/apt/archives$ sudo dpkg -i fontconfig*
(Reading database ... 211754 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace fontconfig 2.6.0-1ubuntu2 (using fontconfig_2.6.0-1ubuntu2_amd64.deb) ...                                                                    
Unpacking replacement fontconfig ...                                             
Preparing to replace fontconfig-config 2.5.0-2ubuntu3 (using fontconfig-config_2.6.0-1ubuntu2_all.deb) ...                                                        
Unpacking replacement fontconfig-config ...                                      
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of fontconfig:                   
 fontconfig depends on libfontconfig1 (>= 2.4.0); however:                       
  Package libfontconfig1 is not configured yet.                                  
dpkg: error processing fontconfig (--install):                                   
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured                                      
Setting up fontconfig-config (2.6.0-1ubuntu2) ...                                
Installing new version of config file /etc/fonts/conf.avail/25-unhint-nonlatin.conf ...                                                                           
Installing new version of config file /etc/fonts/conf.avail/40-nonlatin.conf ... 
Installing new version of config file /etc/fonts/conf.avail/45-latin.conf ...    
Installing new version of config file /etc/fonts/conf.avail/53-monospace-lcd-filter.conf ...                                                                      
Installing new version of config file /etc/fonts/conf.avail/60-latin.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/fonts/conf.avail/65-fonts-persian.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/fonts/conf.avail/65-nonlatin.conf ...
Installing new version of config file /etc/fonts/conf.avail/69-unifont.conf ...

Processing triggers for doc-base ...
Processing 1 changed doc-base file(s)...
Registering documents with scrollkeeper...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 fontconfig
****

I then tried installing libfontconfig1 first, which I think did the trick.  Currently my system is crunching through "dpkg --configure -a" again, but without the error messages.

****
alex@alex-laptop:/var/cache/apt/archives$ sudo dpkg -i libfontconfig1*
(Reading database ... 211753 files and directories currently installed.)
Preparing to replace libfontconfig1 2.6.0-1ubuntu2 (using libfontconfig1_2.6.0-1ubuntu2_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement libfontconfig1 ...
Preparing to replace libfontconfig1-dev 2.6.0-1ubuntu2 (using libfontconfig1-dev_2.6.0-1ubuntu2_amd64.deb) ...
Unpacking replacement libfontconfig1-dev ...
Setting up libfontconfig1 (2.6.0-1ubuntu2) ...

Setting up libfontconfig1-dev (2.6.0-1ubuntu2) ...

Processing triggers for doc-base ...
Processing 1 changed doc-base file(s)...
Registering documents with scrollkeeper...
Processing triggers for libc6 ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place

alex@alex-laptop:/var/cache/apt/archives$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
...
****