At ICFA breakfast. …

At ICFA breakfast. Yesterday, close to midnight, I got a thoughtful and thorough response to my draft story from a friend, and then I stayed up and wrote a long response, and just now, I ended up talking through the whole thing with Ruby Katigbak​, who was sitting at the next table. The story is partly about trans issues, but also in large part about Sri Lanka and Black July, and Ruby is partly of Sri Lankan descent, and it was useful, talking through it with her, with her perspectives. I figured some things out, and all of this will make the story better; it is challenging, but also fun and satisfying, doing the work well, in such company.

There are days I wish I could live in some sort of artists' (and scientists') commune, with perhaps a few hundred people I've cherry-picked for their intelligence and insights and diverse backgrounds, and can you just imagine how fast the work would go, living in that kind of resource-rich creative ferment, how intense and fruitful each day would be?

Then I remember that I am also a little mentally and emotionally exhausted after just a few days of ICFA or WisCon or FogCon, and that for all the richness of this draught, humans were perhaps not meant to live on the elixir of the gods twenty-four-seven. And I am looking forward to going home to Kevin and the children and the dog and the garden, and yes, my students and the teaching too. They are the bread and butter of my life, and most days, there's nothing more sustaining than a little bread and butter.

But oh, it's nice to drink deep of the heady wine, once in a while. :-)