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. :-)