In Chicago: I have free wireless and I'm going to use it
Flopped out quite insanely early yesterday (even given my projected relatively early rising time): suspect that any conversations I had during the latter hours of the day were approaching more and more closely to the reiteration of 'wibble' on my part. Was v tired hedgehog.
At the Van Galder bus stop ran into annafdd, and we postmortemed Wiscon for a while until she went to sleep (I wish I could sleep on buses). I opened my book and put on my iPod: the first three songs that came up were, amusingly, 'Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves' (no comment), 'Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear' (coffeeandink and I were discussing Marian Engel's novel Bear yestreen), and 'A Little Piece of Leather' (annafdd and I had just been talking about one of the SM panels).
I gather some people were disappointed with this year's Wiscon, but I wasn't. I had a great time, even if being on panels, and thus being in the moment rather than recording the discussion, physically or mentally, means that my recall of what actually went on in them is a bit vague (this is generally what happens if I'm engaged with something). But I felt that the panels I went to were good, and started from a non-elementary point of departure. Okay, 'Books to Avoid' was not deep (and sorry to everyone who wanted the down and dirty on these: I can't moderate and take notes at the same time, alas).
I also loved meeting all my lj mates again: there is no bad in meeting up with people who are smart, passionate about the sorts of things I am passionate about, amusing, and give great hug.
I regret the not having enough time to spend as much as I would have liked with so many people - and often that if we did get time, one or other of us was fading fast on our feet by that hour.
On the other hand (because It's Always More Complicated) part of the intensity and vividness of the experience is because it is so delimited. (Shipboard romance, anyone? It sometimes does feel like a collective love-affair.)
I didn't feel like I was meeting new people to the extent I did before, which may partly be the fact that there were so many people I already knew, even if it was first rl meeting with some of them.
But on the whole, definitely coming down on the positive side. Big hedgehog smoochies to all of you I met, especially if we didn't manage goodbye hugs.