I just added the last of my SxSW pictures. As many of you know Monday was my last day, so I don’t have any from Tuesday. Also for those that asked it actually turned out the Ethics mid-term wasn’t today, but is on Thursday, which was actually a big relief. Coming back I was utterly exhausted—physically, emontionally, and intellectually—and I crashed for about 6 hours in a very satisfying nap. There’s no bed like home.

Note: This is an extremely rough draft, sans links, grammar, and coherence. This will be updated with all of the above.

As you can see from the last few posts, I was quite lost for a little bit. Once I got to Austin and Charleen (my sister) wasn’t sure where Stubbs was, I decided to follow my intuition on which side of town it was on, and then find a Starbucks once I got closer and look up the actual address. I ended up exiting by the University of Texas, and I drove around for about 10 minutes. No Starbucks! So I basically war drove around until I found a good signal, a place to stop, and decided where I was. Fortunately I was only about 5 minutes from where I needed to be. Once I followed the easy directions there, parking was another matter. I drove and drove and drove ’til I finally broke down and forked up $5 for parking. I walked down to Stubb’s, went in, and realized I had no idea where everyone was. After looking around for a while it seemed the only course of action would be to call Mike or Christine, but both of their numbers were back in the car. So uphill two blocks to the car, boot laptop, grab numbers, call Mike. He couldn’t have been more helpful and met me at the front door and guided me to the “VIP Room”.

Once I was in I honestly recognized about two people, both of which only because their pictures are prominent on their sites. I was introduced briefly to Brad, and I filled out a name-card and entry form for a door prize. Sat with Christine, Coffee Mike, and a few others whose name’s escape me. Christine and Mike had just gotten there about 10 minutes before me, as they had been a bit lost too, though in a different area. Unfortunately we were too late for any food, which looked excellent. I hope I can make it back there sometime soon. I saw people there I would have liked to talk to, but I was tired from the drive and a bit shy. As it turned out it wasn’t a problem because there was much more mingling downstairs later.

The last person to get there was the famous Jish, who entered to applause. He flew in from ??? with a three hour stopover in Denver. I was pleasantly surprised when he not only said hello but remembered my name as well. (We met a while back.)

Party moved downstairs with Jish and Mike.I talked briefly to Wes Felter, had Cam tell me he was someone else (for a moment). where I got to meet Rannie and Ernie, who are both delightful, Alison, Mike, and more than a few others whose name’s also escape me. I had a very pleasant conversation with Joe Clark for a while; fascinating guy. I finally found out why he spells it “shurely”.

Went to Ivory Cat, but they couldn’t accommodate or something. Same thing at blues club down the street.

Decided that food was a must, ate with Christine, Mike, and Mike. Hamburger was great.

Went to the lounge of the Omni to smooze. Met Ming Yum, another Mike, Kristen (http://www.booboolina.com/), talked with Jish, played around with Rannie and Lucian. Then walked back with Coffee Mike and Christine.

20 minutes later, I’m now at my sister’s house and looking forward to the soft bed that awaits me.