Home from Chicago. Got back to DCA mid-afternoon; hopped the Metro and got home around 3pm. For a fairly short run of code hearings (three days of work plus two travel days) I'm wiped. Granted, I didn't sleep all that well in the hotel and did a lot of brisk walking to and from the local deli/pizza joints a couple of blocks from the hotel to squeeze in lunches and dinners around the actual hearings.

I did get to spend a pleasant couple of hours with billroper and daisy_knotwise, who nabbed me from my hotel Saturday afternoon and brought me to their house for some sweet corn, barbequed sausage and bratwurst, and other munchies. Also got to serve as a distraction for Katie and Julie, including tossing a clear inflatable pumpkin back and forth and running races around the dining room and foyer. Much fun was had.

An interesting moment happened Monday afternoon. I'd retired to my hotel room to kill a few hours between the end of my part of the hearings and meeting some colleagues for dinner. Flipped open my computer and set about my normal rounds of web-surfing. In the process, discovered seanan_mcguire's post about her latest Sparrow Hill Road story, remembered I'd been meaning to read the whole lot, and set about doing so.

Got through the first three stories and realized I was getting sleepy, so I decided to stretch out for a short nap. Being a lazy soul, I opted to leave the computer running, including the Live365 player set to the Paste Music channel. (I was indulging my curiosity and sampling some Arcade Fire and My Morning Jacket.)

Woke up about half an hour later to the strains of Cat Power's cover of Bob Dylan's "Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again" wafting from my computer. And instantly started picturing the narrator and characters in the song as lost (but living) souls passing through a Southeastern diner lamenting their respective lots in life. Nowhere near what a Googling suggests Dylan was shooting for, but clearly my brain was responding to Seanan's stories. Anyway, I just lay there for a minute or two listening to the rest of the song and thinking, "Whoa. Duuuuude."

I think I'll be spending the rest of the week with Cat Power echoing in my head.