Also meeting at Backspace that night was a geek conflation. I saw Bobby "Fatboy" Roberts, Adam "Captain Kirk" Rosko, Elisabeth Forsythe (one of the Things From Another World people who helped arrange my trip to San Diego), and others. Including some guys I in my tired state blanked on, leading later to my Twitter comment "Note to self, Chris: get better at recognizing *everyone*, not just women you find cute." (Sorry, guys.)
Also there, it turned out, was my friend Kara, a.k.a. ShinyFab of local Firefly/Serenity fandom (she works on the Portland Can't Stop the Serenity charity events). She also was tired. After the group finished one meeting and was milling around before another, Kara and I gravitated to each other and said hi. And commented on how tired each of us looked.
I wish I had a photo of what happened next, because usually Kara and I hug when we say goodbye but we both were holding stuff (I was about to write "had occupied hands," but that might imply SOMETHING ELSE and she's happily married, so people, don't go there) so the two of us leaned on each other's shoulders. And stayed there. "Like an arch," she said.
It was surprisingly comforting.