Preparation
Camilla and I have been planning to make beef jerky pretty much since last Burning Man. Finally, about a month before it's that time again she drives me from Santa Cruz to where she lives, collecting supplies along the way. We make three Costco briskets worth of beef jerky. It takes for EVER to cut all that meat into strips. Then we season them and dunk two batches in Teriyaki sauce and one batch in Bloody Mary mix.
At last it's ready!!
We put it in the oven.
The jerky is ready to dry!!
In a few weeks I make my own!
It came out really well!
Upon tending them in the oven for six hours, I pop them all into separate plastic bags and into the freezer.
I had bought this sweet hat from a costume shop online. Little did I think about how much the wind would catch it, but it worked in the end!
My room was a disaster while I was trying to anticipate anything that I might need.
I had a $5.00 off coupon at Ace for anything purchased over $25, so I went over and bought three gallons of fuel to bring with me. I went down my checklist from last year and had almost everything. I needed tennis balls for my tent stakes, bike lights and glowsticks. I was given goggles by Camilla, and had PLENTY of particle masks left over. Finally everything was ready. I carried all of my stuff over to Belmont St. on Saturday. And when I say carried, I mean carried!
At last it's ready!!
We put it in the oven.
The jerky is ready to dry!!
In a few weeks I make my own!
It came out really well!
Upon tending them in the oven for six hours, I pop them all into separate plastic bags and into the freezer.
I had bought this sweet hat from a costume shop online. Little did I think about how much the wind would catch it, but it worked in the end!
My room was a disaster while I was trying to anticipate anything that I might need.
I had a $5.00 off coupon at Ace for anything purchased over $25, so I went over and bought three gallons of fuel to bring with me. I went down my checklist from last year and had almost everything. I needed tennis balls for my tent stakes, bike lights and glowsticks. I was given goggles by Camilla, and had PLENTY of particle masks left over. Finally everything was ready. I carried all of my stuff over to Belmont St. on Saturday. And when I say carried, I mean carried!
The Trek
I sleep the night with just my little blanket and sweatshirts for warmth because I already took my blanket to Belmont. I spent the night at home in order to say goodbye to John, but he is asleep, so I'm going to kick it. I am SO READY for this week!
I hop on my bike and am riding to Belmont one last time! As I arrive, almost no one is awake. I'm as awake as can be. I'm ready to take off this instant! I'm bouncing off the walls as people roll out of bed and start preparing the coolers. Isaac has made salmon jerky, so I trade him a piece for my own jerky. I smell a lot like salmon now. ¦D This is Isaac!
And this is Z!
And Rachel!
And Liz!
I can't believe how many virgins there are! A bunch of people leave to get stuff at Costco before the burn, and Sean and Alex go to get something from their parents' place. I am all alone, so I practice some juggling. I'm really getting antsy. At last everyone comes back and is scrambling to fit everything anywhere it can. I am able to fit almost all of my stuff in Z's car. I am told that there is room for my bike on the top of Sean's van!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!! Awesome! It's going to be a different experience with a bike this year! Everything is set and everyone gathers for a quick (very quick) last minute group photo.
And we're off! Z stops at IN-N-OUT in San Jose. Man their food is good!
We've fallen behind the caravan at this point, so Z steps on it. We pass over a sweet bridge!
I'm falling asleep for a while. I wake up and the sun is setting.
We meet up with the rest of the caravan at Burger Me! in Truckee, CA.
The waitress spells my name right! She's proud. I order a salad. Last greens for a week. It is DELICIOUS. Someone has left over sweet potato fries and offers some to me. I was expecting a burger. type sweet potato fry (burger. is a restaurant by my house), but these are incredible! There is barbecue sauce cooked into them! Off we all scatter back to our vehicles for the second third of our journey. We spot more and more obvious burners driving along. Our next caravan meetup is a store in Reno. I'm really excited. My crew doesn't share my enthusiasm. ¦D
"Where'd you go?" "I was taking photos of the store. I can't believe this is the same grocery store that I came to last year!" "It's a grocery store... All grocery stores look the same." "Yeah, but it IS the same one!"
Everything is overstocked like nobody's business. We even have to go outside to pick up our water. There is a fenced off area full of cases of water. The men handling them are inCREDibly nice. Max keeps saying how glad he is that we're only grabbing 30 gallons of water; how last year they had to take something like six times that much. D: I have to trade vehicles because I'm going to will call, so I hop into the van with Max, Rachel, Rita, Liz, and Isaac. The moon starts to rise. It's more beautiful than any moonrise I can remember. My camera can't capture it, so I sit and stare. We drive past the refinement plant I noticed last year, but the lights and industrial look seem fitting to me with this year's theme. At last we are driving past the cloud-like bushes. The stories that Max has of previous Burning Man trips are incredible. In one of them, sixty mile per hour winds start up a tornado that demolishes their neighboring camp, sending metal shrapnel into their camp, and a tent to the top of the tornado. Rita is quiet in the back knitting. Isaac is bouncing back and forth between "Oh, God, are we NEVER GOING TO GET THERE?" and "Oh, my God, we're GOING TO BURNING MAN!!" I'm stuck full steam on "Oh, my God, BURNING MAN BURNING MAN BURNING MAN YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!" My company is amazing and entertaining. At last we come to a standstill.
Midnight creeps past.
I hop on my bike and am riding to Belmont one last time! As I arrive, almost no one is awake. I'm as awake as can be. I'm ready to take off this instant! I'm bouncing off the walls as people roll out of bed and start preparing the coolers. Isaac has made salmon jerky, so I trade him a piece for my own jerky. I smell a lot like salmon now. ¦D This is Isaac!
And this is Z!
And Rachel!
And Liz!
I can't believe how many virgins there are! A bunch of people leave to get stuff at Costco before the burn, and Sean and Alex go to get something from their parents' place. I am all alone, so I practice some juggling. I'm really getting antsy. At last everyone comes back and is scrambling to fit everything anywhere it can. I am able to fit almost all of my stuff in Z's car. I am told that there is room for my bike on the top of Sean's van!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!! Awesome! It's going to be a different experience with a bike this year! Everything is set and everyone gathers for a quick (very quick) last minute group photo.
And we're off! Z stops at IN-N-OUT in San Jose. Man their food is good!
We've fallen behind the caravan at this point, so Z steps on it. We pass over a sweet bridge!
I'm falling asleep for a while. I wake up and the sun is setting.
We meet up with the rest of the caravan at Burger Me! in Truckee, CA.
The waitress spells my name right! She's proud. I order a salad. Last greens for a week. It is DELICIOUS. Someone has left over sweet potato fries and offers some to me. I was expecting a burger. type sweet potato fry (burger. is a restaurant by my house), but these are incredible! There is barbecue sauce cooked into them! Off we all scatter back to our vehicles for the second third of our journey. We spot more and more obvious burners driving along. Our next caravan meetup is a store in Reno. I'm really excited. My crew doesn't share my enthusiasm. ¦D
"Where'd you go?" "I was taking photos of the store. I can't believe this is the same grocery store that I came to last year!" "It's a grocery store... All grocery stores look the same." "Yeah, but it IS the same one!"
Everything is overstocked like nobody's business. We even have to go outside to pick up our water. There is a fenced off area full of cases of water. The men handling them are inCREDibly nice. Max keeps saying how glad he is that we're only grabbing 30 gallons of water; how last year they had to take something like six times that much. D: I have to trade vehicles because I'm going to will call, so I hop into the van with Max, Rachel, Rita, Liz, and Isaac. The moon starts to rise. It's more beautiful than any moonrise I can remember. My camera can't capture it, so I sit and stare. We drive past the refinement plant I noticed last year, but the lights and industrial look seem fitting to me with this year's theme. At last we are driving past the cloud-like bushes. The stories that Max has of previous Burning Man trips are incredible. In one of them, sixty mile per hour winds start up a tornado that demolishes their neighboring camp, sending metal shrapnel into their camp, and a tent to the top of the tornado. Rita is quiet in the back knitting. Isaac is bouncing back and forth between "Oh, God, are we NEVER GOING TO GET THERE?" and "Oh, my God, we're GOING TO BURNING MAN!!" I'm stuck full steam on "Oh, my God, BURNING MAN BURNING MAN BURNING MAN YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!!" My company is amazing and entertaining. At last we come to a standstill.
Midnight creeps past.
Monday
We crawl and crawl and crawl and crawl, and four hours later we arrive at will call. It moves smoothly, but my hopes of being refunded for my destroyed ticket are dashed. No matter, we're finally going in! Liz participates in the virgin ritual, and my friend Bill is one of the welcoming committee, so I yell "Bill!", run over and give him a hug. One of the people with him says, "Bill, does everyone know you?" The answer to that question is yes. ¦D We're in! There's no point going to find my camp at this hour, so I'm going to look at art on the deep playa. What's that? The temple is complete? Wow. They did that faster than last year. And it's beyond my wildest expectations. Having seen the designs on the internet, I was expecting it to be plain and small. The sun is rising and there is a bench built into the temple just for it! I'm absolutely freezing. I have some trail mix with me. Chomp, chomp chomp. A girl walks up and looks as though she feels as though she's intruding. I wave at her. She comes and sits next to me. I have shorts on and no socks, so I'm dying. I ask her if I can snuggle with her and she obliges. The sun rise is spectacular.
I notice a sculpture in the distance that's burning me with curiosity. I ask Lindsey if she has been there. She says no, so we head off toward it. It's a strange geodesic structure. There are two cans of beer sitting on one of the benches, one of which she takes and pops open. I tell her I don't drink, and the sculpture isn't much to see, so we start heading back. I'm really starting to freeze, so she suggests that we split up. I don't really have any alternative, so I run toward the Esplanade. I'm starting to warm up from the sun and from running, so where's my camp? 4:30 and A, circus tent? Nobody's up. I'd better wait to find someone to ask. Back to the Foxy Coconut. I unroll my blanket with sheet and pillow inside, lie down, put in ear plugs, and sleep deeply. At some point I move and hear Rachel say, "Whoa, that's alive?" Isaac responds, "It's Bennett." and then I hear feel bad noises, but I'm not totally sure if that's what's really going on. I awake to find Avital sitting around. I'm not with it at ALL. I kind of look around unseeing. She says morning. I roll up my sleeping stuff and tie it back up. I grab my bike and head back to that circus looking tent. I ask if it's the Samba Stilt Circus, but they say no. I don't see anything that could really be it, so I decide it'll be better to wait a while for other people to arrive. I take my bike and ride out onto the Playa to look at art.
There's the man! Pretty sweet.
And there's the Temple!
Imagine that. Twenty-four hours ago I was in Santa Cruz, California. Right, this is what it's like to be here. The vast expanse of the Playa, intense sun, and a feeling that's not very easy to describe. I ride back to Foxy Coconut and Avital has nothing to do, so we go in search of my camp. While walking along Athens, I wave at a guy that's sort of looking at us, but he doesn't respond. He starts to follow us, and Avital notices. She turns around and says, "Gary?" I guess he lives in Santa Cruz? Cool guy. He's wearing steam punk clothes and carrying an umbrella. He knows where the Samba Stilt Circus is! I go and meet some people, but none of my friends have arrived yet. I head back to Foxy Coconut for my tent. When I get back, one of two of the camp members helps me set up my tent way in the back. I CRASH. I hear it raining and really don't care. I finally wake up and the entrance to my tent is completely soaked in Playa mud. Still no Fire University people. I decide to go back to Foxy Coconut to get my staff and fuel out of Z's car. I find my staff left in a puddle!! I'm pretty upset. I've heard from multiple sources that once a wick gets wet it never dries again. I take it and my fuel back to my tent and tell Wryly. She tells me that no one had anticipated the rain. That's just what I need to hear and let it go. It's getting dark, so I decide to find an open fire to use to attempt to dry it out. I walk along the Esplanade and find one in front of Burners Without Borders. I say to myself, "I wonder where Natalie is." None of the people there seem to notice me, so I have no qualms about sitting in an open chair and propping my staff up above the fire. I take it out every five seconds or so, and the steam POURS off of it. The fire is hot enough that it looks as though my wick is starting to be damaged or I would just leave it. Natalie sees me and runs over. I get up and give her a hug. We chat for a minute and I tell her what I'm doing there. She has to go, but I tell her that we should go exploring later in the week. I sit back down and continue drying my staff until it looks as though no more water is going to come out. I head north on E to find some good music. I don't have to travel far. I have just enough fuel for one burn. I light up and spin, and a huge crowd of drunk people crowds. Drunk people apparently think they're immune to fire. It was fun, but I had to be really careful not to cream any of them. The wet end did go out way more quickly than usual, but it wasn't horribly, horribly wrong. The other end dies, and one of the spectators comes up to me and chats for a while. He is a staff spinner as well. He gives me this sweet light necklace and tells me to come visit him at Brain Freeze. I head back to camp to get more fuel and travel toward 10:00 in search of more good music. I had put my fuel in my cottage cheese container, but it no longer seals, so a bunch of fuel is escaping into my backpack. Traveling around E, I come to Bat Country Ghetto. Wonderful music! I spin for them a little. Heading to Nexus, I'm not as impressed, so off to Bat Country Ghetto again. A ton of fire spinners are out spinning on E. After a while, they dissipate, but I'm still happy with the music. Right as I run out of fuel, a double staff fire spinner comes up and talks to me. Her name is Sunny. She's absolutely stunning. And she's a good fire spinner. She asks if I'll spin with her, but I have no more fuel. She gives me some of hers. We spin. I'm really wanting more fuel and my glow balls. I tell her, and she says she'll be around 9:30 when I get back. I run as fast as I can with all of my stuff, grab more stuff from camp, run back, and can't find her again. I'm still feeling it, so I spin some more and juggle some, but she doesn't find me either. I must have taken too long. I'm starting to fade, so I walk all the way back to camp and crash.
I notice a sculpture in the distance that's burning me with curiosity. I ask Lindsey if she has been there. She says no, so we head off toward it. It's a strange geodesic structure. There are two cans of beer sitting on one of the benches, one of which she takes and pops open. I tell her I don't drink, and the sculpture isn't much to see, so we start heading back. I'm really starting to freeze, so she suggests that we split up. I don't really have any alternative, so I run toward the Esplanade. I'm starting to warm up from the sun and from running, so where's my camp? 4:30 and A, circus tent? Nobody's up. I'd better wait to find someone to ask. Back to the Foxy Coconut. I unroll my blanket with sheet and pillow inside, lie down, put in ear plugs, and sleep deeply. At some point I move and hear Rachel say, "Whoa, that's alive?" Isaac responds, "It's Bennett." and then I hear feel bad noises, but I'm not totally sure if that's what's really going on. I awake to find Avital sitting around. I'm not with it at ALL. I kind of look around unseeing. She says morning. I roll up my sleeping stuff and tie it back up. I grab my bike and head back to that circus looking tent. I ask if it's the Samba Stilt Circus, but they say no. I don't see anything that could really be it, so I decide it'll be better to wait a while for other people to arrive. I take my bike and ride out onto the Playa to look at art.
There's the man! Pretty sweet.
And there's the Temple!
Imagine that. Twenty-four hours ago I was in Santa Cruz, California. Right, this is what it's like to be here. The vast expanse of the Playa, intense sun, and a feeling that's not very easy to describe. I ride back to Foxy Coconut and Avital has nothing to do, so we go in search of my camp. While walking along Athens, I wave at a guy that's sort of looking at us, but he doesn't respond. He starts to follow us, and Avital notices. She turns around and says, "Gary?" I guess he lives in Santa Cruz? Cool guy. He's wearing steam punk clothes and carrying an umbrella. He knows where the Samba Stilt Circus is! I go and meet some people, but none of my friends have arrived yet. I head back to Foxy Coconut for my tent. When I get back, one of two of the camp members helps me set up my tent way in the back. I CRASH. I hear it raining and really don't care. I finally wake up and the entrance to my tent is completely soaked in Playa mud. Still no Fire University people. I decide to go back to Foxy Coconut to get my staff and fuel out of Z's car. I find my staff left in a puddle!! I'm pretty upset. I've heard from multiple sources that once a wick gets wet it never dries again. I take it and my fuel back to my tent and tell Wryly. She tells me that no one had anticipated the rain. That's just what I need to hear and let it go. It's getting dark, so I decide to find an open fire to use to attempt to dry it out. I walk along the Esplanade and find one in front of Burners Without Borders. I say to myself, "I wonder where Natalie is." None of the people there seem to notice me, so I have no qualms about sitting in an open chair and propping my staff up above the fire. I take it out every five seconds or so, and the steam POURS off of it. The fire is hot enough that it looks as though my wick is starting to be damaged or I would just leave it. Natalie sees me and runs over. I get up and give her a hug. We chat for a minute and I tell her what I'm doing there. She has to go, but I tell her that we should go exploring later in the week. I sit back down and continue drying my staff until it looks as though no more water is going to come out. I head north on E to find some good music. I don't have to travel far. I have just enough fuel for one burn. I light up and spin, and a huge crowd of drunk people crowds. Drunk people apparently think they're immune to fire. It was fun, but I had to be really careful not to cream any of them. The wet end did go out way more quickly than usual, but it wasn't horribly, horribly wrong. The other end dies, and one of the spectators comes up to me and chats for a while. He is a staff spinner as well. He gives me this sweet light necklace and tells me to come visit him at Brain Freeze. I head back to camp to get more fuel and travel toward 10:00 in search of more good music. I had put my fuel in my cottage cheese container, but it no longer seals, so a bunch of fuel is escaping into my backpack. Traveling around E, I come to Bat Country Ghetto. Wonderful music! I spin for them a little. Heading to Nexus, I'm not as impressed, so off to Bat Country Ghetto again. A ton of fire spinners are out spinning on E. After a while, they dissipate, but I'm still happy with the music. Right as I run out of fuel, a double staff fire spinner comes up and talks to me. Her name is Sunny. She's absolutely stunning. And she's a good fire spinner. She asks if I'll spin with her, but I have no more fuel. She gives me some of hers. We spin. I'm really wanting more fuel and my glow balls. I tell her, and she says she'll be around 9:30 when I get back. I run as fast as I can with all of my stuff, grab more stuff from camp, run back, and can't find her again. I'm still feeling it, so I spin some more and juggle some, but she doesn't find me either. I must have taken too long. I'm starting to fade, so I walk all the way back to camp and crash.
Tuesday
I wake and can't sleep in the heat. I hear people from Santa Cruz talking!! People are finally here! I break out one of my Mandarin Orange cans and chow down. It's been refrigerated overnight in the cold. I head off to center camp to juggle. Practiced five ball stealing a little with Morgan. More and more jugglers started coming. One suggests that we play one ball horse. About six of us gather around and play. Pretty soon we run out of tricks, so I suggest playing three ball horse. A lot of neat tricks come up! They really like my constant under the arm weave trick. The German took about fifteen minutes trying to figure it out. About this time, Charlie Brown sneaks up on me. I give him a great big hug. Hannah, Chachi, and Mara are also there; I hug them, too. They join in for a sec, but leave before too long. Trace appears after a while, too. He's going nuts. He's so happy to be at Burning Man. So many virgins! He leaves, though, not being a juggler. Soon the three ball horse dissipates, and one of the jugglers, Sunshine,
is sitting next to this unbelievably cute girl. I offer him my loop puzzle. He tries, but is unable to get it. Alexis gets it pretty quickly. I sit down and Sunshine brings up the triangle game. I have already played it, so Alexis is the only one guessing. I say that we need more people if we're going to play this, but I have one. I'm going on an Adventure and I'm going to bring... Alexis gets it within ten minutes. We play for quite a while with Sunshine guessing. We play for so long that we have to move so that one of the tech people can climb up and fix one of the lights above us. We move to the cushiony seat area near one of the entrances and continue to play. The sun starts to set (miraculously, by the way) and Sunshine finally figures it out. Alexis and I were running out of words and started coming up with three letter gibberish. We play going to the Moon for about five minutes and both of them get it. Sunshine starts telling amazing stories from his life. He's going on for about an hour and it's starting to cool off quite a bit. Alexis needs to leave, so Sunshine suggests that he and I go juggle and she look for us there when she gets back. He's a good juggler! We juggle for about a half an hour and then Alexis sort of sneaks by. I'm not sure why she's not saying anything to us, but I notice her and go up to her. She seems happy to see me but wary for some reason. This part is a bit fuzzy. I say something to Sunshine, notice the fire spinners outside, and the three of us head out to watch. Alexis gives us both sweet hand made necklaces on silky cord. We watch the Vulcantown fire spinners for a while. Sunshine says goodbye and heads out. I'm itching to spin fire, so I ask Alexis if she'll accompany me to my tent to get fuel, etc. I'm only a few blocks away. I change into long pants in my tent and grab my fuel, staff, and glow balls. Back we go. I fuel my staff and ALL OF THE OTHER FIRE SPINNERS FINISH. It's kind of scary being the only one in front of that huge crowd after all of those spinners had been spinning at the same time. I'm pretty nervous. Jordan yells my name when he sees me coming out which makes me even more nervous. But then I see who it is and am ok again. I say hi and light up. I'm a bit shaky and my sleeves keep getting in my way, but I have fun spinning around. At last my wicks go out and some Vulcan crew walks past and tells me what an awesome burn that was. I was surprised. These guys see a lot of amazing fire spinning. I guess it's because I have a unique style. Alexis and I leave and head along E towards 9:00. I stop and spin fire for some good music. As I finish, people come up to me and bombard me with how amazing I am. I'm surprised. Personally I think my glow juggling is way better than my fire spinning, and I get almost no reaction from it. Alexis remarks on how popular I am. I laugh. I almost only get this feeling when I perform. She tells me about a fire sculpture like the strongman hammer carnival game, and I'm really interested to see it. She would rather not walk, so we walk over to this sweet accordion bus turned into neon pirate ship and we board. As other people are getting on, they keep stopping and bombarding her with how amazing her coat is. She tells them that she made it. I tell her how popular she is. ¦) The music is better than any I have heard before or since. The boat starts rocking to the music from people dancing. The music is incredibly loud, so conversation is difficult. It's wonderfully warm in here. The black light illuminates the thread in her coat, but not the fur. I notice that there are security cameras... WTD? One of the two people across from us starts using a riding crop on the other as she looks out the window. This goes on for a good minute and a half. I look over at Alexis and point to my wrist. ¦D The boat is traveling slightly faster than walking speed. My, God, the music is amazing. Eventually the boat stops and people start shuffling off. I really want to find out who the artist is, so I head to the front of the bus. A guy blocks me thinking that I'm trying to get off. I ask him, but he doesn't know. He asks a woman coming up behind me and she tells me that it's DJ Nutmeg performing live on top of the bus. AWESOME! I follow Alexis out. It's freezing outside. We walk toward our destination and stop at a few art installations on the way. It's starting to become meanly cold. At last we arrive just as three people are operating the sculpture. They make it and the tower erupts in flame, low to high, then finally causing the top to spin around. There is so much fire that the pressure changes a LOT, and hot wind blows down on us. It feels so good! We watch a few rounds, and decide it's time to hit the sack. We walk back to her camp. Her campmate is home, but she's asleep. Alexis makes me some tea. She is one of the most interesting people I've ever met. We're getting tired, so we decide we'll probably run into one another again at Center Camp and I run to warm up toward home and sleep.
is sitting next to this unbelievably cute girl. I offer him my loop puzzle. He tries, but is unable to get it. Alexis gets it pretty quickly. I sit down and Sunshine brings up the triangle game. I have already played it, so Alexis is the only one guessing. I say that we need more people if we're going to play this, but I have one. I'm going on an Adventure and I'm going to bring... Alexis gets it within ten minutes. We play for quite a while with Sunshine guessing. We play for so long that we have to move so that one of the tech people can climb up and fix one of the lights above us. We move to the cushiony seat area near one of the entrances and continue to play. The sun starts to set (miraculously, by the way) and Sunshine finally figures it out. Alexis and I were running out of words and started coming up with three letter gibberish. We play going to the Moon for about five minutes and both of them get it. Sunshine starts telling amazing stories from his life. He's going on for about an hour and it's starting to cool off quite a bit. Alexis needs to leave, so Sunshine suggests that he and I go juggle and she look for us there when she gets back. He's a good juggler! We juggle for about a half an hour and then Alexis sort of sneaks by. I'm not sure why she's not saying anything to us, but I notice her and go up to her. She seems happy to see me but wary for some reason. This part is a bit fuzzy. I say something to Sunshine, notice the fire spinners outside, and the three of us head out to watch. Alexis gives us both sweet hand made necklaces on silky cord. We watch the Vulcantown fire spinners for a while. Sunshine says goodbye and heads out. I'm itching to spin fire, so I ask Alexis if she'll accompany me to my tent to get fuel, etc. I'm only a few blocks away. I change into long pants in my tent and grab my fuel, staff, and glow balls. Back we go. I fuel my staff and ALL OF THE OTHER FIRE SPINNERS FINISH. It's kind of scary being the only one in front of that huge crowd after all of those spinners had been spinning at the same time. I'm pretty nervous. Jordan yells my name when he sees me coming out which makes me even more nervous. But then I see who it is and am ok again. I say hi and light up. I'm a bit shaky and my sleeves keep getting in my way, but I have fun spinning around. At last my wicks go out and some Vulcan crew walks past and tells me what an awesome burn that was. I was surprised. These guys see a lot of amazing fire spinning. I guess it's because I have a unique style. Alexis and I leave and head along E towards 9:00. I stop and spin fire for some good music. As I finish, people come up to me and bombard me with how amazing I am. I'm surprised. Personally I think my glow juggling is way better than my fire spinning, and I get almost no reaction from it. Alexis remarks on how popular I am. I laugh. I almost only get this feeling when I perform. She tells me about a fire sculpture like the strongman hammer carnival game, and I'm really interested to see it. She would rather not walk, so we walk over to this sweet accordion bus turned into neon pirate ship and we board. As other people are getting on, they keep stopping and bombarding her with how amazing her coat is. She tells them that she made it. I tell her how popular she is. ¦) The music is better than any I have heard before or since. The boat starts rocking to the music from people dancing. The music is incredibly loud, so conversation is difficult. It's wonderfully warm in here. The black light illuminates the thread in her coat, but not the fur. I notice that there are security cameras... WTD? One of the two people across from us starts using a riding crop on the other as she looks out the window. This goes on for a good minute and a half. I look over at Alexis and point to my wrist. ¦D The boat is traveling slightly faster than walking speed. My, God, the music is amazing. Eventually the boat stops and people start shuffling off. I really want to find out who the artist is, so I head to the front of the bus. A guy blocks me thinking that I'm trying to get off. I ask him, but he doesn't know. He asks a woman coming up behind me and she tells me that it's DJ Nutmeg performing live on top of the bus. AWESOME! I follow Alexis out. It's freezing outside. We walk toward our destination and stop at a few art installations on the way. It's starting to become meanly cold. At last we arrive just as three people are operating the sculpture. They make it and the tower erupts in flame, low to high, then finally causing the top to spin around. There is so much fire that the pressure changes a LOT, and hot wind blows down on us. It feels so good! We watch a few rounds, and decide it's time to hit the sack. We walk back to her camp. Her campmate is home, but she's asleep. Alexis makes me some tea. She is one of the most interesting people I've ever met. We're getting tired, so we decide we'll probably run into one another again at Center Camp and I run to warm up toward home and sleep.
Wednesday
My neighbors are yelling "I hate this song!" Don't Stop Believing is playing somewhere close by. I drift back to sleep. "I can't take it! I have to leave!" Are they playing it AGAIN? Man that song is long. After eating breakfast with Jake, he and I headed to Vulcantown to pass clubs. Firefly came by and said hi. We try some three count doubles and four count double, double, triples. My arms are starting to hurt, so I ask Jake if he wants to wander around. We walk for a bit, but it's really hot out. The line in front of Arctica is a sight to behold. We're looking for an art car, but the first we stop at is charging, and the second we get yelled at for trying to board. As we're walking away, a woman on a megaphone calls Jake something strange like "Momma" or something, comes up to us and sort of apologetically explains to Jake that we can't get on. We head back to camp. Jake grabs a Yellow Bike and we take off to look at sculptures in the deep playa.
There was a typewriter on a high desk with a high stool to sit on and type. It's incredibly fun to type on a typewriter. I understand why writers use them. If only they made Dvorak typewriters. Ha. Jake writes something, and I follow him with "In the autumn before the winter comes man's last mad surge of youth." We head back to camp. Mary Jane is there. Jake takes off with her. I eat lunch. Probably Cheezits and Frosted Flakes. I'm starting to be amazed at how little water I need this year. I'm in a pensive mood, so I head over to Center Camp to write in my journal. I sit down in one of the aisles leading to the center map area. I try to write in my journal, but my mind wanders too much. I can't even pull what happened yesterday. I think about all sorts of things. I begin to understand things that I never have before. I forgot how this sort of thing happens at Burning Man. It's really cool! It occurs to me that these are the things I don't have enough time to devote to thinking about in every day life, or I would have figured them out already. Nothing like a week off to meditate and such. So far I've pretty much been off on my own compared to last year. I was so close to those guys. Lorq walks by and I wave. He sits next to me. He chats for a while, and every time he makes a point, before he makes his final point, I'm tense and anticipating him saying something incredibly negative. I'm not sure what it was about the way he was saying everything, but it happened over and over. When he'd say whatever it was, I would think, "Oh, that's all he was going to say. Wshew. That was actually really pleasant." For instance, the one that sticks out in my mind was, "You know what Kyle thinks about you, right?" (thinking) "Oh, God, does he hate me? D:" (actually) "He really likes you." (thinking) "Wshew. That was so nice!" I don't know if I've ever experienced that before or ever will again. It was interesting. Fun sitting next to him. He eventually got up and left. I add to my journal little by little, still thinking about anything and everything. Three hours or so have gone by. I leave Center Camp content and buzzing with energy, but still quiet. As I'm walking out, a big quiet explosion goes off with a mushroom cloud on the Esplanade. The mushroom cloud turns into thick black smoke that rings and somehow holds together all the way up.
I had heard about this reading articles and such about Burning Man last year. It was a sight to see in person! I have no recollection of what happened the rest of the day. I know that I had scheduled with my parents to try to be visible to the webcam at 6:00 PM. I made my way to the Esplanade and a little past the bone tree is a spire with three cameras on it. Shoot. Which one is the webcam? Since two of them are security camera style, I can't really tell where they're aimed, so I position myself as best as I can in front of the other one and wave for a while. On my way back, I pass some lamp lighters!
The next thing I remember distinctly I am walking toward the Esplanade and Charlie Brown sees me and says my name. I stick with them as they go to Base Camp. Similar to last year, I don't like the music at all. I tell that to Chachi and she says that she doesn't either. Yay! I'm so happy to hear that! I say bye to Chachi and take off. I regret not inviting her. I probably am off to spin fire at 10:00 or so again. This may have been when I saw Kristen Nation. Amazing how many people from Santa Cruz go to Burning Man.
There was a typewriter on a high desk with a high stool to sit on and type. It's incredibly fun to type on a typewriter. I understand why writers use them. If only they made Dvorak typewriters. Ha. Jake writes something, and I follow him with "In the autumn before the winter comes man's last mad surge of youth." We head back to camp. Mary Jane is there. Jake takes off with her. I eat lunch. Probably Cheezits and Frosted Flakes. I'm starting to be amazed at how little water I need this year. I'm in a pensive mood, so I head over to Center Camp to write in my journal. I sit down in one of the aisles leading to the center map area. I try to write in my journal, but my mind wanders too much. I can't even pull what happened yesterday. I think about all sorts of things. I begin to understand things that I never have before. I forgot how this sort of thing happens at Burning Man. It's really cool! It occurs to me that these are the things I don't have enough time to devote to thinking about in every day life, or I would have figured them out already. Nothing like a week off to meditate and such. So far I've pretty much been off on my own compared to last year. I was so close to those guys. Lorq walks by and I wave. He sits next to me. He chats for a while, and every time he makes a point, before he makes his final point, I'm tense and anticipating him saying something incredibly negative. I'm not sure what it was about the way he was saying everything, but it happened over and over. When he'd say whatever it was, I would think, "Oh, that's all he was going to say. Wshew. That was actually really pleasant." For instance, the one that sticks out in my mind was, "You know what Kyle thinks about you, right?" (thinking) "Oh, God, does he hate me? D:" (actually) "He really likes you." (thinking) "Wshew. That was so nice!" I don't know if I've ever experienced that before or ever will again. It was interesting. Fun sitting next to him. He eventually got up and left. I add to my journal little by little, still thinking about anything and everything. Three hours or so have gone by. I leave Center Camp content and buzzing with energy, but still quiet. As I'm walking out, a big quiet explosion goes off with a mushroom cloud on the Esplanade. The mushroom cloud turns into thick black smoke that rings and somehow holds together all the way up.
I had heard about this reading articles and such about Burning Man last year. It was a sight to see in person! I have no recollection of what happened the rest of the day. I know that I had scheduled with my parents to try to be visible to the webcam at 6:00 PM. I made my way to the Esplanade and a little past the bone tree is a spire with three cameras on it. Shoot. Which one is the webcam? Since two of them are security camera style, I can't really tell where they're aimed, so I position myself as best as I can in front of the other one and wave for a while. On my way back, I pass some lamp lighters!
The next thing I remember distinctly I am walking toward the Esplanade and Charlie Brown sees me and says my name. I stick with them as they go to Base Camp. Similar to last year, I don't like the music at all. I tell that to Chachi and she says that she doesn't either. Yay! I'm so happy to hear that! I say bye to Chachi and take off. I regret not inviting her. I probably am off to spin fire at 10:00 or so again. This may have been when I saw Kristen Nation. Amazing how many people from Santa Cruz go to Burning Man.
Thursday
I wake up and eat some breakfast. I was able to sleep in today. Rachel comes to visit briefly. She doesn't say much to me or make that much eye contact either, and leaves before I really get to talk to her, so I grab my bike and a bag of beef jerky at camp and take off going around E towards 9:00 to visit Franky and company. As I get there, they're all sitting around, milling. That is exactly what I want to do right now. I give them my beef jerky. They give me some of their shrink wrapped jerky. We like each other's jerky more. Heh. I eat some dip with crackers and some pulled pork that Chachi made. Both out of this world. After some time passes, I take out some wire to make a sun pendant for my Mom. I have been meaning to make a non-evil looking one for her for about a year. We sit and talk until I finish my pendant. It's so SHINY in the daylight! I can't resist wearing it. I'm really happy. Hannah brings up that her hoop is coming undone, but they have no way to fix it. I tell her I can help. The others leave to the Hookah Dome, and I stay with Hannah and Charlie Brown to fix it up with the picture hanging wire I have left over from making the sun pendant. It works like a charm, but takes a while. They don't know the way to the Hookah Dome, so I walk them there. I hug Charlie Brown good bye and return to camp to put on warmer clothes and grab my night gear. Time passes. The Santa Cruz Fire Conclave is rehearsing tonight at the Opulent temple, so I bike over there. Hannah is there waiting for the others. Trace is over by the bikes as well. We all chat for a bit. Dyami calls to me from the tower. The others arrive. I climb up the tower and snap photos of the city.
Chachi is hooping down below.
A bunch of French guys climb up the tower and are very friendly. They're virgins and stoked to be at Burning Man. I learn how to say twelve, thirteen, and fifteen from them. They like my accent. They remark how liberal the US is about people not hurting themselves. I tell them that Burning Man isn't exactly the rest of the US, and bring up the fact that the ticket itself is a waiver. I ask them about liability issues in France, and they describe pretty much what you'd expect. "Oh, no, don't go near that. You might climb it and fall and get hurt." I think about how curious and unnatural it is that people have so much responsibility for other people, and how it would require people to think more if it weren't so. I notice that I have absolutely no fear of heights anymore. Good. I stay up in the tower for some time. As I'm climbing down, it's hard not to match the natural frequency of the structure. I look around, and everyone seems to have disappeared. I unlock my bike and ask a guy standing around where all of the fire jugglers went. He points out to the playa past the Opulent Temple. I ride over. There is a mini stage and a picnic table. Franky and company failed to remember their fuel, so I give them mine. There is some time before it gets dark, so I bike back to camp and get my other fuel can. Mara is set up with a camera. It's getting pretty dark. The first rehearsal is completely in the dark. I'm amazed that they can maintain their choreography. It's bizarre sort of seeing that. At last they all light up. I am BLOWN AWAY. Santa Cruz kicks some major butt!
Notably Trace and companion fighting with fire staves, and the poi performance at the end. Brilliant! They finish, and I jump up and run over to spin myself. They have collected quite an audience! Bunny and Alex are partner spinning poi. Franky and Co. leave. I finish and Dyami asks me what my plans are. I tell him none, and he asks if I'd like to wander with them. I say heck yeah, wait up and gather my stuff. I unlock my bike, but they are nowhere to be found, so I start riding along 2:00 then E hoping they went in this direction. No dice. I go back to camp, but no one is their either. I leave my bike and walk to Center Camp. As I'm walking through Alexis enters and calls to me. She introduces me to Kelsey, the friend who was asleep when I visited her camp. I ask Kelsey if she'll take a photo of us.
I am NOT a vampire.
Alexis had read about a glow prop fest at Bat Country Ghetto. The two of them have bikes and I do not. I run alongside them across the Playa. There's nothing going on there, but we like the music so Alexis wants me to spin fire. I gladly oblige. Kelsey is appreciative. Afterward I try to spin my glowsticks, but they're way too light and it's been way too long. I give them to Kelsey and she tries them out. Alexis breaks out her sweet sock glow poi. I glow juggle. People keep loving Alexis' coat! It is sweet. She's talented and a perfectionist. We finish spinning & juggling and move towards a huge boat art car. It turns out that it's two that look like one from a distance. We climb up the far one. I'm fading a bit, so I sit on the side enjoying the music while they dance. Some interesting people sit next to me and make me thankful for my fate. The music is AWESOME! Before too long the two girls hop down and ask me to leave with them. I follow. They want to go to Nexus. On the way to Nexus they tell me that they left because a woman on ecstasy asked to make out with them? Heh. At Nexus, there is a Tesla coil, and they let people lie in a Faraday cage when they turn it on. Very cool. We dance for some time and decide to call it a night. I run back with them back to their tent. They break out some Trader Joe's Chili and we all sit and look at the stars. We can see the WHOLE Milky Way. It's so much wider than I remember it. We sit and talk for quite a while. It's nearing dawn. We get up, hug, and I slowly walk back to camp.
Chachi is hooping down below.
A bunch of French guys climb up the tower and are very friendly. They're virgins and stoked to be at Burning Man. I learn how to say twelve, thirteen, and fifteen from them. They like my accent. They remark how liberal the US is about people not hurting themselves. I tell them that Burning Man isn't exactly the rest of the US, and bring up the fact that the ticket itself is a waiver. I ask them about liability issues in France, and they describe pretty much what you'd expect. "Oh, no, don't go near that. You might climb it and fall and get hurt." I think about how curious and unnatural it is that people have so much responsibility for other people, and how it would require people to think more if it weren't so. I notice that I have absolutely no fear of heights anymore. Good. I stay up in the tower for some time. As I'm climbing down, it's hard not to match the natural frequency of the structure. I look around, and everyone seems to have disappeared. I unlock my bike and ask a guy standing around where all of the fire jugglers went. He points out to the playa past the Opulent Temple. I ride over. There is a mini stage and a picnic table. Franky and company failed to remember their fuel, so I give them mine. There is some time before it gets dark, so I bike back to camp and get my other fuel can. Mara is set up with a camera. It's getting pretty dark. The first rehearsal is completely in the dark. I'm amazed that they can maintain their choreography. It's bizarre sort of seeing that. At last they all light up. I am BLOWN AWAY. Santa Cruz kicks some major butt!
Notably Trace and companion fighting with fire staves, and the poi performance at the end. Brilliant! They finish, and I jump up and run over to spin myself. They have collected quite an audience! Bunny and Alex are partner spinning poi. Franky and Co. leave. I finish and Dyami asks me what my plans are. I tell him none, and he asks if I'd like to wander with them. I say heck yeah, wait up and gather my stuff. I unlock my bike, but they are nowhere to be found, so I start riding along 2:00 then E hoping they went in this direction. No dice. I go back to camp, but no one is their either. I leave my bike and walk to Center Camp. As I'm walking through Alexis enters and calls to me. She introduces me to Kelsey, the friend who was asleep when I visited her camp. I ask Kelsey if she'll take a photo of us.
I am NOT a vampire.
Alexis had read about a glow prop fest at Bat Country Ghetto. The two of them have bikes and I do not. I run alongside them across the Playa. There's nothing going on there, but we like the music so Alexis wants me to spin fire. I gladly oblige. Kelsey is appreciative. Afterward I try to spin my glowsticks, but they're way too light and it's been way too long. I give them to Kelsey and she tries them out. Alexis breaks out her sweet sock glow poi. I glow juggle. People keep loving Alexis' coat! It is sweet. She's talented and a perfectionist. We finish spinning & juggling and move towards a huge boat art car. It turns out that it's two that look like one from a distance. We climb up the far one. I'm fading a bit, so I sit on the side enjoying the music while they dance. Some interesting people sit next to me and make me thankful for my fate. The music is AWESOME! Before too long the two girls hop down and ask me to leave with them. I follow. They want to go to Nexus. On the way to Nexus they tell me that they left because a woman on ecstasy asked to make out with them? Heh. At Nexus, there is a Tesla coil, and they let people lie in a Faraday cage when they turn it on. Very cool. We dance for some time and decide to call it a night. I run back with them back to their tent. They break out some Trader Joe's Chili and we all sit and look at the stars. We can see the WHOLE Milky Way. It's so much wider than I remember it. We sit and talk for quite a while. It's nearing dawn. We get up, hug, and I slowly walk back to camp.
Friday
I'm walking around the outskirts of the city toward home. As I approach, it's starting to grow light. Dyami and Wryly had told me that they would be at the temple to watch the sunrise, so I drop off my staff, grab my bike, and pedal out there. We're not the only ones with the idea. I fail to find them, however. I set down my bike & lock it and move over to the bench built into the side of the temple. The bench is almost completely full, but I'm not sociable enough to sit next to anyone. I sit at their feet with my back up against the bench and curl up for warmth. It's growing light. More and more people show up with blankets and sit down on the ground. One of the people on the bench stands up and leaves. I steal their spot. I read some of the writing on the wall. The temple is incredibly powerful. I'm also really, really tired. Z comes and sits down. I wave. When the sun comes up, everyone cheers. The sun is really bright. I watch for a minute and take off. I unceremoniously faceplant into my tent and fall asleep.
I try to sleep as long as I possibly can. It's too hot. I finally convince myself that I might as well get up. Dyami and Wryly are eating breakfast. I ask them if they had gone to the temple. They say that they had. I wonder how I missed them. What should I do today? Actually, I have no idea what I do all day from here on. I know I walk around for a while with Mary Jane and Jake.
Oooo, and during lunch, Dyami spilled some vinegar on the playa!
Something I notice is that I'm feeling the city's evolution from the beginning of the week. There are definitely more people, but not just that. There is a bit of a feeling of chaos. Not entirely bad chaos, just reckless, party animal chaos mixed in with all of the amazing. It's slightly less friendly because of it, though.
At some point I decide to visit Charlie Brown & company. On my way I see this sweet kinetic sculpture.
As I arrive, they're all sitting under the trampoline. I think Camilla asks me if I want to join them. The air mattresses are excellent for the desert. The trampoline shades the air mattresses wonderfully, and they're playing with a cleaned out pesticide squirt container full of water. Ahhhhhhh. Franky is lying with his head near mine facing the opposite direction, so I have the opportunity to examine the cool stuff in his dreads. Some of them are bead work. I pull out my bracelet and show it to them. Chachi really likes it, so I offer it. She doesn't want to take it, but I tell her I brought it to give away. She takes it and asks me to put it on her. It's incredibly hard to put that bracelet on! I can barely do it with two hands. It shocked me a little how nice it looked on Chachi. I ask them if they know the better way to tie shoes. They've never heard of it. I show Chachi and Camilla how and Chachi ties one around my wrist. I keep it on the rest of the night. For some reason I don't really want to write about what happens next. Basically, I end up spinning fire for The Crystal Method, wow. Other than that, I learned an incredibly important lesson. My heart has the power to completely blind me. My fire staff had gone missing and everyone's theories other than Mara's was wrong. The truth was obvious, but I insisted on what I thought I saw. Good time to learn that lesson. Later I was disappointed when a friend broke their word, but it snapped me back into reality. It was an important night.
I try to sleep as long as I possibly can. It's too hot. I finally convince myself that I might as well get up. Dyami and Wryly are eating breakfast. I ask them if they had gone to the temple. They say that they had. I wonder how I missed them. What should I do today? Actually, I have no idea what I do all day from here on. I know I walk around for a while with Mary Jane and Jake.
Oooo, and during lunch, Dyami spilled some vinegar on the playa!
Something I notice is that I'm feeling the city's evolution from the beginning of the week. There are definitely more people, but not just that. There is a bit of a feeling of chaos. Not entirely bad chaos, just reckless, party animal chaos mixed in with all of the amazing. It's slightly less friendly because of it, though.
At some point I decide to visit Charlie Brown & company. On my way I see this sweet kinetic sculpture.
As I arrive, they're all sitting under the trampoline. I think Camilla asks me if I want to join them. The air mattresses are excellent for the desert. The trampoline shades the air mattresses wonderfully, and they're playing with a cleaned out pesticide squirt container full of water. Ahhhhhhh. Franky is lying with his head near mine facing the opposite direction, so I have the opportunity to examine the cool stuff in his dreads. Some of them are bead work. I pull out my bracelet and show it to them. Chachi really likes it, so I offer it. She doesn't want to take it, but I tell her I brought it to give away. She takes it and asks me to put it on her. It's incredibly hard to put that bracelet on! I can barely do it with two hands. It shocked me a little how nice it looked on Chachi. I ask them if they know the better way to tie shoes. They've never heard of it. I show Chachi and Camilla how and Chachi ties one around my wrist. I keep it on the rest of the night. For some reason I don't really want to write about what happens next. Basically, I end up spinning fire for The Crystal Method, wow. Other than that, I learned an incredibly important lesson. My heart has the power to completely blind me. My fire staff had gone missing and everyone's theories other than Mara's was wrong. The truth was obvious, but I insisted on what I thought I saw. Good time to learn that lesson. Later I was disappointed when a friend broke their word, but it snapped me back into reality. It was an important night.
Saturday
Yep. It's Saturday. ¦D The day of the Burn!! There is something special about the frosted flakes. The Honey Nut Cheerios just aren't the same. I ride off around the playa to look at the new sculptures that have been erected.
Chillin at Center camp. See some nutz acrobats. I know the one on top (Tyler).
I spend a long time playing around with five ball stealing patterns with Morgan. Really great. At one point, a little boy comes up to us and asks us if he can try. I give him some tennis balls, but that doesn't work. I run and grab some give away bean bags and give them to him. Morgan teaches him "Criss-cross apple sauce", the timing of which is just the same as a two ball pattern. I tell Morgan that I've never heard that before! He says that he picked it up teaching juggling at a circus summer camp. Awesome! The kid picks it up amazingly quickly. I lean over to Morgan and say, "What if he's the next Anthony Gatto?" His dad asks, and Morgan tells him that we think he'll be the most amazing juggler in the whole world! Hope so! They leave before too long and Morgan is tuckering out after having juggled all week and stayed up all night. I kick it and do other stuff for the rest of the day. People are still parachuting in!
At last it's time for the burn!! I leave extra, extra early so I can write in my journal like I did last year. And I bring my goggles and face mask this time! But I forget to bring a sweatshirt. Silly! I'm way up front and center.
My neighbor has the whole history of the Green Man early burn to tell. That's pretty cool. Can't believe that no one listened when people warned them that someone was planning on igniting the man early. Heh. The weather turns a bit south and I'm trying my best to write in my journal, but it's hard with all the conversation going on and the wind & dust. Ranger Harmony stops us for a minute and explains how if we, the people in the front, all sit, it makes it much less likely and more difficult for people to run towards the man before it's completely fallen, and asks us for our help. We all agree. I give up trying to write in my journal. It's pretty dark, and I'm starting to freeze. The dust storm is incredible!
The weather this week was absolutely perfect! No dust, no dust, no dust, amazing dust storm for the man burn! The wind is whipping the dust almost horizontally through the man. Too cool. It's been about a half an hour since the man was scheduled to burn, and the wind pretty much dies completely. Awesome! The drummers come out all in white and play for us, and the fire spinners finally light up! I forgot how long this burn was! At last, the fireworks above the man start to go off.
I truly believe that this is the most spectacular fireworks display that there ever was in the history of mankind. Then the man burns! Everyone cheers as bits start falling off. The man was constructed much more flamably this year. The whole man topples straight down, and one of the rangers shouts, "Okay!". Everyone jumps up and runs towards it. I run as fast as I can, and end up right up near the man. Thing is HOT! The crowd is thick. After a few revolutions, I start shoving my way back through. Luck is with me because I happen to exit the mob right at 6 o'clock. I have no chance of finding anyone I know in the sea of tens of thousands of people, so I head back to camp. Everyone I know is ... busy, but I'm so not ready to sleep yet. Yes I am. Good night.
Yes, it was that dusty. ¦D
Yep. It's Saturday. ¦D The day of the Burn!! There is something special about the frosted flakes. The Honey Nut Cheerios just aren't the same. I ride off around the playa to look at the new sculptures that have been erected.
Chillin at Center camp. See some nutz acrobats. I know the one on top (Tyler).
I spend a long time playing around with five ball stealing patterns with Morgan. Really great. At one point, a little boy comes up to us and asks us if he can try. I give him some tennis balls, but that doesn't work. I run and grab some give away bean bags and give them to him. Morgan teaches him "Criss-cross apple sauce", the timing of which is just the same as a two ball pattern. I tell Morgan that I've never heard that before! He says that he picked it up teaching juggling at a circus summer camp. Awesome! The kid picks it up amazingly quickly. I lean over to Morgan and say, "What if he's the next Anthony Gatto?" His dad asks, and Morgan tells him that we think he'll be the most amazing juggler in the whole world! Hope so! They leave before too long and Morgan is tuckering out after having juggled all week and stayed up all night. I kick it and do other stuff for the rest of the day. People are still parachuting in!
At last it's time for the burn!! I leave extra, extra early so I can write in my journal like I did last year. And I bring my goggles and face mask this time! But I forget to bring a sweatshirt. Silly! I'm way up front and center.
My neighbor has the whole history of the Green Man early burn to tell. That's pretty cool. Can't believe that no one listened when people warned them that someone was planning on igniting the man early. Heh. The weather turns a bit south and I'm trying my best to write in my journal, but it's hard with all the conversation going on and the wind & dust. Ranger Harmony stops us for a minute and explains how if we, the people in the front, all sit, it makes it much less likely and more difficult for people to run towards the man before it's completely fallen, and asks us for our help. We all agree. I give up trying to write in my journal. It's pretty dark, and I'm starting to freeze. The dust storm is incredible!
The weather this week was absolutely perfect! No dust, no dust, no dust, amazing dust storm for the man burn! The wind is whipping the dust almost horizontally through the man. Too cool. It's been about a half an hour since the man was scheduled to burn, and the wind pretty much dies completely. Awesome! The drummers come out all in white and play for us, and the fire spinners finally light up! I forgot how long this burn was! At last, the fireworks above the man start to go off.
I truly believe that this is the most spectacular fireworks display that there ever was in the history of mankind. Then the man burns! Everyone cheers as bits start falling off. The man was constructed much more flamably this year. The whole man topples straight down, and one of the rangers shouts, "Okay!". Everyone jumps up and runs towards it. I run as fast as I can, and end up right up near the man. Thing is HOT! The crowd is thick. After a few revolutions, I start shoving my way back through. Luck is with me because I happen to exit the mob right at 6 o'clock. I have no chance of finding anyone I know in the sea of tens of thousands of people, so I head back to camp. Everyone I know is ... busy, but I'm so not ready to sleep yet. Yes I am. Good night.
Yes, it was that dusty. ¦D
Sunday
I wake up and realize that I have to take down my tent. I lie in bed for another half hour or so not wanting to get up. I get up and eat some of the remaining food. Eating the same dry food is starting to be less appealing. Bunny is walking around. I strike up conversation with her. She says something about the creeper aspect of Burning Man. I agree with her, and asked what had happened to her. She said that some guy came up to her a few nights before and said a few ordinary things back and forth, and then said, "Do you like group sex?" She said, "I'm... married??" to which he replied, "Does your husband like group sex?" Hahahaha, only at Burning Man. I thought it was way funnier than she. Other stuff happens. I still need to talk about the temple burn.
The Trek Home
It was a trek, alright. I need to learn to drive stick.
Post Burning Man
It's strange to type on my keyboard after a week away from it. It was amazing to hear a bird chirping off in the distance and see exactly how much green there is everywhere. The number of amazingly beautiful women in Santa Cruz comes fairly close to Burning Man. You can get hit by a car in the real world. The brightly labeled, lined up, expensive products in stores are repulsive. People don't say hi back anymore. There are hills here. The air is clean. My house is A DISASTER... It's not where you live, it's who you live with. The sound of pencil on paper is delightful. Time is rigid and unforgiving again. Intense emotions on the Playa are intense; intense emotions in the real world are common... People don't see each other in the real world, they walk right past without ever looking. I guess I've always found that odd. Sitting alone in a cubicle is detrimental. Do NOT buy Renegade glow products.
It's strange to type on my keyboard after a week away from it. It was amazing to hear a bird chirping off in the distance and see exactly how much green there is everywhere. The number of amazingly beautiful women in Santa Cruz comes fairly close to Burning Man. You can get hit by a car in the real world. The brightly labeled, lined up, expensive products in stores are repulsive. People don't say hi back anymore. There are hills here. The air is clean. My house is A DISASTER... It's not where you live, it's who you live with. The sound of pencil on paper is delightful. Time is rigid and unforgiving again. Intense emotions on the Playa are intense; intense emotions in the real world are common... People don't see each other in the real world, they walk right past without ever looking. I guess I've always found that odd. Sitting alone in a cubicle is detrimental. Do NOT buy Renegade glow products.
