burning man +3 awesome

[vulgaris]

I went to Burning Man!

I just wanna read like. Simple stuff. Saturday night and I ain't got nobody. OK so I do. I'm just down with the flu. Reminiscing about the playa. Sweet sweet playa. Tomarrow I get to go eat beer and crabs in Maryland. I mean, what the fuck else DO you do in Maryland?

Blogtime. I loved Center Camp. If I got too far out I could go there and chill, everything would be buttery soft again. The people in my camp turned out to be total flakes [except Rudy and Kira. Rudy put that shit together like a deli sandwich. God bless that man.] they tried to ditch us in Sac when our van broke down. Then they, well.. nevermind. Flake stories suck. Anyway, Center Camp, I could go to sleep on the floor under a big floor pillow thingy and people would step on me but I didn't care because it was so warm and good. One night this kid named Xakkula went to sleep on me and we didn't say anything to each other until the morning and then I never saw him again. He gave me strawberry pudding. I still have that pudding *weep* I could just like. Go there. And draw. And people would buy me drinks. Or I'd buy my own because they were good.

I totally thought that ice was 20 dollars a bag and center camp sold nothing but black coffee for five dollars a cup.

There was music and that girl with the love whale and those two Mexican dudes who could have been my dad talking to me about what people know about BM in DE [nothing]. So much fucking music and it was the good kind of music, you know, the kind that is made by working your hands on an instrument and singing. Even if I couldn't find any out on the playa I could always go to Center Camp. One morning I walked past a naked dude with a fuckton of a morning boner. It made me miss my boyfriend but it was good to be reminded that somewhere else in the USA someone I knew, most likely, also had a morning boner.

Fucking christ it got cold at night. Glad I brought my fur coat. Flying to San Jose I had to decide between a sleeping bag or the fur coat. Good Choice ME. I had a lot of stuff I didn't need. Like bag balm. Somebody said that was a good idea to bring. IT MELTED. Fuck you, anonymous e-playa bag balm advocate. You made things in my bag get oily. I did enjoy bringing a douche. I had some I knew I obviously wouldn't use but I figured people would get offended if I handed them out. I fucking hated taking showers. I probably won't do that so much next year. I did enjoy pampering my feet. They never hurt. OK, they hurt once: When I used a bicycle. Fuck bicycles. You lose so much interaction on those things. And they're hard to use when you're dosed up on foxy. I will never shave right before the burn again. My legs got so sore one day from the high flying grit. I spent the night in my tent cold and painy. That sucked.

I don't know what I did all week. It had something to do with afternoon naps, exploration, intoxication and dancing. My favourite music was from that radio station setup. I got to eat meat there once. From the sauce boss. And the couple outposts playing a sort of booty disco. I like disco. And the big rotating thing by center camp there were some people freestylin'. That was the shit right there. I was so happy. Also, Siberia owned. The chai guy also owned and these Christian missonaries in an altered bus/van contraption with a cat in it who made us dinner, they had maximum ownage. +3. You don't even know. I remember once I took a nap by a burn platform and a someone woke me up to see if I was OK. I was. I get really sleepy sometimes and I had a good time just being able to take a nap when I needed to. I have a magnet of myself topless on my refridgerator.

The burn was kind of scary. My favourite part was the crash, and the heat from that just turned me into a pool of female juices. Also: There was a guy who had a polywhirl costume. I didn't get the flame thing. And I must have been on the wrong side for the heartbeat thing? It just went from flamies to BURN and then the mass of running bodies, I liked that too. Definetly fried some skin cells on the left side of my body with that one. Then I just kinda.. Wandered off. I don't even remember. I saw some guy pee on the playa. It kind of felt like I was there out of obligation. Like Critical Tits and my high school prom. I attended neither.

I left the next day 'cause there was more camp drama [I missed by not being there for it like most of the other drama] and we needed to recoup before I had to fly back to the East Coast where people think Burning Man has somthing to do with being naked and talking to aliens. Maybe that poll about Larry Harvey isn't all bunk and gossip? Oh yeah. We stopped in Reno and I ate some bitchin' BBQ rips. Oh hells yeah those were some good ribs.

I don't know if I'll be there next year because I'm still paying off the debt which is hard because I've been working shitty temp jobs. And I got my plane tickets for free. But if there's anyone on the East Coast who'se driving there and needs a gas pitchin' buddy I'd throw in my bid. [/b]

[vulgaris]

oh yeah and i forgot this guy dragged me to costco camp to do that stupid soulmate thing and i met this dude who interviewed me and we talked about bubble bobble and monty python. i didnt even go back to see who my soulmate was but i should have cause i'd already found him. THE END.

[blyslv]

>>I don't know what I did all week. It had something to do with afternoon naps, exploration, intoxication and dancing.

Awesome!

Didja make any art, bring any gifts, contribute anything at all?

[BlueBirdPoof]

. . . in an altered bus/van contraption with a cat in it who made us dinner, [/b]

Dang, I can't even get the dog to make me dinner, and as for the parakeet. . .

Oh well, you can't complain if your goddess/queen/alpha female does nothing but screech at you. . .

[Rob the Wop]

Didja make any art, bring any gifts, contribute anything at all?

That's kinda what I read into it too. I also wonder if the "flakiness" of the camp had more to do with "pitch in and help" than with actual drama.

Did you bring a tent, water, and food to be entirely self-sufficient? Sorry, but from the description of your events, plus the fact that you crashed in Center Camp, I get the feeling that you weren't.

[precipitate]

> Flying to San Jose I had to decide between a sleeping bag or the fur coat.

Um. Oh my. I have something to say, but it's not very nice, so let me
leave it at this: if you're making choices like this, you need to rethink
your level of preparedness for Burning Man.

[III]

>I just wanna read like. Simple stuff.

i just wanna read coherent sentences.

[Kinetic II]

I will resist the urge to make a smart ass post.

[Jane Eric]

Too late!

[Eric]

That is fucking hysterical. Whoever Vulgaris is, it reads like Katie Kitty- a perfect parody of a clueless newbie. I heart Vulgaris. I wanna bring a fur coat to the playa now.

Unless she's for real.

Nah.

No-one that stupid could turn on the computer.

[vulgaris]

My heart kinda dropped when I read this. But after I wrote it I kind of started to expect the result. I didn't delete it because why should I. I don't type to write a novel [length of post aside] but does anybody here? My mind is a little shaky and no, I can't always form coherent sentences. There's probably about three million more of me in the world. I think they still sell shotguns at Kmart. Maybe down South. Anyway, good luck.

I had a lot of good memories in my heart that night. I thought somebody out there would read it and go "Hey. I had a good time too or I remember that or Yeah. I am relating to this somehow" Or something, and that would be good times.

What I'm saying is, My nightcap doesn't include sitting around making assumptions over someone's inability to type and perfecting my stainless cynical wit on the rocks. The fur coat wasn't a real fur coat, it was fauxx, if you care, and it was big enough to work as a piece of clothing and a bed or cover, and it did. If you care [which you don't. kinda makes replying pointless but] I did have a tent. I didn't use it much but I had it. I didn't want to use it. I was happy doing things the way I had. I had all of my own provisions and camping gear and then some to help the people camped nearby who came with their car and some ramen and a polaroid sticker camera. Everything I had which I fit into a dufflebag and a case, flying over from Delaware. Anything I didn't need I gave away. That was the theme of our camp as well. We brought a lot of extra supplies to give to people who forgot or just didn't think enough to bring their own. Along my daily routine of eat sleep and be happy I also gave away jewlery and art as I toted my sketchbook around just about everywhere I went. I'd show you guys some from the week but... I gave it all away. Sorry. Kinda makes the whole experience sound like a real drag when you have to justify yourself over and over again.

I didn't go into "the drama" of my camp because there were real living people involved and whether they read this board or not, and they don't, talking about them won't solve the situation- Especially two months after the fact. I didn't even get to say goodbye to them before they left. One of the camp-mates packed up their things and took all their trash for them just to get them out of the site so he could have some peace. I didn't think anyone wanted to hear about it, I definetly don't want to write about it. Every experience has its bad points. And it's all just drama anyway.

Drama, drama, drama, drama. I like to have fun. I like to talk about fun things. I don't need to come off with this haggard you're all gonna die out there attitude. And just because I don't have one and just because this was my first year and just because I didn't say exactly what you wanted to hear doesn't mean I have no fucking clue. I was out in the middle of the desert. I had no fucking clue. I lived at no one's expense but my own [and the playa's, so "they" say but we don't talk about that here]. But so were you, weren't you?

The point I was trying to make by posting at all is that I had fun. I had so much fun I'm going to bring my mom next year. I guess what it equates to is the old school raver who's lost the magic verses the "kandi kid". But I wouldn't go and be one who'd stoop so low as to compare burners to ravers, now...

[Eric]

Katie Kitty is a writer for Piss Clear, one of the playa newspapers:
http://www.blue-period.com/pissclear/

The issues are in the PDF archives- I can't remember which issue her column was in. The HTML archives aren't up yet.

Your post had me laughing hysterically- that's a compliment. The snarkiness is just my general nature.

[Rob the Wop]

Let me be the first to apologize. Sorry for making assumptions.

I have met far too many on the playa that are unprepared and looking to mooch off those around them. One of the key factors of Burning Man is self-reliance and preparedness for the environment around them. Its on the ticket. Its the basis of the survival guide. Its a major tenant of the Burning Man experience.

One of the good things about the preparedness factor, is that it forces people to think more about making a "true blue" effort to participate. You don't pay the money for the ticket (once that was not a factor really, but I digress), spend a significant amount of time preparing supplies and contemplating various disaster scenarios, and then traveling the distance to get here- without placing a lot of thought into it. This ensures a commitment not present when going down to a Grateful Dead concert (or the like). And a different caliber of people.

While your writing skills are not the best for a written communication media (hell, I know mine aren't)- you seem to have your head on straighter than you appear from your writing style. Mentioning crashing in center camp, wandering about in a severe drug haze, having your campmates try to ditch you, choosing a fur coat rather than survival gear, etc. These are all actions that, put toghether, lean towards the "clueless Etards" that clutter the playa. Once you mentioned that you thought out and brought all that is required for self-sufficency- it's now clear that words you wrote only make up a small portion of what you brought to the playa. It's good to hear a newbie that came prepared- I'm sure next year you will know better what works and what doesn't.

Good luck on the job situation. Keep an ear out on the Eplaya, you can get some good tips and tricks here.

Oh, and we're not that bad once you get to know us. Some of us can actually be witty on occasion.

[precipitate]

> While your writing skills are not the best for a written communication media

Uh huh. Your words are what we have to judge you by. The way you
relate your experiences is the next step. Neither awakened warm fuzzies in me. That's OK, you probably wouldn't like me anyway.

Glad you had a good time. Glad you didn't die of exposure.

[vulgaris]

It is "all good" as far as I'm concerned... I probably would have been more clear but I get self conscious when my posts take up a page and a half's worth of scrolling as it is...

[MrChevere]

I liked Vulgaris' story. She wrote very well with generally good spelling and grammar. A fur coat is much more versatile than a sleeping bag. Did it have any pockets? Even if she did mooch the moochers are as much a part of the event as the creepy guys with cameras and the beautiful naked women that hand out free popsicles. She made me feel what it might be like to be her.

[Rob the Wop]

the moochers are as much a part of the event

So is rape, violent deaths, and drug overdose. I'm thinking we should encourage that too.