I learned it from WATCHING YOU!

First off, this burn was so incredible that it left me speechless at times, and I'm grateful for everyone who helped this week come off as it did. On Monday night I came across two burners who I suspect were performance artists, and I'm curious if anyone else had a similar run-in and if so, what you...

[quote="Buckaroo_Benzai"]Some friends and I (plus several other people around us) tried to get on the big yacht... I can't remember what night, maybe Wednesday... and were told it was a "private party". That didn't seem in the spirit of Burning Man to us, but whatever.[/quote] I had a very different...

So I just quit my Midwest job of 10 years to take another job out West, in part so I'll be much closer to the burns! Don't get me wrong -- there were other reasons, but I felt swayed by the prospect of cutting my annual 2,000-mile trips down to a third of that, a 12-hour drive. I've been feeling thi...

My suggestion is to put the rites of passage in some sort of roughly chronological order. Perhaps confusing for burners who first experienced sex after graduation, but still far more intuitive than parts of a boat: Esplanade Birth Steps Words Puberty Blessing Kissing Sex Graduation Initiation Marria...

It's funny you mention that, because the whole reason I found this post was because this past week I happened to recognize your name on the Temportal listing on my iBurn 2010 app while reminiscing. (I recognized your name from one of your cards you gave me while beginning to tear it down in '06.) I ...

I had no serious expectation of returning after leaving my first burn in '02, and I didn't for another four years. My first burn was everything and nothing -- I was gently pushed to join a friend from work who was returning for his second burn and doing all the planning for both of us. We were over ...

This reminds me of my crazy personal ritual on each of my last four burn nights, where I'll head away from the crowd, usually before the Man is lit, and venture into the deep playa instead. I have all these surreal memories of seeing a tiny Man burn far away, usually bathed in muffled silence. I rem...

I know it's four years too late, but I was one of the many who enjoyed the chill space you built back in '06! It was always well-worth the trip to the deep playa, and the long journey meant that it tended to be really unique people who'd find it. Because you packed it up on the day of the burn, I en...

while i agree with the consensus that there are no musts, i like to encourage virgins to take a little time to check out the deep playa at night.

I think the one about the person showing up with nothing is true, but not unique. I hear this story every year. In fact, we had one guy that did it in our camp ... My partner got into it with him when he found out he was hiding his drugs in one of our coolers. "Yes, officer, that IS my cooler, but ...

whoa, it's fun plugging into the burner hive-mind and finally getting a better sense of which wacky stories I've heard through the years are actually true. This is like the snopes of the playa -- thanks, guys!

here are my favorite legends of indeterminable veracity: on Monday in '02 after arrival the previous night, I'd heard that a naked burner arrived with no food, water, or any gear of any kind in order to "throw himself at the mercy of the camp." Within hours, he was hooked up with everything he neede...

Thanks for the encouragement! Like many burners, I was for years stymied by an exceedingly overly ambitious art project dream: a mutant vehicle that was to be a remodeled city bus, black and buzzing bass on the outside, and on the inside a pastiche of interiors from various historical periods, compl...

We have a couple of theaters that regularly support indie films. What can be done on my end to help realize a Columbus, Ohio screening, if it's not too late?

Thanks, jkisha and tamarakay! It's not a secret, shykat, I just didn't want my introductory post to be all hey-everybody-this-is-my-project-idea. But I appreciate your interest and welcome all critical or constructive feedback. First, I should give credit to my favorite deep playa art installation f...

My first burn was '02, and though I didn't make it back home until '06, I've only missed one year, '08, since. Not too shabby for living in Ohio. This year, my cousin is ecstatic to be returning for his second burn, his first having been in '07 when we drove cross-country three days each way. Each b...