Hello and Welcome... What's your name? Tell me about You...

[takyon]

hi every one,

my name is Jeff, and this summer i'll be a first-timer...

i am french, and i'll come alone to the burning man, so s'il y a des français qui lisent ce message je serais heureux d'entendre vos conseils...

merci d'avance...

[cthulhu]

Hello!

I am going to be a birgin; still trying to wrangle who I will be going with, how I will get there (Plane tickets, so expensive!) but am really excited in addition to being really nervous.

I always thought of myself as too WASPy to go to Burning Man, although I had interest in it. Particularly the gift economy structure, which is fascinating from both an academic and an emotional standpoint! I can't wait to experience it and to try (and most likely fail) to give freely of myself 100% of the time, all day for at least a week.

But I am rather uptight, I thought. Annoying amounts of nudity, people out of their minds on substances, and my strict personal boundaries do not mix. BUT


< rambly story >

I did some travelling for two weeks last year on the West Coast with two people I didn't know very well, and of course that made me very nervous too. We were driving from Vancouver down to San Fran, with a big detour to Yellowstone.

I think it was somewhere around Salt Lake City that I realized, I don't actually have to plan ahead right now or worry about any particular thing. We have the car, we have our supplies, we have our wits about us, and we had no place in particular to be. What a different way to operate!

Cue a half-hour later...driving onto the salt flats, as per the guidebook's recommendation...but little did we know, it had rained the previous week! We drove straight into the mud.

However, even waiting for AAA on a 100F+ day in August, I had a fantastic time and felt a sense of openness/relaxation. Chilling by the car using a light blanket for shade, we even met a man who told us about his adventures interacting with wild bears! He helped us try to dig out our tires with our hands, haha.

By the time we were un-mired, I thought "That wasn't so bad...multiply it by several thousand feet of elevation and several days...yeah, I could survive Burning Man."

< /rambly story >


I can't say I expect BM to be stress-free, but I will have my wits about me, my supplies, no particular place to be, and 50thou+ others around me looking to have a fantastic time as well!

See you all on the Playa!

[Savannah]

Hi Tiffany! Seattle has a huge Burner community!
http://regionals.burningman.com/us_wa_sea.html

Hi Jeff! You might find other French Burners to network with here . . .
http://regionals.burningman.com/eu_fr.html

Hi Cthulhu!
Attitude (and preparation) is everything, so yeah--you can probably hack it. You'll get used to the nudity at Burning Man pretty quickly. After the 6th or 7th naked cowboy went zooming by on a bicycle defying comfort & good sense, they all just started to blur together for me in a very serene & ordinary way.

[AntiM]

The Bonneville salt flats are at about the same elevation as the playa. You'll be fine.


And yeah, the nudity is nothing after a day or so.

[Zebla]

Birgin? I'm new to this term, reminds me of going around in rocky horror picture shows with cast and everything and branding little kids with a huge V.

so I guess I will be such this year, coming from Israel.

is there a mobile cactai farm I can live in ?

looking forward to good times.

[FIGJAM]

We can build one!

[Wienerschnitzel]

Greetings strangers and strangees!

This year's Burn is going to be my first, so it seems only fair to give you all a heads-up on what's (hopefully) headed your way. Haven't managed to snag my ticket yet, but I'm sure I'll get to where I need to go - and besides, enthusiasm/positivism beats moping any day. So here, for what I assume for the sake of my confidence shall be your reading pleasure, is the abridged Saga of the Schnitzel.

I haven’t been here long. Between my youth in Canada and my ongoing youth in the Netherlands, I've been kicking around on this odd watery rock for little over 25 years. In the time I’ve had, however, life has been decidedly fair: on one hand, I've had the immense good fortune to travel the world, encounter interesting cultures and meet scores of great people – both abroad and at home. On the other, I've also had my share of burdens, pitfalls, failures and confrontations to endure. I'm sure the effect of all of this will come up in many a dusty conversation, so I'll leave the details to your imagination. Your delight or dismay at my person will be in the encounter, not the telling.

As for the productive areas of my life, I’m increasingly driven by the desire to create something new, something of shared and enduring value. Some days I teach, others I write, others still I manage projects. I try to breathe life into my vision with varying degrees of passion and commitment - and for now that’s really all there is to say.

I first heard of Burning Man about a decade ago but it didn't look that appealing at the time. The dust, the sun, the weird – all of it just wasn't really my thing. I decided I'd be better off taking a road trip across the US. Thankfully, a lot has changed since then. Now, I feel confident that I’ll be able to meet the experience with the open wonderment and participatory spirit required to survive, so I’ve decided to take my chances.

At any rate, I’ll be touching down in August for a long journey of adventure from NYC to LA. Then, if all goes well and the fates bestow tickets on our crew of virgins, we’ll make the dash to Reno and beyond. The 26th of August happens my birthday, so at least I know for certain I’ll be skidding into the desert with a shiny new year on the clock. After that, all bets are off.

Rounding off, I look forward to the experience immensely. Except for an elevated chance of sunburn – I am one of the whitest men alive – I have no idea what the desert will bring. Seems I’ll have to jump in with both feet and try to let go. And naturally I'm hoping I'll be able to meet many of you. So if you see a man-sized lens flare moving around in the distance, head on over!

Odds are there'll be a story and a gin & tonic in it for both of us.

[Savannah]

Great 1st post.

[BaliKen]

Hi there. We are a group of mostly Americans that live in Bali, Indonesia. About half of us have been to BM before. We are going to put up a theme camp with a a Bali beach theme. Hope to see you all there.

- Bali Ken

[Drucifer303]

My name is Andrew. I live and work in Calgary. I have been trying to get my life together enough to come to the Burn for about 10 years. This is the year.

[mufasa]

Hi there. We are a group of mostly Americans that live in Bali, Indonesia. About half of us have been to BM before. We are going to put up a theme camp with a a Bali beach theme. Hope to see you all there.

- Bali Ken

Is there a girl named Mckenzie there with you?

[Taxidermy]

Hey there!
I'm Taxidermy, I've been going to Burning Man since I was 9 years old (this will be my ninth year)
I've never had that much of a presence in the "Burner Community" once I step off playa, but due to recent changes in how Burning Man is being run, I feel its necessary for those of us who have been long-time attendees to get our opinions out there. So I joined this site, since it is the most well-known burning man forum.

)*(

Taxidermy

[Taxidermy]

(ps. I live in Los Angeles, California)

[Savannah]

Hello Drucifer, Bali Ken, Taxidermy and Mufasa!

[TaylorInMO]

Hi! I'm Taylor, and I live in Columbia, MO. I am trying to break my Birginity, if we can manage to snag some tickets. My boyfriend didn't make the lottery, and we only tried with one set of tickets and one email. We won't give up though! My BF lives in Memphis. He has several friends that have been burning for years and they have shared the pure joy they experience every year with us, and I sincerely hope we can make it this year. If not, we'll try for next.

So about me... I'm a 37 year old mom of two boys, and I work for an insurance company. My job is cool because I get to be creative by developing ideas and helping them come to fruition, in a fab geek atmosphere. I've been on an amazing journey of self-discovery and doing all of the wild and crazy things I should have done in my early 20's. I would say it's a mid-life crisis, except that I don't think I've reached mid-life yet. I love to travel and love to do things that people would never expect me to do, which is the main reason I want to go to BM this year. When I'm told I will never survive the conditions and camping and lack of showers, it makes me want to prove them wrong.

I'm kind of crafty. I knit, sew, and create costumes. I'm a bit of an extrovert, and i'm a big fan of geeks and nerds.

I hope to meet some amazing people, if we do get to make it there!

[benpath]

I'm Benpath, a Seattle burner following my virgin year in 2011 when I camped in Hushville. That worked out well although it was somewhat sedate. I'm interested in learning about other theme camps for 2012, provided of course that my luck changes and I actually end up with a ticket....so far I'm batting zero

[FantaPants]

Hi all,

I have dubbed myself Fanta Pants for reasons that are fairly apparent (if my av is up and running). I'll be coming from Sunny Australia to attend my first burn. I aim to be as self reliant as I possibly can for my trip however there is only so much I can bring on a plane, everything else I'll be buying from Walmart.

I'm looking forward to the opportunity to really express myself and meet new people and I find the idea of so many diverse people coming together exciting.

As far as finding a camp goes, like I said I plan on being as self reliant as I can so I'm not desperately looking for a camp, but I wouldn't mind helping out at a bike repair camp (gear adjustments being about the only thing I have no experience in and I'm willing to learn) if there is anyone looking for an extra set of hands (and tools if there's a community pool).

I'm looking forward to meeting all of you.

[theCryptofishist]

You're in luck. In a very flat dry lake bed, there isn't a whole lot of call for gears. Just something to get gummed up with dust...

[Savannah]

Hi Taylor! I'm another person who shouldn't have liked the conditions out there--kind of a girly girl, other than scout camp--but I totally thrived out there, even in the years before I brought a shower & evaporated my water. It's a combination of preparation, attitude and determination. I'll bet you can hack it. Plan to the teeth & then be ready to sway in the breeze so you don't break when it all goes sideways.

Hi Benpath! Welcome to the board from a fellow Northwesterner. The 2012 Theme Camps forum might be more active in a few months and there are some good sticky threads in there about Theme Camp stuff in general, worthwhile reading.

FantaPants, great nick.

Here's a camp that does specifically Bike Oriented stuff and repairs. They were looking for mechanics last year, and have a site and an email address:
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... 88&t=45329

[aka'aka]

Hello! My name is Aka and this will be my second burn, first being the american dream in '08. My gf Sammy will be attending as a birgin along with some other close friends. We all live in South Lake Tahoe, but Sammy and I are originally from Honolulu, Hi. We plan on creating a small camp with sound and art installations, but were still brainstorming on the theme and how to connect/express it. We hope to bring all the love we can to the playa, see you all soon!

[cherryblossom73]

Hi! My name is Heather, and this year will be my first burn. My husband has been the last two years and came back both times telling me I just had to go with him. This year we got lucky and his parents have volunteered to stay with our three boys, so I get to go home with him. He's got so many things already worked out, but we are planning a few new fun things for my first year. I just can't wait!

[FantaPants]

Thanks Savannah,

I've looked up player bike transport earlier but there doesn't seem to be much movement on FB or here. I'll definitely keep an eye out though. Other than that, I've been thinking about gifting tube patch repairs & tyre inflation services as I cruise around the playa checking things out

[Bunns]

Buns here, new to the eplaya but not to the burn.
I have always stopped by but didn't get a profile until I had something I really needed to get out.

I am looking forward to watching burning mans evolution over the next few years and becoming more involved in the burner communities is my way of insuring the future is full of awesome.
Looking forward to meeting some new burntastic friends!

[emmawonder]

My name is Emma and this is the first year my man and I have had the resources to get to the playa. I couldn't be more excited we somehow got tickets. I thought I'd come introduce myself to you all and if anyone here from a theme camp or any group really sees a good fit don't hesitate to pm. We are in our mid 20s and are Portland, OR based (originally from CA and Latin America). We are both pretty heavily into the art/music/festival scenes here with some Rainbow Gartherings and other experiences under our belts. BM seems like a much better fit however, mostly due to the creative element and the environment (and that fact that we may not be as big of hippies as we like to think, if you've been to a RG you catch my drift). As an avid backpacker and former Archaeologist in lava beds, deserts, and other desolate places I am simply in love with camping in these environments and can't wait to see what the playa has to offer for a challenge in that respect. I'm definitely not looking for someone to feed/water/shower us, more someone to collaborate with. I love building and creating and have a good amount of experience doing bigger scale art projects. I have lots of ideas forming in my mind that I could work on myself but I also love working in a community and would love to bring my skills and time to a project that can use them. After countless hours on eplaya its frustrating to see how many people weren't as lucky as we were getting tickets and I'd love to help a like-minded group that finds themselves short handed. I've been looking around regionals and the board and its just getting me more and more excited, hopefully I can make some good connections here as well!

[princechazming]

Chaz here, hello everyone. This will be my first burn. I have lived in San Francisco since '91 and first heard about BM in '92. To be honest it never sounded much fun--I moved here from Phoenix, AZ and am no fan of the desert. The soil does truly horrible things to my half-British, freakishly-dry-at-the-best-of-times skin. But things change and The Forces That Be have decided I'm going this year, and now that we have our tix I couldn't be more excited. After some soul-searching, my wife and I have decided not to take the kids (boy, 14, and girl, 7), much to the disappointment of the boy. But ultimately my wife and I would prefer to keep them in school, and be able to let our hair down for our first year there.

So, about me...corporate minion, will be 43 soon. I have always enjoyed good parties, good music, dancing, and camping. My wife and I have been together since 2001 and we have much in common. You can find us at every 2nd Sunday party, Folsom Street Fair, and Santacon. I exercise the right half of my brain by producing trance music. I'm having a lot of fun at the moment planning my BM costumes--I'm thinking thobes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thawb) might mitigate some of my skin issues. Can anyone recommend an Arabian/Islamic clothing site? I will also make it so that I can shower and lotion up often.

I just can't freakin' wait!

[WarriorPoet]

Hello my name is Jeff Key. I live in Salt Lake City, Utah where I am a student at the U. I am getting a second Bachelors in English, my first BA is in Theatre(Dance minor) from the University of Alabama (graduated in 97). My husband is also a student here. He's a third-year med student. He is hoping to match for his residency in NYC and I'll be applying to the MFA-Playwriting program at Columbia.
I am a former Marine, Iraq War veteran and peace activist. I am also a Queer Civil Rights activist.
I'm a published poet and playwright. My play "The Eyes of Babylon," based on my Iraq War journals was produced in nine cities in the US and in Dublin, Ireland. That play ended in July, 2011 with an off-Broadway run at 59E59 Theatres in NYC.
I was raised in the Church of Christ. Now I am a free-thinker.
I will celebrate 15 years of sobriety on September 1st. (Yep, I'll be at Burning Man when I turn 15. Are there meetings there?)
We have three children: two labradors and a cat.
My house is full of plants. I tend the plants and they tend me.
I am a Burgin.

[theCryptofishist]

I will celebrate 15 years of sobriety on September 1st. (Yep, I'll be at Burning Man when I turn 15. Are there meetings there?)

Yes, look for Hokie Pokie (Last Word I can't think of) and Anonymous Village.

[Noboundaries]

Razor here. Married to Cat for 31+ years, living life on our own terms, rewriting our marriage vows at will to include anything and everything that could help us evolve beyond the intrusion of undesirable family precedent, established religion, and social authority in our lives. Our path together has been beautiful, filled with successes, disasters, challenges, peace, pain and pleasure. The Yin and Yang of our lives has been wonderful to explore and nuture together.

The self-expressive nature of Burning Man has been in our dreams for a long time. We've been invited by friends and coworkers again and again. Unfortunately for over ten years we've both mistakenly allowed our default worlds to occupy our time during the Burns. No more. Watching and listening to probably 60 hours of BMIR online during the 2011 Burn weekend changed our lives and magically opened our hearts even more. We shed unexpected tears during the Temple Burn from several hundred miles away. Now we are both serving our respective communities in ways we never imagined before that weekend.

We also began all the planning and preparation we'd need to attend our first Burn immediately following last year's event. We knew with the ticketing changes for 2012 that our first Burn may not happen, but we were already changed by what we had experienced. Fortunately, the infinite possibilities of the quantum universe opened a door to intersect our conscious reality with a tickets reality so we will, in fact, be attending our first Burn in 2012. We've struggled with another fact that none of our friends and coworkers have tickets from the lottery. Consequently we are focusing our thoughts to open their quantum doors to intersect with a rather large, but finite, number of ticket realities for them.

We look forward to joining the BM community and contributing to everyone's experience in any way we can. The path to our first Burn already has become a wonderful journey.

[dwonj]

Doug from NJ here. 5 years ago, my son (then 12) found out about Burning Man. He is very creative and artistic, and asked me if we could go. I promised him that if he kept his grades up, we would go the summer between his Junior and Senior Year in High School (he will turn 18 in May). Needless to say, I am keeping the promise and two virgin burners (me 51, he a fresh 18) will be making their way to BRC this year. Tickets have been secured, as has an RV....now just 7 months of planning on what to do, where to go and how best to experience this!

[Dewi]

Hi there. We are a group of mostly Americans that live in Bali, Indonesia. About half of us have been to BM before. We are going to put up a theme camp with a a Bali beach theme. Hope to see you all there.

- Bali Ken

Hi Bali Ken! I'm Tanja...an Indonesian that lives in America!

This will be my first year to attend Burning Man (FINALLY). Even though I don't actually have a ticket yet, I just have a feeling that I will be there this year. I just feel that this is my year to go! Anyways, with that said...I planned on wearing an indonesian outfit one of the days that I'm there. I'm SOOOOO excited to see that you guys will have a bali themed camp! I'll definitely have to stop by your camp at some point and give you guys a big hug! Hope to see you all in the dust!