Introduction...

[global village idiot]

Hi!

Not long ago I started reading "Stealing Fire" by Kotler and Wheal. In it, the authors spent a long time talking about Burning Man. It was the final bit of persuasion I needed to decide that this was the year I'd finally attend.

Having read much about it - including all the official stuff for first timers - I'm left with the impression there's much that will be new to me, but much I'm already familiar and comfortable with.

Driving home from work tonight I thought about the community ethos I sense from repeat attendees. They seem to have a sense of ownership in the event. I like this and would like to pitch in next year, at least for the time I'm there - I won't be part of the "advance echelon" or the stay-behind effort.

While I know there's much I'm familiar with, I also know there's much MORE about which I have no clue. So I'll post what I think is relevant and ask where I might best be put to use; and in so doing, maybe also leave the reader with a bit of an impression of who I am.

In no particular order, including but not necessarily limited to:

• o 48 years of age
  o From Northwest Indiana - Hoosier Flatlander born-and-bred
  o Present profession: Land Surveyor/Drafter (manual & AutoCAD)/basic civil engineering
  o 22 years Active Army and Army Reserve (retiring at end of 2017 - HUZZAH!)
  o Combat Lifesaver (like medics only without the meds - I guess that makes me an ic)
  o 2 tours to Iraq and 2 NTC rotations - familiar with desert environment
  o Relevant military jobs included postal, logistics/plans/operations, personnel accountability (exercise census), construction engineer, etc.
  o Volunteer with County Emergency Management Agency - mostly with commo and mapping
  o One daughter, 19 yrs old, who also plans to attend
  o Not terribly good with computers but can run a slide rule and use a logarithm table
  o Lutheran
  o Stoic (Roman tradition)
  o Half-assed Taoist

Hobbies/interests include:

• o Ham radio operator - General class license
  o Freemason - P.M. 1998 & 2013 (Griffith Lodge #735 F&AM, Griffith, Indiana)
  o Chinese martial arts - tai chi quan (empty hand), dao (sabre) and jian (sword); bian gan (short staff) and Changquan gun (quarterstaff)
  o Calligraphy
  o Leatherwork

There are other things, but I believe these are most relevant to the event.

Any ideas how I might be able to make a decent contribution, and whom I should reach out to?

Thanks!
gvi

[Mozy F Bonz]

Laughs I'm loved
Close but closer to 60 and no I didn't read any of that. You see what I want you to see. It's a science-fiction fucking story ha ha Ha ha ha. Thanks for looking though. You guys don't need to do this I'll go away I just tried to show you something that I knew. I still think travells and time is a bot. Sorry man I'm sure you're not but that's what I thought. I've been having a hard time with my dad most of my friends have died recently and I just needed somebody to talk to. Still a bunch of trolls aren't you. Steal fire no ....all I did is post the link on my blog and watched it I don't post YouTube videos on my website. Because of all the commercials. I was horrified every time they reset the link in and commercials popped up. I made sure I stripped the page off of everything that had any Link there of any kind of thing for sale before I posted it on my blog. I made sure my page did not come up on any Burning man searches before I posted it on my blog. So stealing fire never.
Sorry your bird died.

[global village idiot]

Uh - thanks, I guess.

[gaminwench]

Hi!

previous poster is an interesting fellow.

You'll fit right in ...

Welcome to the weird!
Dive in, and watch out for snarks.

[AntiM]

Welcome.

Poke around the board, get to know some of us, read about the camps and hijinx, what drives the event. See what appeals to you.

I'm a Navy vet now on the north side of 60. You'll fit right in. Mostly concentrate on having the best first timer camp you can. No need to contribute on a grand scale, and no need to join an established theme camp unless you click with them and want to make their vision happen. Our sophomore this year found her niche with volunteering at box office. We have two rangers in camp. I have a smallish art project/theme camp and my husband is my strong back sherpa. We also do RHPS, and help our local fire conclave when we can. Nothing big, but we all contribute.

I've heard of the novel, but never read it.

[Traveller in Time]

Hi there an welcome to ePlaya

I think I must be the bot they write about in the first reply

[burner von braun]

Welcome to eplaya global village idiot!

[lucky420]

Hola and hello...

[ygmir]

hello and welcome!
jump on in!!

[global village idiot]

First of all, thanks so much for the warm welcome and solid advice!

It seemed appropriate to add a little bit to "why" I'm going. What follows is a copy-paste, with some editing, of the response I gave to a friend in another online community of which I've been a member for about 12 years, with her question appended to the top:

(COPY-PASTE BEGINS)

“What is it about Burning Man that makes you interested in going?”

That’s a VERY good question.

The first thing I should point out, even before I begin listing the reasons, practical and not, that inspire me to attend, is that while I’ve been plenty of interesting places on Uncle Sam’s dime, I haven’t taken a vacation – that is, a trip out-of-town combined with an overnight stay for its own sake - since my daughter was about 8 years old. That was 11 years ago; after this long, I consider myself entitled.

I’m a creature of habit, and many of my habits, good and bad, are a few decades old. Chief among these habits is the thinking that I’m a Soldier. For another three months, this is still true, but I’m retiring at the end of the year. One of the things I feel very keen to do is put my military service in my past.

I’m friends with the former Director of my County’s Emergency Management Agency. He served in the Navy (I’ll have nothing at all said against the Squids) as a beachmaster. He became a fireman, eventually becoming the Fire Chief for My Fair City, then County EMA director before retiring for keeps. I mostly interact with him through Facebook nowadays, and all I see from him there is military-this, military-that, history-the-other, blah blah blah. Very little about what plans he may have, what he looks forward to or in fact anything connected with the future. In short, his public persona (which I’ll allow might be VERY different from his private one) is that of a man who sees his best days as being behind him, which is another way of saying he’s marking time waiting for his funeral.

I’ll be d@mned if I’m going to live my life like that. When I die, I expect my survivors to find me with an appointment book filled out many months in advance.

None of this should be construed to say that I intend to forget my prior service or act like it never happened. This is quite impossible. But I believe it’s necessary to look forward rather than backward, and in this respect I see attendance at Burning Man as a sort of grown-up version of the Roman rite-of-passage where I hang up my bulla and bordered toga - or in my case, probably my dog tag and uniform - putting the past where it belongs. If I can, I’ll ask if I can get them put in the pyre where the Burning Man is lit up at the end of the event – that seems proper.

Another reason for my attendance has to do with some passages I’d read in a book called “Stealing Fire,” by Kotler and Wheal. [A friend] recommended the book to me and I’m glad he did. It touches on many things I’ve been accidentally skipping off the surface of, such as my martial arts practice, some elements of my past that the statute of limitations might or might not have run out on, the “binaural beats” enabling techniques [a different friend] has talked about at length here (similar technology is mentioned in the book) and so on. Having read the book and got some hint of the value of the things it talks about, I'm keen to take a more active and systematic approach. Attendance at Burning Man and events like it are mentioned in the book as being very useful in unlocking personal potential, creativity, appreciation and value - so why not?

Lastly, tying everything together, remember what I said about how old my habits and perspectives are. Burning Man is an environment and culture as completely unlike my day-to-day existence as it’s possible to contrive in North America. Spending a week immersed in it seems like just the sort of thing to shake things up a bit, validate good habits/beliefs, reject unnecessary or restrictive ones, and provide fresh perspective.

I don’t at all expect to have some sort of moment of enlightenment like Richard Harris dangling from his skin in “A Man Called Horse.” But I suspect the experience will be at least somewhat transformative.

gvi

(COPY-PASTE ENDS)

[Token]

I don’t at all expect to have some sort of moment of enlightenment like Richard Harris dangling from his skin in “A Man Called Horse.” But I suspect the experience will be at least somewhat transformative.

And there you go, getting suspended via deep tissue hooks throug your pectorals is exactly the kind of thing that goes on there.

That can be arranged!

To quote Dr. Gonzo

“As your attorney, I advise a regimen of Tryptamines, Lysergamides and Phenethylamines on your quest”

[fireheadwhale]

It is like nothing else. I only have two Burns on my resume. But as Eric says,"It's just a camping trip in the desert". I think you're going to like it. I envy your military career. Two things I never did in my life, have a child or serve. I don't exactly regret it, but I missed a hell of an experience. I don't envy the guys who served in combat their dreams that must occur from time to time, or more. Get yourself an adult trike so you don't fall down. Start checking Craigslist. I need to find that book you reference.

[global village idiot]

The book is worth your while. If you can find it at your public library, I'd say that's the better route - libraries are underutilized resources anyway. Keep a pad alongside it for taking notes - it's the sort of book that points to the things you really want to know more about.

The military is indeed a culture unto itself. It's hard to describe, but I kind of like it that way - I see it as a symptom of our success. If the average person had a fundamental knowledge of the military, we'd be living in either of two environments:
1) Sparta (the Sparta Thucydides and Plutarch talked about, not the fairy-tale one in the movies),
OR
2) Leningrad in 1942
I'm glad we don't live in either, and very VERY glad we don't have a draft. I can't imagine trying to lead someone who doesn't want to be there and is only doing it because he has to.
But as to the culture - it has to be experienced, which I suppose is a lot like Burning Man.
After I got back from my first tour downrange, one of my friends at church - an older lady who really didn't deserve the likes of me - asked me "So what's it really like over there?" I suppose she deserved a proper answer; but I had tried that before and you could just watch people's eyes glaze over when you really try to explain the experience.
What made it the final straw for me was the fact that she asked me in the hushed, shallowly-sensitive tone I refer to as "NPR Voice,"
I couldn't stand it when I had people asking me how I was doing during my divorce, and I had even less patience for it now.
So like I said, she didn't deserve the response she got...
"Well, Dorothy, it's kind of like this...what's it like having women's plumbing?"
You can well imagine her reaction. "HUH?!"
"Please indulge me - what's it like having lady parts?"
"How could I explain? I dunno....it's hard to describe...I mean, how could you understand?"
"Iraq is just like that, ma'am."
Still, it's time to give it to the "kids." It's their Army now.
You know it's time when you have Company Commanders who are young enough to be your adult children - the Lieutenants have been young enough for me to be their dad for the last 8 or 9 years now...

Having said all the above, I'll also say that a military career is nothing to be envious of, any more than you'd envy someone who put in a long time at any profession.
Y'know who I envy? Guys like my pastor, that's who.
He's the sort of person I refer to as a "gentle soul." I've never met a more genuinely humble, yet noble person in my life. No capacity for violence whatsoever, yet understands people like me who do have that capacity.
I envy people like him. They can look at a crowd of people or a city scape and not "scan" it. They can look at an individual and not be sizing him up. They can look at a mountain and see something besides the "military crest." They can look at a place like Black Rock City and not have to suppress the realization that it's a tactically untenable position. Stuff like that.
No regrets, but I do sometimes wonder what the world looks like through the eyes of a "gentle soul."

As for the bike or trike, I've decided against it for a couple reasons. First - and probably most important - my high-school partner-in-crime has attended for the last ten years or so, and he was very adamant about the abandoned bikes, the lost/stolen bikes, the gargantuan effort of trying to find something to do with 5,000 cheap, worthless, sandblasted bikes.
Second, I looked at a map of the place and nowhere is more than 2 miles from anywhere else.
2 miles isn't a long way, especially if you're in no hurry.
I just did an NTC rotation in April. 28 days in the desert near Barstow. When I wasn't in a convoy, I walked everywhere there just fine. My partner-in-crime's wife told me she thinks Burning Man is better experienced dismounted.

As for raising my daughter, yeah - that's my best achievement. She's a young lady you don't meet every day. She's coming along, and I wouldn't have it any other way; after all, how many 19 (will turn 20 at the event) year old young ladies still enjoy doing things with their dads?

gvi

[fireheadwhale]

You might find it interesting that when I was in high school my older brother came back from Vietnam. I told him, "In a few years I'll be joining the army". "How can you join the army after I break both your legs?', he asked me. "So, you don't recommend it?", I replied.

[global village idiot]

It's a different Army than the one your brother served in - 2017 is a long way from 1967.

My first enlistment was in 1987 (kind of dizzying to think that my first enlistment was closer to the height of the Vietnam War than it is to today). The last of the old "lifers" was getting ready to retire - I only knew two Vietnam vets while I was on Active Duty. Both were Battery 1st Sergeants and both went on to become Sergeants Major - one for the 82nd Airborne Division Artillery and the other became the Command Sergeant Major of the Field Artillery School at Ft. Sill.

The difference between the Army then and now is as stark as the difference between society then and now. Back then, the popular television shows were "Leave it to Beaver" and "Bonanza" - now it's "Game of Thrones" and "The Walking Dead."

It's hard to make a realistic comparison - one was a draft army and the other is all-volunteer. Few people realize what a difference it makes but I and all my peers thank God we don't have a draft Army.

gvi

[Traveller in Time]

Be glad indeed

I was one of the last drafted ages (dutch) Only received some basic training.
Main goal was doing nothing at all. (why should you?)

Must add, my first option was to join a foreign mission, though was dropped with the 'rest'.
Imagine the helpless unwilling city guys having to camp in a swamp. (was a holiday for me)

[Elderberry]

Welcome to ePlaya!

[AntiM]

Welcome Aboard, says the old sailor who is extremely glad the family traditional learned toward squidlyness.

[tatonka]

welcome , I was in the Army in 74. I joined the drill sgts said the draftys were the easyest ones to work with , they just wanted to get it over with and listened well . The joiners expected to much they said