lurk no more

brigitami · Post by **brigitami** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 10:59 am

I've been following this forum for years....haven't posted anything before today.

Lots of good ideas in here....most of my planning for my first burn came from trolling eplaya. Now I would like to return the favor with things I've learned on my own.

I owe a lot to BRC. I've wanted to attend Burning Man ever since I first heard about it back in '91. It was the art that hooked me (especially art that shoots fire!) and the idea of a temporary city assembled by hard working volunteers with a HUGE capacity for imagination. When I was younger I never had the guts. When I was older I always had responsibilities that got in the way (kids, business, etc.). But I read every book and article that I could get my hands on. I watched every movie and bombarded every burner I met with questions and requests for stories. I sent my little sister 3 xs in my stead (the first time I handed her the ticket & survival manual she said, "what is it?" and I said, "Go and tell me about it when you get back." but she never could put it into words for me. A few years ago my life bottomed out from under me when my husband & business partner of 10+ years told me he wanted out. The very very FIRST thing I thought was, "Now I can go to Burning Man!" that thought held me together for most of that first year. I was rebuilding my life/priorities and one of the things I decided I needed the most was to meet friends who "got" me....people who I didn't have to fake it for, people who knew the real me and loved me anyway.......

[b]The Playa Shall Provide[/b]

Even though I almost chickened out the week before my first burn, I packed up my wedding dress "art piece" (I will post details of this in another post for the sake of keeping this intro short) and hit the road with my sister & her small group of friends.

And then I met "Campoline". It was the first time I had ever found myself in a group of people where I actually really really liked EVERY SINGLE PERSON. I thought, "Oh how I wish these people lived in my town!" Guess what I found out? They did!

And then I met Sasha (actually, technically, he was the first person I met on playa). We instantly hit it off and he was my own personal first timers guide and took me everywhere! I will never forget him hiking me out to the middle of playa and turning me around on the first night to see all the tiny little lights of the city being built and then on the night before the burn taking me out to the exact same spot (maybe) to see the huge busting metropolis and he said, "Remember the dark of the first night? Well, every single light you see out there now somebody brought. Somebody thought it up, energized it, researched it, built it and then transported it here."

Fast forward to present day:
I feel like myself. The person that I was always meant to be but never was. After struggling through a 3,000 mile long distance relationship, Sasha is here now with me, we are surrounded by our tribe (Campoline) which consists of something so much stronger than just friendship. I can't say enough about how many important things in my life are because of Burning Man. I hate the term "burner" but if anyone shows me the slightest interest of wanting to talk BRC stories I will go on and on for days.......keeping that in mind my post ends

now.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 11:52 am

And being the nasty, spiteful piece of work I am, I will point out that all that eplaya reading didn't do you any good. You still didn't enable bulletin board code before you posted.

jakkimaguire · Post by **jakkimaguire** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 12:12 pm

that sounds amazing so you went there and found love... that sounds really amazing, i hope that happens 4 me ha

Boijoy · Post by **Boijoy** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:39 pm

epic_elite · Post by **epic_elite** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 1:45 pm

that was a good story.

it had love, separation, dispair, success, and closure.

welcome to eplaya!

brigitami · Post by **brigitami** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 2:31 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:And being the nasty, spiteful piece of work I am, I will point out that all that eplaya reading didn't do you any good. You still didn't enable bulletin board code before you posted.

I said I was a lurker....not a poster!

The funniest thing about all that research was that it ended up being like nothing I had ever managed!

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 6:11 pm

That's because none of us has ever been. The eplaya is a hoax. There are about 20 of us each running one high poster and several to 100s of throw-aways. As you might guess, I do a lot of the clueless
hey
wait
How did you get on?

Something is terribly wrong.

brigitami · Post by **brigitami** » Tue Jan 26, 2010 8:12 pm

wow!
It is so nice to be someplace that gets my sense of humor....

you are hilariously playful, crypt

thank you all for your kind words which have encouraged me to go post about me damn dress.....

Post by **Elderberry** » Wed Jan 27, 2010 2:35 pm

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!

JK

Teo del Fuego · Post by **Teo del Fuego** » Fri Jan 29, 2010 1:01 pm

good heavens, I go away for awhile all disgusted at the nasty mood, and I peep back in and its just plain....refreshing. Nice that newbies are being greeted warmly (well, JK always did that) and given good advice instead of condescended to and ridiculed off ePlaya. God, I hope it lasts, I may visit more often.