Burning Obsession

[imperatrixi]

Hi Eplaya Burners I'm imperatrixi and here's my meandering rant of the day!

I have heard about Burning Man for years and I've seen some docos, been to a regional event and now I'm thrilled that I'm going to be part of it very very soon!

I've spent a bit of time on Eplaya in the last week and I'm a bit scared of snark and amazed at how popular bacon is and I have learned all about rebar!

I have been to quite a lot of festivals, outdoors in the heat and the cold and warehouse parties a long time ago. The biggest one I have made it to was Love Parade in Berlin in 2000 and it was said there were 1Mil there. All I know is it was squishy! I have worked in production at different types of events, and put some small ones on myself. (I have worked sorting mountains of rubbish after a festival of 7000ppl in the middle of the Australian summer -leave no trace is great!) But I know there's nothing else on Earth like Burning Man.

I imagine that part of the gain of being in the harsh conditions of the desert is that it will increase my awareness of being a living creature alive on the earth - far away from the cotton wool of the complex systems we have built that support us without much effort on our part. I've been trawling the net for suitable gear in prep and I'm totally obsessed with geo domes now!

When I heard about the Burning Man Seed Regional Event here in Australia it didn't seem possible that I could go but all of a sudden everything fell into place, magic! It's beginning to feel like that for Nevada.

I was apprehensive about the Seed because I had read about a camp called Bacchus who were planning to kidnap people for transformations. I thought that could be dangerous. When I arrived late at night cold,tired and hungry after 2 days of travel, by an ironic twist of fate my travel buddies and I ended up next to them and they befriended me with lentil soup and beer. I ended up helping out at their camp for the rest of the time. This was the kindness of strangers as good as it gets. Was this what they meant by kidnapping? I never asked them.

I have come home and missed the gentle acceptance and welcome without question at the burn. At other festivals I have had some experiences like this but not as universally. Certainly I brought with me my foibles as did others and all was not perfect but it was the closest I have come to a utopia, temporary as it was (although there were some very happy people who proposed we all stay!). This event took place in winter so we just had the cold to deal with not the heat. Despite the cold there still was nudity, though not on my part but I would like to think one day I could be comfortable enough in my own skin to try it : ) Maybe on the playa...

I'm in awe of the gift economy and I'm really excited to think that there will be lots of people at burning man who I can practice gifting with. It's one of the most beautiful experiences I have had, giving and receiving what you can whether it is a helping hand, ear, thought etc or creating or sharing material items people need or will enjoy. I want to be a better gifter.

I was wide eyed and amazed by it in action at Seed, the thoughtfulness and generosity of people. Every camp had fun, nurturing, exciting or informative experiences to share. I loved sharing the process of making and eating food with lots of people I've never met before - at Camp Bacchus we fed about 2-300 one night, it was a transcendental experience for me.

Two weird things happened: One of the main things I did in the camp was help organise our kitchen stores and layout as lots of different people had brought food and gear and I swear as soon as I had everything sorted I would find more bags and boxes of delicious food. This was happening every day we were there. I know people were bringing it over from different camps but I never saw it arrive so it was like magic!

The other peculiarity was at our big feast I was busy painting peoples faces and didn't eat so I was around to hungrily help with the last slab of meat on a spit. I ended up carving it for everyone and it was ridiculously rare - dripping blood and people were queuing and demanding it faster than i could cut. They were eating it with their fingers, blood everywhere, dripping down chins and someone shovelling it into their face told me they had been vego for years! I guess the bacchus influence at work?

OK enough with the blog except to say I'm flying into to LA on 25th Aug and I'm not flying back to Oz until 14 Sep so let me know if I can visit you or share a ride. I'd love to see Phoenix, Arizona and a cactus forest maybe Joshua Tree.

[Elderberry]

Hey there, welcome to eplaya!

JK

[imperatrixi]

Thanks JK

[Rice]

Welcome to the Eplaya!!!!

Yes, snark on this forum is common (I'm no less guilty than anyone else)...

The desert is a harsh mistress... Since there is nothing there but what we bring it is best to get as prepared as possible & realize that your best laid plans may not necessarily work

As a "virgin" it is important that you have some background on what you need for basic survival of the elements (over 40°C during the day and around 0°C at night)... Some nights you can run around naked and others you need every stitch of clothing you have, it certainly varies.

Please make sure to read through the survival guide (http://www.burningman.com/preparation/e ... index.html)!

The community in BRC is amazing, so many friends to meet, so much art! It truly overwhelms the senses... (Nothing can compare!! {hehe})

It is hard to believe that a city will materialize from nothing in less than a week and then disappear 8 days later.

I make the trek down from Canada every year, totally worth the 24 hour drive!

When in doubt, fake it! Have fun and don't forget to drink water...

Love Rice

[theCryptofishist]

...I'm a bit scared of snark and amazed at how popular bacon is and I have learned all about rebar!
...
I have come home and missed the gentle acceptance and welcome without question at the burn...

I believe that snark and acceptance might be connected. The "community" is very generous; therefore the "community" works very hard to make sure that the new people coming in are not free-loading dead-weight.

And then there;s that internet thing...

[imperatrixi]

@ Rice: that's a long drive! Thanks for your lovely post - I think for once I can't be too prepared! I know I will be dazzled by the spectacle and the sun : )

@ theCryptofishist: how the hell are you so vigilant? I've noticed you all over the eplaya! I get the snarking mostly and a lot of it's funny but some of it ... I will watch and learn

Can someone tell me how bacon got so popular? Does being on the playa make you crave it?

[theCryptofishist]

@ theCryptofishist: how the hell are you so vigilant?

Some say it's my rapid typing. Others insist that I have reams of canned posts waiting for the proper trigger. The haters, however, have this wacky idea that I've got no other life.

Splitter!

[curiousgnate]

just wait till you have a bacon bloody mary (bacon vodka) with a crisp strip of bacon sticking out of it (screw celery) while on the playa. then all will be understood.

[imperatrixi]

ok gnate i have a drink mission now! that's not a bevvy i've seen on any cocktail menu before

[Eric]

Can someone tell me how bacon got so popular? Does being on the playa make you crave it?

It's the trendy thing in the US for the last few years. Google "bacon" and you'll see. Kind of a meme.

On the playa salty foods are your friend- bacon is of course the most talked about, but personally my fav's are pickles or sauerkraut. Salted cashews are great, salty crackers..... etc.