Burning Man, random good things
Sep. 11th, 2011 02:32 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidIn no particular order.
Friday afternoon, I got a hair cut at the Emerald City. It's the camp I got my hair cut at a year before (my last hair cut): the deal is that they wash and cut your hair, but you have no say in what the cut will be. Last year I'd gotten a good cut, so when I saw that they were in the program guide, I definitely wanted to make it there again (OK, and I hadn't managed a hair cut in the mean time. Plus having my hair washed in the desert always feels amazing). I was dreading the wait, but when I arrived (about an hour and a half early), I found that they'd set up a big tent, so the wait was in shade, which made a huge difference! Plus there were interesting people to talk to in the meantime.
I ended up about fifth on the list, and since there was only one stylist, it took longer than I'd anticipated. Since they'd forgotten their big green doors, I got to watch those ahead of me get their cuts. Which is how I got to hear as much as I did about the first person in line, an older woman whose birthday was the following day: she was going to turn 90. She was impressive, totally hale in body and mind, merely some wrinkles on the exterior; I hope to be in such good shape at her age! (She turned out to be a senior Olympian medalist of some sort, too.)
There was time to chat with the hair washer (I don't think I've had my hair washed by someone I knew had been a stripper before) as well as the stylist, and I'm really happy with the cut (long layers). If I wait until next Burning Man for my next cut, do I have to go every year to get my hair cut? :-)
There were a lot more bugs this year. Still not enough to require bug spray or anything, but sometimes more than one a day. Of those, there was at least one dragonfly, which flew into our kitchen tent on day, then tried to get out through the mesh. I couldn't find anything else cleanish to use, so I captured it in my hands to get it out into the open air. I don't think I've had a dragonfly in my hands before.
This year I tried mailing postcards to the playa, as well as home. The first day I made it to the post office (which had been moved from its previous location, out of center camp onto 6, for no reason I could figure out), I managed to get enough postcards (in 3s, 4s, and 2s) to send out to people whose addresses I had, but I'd forgotten to bring the international stamp I needed, so I had to return. A camp mate wanted to know about volunteering for the post office, so I asked when I brought the rest of the postcards (including extra ones from the farmers market, with recipes on them). It turned out that they were happy to have volunteers deliver the mail, and I thought it would be fun, so I told them the part of the city I could cover, given I was on foot. When they pulled the possible mail, I saw one of the postcards I'd sent from Boston (which I declined to deliver; it would be much better to arrive by someone else's hand than the sender's :-), so I knew that my mail had made it. Very cool.
There were a surprising number of packages at the post office, including many via FedEx. I was given a bunch of letters to deliver, and a couple of package slips (requiring the recipient to bring the package slip and a photo ID to the post office for pick up). Happily, all the mail was convenient for me based on the addresses, which weren't always incredibly accurate; it took a while to find the correct person sometimes. It was a great chance to chat with people, though, and everyone was happy to help (I'll admit to saying "You've got mail!" more than once...). I was offered stickers, drinks, hugs, and a happy dance by a woman who was really pleased to get photos of the pet she was missing badly. I think I'll be doing this again.
I visited the Black Rock City farmers market one morning. I'd supported them in advance, so in addition to getting some fresh fruit pieces (so cool, wet, and refreshing), I picked up some swag, a patch and a dog-tag-like pendant featuring their logo and a cut-out that makes it into a bottle opener as well. They were open all five weekday mornings, for three hours each; I remain impressed with the organization required to have produce in good condition throughout the week.
I camped for a second year with Covered in Bees, which continued to be part of the Boston Hive. This year, the Hive was placed at about 3:30 and Esplanade (actually, more like 3:20 and Esplanade, once things were sorted out), and not the whole way back to A (Anniversary, this year, for Rites of Passage), which was a bit more limiting than it might otherwise have been because the M*A*S*H-themed camp on A was unpleasant when other people walked through their tents.
There were a number of subcamps in the Hive, and the preliminary layout had some art at the front, with an arc pathway behind it to allow more frontage on Esplanade, including our camp. We ended up with more space because the maze that one of the other groups had planned to put up turned out not to be stable enough in the wind, even after they cut slits in the fabric. So we were between the Super Slug (an interestingly-curved slug-shape large enough to contain a full-sized bar) and the Black Rock Film Festival, with Automatic Subconscious beyond them. We had a dome and another rectangular structure, with bee-themed coverings, pillows, and lights, plus flower torches. We had a bar one night featuring honey-flavored alcohols. It was a good place to camp, and surprisingly not too loud, for me, anyway.
The Slug folk had their bar, the Film Festival had some films and some DJ/VJ combinations, while AutoSub had musical evenings, as well as the daily beer toss at dusk (with little parachutes for the cans of beer launched from near the top of the dome).
Last year I spent a lot of time with Camp Cwality, and they were also in the Hive this year, with a Mario Castle that was originally intended to have two levels, but ended up with only one (this year, anyway; I have the impression that it will return next year, better than ever), which still allowed for rooftop views of the city as well as shaded space during the day (I was amused to find my year so defined by a video game I've never played, seeing as the Mystery Hunt this year was all about Mario's search for Peach.). I was also really pleased to be made an honorary Cwality person: my first playa gift was one of their pendants, and a later one was a pendant with my name on it for last year, which touched me more than I can express.
There were a lot of new Bees this year. I enjoyed meeting them, though I often felt out of sync with the rest of my camp, heading out when they were coming in, hungry when they weren't, on foot when they were on bikes, tired when they were ready to go, and so on. The last night, the night of the temple burn, I ended up going out with the five Bees I knew best, ones I'd camped with last year (and some I knew before that); it was really good to be with a group I was so comfortable with. (And sweet to hear from one of them that he saw me as going out and having my own adventures, coming back to tell people about the things I'd seen or done, rather than seeing me as a lost sheep or dead weight, not having contributed to a lot of the camp art since it was prepped in southern CA.)
Since I was on foot this year (mostly) and the first couple of days were extremely hot during the day, I found I didn't explore the city as much as I have in previous years. I regret that, but I don't feel like I wasted my time either, so it's the usual wish for extra hours in the day, or days in the week, something like that. I finally managed to get out for a walk into deep playa in the cool of the morning on Shabbat. I got to see a number of wonderful installations that I very much wished I could have photographed. Among these were:
I'm sure there were others I'm forgetting, too.
I was a temple guardian again this year. I made it to a meet and greet Tuesday afternoon, the only one I could make before my shift that evening, to get the details of this year's structure and a bandanna.
Once I found the others on my shift, it was fairly easy. I mostly stayed at the bottom of the steepest ramp (think of a Japanese half-moon bridge for the first half, luckily with extra battens to brace feet/shoes on), with forays around to check that there weren't any burning things (including cigarettes, incense, sage, candles, whatever). I got to hear the earth harp played. And I was really glad to see some positive posts, not just memories of things/people gone: a man posted about now being a father, which inspired other people to post their own good news (becoming a husband, becoming a wife, and so on). The most impressive thing I saw on shift, though, was when a guy in a wheelchair wanted to get up to the second level, and got four other guys to push him up that steep steep curved ramp.
The next time I was there was at dawn Friday morning, for a black tie wedding scheduled for when the sun crested the cliffs. Two Boston friends had chosen to have their wedding there, even arranging to have a special camp for their wedding guests (parents, other relatives and friends who might not otherwise have attended Burning Man). It was wonderful to be there with so many of their friends, many of whom I knew. I didn't know what to expect from the ceremony, which turned out to be a blend of Jewish (a chuppah, mostly), generic Xtian tropes, and other rituals. I rather liked how the assembled community was asked to support this couple before they made their vows to each other. It was a good space for this, but I didn't explore then, tired after a long night with not enough sleep.
I made it back the night the Man burned, knowing that some camp mates had headed there to watch. I never found them, but it was nice to meander the structure without responsibilities, finally taking pictures (it didn't feel appropriate while on shift, and the wedding people had requested no photos other than by certain designated people). I still didn't go up to the second level, partly because of the crowds, and partly because I wasn't sure of my footing: my only pair of footwear was failing, the stitching on the Keen's already having started to give way. (I ended up getting a replacement pair in Reno, luckily on sale.)
I continued my usual practice of solar cooking food for lunch, eating cold foods (well, for some value of 'cold') for everything else. The new things this year included using bulghur as a base instead of couscous (whole grains are better for me), using boxed soups as some of the liquid, and sending salt-cured olives as a form of salt replacement. I ended up feeding many people each time (some tastes, some whole meals); it's the one week I don't want leftovers, since it's easier to clean my one pot (well, spice tin) before things dry on. People seemed to really like what I'd made, which felt sort of like a cheat for me, since it wasn't quite cooking as I think of it the rest of the year. I think my best meal included a jar of marinated eggplant pieces (that looked oddly like cabbage in shape) with bits of baked potato (cooked the night before in a burn barrel), a can of chickpeas, and bulghur. (Other additions included canned salmon, artichoke hearts, a variety of freeze-dried veggies, spices, and Indian meals.)
I also sent a dozen 5-ounce bottles of a variety of liqueurs. I was pleased at how much people liked them, even the slightly odd flavors like raw beet (everyone liked it!). It was good to be giving out tastes of things I'd made, but I would like to bring something next year that's non-alcoholic, so I can share with underage/teetotaller/alcoholic friends. (Side note: there was much more carding, or at least signage about carding, at bars and places offering alcohol).
OK, enough for now. Possibly more later.
Friday afternoon, I got a hair cut at the Emerald City. It's the camp I got my hair cut at a year before (my last hair cut): the deal is that they wash and cut your hair, but you have no say in what the cut will be. Last year I'd gotten a good cut, so when I saw that they were in the program guide, I definitely wanted to make it there again (OK, and I hadn't managed a hair cut in the mean time. Plus having my hair washed in the desert always feels amazing). I was dreading the wait, but when I arrived (about an hour and a half early), I found that they'd set up a big tent, so the wait was in shade, which made a huge difference! Plus there were interesting people to talk to in the meantime.
I ended up about fifth on the list, and since there was only one stylist, it took longer than I'd anticipated. Since they'd forgotten their big green doors, I got to watch those ahead of me get their cuts. Which is how I got to hear as much as I did about the first person in line, an older woman whose birthday was the following day: she was going to turn 90. She was impressive, totally hale in body and mind, merely some wrinkles on the exterior; I hope to be in such good shape at her age! (She turned out to be a senior Olympian medalist of some sort, too.)
There was time to chat with the hair washer (I don't think I've had my hair washed by someone I knew had been a stripper before) as well as the stylist, and I'm really happy with the cut (long layers). If I wait until next Burning Man for my next cut, do I have to go every year to get my hair cut? :-)
There were a lot more bugs this year. Still not enough to require bug spray or anything, but sometimes more than one a day. Of those, there was at least one dragonfly, which flew into our kitchen tent on day, then tried to get out through the mesh. I couldn't find anything else cleanish to use, so I captured it in my hands to get it out into the open air. I don't think I've had a dragonfly in my hands before.
This year I tried mailing postcards to the playa, as well as home. The first day I made it to the post office (which had been moved from its previous location, out of center camp onto 6, for no reason I could figure out), I managed to get enough postcards (in 3s, 4s, and 2s) to send out to people whose addresses I had, but I'd forgotten to bring the international stamp I needed, so I had to return. A camp mate wanted to know about volunteering for the post office, so I asked when I brought the rest of the postcards (including extra ones from the farmers market, with recipes on them). It turned out that they were happy to have volunteers deliver the mail, and I thought it would be fun, so I told them the part of the city I could cover, given I was on foot. When they pulled the possible mail, I saw one of the postcards I'd sent from Boston (which I declined to deliver; it would be much better to arrive by someone else's hand than the sender's :-), so I knew that my mail had made it. Very cool.
There were a surprising number of packages at the post office, including many via FedEx. I was given a bunch of letters to deliver, and a couple of package slips (requiring the recipient to bring the package slip and a photo ID to the post office for pick up). Happily, all the mail was convenient for me based on the addresses, which weren't always incredibly accurate; it took a while to find the correct person sometimes. It was a great chance to chat with people, though, and everyone was happy to help (I'll admit to saying "You've got mail!" more than once...). I was offered stickers, drinks, hugs, and a happy dance by a woman who was really pleased to get photos of the pet she was missing badly. I think I'll be doing this again.
I visited the Black Rock City farmers market one morning. I'd supported them in advance, so in addition to getting some fresh fruit pieces (so cool, wet, and refreshing), I picked up some swag, a patch and a dog-tag-like pendant featuring their logo and a cut-out that makes it into a bottle opener as well. They were open all five weekday mornings, for three hours each; I remain impressed with the organization required to have produce in good condition throughout the week.
I camped for a second year with Covered in Bees, which continued to be part of the Boston Hive. This year, the Hive was placed at about 3:30 and Esplanade (actually, more like 3:20 and Esplanade, once things were sorted out), and not the whole way back to A (Anniversary, this year, for Rites of Passage), which was a bit more limiting than it might otherwise have been because the M*A*S*H-themed camp on A was unpleasant when other people walked through their tents.
There were a number of subcamps in the Hive, and the preliminary layout had some art at the front, with an arc pathway behind it to allow more frontage on Esplanade, including our camp. We ended up with more space because the maze that one of the other groups had planned to put up turned out not to be stable enough in the wind, even after they cut slits in the fabric. So we were between the Super Slug (an interestingly-curved slug-shape large enough to contain a full-sized bar) and the Black Rock Film Festival, with Automatic Subconscious beyond them. We had a dome and another rectangular structure, with bee-themed coverings, pillows, and lights, plus flower torches. We had a bar one night featuring honey-flavored alcohols. It was a good place to camp, and surprisingly not too loud, for me, anyway.
The Slug folk had their bar, the Film Festival had some films and some DJ/VJ combinations, while AutoSub had musical evenings, as well as the daily beer toss at dusk (with little parachutes for the cans of beer launched from near the top of the dome).
Last year I spent a lot of time with Camp Cwality, and they were also in the Hive this year, with a Mario Castle that was originally intended to have two levels, but ended up with only one (this year, anyway; I have the impression that it will return next year, better than ever), which still allowed for rooftop views of the city as well as shaded space during the day (I was amused to find my year so defined by a video game I've never played, seeing as the Mystery Hunt this year was all about Mario's search for Peach.). I was also really pleased to be made an honorary Cwality person: my first playa gift was one of their pendants, and a later one was a pendant with my name on it for last year, which touched me more than I can express.
There were a lot of new Bees this year. I enjoyed meeting them, though I often felt out of sync with the rest of my camp, heading out when they were coming in, hungry when they weren't, on foot when they were on bikes, tired when they were ready to go, and so on. The last night, the night of the temple burn, I ended up going out with the five Bees I knew best, ones I'd camped with last year (and some I knew before that); it was really good to be with a group I was so comfortable with. (And sweet to hear from one of them that he saw me as going out and having my own adventures, coming back to tell people about the things I'd seen or done, rather than seeing me as a lost sheep or dead weight, not having contributed to a lot of the camp art since it was prepped in southern CA.)
Since I was on foot this year (mostly) and the first couple of days were extremely hot during the day, I found I didn't explore the city as much as I have in previous years. I regret that, but I don't feel like I wasted my time either, so it's the usual wish for extra hours in the day, or days in the week, something like that. I finally managed to get out for a walk into deep playa in the cool of the morning on Shabbat. I got to see a number of wonderful installations that I very much wished I could have photographed. Among these were:
- the frame of a woman's torso (much smaller than the dancing woman of last year, but otherwise along similar lines)
- a 3-D many-pointed star shape that had a shaded platform (that people were having a lovely breakfast picnic on when I was there)
- a 40-person movie theater (a whole building, not just a screen and a seating area) out by the trash fence that had three daily showings (midnight, 2 am, 4 am), plus candies for attendees
- a forest of metal trees with a variety of different patterns on them, in a bunch of sizes and shapes
- a totem pole of rainbow figures that turned out to be made of small pieces of plastic in the same colors somehow pieced together, from a sitting person towards the bottom up to an open-winged bird at the top (that I still haven't found a photo of elsewhere)
- the zoetrope that everyone was talking about this year, though by the time I got there, the rope seemed to have broken. When it was working, it took two teams of people working together to get the vertical wheel moving (think Ferris wheel), which also got a strobe light going at faster speeds, animating the skeleton rowing
- some not-quite-onion-dome openwork shapes that were pleasant to sit in with a surprising about amount of shade, given the size of the cutouts
- LOVE, this year's large word
- the square mirror pyramid with inscribed circles on the sides, a fractal installation with smaller circles, smaller pyramids farther out (I had a picture of this from last year)
- this year's temple of transition, which was a larger structure than I've ever seen before, almost dwarfing the Man with five stories (not all accessible to anyone other than the builders). In addition to the amazing wood cutouts (reminding me of the temple from two years ago), there were a number of wind-powered percussion instruments in the center space, as well as an earth harp.
I'm sure there were others I'm forgetting, too.
I was a temple guardian again this year. I made it to a meet and greet Tuesday afternoon, the only one I could make before my shift that evening, to get the details of this year's structure and a bandanna.
Once I found the others on my shift, it was fairly easy. I mostly stayed at the bottom of the steepest ramp (think of a Japanese half-moon bridge for the first half, luckily with extra battens to brace feet/shoes on), with forays around to check that there weren't any burning things (including cigarettes, incense, sage, candles, whatever). I got to hear the earth harp played. And I was really glad to see some positive posts, not just memories of things/people gone: a man posted about now being a father, which inspired other people to post their own good news (becoming a husband, becoming a wife, and so on). The most impressive thing I saw on shift, though, was when a guy in a wheelchair wanted to get up to the second level, and got four other guys to push him up that steep steep curved ramp.
The next time I was there was at dawn Friday morning, for a black tie wedding scheduled for when the sun crested the cliffs. Two Boston friends had chosen to have their wedding there, even arranging to have a special camp for their wedding guests (parents, other relatives and friends who might not otherwise have attended Burning Man). It was wonderful to be there with so many of their friends, many of whom I knew. I didn't know what to expect from the ceremony, which turned out to be a blend of Jewish (a chuppah, mostly), generic Xtian tropes, and other rituals. I rather liked how the assembled community was asked to support this couple before they made their vows to each other. It was a good space for this, but I didn't explore then, tired after a long night with not enough sleep.
I made it back the night the Man burned, knowing that some camp mates had headed there to watch. I never found them, but it was nice to meander the structure without responsibilities, finally taking pictures (it didn't feel appropriate while on shift, and the wedding people had requested no photos other than by certain designated people). I still didn't go up to the second level, partly because of the crowds, and partly because I wasn't sure of my footing: my only pair of footwear was failing, the stitching on the Keen's already having started to give way. (I ended up getting a replacement pair in Reno, luckily on sale.)
I continued my usual practice of solar cooking food for lunch, eating cold foods (well, for some value of 'cold') for everything else. The new things this year included using bulghur as a base instead of couscous (whole grains are better for me), using boxed soups as some of the liquid, and sending salt-cured olives as a form of salt replacement. I ended up feeding many people each time (some tastes, some whole meals); it's the one week I don't want leftovers, since it's easier to clean my one pot (well, spice tin) before things dry on. People seemed to really like what I'd made, which felt sort of like a cheat for me, since it wasn't quite cooking as I think of it the rest of the year. I think my best meal included a jar of marinated eggplant pieces (that looked oddly like cabbage in shape) with bits of baked potato (cooked the night before in a burn barrel), a can of chickpeas, and bulghur. (Other additions included canned salmon, artichoke hearts, a variety of freeze-dried veggies, spices, and Indian meals.)
I also sent a dozen 5-ounce bottles of a variety of liqueurs. I was pleased at how much people liked them, even the slightly odd flavors like raw beet (everyone liked it!). It was good to be giving out tastes of things I'd made, but I would like to bring something next year that's non-alcoholic, so I can share with underage/teetotaller/alcoholic friends. (Side note: there was much more carding, or at least signage about carding, at bars and places offering alcohol).
OK, enough for now. Possibly more later.