(no subject)
Warning: some of this blog may be unsuitable to read outloud at work. . .or in most churches.
I had a short Burn this year due to arriving Wednesday p.m. instead of Monday a.m. Tuesday night I got out of rehearsal for Mousetrap (http://ignitetheatre.org/) at 10:10 p.m., got in the van and drove until I couldn't. After a two hour nap, I drove the rest of the way to Burning Man. Not including the nap or the time spent just trying to enter the event (two hours in line), I was driving for about 14 hours, mostly at night. Can you say loud music and top-of-my-voice singing along? After I found my camp-mates, we put together a carport for shade, and I struggled to stay awake. That night we had some people over for a potluck, hung out and watched the art cars drive by. Megan and I rode bikes out to some art in the dark Playa. The campers were: me, EV, Scott (EV's boyfriend, for those who haven't met him), Forest, Megan, Hendrix (her son), and Ryan. But Ryan ran off to party all week, and I only saw him four times in five days. Forest got her own tent--boy was she happy with that! EV and Scott and I used the 14'X10' tent I bought earlier this year. It rocks. Apologies to people still freaked out about my open marriage, btw, but if I edit out everything potentially offensive in a Burning Man blog, I may as well not blog it at all.
So, Thursday I was still pretty tired, but excited to be in Black Rock City. Forest and I hung out a lot--we rode our bikes all over looking at art installations (www.burningman.com) and we rode a wicked oddball carousel. I went to the Human Carcass Wash that afternoon. . .and twice more before I left. Every afternoon for a couple of hours a bunch of people get together and wash each other using shallow tubs to catch water and spray bottles--some with dilute peppermint oil soap and some pure H2O for rinsing. We scrub and squeegee with our hands. It rocks. We had another potluck--this time at our friends Matt and Steve's camp. That night Megan and I stayed in camp with the kids while EV and Scott went to a "Big Gay Prom," if I have the name right. EV's prom dress from V.Village was sooo pretty. . .and she wore a tiara. Scott wore a black dressy shirt with a bright blue sarong. They made a cute couple.
Friday was more looking at art during the day, then I worked my first shift at Camp Arctica helping to sell ice (one of only a handful of things sold in BRC). My shift was from six to nine, and it was hugely fun. There were about 15 people working at the time, some shoving stuff to the ends of cold semi containers, some "slinging" the blocks and bags of cubes to the counter, some supervising and some running registers. I was a slinger, and I got put with a really fun cashier named Mikey. We played with the customers, flirted wildly, jumped the counter to drag people over to our register, yelled odd things, fought loudly with the next cashier in line--trying to steal each other's customers, and generally had an obnoxious good time. I ran and danced around getting the ice, and it was fun and a good workout. Mikey and Elizabeth (next cashier over) and Lapis (got ice off the trucks) and I really pepped the place up. But the alcohol helped, too. There was a ton of donated liquor, and we made a bar at one end. Rowdy good time. Had by all. Then I went dancing for about 4 hours. . .oh, but I should tell you I loaned my spare shirt to a young woman (Sparkle) who came to work bare-chested and discovered how uncomfortable bags and blocks of ice can be against breasts. She was supposed to return it at my next shift (Sunday a.m.), but never showed. Sigh. Oh, and Lapis turned out to be a member of the Sprockettes (see my myspace friends), the awesome minibike dance troupe out of Portland. Anyway, at the Pink Spot party where I was dancing, some amusing stuff happened. A woman in just a g-string and thigh-high boots was going around having people do things like flagellate her with multi-colored fiber optic wands. . .she had me spank her in time to the music for a bit. People are funny.
Saturday I helped EV, Scott and Forest get mostly ready to go, since they had to leave Sunday a.m. Around sunset we had a cocktail party with 20 of our neighbors, then we all went out to watch the Man burn. Forest and I took off on our own looking at glowy art for awhile, then went to bed around midnight.
Sunday I worked my second shift at Camp Arctica. It was awesome, but not nearly as wild and energetic as the Friday shift. No Mikey, no Elizabeth, no Lapis. . .I was the only totally awake person there. So I got even more energetic and pepped people up as best I could. I was moderately successful. Many people asked me what I was on, and could they have some, too. And some woman kept bringing us food. Like homemade cornbread and cookies and brownies, etc. It was fun seeing people who had been partying all night stagger in to get ice, and not be able to form complete sentences. After that it took all afternoon to break camp and put all the stuff everyone else couldn't take with them into my van. Then I spent 20 hours in my van, including a four hour crappy nap behind the wheel at a rest stop.
Monday--after a two hour nap, I went to rehearsal and then did this blog. Boy, should I ever be in bed.
is a short, semi-chronological rundown, cross-posted to myspace.
I had a short Burn this year due to arriving Wednesday p.m. instead of Monday a.m. Tuesday night I got out of rehearsal for Mousetrap (http://ignitetheatre.org/) at 10:10 p.m., got in the van and drove until I couldn't. After a two hour nap, I drove the rest of the way to Burning Man. Not including the nap or the time spent just trying to enter the event (two hours in line), I was driving for about 14 hours, mostly at night. Can you say loud music and top-of-my-voice singing along? After I found my camp-mates, we put together a carport for shade, and I struggled to stay awake. That night we had some people over for a potluck, hung out and watched the art cars drive by. Megan and I rode bikes out to some art in the dark Playa. The campers were: me, EV, Scott (EV's boyfriend, for those who haven't met him), Forest, Megan, Hendrix (her son), and Ryan. But Ryan ran off to party all week, and I only saw him four times in five days. Forest got her own tent--boy was she happy with that! EV and Scott and I used the 14'X10' tent I bought earlier this year. It rocks. Apologies to people still freaked out about my open marriage, btw, but if I edit out everything potentially offensive in a Burning Man blog, I may as well not blog it at all.
So, Thursday I was still pretty tired, but excited to be in Black Rock City. Forest and I hung out a lot--we rode our bikes all over looking at art installations (www.burningman.com) and we rode a wicked oddball carousel. I went to the Human Carcass Wash that afternoon. . .and twice more before I left. Every afternoon for a couple of hours a bunch of people get together and wash each other using shallow tubs to catch water and spray bottles--some with dilute peppermint oil soap and some pure H2O for rinsing. We scrub and squeegee with our hands. It rocks. We had another potluck--this time at our friends Matt and Steve's camp. That night Megan and I stayed in camp with the kids while EV and Scott went to a "Big Gay Prom," if I have the name right. EV's prom dress from V.Village was sooo pretty. . .and she wore a tiara. Scott wore a black dressy shirt with a bright blue sarong. They made a cute couple.
Friday was more looking at art during the day, then I worked my first shift at Camp Arctica helping to sell ice (one of only a handful of things sold in BRC). My shift was from six to nine, and it was hugely fun. There were about 15 people working at the time, some shoving stuff to the ends of cold semi containers, some "slinging" the blocks and bags of cubes to the counter, some supervising and some running registers. I was a slinger, and I got put with a really fun cashier named Mikey. We played with the customers, flirted wildly, jumped the counter to drag people over to our register, yelled odd things, fought loudly with the next cashier in line--trying to steal each other's customers, and generally had an obnoxious good time. I ran and danced around getting the ice, and it was fun and a good workout. Mikey and Elizabeth (next cashier over) and Lapis (got ice off the trucks) and I really pepped the place up. But the alcohol helped, too. There was a ton of donated liquor, and we made a bar at one end. Rowdy good time. Had by all. Then I went dancing for about 4 hours. . .oh, but I should tell you I loaned my spare shirt to a young woman (Sparkle) who came to work bare-chested and discovered how uncomfortable bags and blocks of ice can be against breasts. She was supposed to return it at my next shift (Sunday a.m.), but never showed. Sigh. Oh, and Lapis turned out to be a member of the Sprockettes (see my myspace friends), the awesome minibike dance troupe out of Portland. Anyway, at the Pink Spot party where I was dancing, some amusing stuff happened. A woman in just a g-string and thigh-high boots was going around having people do things like flagellate her with multi-colored fiber optic wands. . .she had me spank her in time to the music for a bit. People are funny.
Saturday I helped EV, Scott and Forest get mostly ready to go, since they had to leave Sunday a.m. Around sunset we had a cocktail party with 20 of our neighbors, then we all went out to watch the Man burn. Forest and I took off on our own looking at glowy art for awhile, then went to bed around midnight.
Sunday I worked my second shift at Camp Arctica. It was awesome, but not nearly as wild and energetic as the Friday shift. No Mikey, no Elizabeth, no Lapis. . .I was the only totally awake person there. So I got even more energetic and pepped people up as best I could. I was moderately successful. Many people asked me what I was on, and could they have some, too. And some woman kept bringing us food. Like homemade cornbread and cookies and brownies, etc. It was fun seeing people who had been partying all night stagger in to get ice, and not be able to form complete sentences. After that it took all afternoon to break camp and put all the stuff everyone else couldn't take with them into my van. Then I spent 20 hours in my van, including a four hour crappy nap behind the wheel at a rest stop.
Monday--after a two hour nap, I went to rehearsal and then did this blog. Boy, should I ever be in bed.
is a short, semi-chronological rundown, cross-posted to myspace.