So, I have an adventure coming up next week…
Ever since I moved to the Bay Area 12 years ago, I’ve had friends who went to Burning Man. The Maxham family, Kym, Rus and Mark, friends from back home were already heavy into it in 1997, as were my east band musician friends, Idiot Flesh playing it annually. Interest was piqued, but it seemed a little over the top for my (slightly) conservative sensibilities.
Fast forward a few years, I was in a comfortable relationship and boring job, got tired of hearing so much about Burning Man every year, tired of seeing people in pink fur and cowboys hats, hated dance music, and generally had become a curmudgeon. My partner agreed, we weren’t that interested. The thought of spending a hot summer week in the desert with a bunch of dirty raver hippies, enduring dust storms and miserably extreme conditions with little to no amenities sounded like about the WORST thing imaginable.
I have however, always given it due respect that it is a pretty amazing and pure people-driven event. Even as they have had to ‘incorporate’ to continue running it, only because it gotten large beyond belief and some order has to be kept. No corporate sponsors, no commerce, a focus on art and music… and hedonism. A city is built for a week of partying, then torn down and gone. I have many friends who hate it, but many people I respect (like my friend Cynthia who took the photo below) say there’s nothing like it in the world. People come from all over the world to experience it.
What changed for me? I don’t know really, a bunch of stuff. My world travels played a part for sure, friends to go with, days off needed badly. Having developed more of a “you only live once” mentality, this year seems like it’s finally the time.
A lot of work has gone into getting prepared for this the last few weeks. You could just show up with a few gallons of water, sun tan lotion and not much else and have your needs met, but it’s a lot more fun (and comfortable) to grab the bull by the horns. That’s part of it all, it’s fun, I am enjoying it. Even better, I’ve heard that ticket sales are down (a good thing, I predicted weeks ago that this would be the first year attendance declines) and the conditions on the playa are relatively good. So I’m excited.
Outside of that though I’ve been feeling pretty uninspired, uncreative, and stuck again. Some things have been great, but other things are not doing it for me. Music has stalled out again and that always puts me in a foul mood, although I have some potential things brewing. I haven’t really taken many days off work since new years and that may have more to do with it than i want to admit. So we’ll see how this whole Burning Man thing goes, full report and pictures to follow.