Burning Man 2011

Once again this year, I did the GNI Gathering and Burning Man on back-to-back weeks. I just can’t help myself as these are two of my favorite events of the year. Based upon my experiences of last year, I persuaded/demanded that the BF accompany me this year so this year we went to BM together. Once again we stayed with the same camp that I stayed with last year.

Naturally, the first question that people ask about BM is “What is it all about?” Honestly, I still haven’t quite figured out to answer this yet since it is so vast and varied that it is very difficult to provide a single answer that does it justice. The best description is one that I had found an re-posted a year ago:

For those unfamiliar: It’s an art festival, showcasing thousands of sculptures and modified cars and creative structures. It’s a music festival, with hundreds of makeshift venues for DJ’s and musicians. It’s a costume festival, with everyone wearing something extraordinary, if they choose to wear something at all. It’s a conference for the mind, offering free lectures and educational seminars from thinkers across the creative-arts-and social science spectrum. It’s a religious festival, steering clear of organized dogma into the realms of free expression, open worship of the universe, and a deep reverence for the beauty of diversity. It’s a love festival, where nudity is accepted, sex is acceptable, and tantric workshops are held. It’s a community of like-minded individuals gathering in a remote place to avoid the confused, ignorant reaction of those who simply don’t get it, and probably never will. It’s a backlash against corporate America, where no brands or advertisements or promotion is allowed. It’s the wildest, most hedonistic party you’ve ever seen. And most of all, Burning Man is none of these things at all.

Here is a list of some of the most memorable experiences of this year’s burn:

1. I am Blondie!

While on the playa, many burners have what are called, "playa names". A playa name is an alternate name that you use while at BM. Many say that your playa name has to be given to you. At our camp's last year superhero party, I dressed as the Greatest American Hero and so a guy I met at the party gave me the name "Blondie", which I instantly liked.

After last year's burn, I wondered if I should keep a name that only represented a costume I wore once or whether I should wait for a new name to come. I got my answer as soon as my feed touched the playa dirt! I instantly knew that I am Blondie! The funny thing is that I can't tell you how often people came up to me and remembered me simply as Blondie throughout the week. There were even people from last year that remembered me as Blondie even though I don't recall using the name last year as much as I did this year. I am Blondie!

2. The Temple

The temple this year was absolutely AMAZING! The beauty and grandeur of it was completely awe-inspiring and I was totally blown away. Even though this was my second burn (year), I still cry every time I visit the temple and it is readily apparent that I am not alone in this. Written all over the walls of the temple are representations of struggles and losses of the thousands that have visited it. Within each of these writings one gets a profound sense of the shared struggle that we all endure. It reminds us that although we sometimes feel like we struggle alone, we are not alone in our humanity. It is too hard to ready the inscriptions for too long, but it does serve to remind me that we are only here upon this planet for a short time and very definite part of this existence will be comprised of pain, struggle and loss. But there are other parts as well and perhaps the greatest tragedy of them all would be to squander those when we had the opportunity to hug, love or... perhaps... just say hello to a stranger. I can think of no concept that better embodies BM than this.

3. Naked Pub Crawl

For the second year in a row, the Naked Pub Crawl was my favorite, single event. The event was patterned off of the World Naked Bike Ride, but since it is not officially affiliated with the WNBR was forced to change their name. I guess that's appropriate thought since the WNBR is really a naked-protest ride whereas the Naked Pub Crawl is really just an excuse to get naked and go bar hopping.

The event starts at the Man, which is the precise center of the city and probably just about 1 mile away from my camp. Once there you join the other hundreds of naked participants waiting for the ride to begin. From there we biked to a series of 6 playa bars including:

• The Barbie Death Camp and Wine Bistro (love this name!)
• Tribe
• Party Naked Tiki Bar
• Celestial Bodies
• The Duck Pond (complete with a slip and slide)
• Comfort and Joy

Burning Man is a mixed gay/straight event where it is said that many find that is it environment in which people may feel free to experiment in ways that they normally wouldn't. What I didn't know is that this meant that I would do things with a girl that I hadn't done in 20 years at one of the pub crawl stops!

4. Midnight Shift at the Camp Bar

Since our camp bar operates an open bar from 10am through 2am every day, we all take turns manning the bar. My favorite shift was the midnight to 2am shift since during this period the bar was still pretty lively, yet there was adequate free time to really connect with some of the people in the bar. All I have to say is that no one hates the bartender that gives them an unlimited supply of free drinks!

I do recall one night we met these two guys that had come and hung out at the bar for a number of hours. Afterwards, they waited for us (we didn't finally close the bar until 2:40am) and we went off to Comfort and Joy and the Down Low club where I remember spending time talking and hugging with a beautiful and sweet guy named Angel.

5. Soley Girl, et al

At the camp bar, I met served very sweet girl that I'll call Soley. At the time she was with what appeared to be her longtime boyfriend, but I would learn days later that they had just met. Soley's very energetic and took to me and the BF quite quickly. We would hangout together 3 more times throughout the week. Her entourage included her friend and tent mate, which was another beautiful, young girl who happened to have fallen for the brother of Soley's paramour.

One time we I was with a bunch of camp mates and we decided to go down to Ashram Galactica. Ashram is a camp whose theme is that the provide period-themed hotel rooms that they raffle off free of charge. They also boast that their bar is so complete that they can make any kind of drink. I had champagne as well as Stoli and cranberry. Nice! For the second year in a row, I had a moment while at Ashram when all in the universe just seemed perfect. When I first arrived it was way too crowded and some of our party immediately walked out. But within about 20 minutes it thinned out just enough to make it enjoyable. I then ran into Soley and her party as well as a number of other interesting characters. It turned out Soley's paramour is now a Spanish-language instructor so we spoke in Spanish for about 20 minutes. I also remember this 20-something year old pretty blond girl walking up to me and putting her tongue down my throat, which was completely unexpected. I think she might have said hi or something, but not much else.

There were many other experiences besides these that are just too many list here (or maybe I'm just too lazy). There was the Salvadorian lady in my camp that came with her siblings with which we hung out several times. There was Jeremy with whom I spent a whole afternoon discussing everything and nothing and on a playa-wide search for Vietnamese coffee. In the end we settled for snow cones. There was the time we spent with Miguel, whom I have known for about 3 years now and have seen multiple times in 3 different cities. There was the intimate time with Bob who said this was his 8th burn, but his first time having sex on the playa. There was going to the toga party at Moonbow only to later serve drinks to a group of the guys from the party that showed up in our bar all the way across the playa still in their togas. There were the sweet Japanese boys I met at the end of critical dicks march that spoke hardly a word of English. There was meeting Mario while out and about and going together to get some of the most tasty french toast ever. There was more eye candy that has ever been accumulated in place ever before. There was being part of the greatest camp on the playa. There was the burning of the Trojan horse, the man and greatest of all... the temple.

... and above all else... there was a deep sense of belonging.