Post by ibdave » Thu Jul 12, 2007 8:32 pm

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I did not WRITE this piece. It was e-mailed to me today.. I didn't write this----Original Message-----was reading through old theme camp archives and found this post that ithought the virgins may particularly appreciate and that a few of youoldfolks would enjoy poking fun at....we developed it for our newbies acoupleyears ago and its still makes a lot of sense to me.there are negatives as well as positives to the playa, and you shouldknowabout them. because it's only through clear-eyed assessment of the prosandcons of a situation that a wise, informed choice about attendance canbemade.so.WHY YOU SHOULD NOT GO TO BURNING MAN.1) the place never shuts up. ever. so if you're a big fan of beautysleep,you may not be happy all of the time. on my first morning there oneyear, iwas awoken by a guy on a bicycle with a megaphone, cycling through the'quiet side of town' (a conceit which no longer exists, btw), who wasshouting, at the top of his lungs, 'EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP. PEOPLEARETRYING TO SLEEP. DO *NOT* RUIN THEIR BURN BY BEING TOO LOUD. BE FUCKINGQUIET!'doing the megaphone bit is important for many people's burning manexperience. complaining about them to rangers and police just isn'tcool. sosuck it up.also, many camps on the esplanade and on the end wings regard thumpinglouddance music at all hours as a moral and artistic imperative. learningtosleep 10' behind a soundsystem pounding out psytrance can be anexcercise inpatience that will test the buddha....me, i sorta like it.2) your shit will get broken. try to remember that the more stuff youbring,the less of a chance that you will NOT experience breakage of saidstuff.the dust itself is a major irritant to equipment.for every 4 hours you spend planning your fairly complicatedinstallation orprop-based immersive experience, you should spend 6 working out doablewaysto protect your stuff. do not underestimate the amount of effort itwilltake to shield your shit from the desert and from fucked-up people.(seebelow.) if you are not prepared to do this, leave it at home. nobodywillmiss it; there's too much stuff out there already.3) the weather is completely unpredictable. rain? sure. snow? check.hail?hell yeah. (all of the grizzled BM 2000 veterans raise their hand.)cold?hoo boy. 120 degree temperatures? w00t! plan for any and all manner ofbizarre weather events, and this should include 5 straight days of rainandcold, or even absolutely staggeringly great weather for the entireevent.because burning man is basically an outgrowth of san francisco, therearemicroclimates. the airport can be sunny and wonderful while 10:00 andoblivion is experiencing rain. no shit.4) the playa brings out both the best and the worst in people,sometimesvacillating between the two in alarmingly short periods. who are youcampingwith? i have dealt with numerous crises with people in my camps in thepastfive years, and i have some advice for you that you ignore at your ownrisk.this is worth a subsection.4a) does your camp have dues? does your camp have responsibilities? doNOTinvite people to stay in your camp unless they understand what thoseresponsibilities will be. many people regard burning man as one GIANTGODDAMN DOPE PARTY AND FUCKFEST, goddamit, and they will not bedissuaded intheir determination to squeeze every second of dopin' and fuckin' outof theexperience. dishes? whatchutalkin'about, willis? gridding?? i got yergridright here. sometimes this approach to the playa is welcome, but willit bewelcome in your camp?4b) short attention span central. that's the playa in a nutshell. it'shotand loud and nobody gets any sleep. plus there are a lot of brightshinythings. we joke in my camp that people at burning man are like ferretsoncrack, e.g.: 'ok, man, i'll go get that ice. gonna grab the wagon andthecooler and HOLY SHIT WILL YOU LOOK AT THAT, wow, what a fabulouslookingSWING! hey, look at those people o my god what are they doing hee heeeeeewow that looks like fun, i love my new friends...' and before you knowit,wagon's gone and it's been seven hours since you sent them to go getice.this is standard operating procedure. get used to it, be forgiving whenithappens, because it happens to the best of us. can't handle it? stayhome.4c) does everyone in your camp have a full history of mental stability?probably not. we're all a bunch of freaks, and freak-outs are part ofbeingfreaks. that being said, nobody should be on the playa unless there issomeone camped in close proximity who will be able to step up to theplatewhen things get rough for them. make no mistake- it's harsh out there.andthat harshness can make you have a pretty bad time sometimes. nothingwrongwith it- it happens! it's a natural result of the event. everyone hasmoments of bad time out there. but you had better have someone who'smorewilling to sit in your tent and take care of you than run around like aferret on crack.it's a necessity.or your time will get worse. part of being in someone's camp is beingpartof their support network. tell them to drink water. tell them to calmdown.tell them to put on sunscreen. help them take a break. if there issomeonein your camp who does not have that kind of connection with any of you,theyshould not be in your camp, and you should not have invited them tojoinyou.4d) special RV section. take my advice. please. please, on this. don'targuewith me. do NOT share an RV with someone you are not close to. don't doit.money, issues of space, issues of boundaries, equipment issues, yaddayaddayadda. not to mention the politics of the big room. just don't do it.it isBETTER TO SPEND A WEEK IN A DUSTY TENT THAN TO SPLIT AN RV WITHSTRANGERS. ireally cannot stress that enough.5) the paramount rule at burning man: don't fuck with other people'sburns.everyone's doing their own thing, and the beauty of this is that itgivesyou a chance to do the same. but if you can't do your thing withoutfuckingwith other people's things, you should seriously reconsider attendingtheevent. don't tell people to stop dancing. don't bitch at people whenthe artis bad or gets in the way, or is offensive to you. don't tell off otherburners because they're not doing it 'right'. be open, and supportive,andcurious, and encouraging. even to the megaphone people, because insideeveryasshole with a bullhorn is a frightened puppy looking for love. can'tdeal?stay home. fight the republicans.6) it's really, really, really, really, really expensive to attend theevent. even if you hitchhike out there and mooch off of other people'sfood,water and suncreen, you still need to buy your ticket, and your shitwill bebroken and you'll need to fix it. is it really worth it for you tospendthat kind of cash? you could buy a really nice computer, or someheirloomfurniture, with the amount of money many people spend per person onplaya.think about it.and finally ...7) drugs and alcohol. sure, nobody on this list does drugs. and nobodyweknow does drugs. but they're there. and if you've got a problem withthepresence of substances, this is not the event for you. because even ifyourcamp is a drug-free zone (as all of our camps are), you will still havetodeal maturely and pleasantly with people who are indulging their littleheads off. also, you will see all manner of booze everywhere, and allmanners of indulging that too. people drink, they fight, they yell,theybarf. there are times when burning man feels like one giant great bigparty.if that's not your scene, you'll feel a little out of your element.=======================================================================The Burning Desires list: For prior and future Burning Manparticipants in12-step recovery programs to share our experience, strength and hopeandto discuss bringing Anonymous Camp and 12 Step meetings to Black RockCity.=======================================================================_______________________________________________Burning Desires mailing listDelete Reply Forward Spam Move...Previous | Next | Back to Messages