She makes it sounds sooo sexy.

Weak, she's never even gone.

There's nothing weak about never having gone to burning man.

Wise, yes.

Weak, not so much.

I just do not see the appeal of burning man.
But then, I don't see the appeal of anything that keeps me seperated from a bathtub for more than 24 hours in general.

I'm also not surprised that STD testing and plan B go up in demand. Every region has their version of that. (here it's far less glam snowstorms.)

Burning man sounded interesting when the first few articles started appearing about it many years ago. Then a lot of people apparently read those articles. Definitely a victim of becoming popular.

100F.
Dust.
Way too many people.
Never-quiet enormous sound systems.
No thanks.

I hate youthful enthusiasm. That is all.

Me too, BOP. At 10:30 pm last Friday 4 buses of Burners showed up at the residence next door and proceeded to have an earsplitting rock concert. I realized then that I am too old- also, that I would have hated the '60s- because I was just pissed and ended up calling the cops.

Well, what's weak is not that she's never been to Burning Man but rather that she's never been to burning man and is giving advice to those who are going. Most of what she's saying is the usual safe sex spiel which is all very well and good but there's nothing she's saying which addresses any safe sex concerns specific to Burning Man. It's a pretty funny article otherwise, though.

ooga_booga, that's what I meant, of course. I expect more informed snark from Ms. Blue.

Dissing anything just because it's popular and/or kooky is a no-go with me.

But of course, A.V. Ms. Blue is usually much better than that and this piece is a bit of a disappointment as a result.

Never wanted to go myself, but mainly because I love bathing, hate crowds, sunburn easily, and have a low tolerance for scenesters of many types. Still, it's a funny article.

I thought the whole point of safe sex was to avoid winding up with a "Burning Man."

I went one year and I liked it enough to go again, so much fun stuff to see and do definitely outweighs the negative hype, but week-long $2K vacations aren't that easy to come by. My boyfriend wants to go back, but I'm not passing up Alaska or Chiapas to return to BRC.

She had me at "art cars dripping Barbie heads and Legos onto the roads when fog breaks down cheap art-store epoxy". And the "you can't talk about it if you haven't done it" argument is weak: if Ms. Blue participated in EVERYTHING she writes about, she would be too tired and in pain to write.

if Ms. Blue participated in EVERYTHING she writes about, she would be too tired and in pain to write.

I'm looking for a downside to this scenario, and I can't find it.

Talking about something and dissing it are so different, and the BRCSUXXORS bandwagon is already dragging an axle, so I'm not impressed. Amused, it's funny, but not impressed.

I just don't get it. You don't want to go, fine. You hate hippies? Fine. But a whole article of snark disguising itself as safe sex tips? That's cold, fool. Especially coming from the next-most overrated entity in the Bay Area, Ms. Blue.

Wendell, it's not necessary for writers to experience everything they write about - that way lies the death of fiction. However, this particular column is presenting itself as advice specific to those going to Burning Man, and to do so without having actually been there does her readers a disservice especially as she doesn't give any actual BM-specific advice like keeping your safe sex supplies in an airtight tupperware or your bottles of lube in a ziplock bag. She doesn't even mention Safer Sex Camp for those who arrive at the playa unprepared. The usual safe sex spiel is not without merit but she could at least have done some research instead of just going LOLBURNERZ. She can snark all she wants as it's her column but she shouldn't do it under the guise of giving people useful, situation-specific advice.

I've never heard of Violet Blue, but that was hilarious.

I found a version of the original e-mail that she quotes in the article.