MetaChat - So, my Burner bunnies, how's your packing going?

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17 August 2008

So, my Burner bunnies, how's your packing going? →[More:]
I'm leaving on Tuesday morning for Reno to meet my Boston Early Crew. We'll spend two days unpacking our storage locker in Sparks and getting everything onto a flatbed, and then head out first thing Thursday morning after our customary pre-Playa feast on Wednesday night.

My life in the past month has been completely insane. If I haven't been buying fabrics, I've been ordering N95 dust masks and brand-new headlamps. If I haven't been sewing new costumes, I've been refurbishing old ones. I've had to test-run two different recipes for oven-free cookies (one in a freezer, one on a grill) and rejig the recipes to feed 500+ people. I've been learning new DJ software and obsessively compiling iTunes playlists for the first four days of city-building. I've been coordinating travel plans and emergency contact information for 40-odd Bostonians who are members of my camp. I've got one bin of stuff going out with Cirque Berzerk tomorrow and another going out on a friend's art car on Friday. All I'm carrying out there is a backpack, a pair of work gloves, a sleeping bag, and a digital recorder (for documentary purposes).

I still have to find a cat-sitter, finish two more costumes, chase down two last-minute checks for emergency spending cash, and - oh yes, day job - edit another ten radio shows by the time I clock out on Monday afternoon. I haven't had a proper night's sleep since June. And I sure as hell ain't gonna get one out there.

...So, what about you?!?!

post by: mykescipark at: 01:41 | 8 comments

My favorite cousin has invited me to a burning-man-related event in October, and I'm kinda stressed about it. I've never seen a public event with SO MANY RULES. Good grief. We bought a couple of the very-expensive tickets (for a camping trip? really?) but I really doubt we're going to go. I honestly don't think we can live up to all the guidelines and whatnot, and I don't want to embarrass my cousin and her husband, who are among the organizers of the event.

posted by BoringPostcards 17 August | 02:10

I'm heading for my first Burn. I won't be there the whole time, just Wednesday through Sunday. I do have the honor of camping with a group that has power and loads of water and other conveniences, so I don't have to prepare as much as I otherwise might. Yay!

Packing... Hm, I haven't started to pack yet. I need to get on that, eh? I did some shopping for basics, and this week I'm taking off 2-3 days of work to make some serious preparations.

I don't have any costumes, but I bought some very goofy clothes at a thrift store. :)

posted by agropyron 17 August | 09:44

Boring, which rules are that onerous? The part about Leaving No Trace?

posted by agropyron 17 August | 09:44

I heard the dust this year has reached unprecedented levels. Just FYI.

posted by small_ruminant 17 August | 11:34

Meh. Every year they crow about ________ being worse than ever before. Nobody knows until they get there. Part of the adventure!

posted by mykescipark 17 August | 11:47

Some folks are there already, apparently, or have been. It hasn't rained a lick all summer- not even enough to harden up the under-layer.

posted by small_ruminant 18 August | 00:28

To me, hanging out in 100F+ heat in inches dust with 24/7 amplified noise amid a bunch of strangers (many of whom are enthusiastic and/or chemically altered) sounds like a diabolical wartime siege tactic, and not something to undergo voluntarily. Clearly I'm not Burningman's target demographic.

I have friends who've been going for years, though. (Decades, maybe by now. When did it start? Well, it SEEMS like decades. They're getting long in the tooth come to think of it. Will Burningman turn into one of those things like the Hells Angels, where older folks who were into it as youngsters are the only folks still into it?)

posted by small_ruminant 18 August | 00:35

Oh, man, I'm so sad I'm not going this year. Just too much happening in my life for me to get my shit together in time. Good luck all you burner bunnies, say hello to the flipside for me.

posted by treepour 18 August | 13:19

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