Writing at 11AM Saturday
OK: People day. I have met or heard of people from @40 states and there are people here from, Japan, Germany, lots of N. American Latinos, England, Peru, Canada, lots from Brazil, Australia, Italy and several N. American Indian nations. Had no luck with internet but some have been able to get on and some have even had limited cell service. The entire public cell/net service for the whole city is less than I have in my house at home. Got caught up in a “physical meditation without words” which was like a huge (2,000 people) actors workshop warm-up session that lasted for an hour and a half. Lots of fun but astonishing to see that IT is what some people live for. Try to pay the bills with that! The guy who led the group that guided the activity was a strikingly charismatic fellow in a Charles Manson way.
Met a neighbor who, at age 42 and with a 14 year old son, has just finished a BS in liberal arts. Burning Man is her present to herself before she goes looking for a job full time. She’s looking for a job that will help her start to pay the $90,000 in loans it took to get the degree and to get out of renting the 2 rooms from professor at $600 a month. West coast money is nuts!! She was amazed to hear that I had retired from teaching music as her son has never had music in the schools he has attended in California and Oregon. Her son’s 4th grade teacher had NO textbooks at all and had to create everything from scratch while fulfilling the state teaching goals. YIKES!
Turns out the economy has hit BM because the influx of people for the weekend is not materializing as it has in the past. Sat out on the playa last night waiting (2 hours!) to watch a “rocket launch”. Very theatrical- it ended up being a huge pyrotechnic display with kerosene cannons blasting 100 foot long blue-white sheets of flame into the night sky. The playa bounced like the head of a drum when 10 of them went off at once. Saw a couple big art installations burn last night too. The wind made them burn high, hot and made short work of them. WHOA! Human check: A tall 60-ish black man with 3-foot dreads under a Chinese hat, with a long white pointed beard, chrome red goggles, leopard skin mini shorts with the butt cheeks cut out, pink stockings, rainbow leg warmers, go-go boots, mickey mouse gloves, aqua ruffles at his wrists in a black & gold bustier with red strings just rode by on an equally outrageously decorated bike. Made the nude guy walking his wife and kids in Iowa hawkeye jerseys to the potty’s that had gone by just before look pretty tame.
Today is already shaping up to be a ‘dust buster’. But, as they say, “In Dust, We Trust”. I’ve already started to pack so I can be on the road by mid-morning tomorrow. Packing the truck and especially the stuff that has been outside all this time is going to be a FILTHY job. Lot’s of folks are headed out today already.
Human check, again: A huge-huge man just walked by on his way to the potty house with what appears to be an entire roll of paper towels wrapped around his belly. He’s wearing just the paper towels- just around his belly…
Ordinarily I would say that was disturbing, but here: not so much.
Time to eat some lunch… and some dust.
OK: People day. I have met or heard of people from @40 states and there are people here from, Japan, Germany, lots of N. American Latinos, England, Peru, Canada, lots from Brazil, Australia, Italy and several N. American Indian nations. Had no luck with internet but some have been able to get on and some have even had limited cell service. The entire public cell/net service for the whole city is less than I have in my house at home. Got caught up in a “physical meditation without words” which was like a huge (2,000 people) actors workshop warm-up session that lasted for an hour and a half. Lots of fun but astonishing to see that IT is what some people live for. Try to pay the bills with that! The guy who led the group that guided the activity was a strikingly charismatic fellow in a Charles Manson way.
Met a neighbor who, at age 42 and with a 14 year old son, has just finished a BS in liberal arts. Burning Man is her present to herself before she goes looking for a job full time. She’s looking for a job that will help her start to pay the $90,000 in loans it took to get the degree and to get out of renting the 2 rooms from professor at $600 a month. West coast money is nuts!! She was amazed to hear that I had retired from teaching music as her son has never had music in the schools he has attended in California and Oregon. Her son’s 4th grade teacher had NO textbooks at all and had to create everything from scratch while fulfilling the state teaching goals. YIKES!
Turns out the economy has hit BM because the influx of people for the weekend is not materializing as it has in the past. Sat out on the playa last night waiting (2 hours!) to watch a “rocket launch”. Very theatrical- it ended up being a huge pyrotechnic display with kerosene cannons blasting 100 foot long blue-white sheets of flame into the night sky. The playa bounced like the head of a drum when 10 of them went off at once. Saw a couple big art installations burn last night too. The wind made them burn high, hot and made short work of them. WHOA! Human check: A tall 60-ish black man with 3-foot dreads under a Chinese hat, with a long white pointed beard, chrome red goggles, leopard skin mini shorts with the butt cheeks cut out, pink stockings, rainbow leg warmers, go-go boots, mickey mouse gloves, aqua ruffles at his wrists in a black & gold bustier with red strings just rode by on an equally outrageously decorated bike. Made the nude guy walking his wife and kids in Iowa hawkeye jerseys to the potty’s that had gone by just before look pretty tame.
Today is already shaping up to be a ‘dust buster’. But, as they say, “In Dust, We Trust”. I’ve already started to pack so I can be on the road by mid-morning tomorrow. Packing the truck and especially the stuff that has been outside all this time is going to be a FILTHY job. Lot’s of folks are headed out today already.
Human check, again: A huge-huge man just walked by on his way to the potty house with what appears to be an entire roll of paper towels wrapped around his belly. He’s wearing just the paper towels- just around his belly…
Ordinarily I would say that was disturbing, but here: not so much.
Time to eat some lunch… and some dust.
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