The Musings of a Wandering Soul

At least some of it.

As usual the Burn was excellent and in some ways unexplainable. At least in my limited lexicon. There was beautiful art, there was art that made me think and art that made me happy and nothing more. The Man burned with spectacular speed and power. The Temple burned with a great rush of flame and a certain solemnity. (A couple thousand Burners sitting silently watching the flames. Amazing.)

And then there are the people. I am still an introvert on the playa so I don't meet as many new people as I would like. But I started a few conversations out of camp. And there were many good in camp conversations.

So that's the short. Maybe I'll get a few more short ones in this week.

Lots of goings on recently, maybe not terribly interesting stuff, but productivity none the less.

knitting -> I am relearning how to knit. I started it as something to do with my hands when my brain isn't working. Knitting is good for that. I finished my first project on friday. It was just a dish towel, and being acrylic not a very good dish towel. But finishing something felt good. Haven't decided what is next yet.

sewing -> I currently working on a skirt for yldaeri. More challenging is the fact that I am cutting the pattern for it. Lots of pieces all going together in the wrong way. Exciting.

computer -> The laptops are fixed. One got a new hard drive one got a new screen inverter. Unfortunately the new hard drive meant that the old one was scragged beyond retrieval. Which means I am now trying to cobble together lost data. But I have my little 15" back and Steve gets my shiny 17" to replace his. Now all I need is a new battery and I will be totally mobile again.

Burning Man projects -> Coming along nicely
Give Me Shelter -- Parachute cut and ready to attach to post. Need to pick up some rebar today.

Evap-a-tron -- Still in planning stage, but its a good plan.

Well that is all the update you get for now.

Burning Man muwahaha

So Fire Drums and spending a couple nights with some of my favorite Burners has resulted in much plotting. Firstly, "Give Me Shelter" WILL be erected this year if I have to mainline caffeine at 3AM on Tuesday to get it done. It will have a fuel/tool dump. Why you may ask? Because it will give shelter by day and life giving fire by night. At least one night there will be a loosely organized performance burn and an open burn for all interested lunatics. Our resident leprechaun will be providing lewd commentary and scandalous music.
I am also plotting for a dark steampunk wardrobe. (was use brown when you can get black?) I am trying to keep it cheap (diy) and simple.(I have minor sewing skills) Lots of ideas out there and actually working on my first pattern as we speak.

More to come.

plotplotplot

It was very long and too short in the way that my life seems to always roll.
Where to begin?
I went to Burning Man. It was good. It was very good. Better than last year. Never enough hours in the day to live all of it that I wanted to. For now I will leave you the perfect description that thebroomcloset posted previously.
"Burning Man is not actually about illicit or hedonistic activity. It’s really about community and personal expression, and through the tremendous personal investment and struggle that people go through to get to the desert, to survive there for a week, to create art there, and to be a member of the community, they learn a lot about themselves, and become better people."

Ironically I usually spend the month after Burning Man in a down spiral. (ok only 2 data points but I'm now 2 for 2) a lot of it is environmental. Both years I returned to a downturn in professional stimulation and an empty house. (fur beasts and reptiles not with standing.) Being depressed does not make for productive introspection.
The state of exhaustion and dehydration for a week after doesn't help either.
Things are swinging up again. Frantically packing at the moment. happily trip planning.

More later.

I like River. She is the sane and the insane. The frail and the strong.
And most days, so am i.

So for an update.
quixotic_goat is back stateside. Yea! We are quickly settling back into normal. Today I am trying to clear some of his gear out of the living room. (Yea chores aren't so much our strong point.) I also need to work on our taxes, oh joy. /merf

Got two new piercings yesterday. The cartilage and tragus in my left ear. Something I have been meaning to do for awhile. oceansfire came with and got her eyebrow done.
These were my first piercings since my second pair in my lobes in HS. We quickly found out I am a bleeder. Good to know, especially if I ever get a tattoo. This morning when I woke up at 3:30 they were completely caked over and very uncomfortable. It took 3 cleaning swabs and a wash cloth to free them up. The upper is still rather irritated but I am successfully resisting fidgeting with them.

We also got up to see Scorch and Jaz. Talked about upcoming fire event, Fire Drums and played with some new prototypes. I should have had my new fans, as the order just got back from the powder coater. But there was a miscommunication in which grip I wanted. Another exhibit of the adage that you will never get what you need if someone else does the ordering. Not a big deal, and I may be able to have a stock set reworked for the better wicks. What can I say, I'm picky.

I am really looking forward to Fire Drums at the end of April. It was my first fire event last year and is a great place to learn new skills and get/share new ideas. There is some very cool fan work going on out there. Including releases and body rolls.

Well that's all for now, more later.

So first let me say that next year there will be a post-Burn PLAN. A definitive list of what is where, what needs washed and what is stored where.

That said, I have once again found a forgotten piece of gear that I use in default. My black backpack. Since I have not flown w/ 2 carry-ons since August I did not notice its absence. This led to a garage scavenge last night. And there it was with the other desert only gear. It appeared empty. I gave it an obligatory upside down shake and tossed it in the wash. So what do I find after the final spin?

-- A smattering of paper residue, god knows what that was
-- Fire Idol tag
-- Great Circle credentials
-- bent sunglasses
-- 5 bucks
-- small bent carabiner
-- tweezers
-- nail clippers
-- lipstick (fortunately the type in the vial w/ a screw cap)
-- gluestick
-- ink pen

oi. Again with the gear failure. I think the garage is getting cleaned January 5.

Black Rock Art Project

Creative juices are flowing. As the San Diego Fire Conclave starts to gear up for next year so do my planning tendencies. I decided last week that I really want to do a playa installation. I also felt that I wanted it to have some personal criteria. ( brain dump behind cut )

The LA Fire Conclave is going to be burning between 2 and 3 o'clock. Pretty much in the middle of no where. The piece starts with a giant flaming jump rope. Trick Concepts is the last part of the show before the renegade. So if you have nowhere better to be stop in and watch me light my hair on fire. (Or brand my arms, yes both, like I managed to do on Wednesday night, ouch) I will also be sequestered there from the time the sun hits the mountains til the man burns, if you haven't found me before that come say hi. :)

Also If you want to see some damn good spinners being heckled into submission Fire Idol will be running once again at 9-ish on Friday at the Shiva Vista Fire Stage, somewhere around 7 o'clock on the esplanade.

and slowly easing into real life again and working on beating back the effects of jet lag and 2 weeks of random travel. Oh yea add in a sudden lack of quixotic_goat. bleh.

So a little sad, very dehydrated, trying to remind my body what vegetables and fiber are, slowly convincing my brain that No it isn't noon its 4 AM. (umm ok more than a little lonely.)

Oh yea and I have 3 weeks til Burning Man. Holy Shit how did that happen?

So things are a little disjointed at the moment. However....

Budapest was BEAUTIFUL. And relaxing and wonderful. We visited a couple smaller towns in Hungary as well before heading to Vienna. Over the next couple days I will start posting a recap and hopefully get pictures up on Flicker quickly. (Question: What is the easiest site for hosting photos that will NOT require registration to view them?)

That's it for now, more to come.

I am now in full out plan mode. I have been apparently adopted into Team Trick Concepts and will be spinning fans Saturday night. Hmmm..first performance will be in front of a couple thousand people. That’s a good plan. (I know no one will probably see me, its still intimidating. Oh wait so is this entire adventure. At least it will be excitingly consistent.)

On to practicalities. I am flying into Reno Thursday Morning and find a ride. I know coming in right before the gates close is kinda lame but it’s the best I can do. Flying means some things just can not come with me. Namely a bicycle. Have you ever taken one? How valuable is having one there? Would anyone be willing to haul it in for me if I get it to wherever you are?

Starting to plan out wardrobe/sewing needs and trying to come up with an idea for a relatively small, very portable mini installation for our camp. We have offers for day shelter at at least one theme camp so I can be pretty free with it. Not thrilled with the whole ‘American Dream’ theme so I think I will go with just a dream/nightmare concept.

May the plotting begin!