h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

.....Well, finally went and bought my ticket today from Ticketweb.. there goes another $165 towards my total debt! It's kind of depressing from a monetary standpoint, to be spending so much just to go camp in the desert for a week, but if you ask anyone who's been there before.. it's truly worth it. I'll refrain from waxing philosophical at this point! I tried to hold out for awhile on buying my ticket, but it seems to be a moot point; the longer I wait, the more it costs! Boy, I sure hope that this price hike really does affect the 'problem' crowd more than those who really understand why we're there.

The Price of Freedom
.....See, I post on the "e-playa" from time to time and in reading the posts on it, there seems to be an overall uneasiness about whether or not most folks will be able to attend. I remember when I went in 1999 (my first time) I thought that spending $90 on a ticket to the desert was ludicrous, but I did it anyway.. and damn glad I did. For those who don't know what the hell I'm talking about, last year there was a dramatic influx of 'non-participants'; people who come for the party and end up leaving a HUGE mess behind because they can't be bothered to pick up after themselves. The overall hope is that the dramatic increase in ticket prices will force the weekenders to plan ahead, or not come at all.. I just hope it doesn't drive out the people who have come for the right reasons.

Why it's Important to Me
.....Okay, enough podium pounding. On to me.. I've spent the past three months in a kind of sweaty-palmed adolescent stage, waiting for the next Burningman to come around.. I really can't explain the way this event makes me feel without going on forever, but I'll try to skim the surface. To me, the event is like meeting a group of strangers I've known all my life. That's right.. essentially a group act of contradiction in one of the worlds' harshest environments. Survival is a key issue. This is not someplace to go if you feel woozy when it's 90 degrees outside.

.....The first time I walked down one of the long, dusty 'roads' of Black Rock City, I was amazed at how friendly people were. Here I found that the strictures that bind us in the cities are gone. Noone judges you by the color of your skin, or the way you talk. I felt more comfortable in my first days at BurningMan than I have ever felt in my own hometown. It was amazing.

What do you tell your friends?

I explain the event to my friends thusly:

Imagine a family.

Now imagine a family of strangers.

Now imagine a family of 24,000 strangers who meet once a year.

Now imagine a family of 24,000 strangers who meet once a year in the middle of a desert to build art and then light it on fire.

(I have to start small with some of my friends!)

It's not all about being a pyro, but it helps if you like to watch stuff go up in flames!

In Conclusion
.....In addition to being suffused with a light-headed feeling of near-rapture, I must now fight against time to get my projects done. I have so many ideas, and so little time and money to put them together! All told, it really won't cost me all that much to put them together, and without the chest-crushing rock of fear (that I might not make it at all) that I've recently escaped, time has begun to slow down to a more sane pace again.

Breathing a little easier now..

Until the next time,
PhyreSeed.