this is the fourth time I’ve started to write.. but I keep falling asleep. I fell asleep in a cab today, a restaurant, and under a desk at work   I figure I averaged about 4 hours of sleep every night last week… and its catchng up

rather than risk dropping my computer again… I’lll stop here and promise more for the morning

nite all. nite sam

-me

Hi friends.. writing from over the Atlantic.. somewhere near Iceland. on my way to Munich.. so again.. cant post any of my burning man pics .. I’ll get to that tomorrow night.

I do want to write a buti about why I go to Burning man. I’ve heard that question from several of my freinds over the last few days. The burning man  festival has gotten some bad press this year.. from the tragic death at the burn… which I still can’t believe… , to the record heat this year (110 for 2 days) , dusty, . There have also been stories this year of over the top opulence by corporate attendees (fresh maine lobster on the desert ? ) and huge crowds… ..

I’m reminded of a sticker I saw on my freind Duane F’s giant flaming octopus last year

Yet.. all that said.. I still love it.. Why… ? Because it’s the biggest group of people I know that come together spontaneously to have a good time together.. It’s a test of stamina and ingenuity to survive the place.. or at least to enjoy it.. and that simple fact means that most folks who  make it there more than once really, really , really want to be there.. and thats special… Spending tiem in our camp with some good old friends and some new and having the time to listen and talk to them is such a pleasure…   as is the zillion random interactions you have with strangers you meet everywhere.. This year I ran into so many old freinds on the playa… from different cirl es of  of my life, from vermont , from work, from travrel , from family , from my many hobbies. 

For me the main draw is being with those people. meeting them, hearing their stories, seeing how they choose to self-express. I also love the art.. some of it is really beautiful and moving , nearly all of it is interesting../

much of the art  is high tech.. some of it is dangerous (fire, high voltage, smoke).. those are the things i love doing myself.. As a guy with wierd hobbies like that… There is no place on the planet where i can find so many like minded people . THis year I really advanced my understanding of fire art… and plan to expand myt collection of things that shoot fire into the sky… You can’t pay for that kind of training. 

I love the fact that the whole place is offline.. no phones.. at least not verizon phones 🙂 .. no wifi.. everyone there is really ‘there’… the last time I was offline for a whole week was in 2009  I was locked in a warehouse making a TV show . 8 days offline .. just tlakign to reall live people has done me and my mind  a world of good..

THere’s also a sacred component of burning man.. the temple there is a monument to folks who have died or who are troubled. THe stories, objects and graffiti in there are the most moving testament to lives lived. that  I’ve ever seen. My own pilgrimage there to remember Sam  and others literally brings me to my knees . Crying in that place with so many others is the most cathartic thing i can ever remember doing… 

finally..of course there’s this reason .. 🙂 

I’m not saying the place is fro everyone.. but hay.. maybe you’d like it too 🙂

nite all, nite sam

-me

today was labor day.. and that is something I could not bring myself to do.. .. no labor for me.. 

I took the day off reacclimatizing to Vermont, and digging through nearly 1000 emails waiting for me after the burn..

I have uploaded all of my pictures from burning man.. but haven’t had the time to go through therm.. so I’m going to put that off one more day.. I will give instead a quick peek at today’s / unburning  happenings..

the first order of business is to empty eerythign out and shake out the dust from the playa.. its on EVERYTHING

shave off a week of cheek scrubble 

then wipe down everything with vinegar… to neutralize the alkaline sand.. and then sop. to kill the dust.. took hours to go through everything

luckily . we had copoany.. our freinds charles and heather were up from boston visiting. 

they helped us do soem finishing work on the fron walkway.. we were putting down filler stone. 

with the new compass rose installed the walkway is now all but finished 1

ok.. playa tiem is cartching up with me.. thats what 4 hours a night of sleep for a week will do to you.. 

more tomorrow wiht pcitures from burning man.. until then

nite all. nite sam

-me

sitting in the reno airport wiwth gabe and my brother billy. We’re easing back in to the world after a week offline at burning man . The plane is going to be full of  people from burning man. The mood is pretty subdued… if you havent heard, there was a horrible tragedy at the burn last night. A guy ran from the audience and threw himself into the fire.. right in front of us…  despite the attemots of the fire fighters to stop him. 

gabe was part of the vermont conclave fire troop and was inside the burn perimiter.. he was on of the closest people to what hppened….  it was so surreal. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing… the scene keeps playing in my mind

Ive been tryign to learn more abotut he guy.. why did he do this.. what was troubling him so much that  he woudl want to take his own life in such a horrible and public way ..  ? there are reports on news channels that tel us abotut he guys name, age, and his family, but none say ‘why’. The pictures if wh At happend are too raw or me to see again,

my heart goes out to him and his family.. and all the other folks who saw it happen

it is going to take me a while to process this.. ill post some pictures and stoies from the week once i can make a little more sense of what happened

nite all, nite sam 

-me

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t know…