Well, I'm on my second day of recovery from Burning Man. As before, it was a week's worth of heat, dust, amazing art, bizarre experiences, stratospheric highs, catastrophic lows, nudity, bicycling, parties, dancing, beer, vodka, pot, art cars, costumes, desert sunrises and sunsets, and far too much else to list here.

One dubious "first" for me: I had to visit the Med Tent after I spent a little too long raising shade structures and hauling equipment in the 105-degree sun. (Yes, I know I'd promised not to do this again, but I had committed to help another camp before I came to the Playa, and fell victim to my own compulsions and extreme sense of responsibility.) Luckily, all I had was a mild case of sunstroke, but it still ruined my Thursday, and strained BRC's greatly-overtaxed medical services that much more.

So what were the highlights? Well, the Burn was particularly spectacular this year, partly because the Man had already survived a premature attempt to ignite him on Monday, and had been rebuilt a little TOO well, so that it took nearly an hour for him to collapse...and then only because he was forcibly pulled down by one of the guy wires. A couple of hours later, the "Oil Tower" -- a 100-foot structure a couple hundred yards out from 2:00 and Esplanade, also went up, this time with an immense mushroom cloud of fire that must have been visible from the Space Shuttle.

And of course, I always enjoy my countless interactions with thousands of fellow Burners. Capitalist pig that I am, I do like the idea of having a special set place and time where *no cash transactions take place*, as it creates not only a "gift economy" where one becomes very conscious of others' needs and one's own surplus, but also a very different ethos and style of interaction when the constant buy/sell mode is absent. The kindness, creativity, resourcefulness, and humor of Burners never ceases to amaze me.

Oh, about the RV -- definitely a wise investment. Especially when the white-out dust-storms blew through on Thursday and Friday afternoons (the latter one was followed by a short rainstorm). Next year, however, I might just rent a HardTent trailer, and take care of my bathroom needs with a privy and a sun shower.

Here are some other highlights:

* Marching with 70 other nude guys in the now-annual "Critical Dicks" parade -- "The PenIs Mighter than the Sword!"
* The gorgeous, perfect double rainbow over the Playa after the Friday afternoon rainstorm
* Partying naked (literally!) and drinking rudely-named vodka concoctions with Velvet Soulmine. Gotta love those gay Southerners!
* Dancing around the fiery remains of the Man on Saturday night.
* Smoking a "European joint" (hash and tobacco) with a guy from Bristol, England
* Playing a deranged, hilarious game of miniature golf on the Esplanade with Leslie M.
* The laser-beam art piece that played music whenever you ran hands through the rays.
* Writing dedications to my late grandparents on the Temple walls -- surely the smoke of that edifice will ascend to their current home like a burnt offering.
* A late dinner of sushi, noodles, miso soup, soy-flavored wheat-gluten faux-meat, and plum wine at Monticello Camp
* and a lot of other stuff that I can't remember right now.

And I'd like to thank the following people for making this year's BM such a great experience: Dave C. (my campmate); Heather, Seth, Todd and the rest of the Portland contingent; Blue and Teal; Leslie and Michelle; the Med Tent staff; Captain Erotica and his crew; Alice from SC; Velvet Soulmine; Campbell from Oz and his GF at Monticello; Coyote; Fletch from Marin and his Magic Boombox; Nekkid Jim and the Critical Dicks marchers and supporters; Jessy/Eris; the entire BM volunteer and paid staff; Gerlach, Empire and Nixon locals; and all of the 46,000-odd folks who made it out to the Playa this year.

See you at Decompression! :-)