The version of this journal with the pictures was a mistake to post up, and got my Palm Pilot and slower connection users kind of upset. The annotated copy can be found here if you still want to see them.

Friday

Afternoon one ingredients: Energy reserves: 80%, substance content: none.

We tried to leave right after work for me and class for Jacki, but of course that never works. On the way back we stopped at Jacki's house to pick up our new MP3 CD players for the ride.

We gathered up some other important stuff like some cans of soup, sunscreen (which we needed) and bug spray (which we didn't). We got on I-97 southbound. The first we saw of the moon over the road elicited a simultaenous "wow" out of both Jacki and I. I knew from that moment that this weather was going to be great.

After some driving (and a twenty minute trip down Route 100 to hit a Chevy Chase ATM for some cash) there was an accident right about Rowe Blvd, so we pulled off and spent a few minutes at the Annapolis Mall in the food court.

I made a radio contact right before we went into the mall with KG4HOT who was stuck in traffic on 50 and told him he would be well advised to do the same thing, but I thing he was pretty much set on staying in traffic, so I jotted down his callsign and we went inside. We got a Cinnabon and some batteries for the CD players and got back on our way. Of course there was a Chevy Chase ATM in the mall (grumble, grumble).

The trip was pretty easy and we arrived in Assateague around 10pm. We took the long way down, Route 50 all the way down through Ocean City to Route 611 down to the park. The windy way down Route 611 was really great, and we got to see a couple of ponies (with appropriate 60 mph doppler shift) and a couple of the island deer by the side of the road.

We went first to the Rangers Station where we encountered another group of lost burners trying to find their spot, and followed them to the first group site. We got onto the beach where everyone was sitting around the fire and introduced ourselves. Ginger was absolutely delighted to see us and gave us our nice gifts of Playa del Fuego commemorative tickets.

Night one ingredients: Energy reserves: 70%, substance content: high.

We had a little bit of a fire show, mostly everyone going around. I was in my usual 30 millisecond attention span that arises under the influence of most substances. Unfortuantely, this was the time that everyone in the Friday night arrival group introduced themslves to me. So I mostly remember everyone going by in something of a blur, although I did catch a few names into long-term memory. I'm bad enough to start with. Downing a few beers made it a little worse.

Luckily I already knew a couple of folks there from earlier events or from my massive participation in the list, some of them for a decently long time. Out of the Friday people, Eric G. was the only one I really knew, but there were a lot of people who had a glimmer of recognition when I mentioned my name. I heard the phrase "From the list?" quite a few times in response to my introduction. That made me happy. Jacki was slightly amused.

And as for Ginger, well, even after just a 25 minute phone call, it feels like I've known Ginger forever.

We got the tent up in the moonlight, and wound up using the lantern for the last few minutes of the setup. Thanks to all the practice I got from the Carnivore Society meetings in Shenandoah, it was a breeze. My cool friend Geoff gave it to me as a present for being in his wedding party. Sure beats a pair of $40 cufflinks. He's awesome.

Most of the night was spent ingesting alcohol, staring up at the moon and the stars and just soaking in the good vibes. Compared to the purple skies of Baltimore (home of the Baltimore constellation triad: Linus the line, Stickus the stick and Dottus the dot), Assateague is an incredible astral view. By some form or another (I can't remember how), we went to sleep.

Saturday

Morning one ingredients: Energy reserves: 60%, substance content: low.

One of these days my back will be sore long enough that I'll pass a WalMart in time to buy an air mattress before I forget how hard the solid ground is on my back. I have to say that setting the tent down on the soft sand was a lot different from the usually rocky ground of Shenandoah park, but as someone once said, "There's nothing like a good night sleep, and that was nothing like a good night's sleep."

Luckily, Andy Wing, my savior, made waffles. The breakfast was great. It helped me remember that hot chocolate cooked over a Coleman stove in the fifty degree morning air tastes better than any other hot chocolate in the world, unless of course that other hot chocolate happens to have whipped cream in it, which we forgot this time.

Shortly after breakfast, the Flag War began with the Boy Scouts one campsite over.
I hoped they enjoyed our irony for what it was. Most likely they just thought we were being silly, which we were, but also ironic. And artistic. Yeah. Others have already detailed it at greater length, so here's the Cliff's Notes version.

THEM: Navy Seals
US: Jolly Roger
THEM: Stars and Stripes
US: Hammer and Sickle

I came out on to the beach with my CD player (unimaginative crippled techno-geek that I am) to watch Jacki create something on the beach. We batted a few ideas back and forth. I suggested a turtle, but she said she had made one of those the last time on the beach, she thought of a polar bear but realized she had made on this last winter. I said she should make a tiger, but that seemed too difficult and fragile of a construction, so I suggested she make big snakes. Instantly dismissing that as a meaningless pursuit, we settled on a turtle. Yes, this is the very same turtle that became quite a talk of the beach for the rest of the weekend, and was proudly lit up later in the evening with a bright red road flare and photographed repeatedly.

Once a couple of people finally wandered into the water around 10 in the morning, I finally worked up the nerve to leap in. After removing my testicles from my abdomen, I decided to lie calmly on the beach and quietly soak up some rays. But the serenity was quickly broken by the Spectacle of the Hermaphrodidic Merslut in a Tutu.

Yeah, yeah, okay, nothing more to see here. I was drunk, damn it, I was drunk.

But seriously, then the cameras came out, a potent reminder that somewhere within about a 400 mile radius of here, there's a roll of film and any number of web pages that will keep me from running for public office forever (as if my own web page and bounteous deja.com Usenet posting history wouldn't have already). Even though I couldn't do anything but stare at the sun and the occasional swimsuit bottom hovering over me, it was fun to hear the descriptions of the vast number of sexual organs I had been (albeit temporarily) equipped with.

After that, the rest of the afternoon was just a fun blur of the sand, swimming, kicking around the Big Red Ball, and finally lying unmolested out onto the beach for a tan (burn).

Afternoon one ingredients: Energy reserves: 40%, substance content: moderate.

I snuck off to the tent to take a nap and suck in some classical music while Eric Cassel snapped some cool pics of Jacki on the boardwalk.

At about the time I came back into the Land of the Living, the sun was going down, so I scurried up to the top of the hill and watched the sunset from the top of the hill for a few minutes. A little later, Jacki came out to see the milky way for a few minues with me. Jacki is a big star fan, but I'm a moon-lover so while she's enjoying the pattern of the constellation, I'm nearly jumping out of my skin waiting for the moonrise.

By the time the moon was ready to rise there was a nice big crowd gathered on the beach, and we all watched it come out over the ocean, from a dark, almost blood red, through the spectrum of dark to light orange, then to a pale yellow and finally the blueish white we all know and love. It was an amazing testament to the autumn season. I'm surrounded by trees at home so I don't get to see cool stuff like this very often. Of course, the moon pushed the milky way pretty much out of view, but it was still a wonderfully clear night.

Night two ingredients: Energy reserves: 20%, substance content: none.

Here's where things get blurry, as I think it was for everyone. Without any substances to keep me going (I wasn't feeling well enough to ingest anything to change the "normal" operation of my body at that point, unfortuantely, and I'm glad I made that choice), things were just passing as they would. I do remember a few things like Ginger burning her jail card, someone's big file box burning and getting little plastic and paper embers everywhere, Peter Johanssen on the deck introducing me to a couple of people I already "knew" from ListLife.
Watching a couple of people fire-dancing with the poi, Justin showing me how to not kill myself with a pair, and watching Alicia dance.

We found a small batch of sparklers and tried to set them off with lighters, with little success. Finally it dawned on me that the sparklers had to be able to light themselves further down the line to continue sparkling, so as long as we intersected and intercepted the sparkle, we could light one with another. This took a considerable amount of thinking in spite of an substance-unencumbered state, and I knew I was near due for a nap, in spite of the Burn culmination drawing closer every moment.

As the world was going on ever-so-slowly around the fire, I was starting to get very tired and very irritable. Being irritable at a Burn is like being depressed on E. It just doesn't feel right. In fact, it's downright mindfucking.

So I had no choice: I handed Jacki the FRS radio from my belt and told her to call me in the tent when something happened. Some indeterminate amount of sleep-time later, she called me right about when the man was about to fall into the fire.

I stumbled back in a relative stupor, and watched things happen for a few minutes. Unfortunately my memory of the actual burn event is limited to the recognition of a high naked person quotient (finally!) the fact that the cold weather was the only thing keeping my pants on, and the fact that it didn't light right away. After that moment, around 12:30 in the morning, Jacki and I went up to the beach to the sound of Anna's protests to stay and fell fast asleep so we could catch the sunrise in the morning.

Sunday

Morning two ingredients: Energy reserves: 60%, substance content: none.

A bunch of us sat out on the beach for our first sunrise of the weekend, and my first in quite a few years, thanks to Peter's early morning call at the tent.

We were busy watching the sandpipers and the dolphins out on the shore, and noticing that the sun was taking an incredibly long time to come out. We were out there from about 7 in the morning to 7:30 when it finally came out, but it was well worth it. There was a lot of silliness too, which sprung up from a lot of usually smart and witty people needing large amounts of caffiene.

Jacki and I went back to bed then stayed there for a few annoying hot hours. Even with all the flaps open, that thing is really good at keeping in the early morning heat. And when the mid-morning sun is pounding down on the dark outsides, it gets downright brutal. We rolled out when things started getting active again and started to set down out camp.

Breakfast was, in a word, bountiful. I just kept eating everything I could cook up and was offered. Had some great oatmeal, hot chocolate, beans and salsa, pie, apples, oranges, and all number of wonderful foods. All of you who brought or cooked up a pile of munchies, thank you. It was incredible.

This was my picture fest since I realized I hadn't taken anything since we started everything you see on this page was taken between about 10am and noon on Sunday morning.

I was enjoying the best of both worlds with my South Plainfield, NJ tee-shirt on that morning. Since I live in Catonsville now and I've been a New Jersey resident for my first 18 years, I can relate with both the New York and BaltWash groups, which I did, at great conversational length.

Afternoon two ingredients: Energy reserves: 20%, substance content: none.

I wasn't surprised when Jacki was immediately beset upon by post-Burn syndrome.

I felt bad for her, of course, since it's no fun to go from a two day long party back into a highly structured world in the same day.

Jacki doesn't have the sort of friends that do stuff like this. Well, she didn't realize that she did. It was obvious that you all had taken her (us) under your wings right away and made us all feel really at home. But still, she hasn't had the opportunity to do a real free-form experience with people that she can really get along with. She really wanted to go back as soon as we were back in Baltimore, and still does to this moment, I think. Needless to say, both of us are rally looking forward to the next one.

On the other hand, not only am I used to coming back from unstructured worlds from the Carnivore Society, but most of my life is a big Burning Man in one way or another. The conversations that I had was like a big RL mailing list, the people were much the same as I know from life, very INTJ. And work for me these days is very much a "do what needs to be done and work together to do it" sort of exercise. So I wasn't shocked to experience the Burn, and less so to come back from it. But I really loved it.

I zonked out at around 9pm that night after some food shopping to restock my supplies, feeling better than I have in weeks. What a party!

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