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2013 Theme Announced

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2013 Burning Man ThemeIt came out today and depending on your point of view… I think it seems pretty cool. So I am looking forward to what the coming year will bring with vision and creativity. Yay for us.

QueerBurners.Com also appeared in the JRS today. Well, I wrote the note that appeared because i am trying very hard to show we are radically inclusive. Why? Because someone (okay several someones) said we were not. Some of those were inside our own community.

Recently I made a x-post of an event and it was asked if it was being run by Queer Burners. It should never keep any member of the community at-large from being a participant. I did say community. That means the Burning Man Community and our LGBTQ++ community.

So, raise a glass with me at the next meetup and let’s look forward to an amazing new season.

2nd of 3 announced

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The 2nd of 3 projected events by Queer Burners was “announced” this week… but only in the planning stages. Almost as quickly as we started planting seeds we got growth and will keep working to make these great things happen:

  1. Sweet Think & 2013 QBLSMarch 2013 “Sweet Thing” Camp Out and 2nd annual Queer Burner Leadership Summit all at the same time; YOU DO NOT have to attend any leadership summit stuff to enjoy the camp out.
  2. July 2013: “The Village Q” at Salt Lake City’s regional event called Element-11 (element11.org)
  3. Although it has not been released yet, the 3rd event is a proposed presence in the 2013 San Francisco Gay Pride parade

These things sound pretty cool, huh??? Well, a lot of this focus on these projects is being driven on Facebook, but we do have resources here online. There is the Queer Burners page (where one would presume you are reading this entry) and the Quire Page: Queer Burner Leadership Network.

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When Wal-Mart meets Burning Man

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By Christopher Reynolds
Los Angeles Times staff writer
September 19, 2012, 7:30 a.m.

Attention, Wal-Mart shoppers, Wal-Mart workers and Burning Man personnel. Maybe your hopes and dreams aren’t so different after all.

A couple of weeks ago, traveling in Arkansas, I stopped in at the Bentonville storefront where the Wal-Mart empire began. It’s a visitor center now with exhibits on corporate history. I picked up a brochure listing Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton’s 10 rules for building a business. All very sensible and offered in six languages. I stuffed the brochure into my pocket.

Then a few days later, visiting San Diego, I heard a speech by Chip Conley, who is, among other things, a board member of the Burning Man Project. That’s right, the annual later-summer tribal party in the Black Rock Desert outback of northern Nevada, where about 50,000 artists and revelers unite amid throbbing music, body paint and an ignited effigy or two. Not only does Burning Man have a board of directors, those directors have business cards, and on the back of the business cards are  10 guiding principles. Conley gave me a card, and I stuffed it in my pocket.

So now I’m back from the road with one list (printed on orange paper) to my right, and another (printed on blue paper) to my left. This is a nice reminder that travel will mess with your mind as thoroughly as any drug or management-training program. It also shows that human beings love lists, and the number 10, and making plans for other people, whether we’re moving merchandise in a suburban big box or dancing naked in the desert.

But surely, it’s easy to tell Burning Man’s principles from Wal-Mart’s rules, right?

Not so much. I’ve combined the two lists into one, alphabetically ordered. Go ahead. Sort these out.

— Appreciate.

— Celebrate.

— Civic responsibility.

— Commit.

— Communal effort.

— Communicate.

— Control.

— Decommodification.

— Exceed.

— Gifting.

— Immediacy.

— Leaving no trace.

— Listen.

— Motivate.

— Participation.

— Radical inclusion.

— Radical self-expression.

— Radical self-reliance.

— Swim (upstream).

Ok, so a few were easy — “control” and “decommodification,” especially. And you can eventually figure it out, because one organization prefers verbs and the other likes nouns. (By the way, Burning Man was born in the late 1980s, when Wal-Mart was in its third decade. Sam Walton died in 1992.)

Here’s a little more on Burning Man’s principles, and here’s a little more on Walton’s rules.

We can agree, I think, that nobody playing at Burning Man and nobody working at Wal-Mart lives up to all of these ambitions every day. But, hey, it’s good to have goals. Maybe some district manager out there will adopt all 20 here and create the grooviest big box ever.

(via When Wal-Mart meets Burning Man – latimes.com)

Memories of 2012

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Seems like a lot of people are energized and motivated for 2013 by their experience in 2012. Who would have known that people would have been encouraged with all the misgivings that came out of Mario Cisnerosthe ticket fiasco to get to renewed energy about Burning Man and its culture.

This year the Gay Pride Parade and the Official Meet & Greet were held in honor of one of our burners that passed on. Although many friends have gone, this man named Mario Cisneros was an active leader and participant in the Queer burner community as well as his region. That means he was active in the general community with Burners in Los Angeles where he was from.

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Enjoy these pics from the pride parade this year… and click here to see all the pics uploaded by members or add your own below.

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2012 Burning Man Trip Report

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While this site continues to be a launching platform for Queer and Queer Adjacent members of the Burner Culture it also has an intent to keep the 10 Principles alive in our day to day living. Whether you also include the 10 commandments, Buddhist beliefs, Kaballah, Torah, or whatever the 10 Principles are merely ideas for community living.

The following is a different kind of trip report and talks about a lot of things. There are criticism but there is also a lot of appreciation for a lot of work people did to achieve something amazing. This is a single person’s point of view and you are encouraged to add comments or write your own trip report with all your exciting stories.

Burning Man (Fertility 2.0)

The theme itself, this year, left us somewhat perplexed at first trying to figure our how the LGBTQ++ community fit into it. We did studies, videos, testimonies and in the end there was very little of the theme in the scope of the event n the delivery. It came across a little 2d unlike recent years like “Rites of Passage” and “Evolution” that had an umbrella of possibilities and translations to art and culture that were represented on the playa.

Keep in mind that there was …WAS an estimation of 70% of ticket sales went to people with no previous affiliation with Burning Man either in theory or pARTticipation who – in all likelihood – did not know how to bring it. Many probably learned while it seemed that many fled early from the event. Fled? Yes, wicked dust storms scared off the less sturdy and left us with a max attendance at one point of 52,000 or so people; less than last year and way short of the 60,000 tickets actually sold.

Bottom line, there was a great deal of success to the event because as the vacationers fled the play ground became a lot more burner-centric; which means experienced burners slowly became a majority again. This also includes de-burgined newbies that embraced the scope of Burning Man principles and will be coming back. Joy.

 Nomenclature

This year we had a very strong Gayborhood thanks to the placement team at Burning Man HQ and (finally) someone listening to some LGBTQ++ concerns with the influx of new people that might further inflame some homophobic issues in the past. So far there has been no direct reports of those problems but we will be seeking feedback from the community moving forward.

The Gayborhood basically started around 7:00 and E in the city stretching back to approximately 7:30 and F; not to exclude anyone just outside that zone. Some of us started calling the surrounding area the Gayburbs. Camps in the Gayborhood included:

  • Comfort & Joy
  • Camp Beaverton
  • Gender Blender
  • Camp Montage
  • Celestial Bodies
  • Dusthaven
  • AstroPups
  • Camp Crack Whore
  • Camp Stella
  • Glamcocks
  • Quixote
  • Camp Blo Pop
  • Down Low Club
  • Poly Asylum

The Gayburbs on the other hand was a little more spread out. This might be a new term coined this year, or recycled, who knows. But there were an awful lot of Queer Pride Rainbow flags out there flying. Some had the word PACE on them which is the Italian word for Peace. Some of those camps included:

  • Motel Paradise
  • Tiny’s Lounge
  • Yes, Please
  • Vietnamese Coffee Camp
  • Camp Conception
  • Area 69
  • Run Free Camp
  • Camp Homoerectus

Wait? Is that all? No… there were a lot of camps, either overt or not, that surrounded the area who were self identified queer camps or queer-adjacent.

Gayburbia was a term that we came to agree to call the far off smaller circle of gay camps on the other side of the city that 2 years ago was coined the Gay Ghetto. The fine folks at the center of that area over near 4:00 and J was Burner Buddies. These were smaller, more clustered groups who camped close to each other for “safety” purposes. That was the exact word used. Queer camps that could look out for each other through the event.

Placement

RevBloodshotHuge thanks to Placement for their continued follow up, interaction and support to the queer and queer friendly camps at Burning Man. Rev. Bloodshot was the star player in the placement team who was extremely active in making sure there was support and security included in the placement of the Gayborhood.

The outstanding work and follow up by this team was a topic of discussion among the Queer Burner Leaders and generally agreed that they deserve huge levels of appreciation.

Processes

Without a doubt getting in and getting out of Burning Man was a win-win. A one to three hour max Exodus has not been experienced in nearly a decade and talk about a finely executed ballet. I was traveling with Foxy (Mayor of Camp Beaverton) and we both anticipated a 6 to 8 hour wait along with our newbie Uniboob (just kidding Sarah) and were braced for the long wait and we rolled right out without a single pause or surge.

Streets: Traversing the city, though huge, was very well laid out as usual though the roads were in BAAAAD shape by Friday. The ruts were deep and teeth chattering on most bikes and some art cars.

Toilets: maintained remarkably well and occasionally decorated and left smelling of lavender by wonderful fellow burners.

Center Camp: The strongest and best year of my experience, plus a great haven from the dust.

Law Enforcement

In 2011 with an increase in population there was an increase in Law Enforcement (aka L.E.). With the addition of 10,000 tickets sold for a sold out venue you better believe there was even more police presence out there. If you were paying attention, there ‘seemed‘ to be a lot of police activity. Specifically, they appeared to be searching for illegal substances.

Camp Poly Asylum was raided by police and dogs and apparently little was found. Was this harassment or was this an honest attempt to discover behavior that endangered the camp as a whole?

One member of my camp was stopped at the front gate and was subjected to a dog search of his car even though he has nothing to do with drugs.

However!!!! (Taken right from Burners.Me)

For an event with a peak attendance of 52,385, attended by eagle-eyed Law Enforcement Officers by the hundreds, Burners did incredibly well at keeping the peace, staying out of trouble, and obeying the law.

According to the Associated Press, this year’s scorecard was:

  • 22 Arrests
  • 230 Citations for drug and other violations
  • 441 verbal warnings for everything from speeding to washing their hands and dishes on the playa

Well done Burners – except for 22 of you –  and well done LEOs.

In comparison to previous years, there were more arrests but fewer citations. Here’s some recent statistics regarding arrests and citations at Burning Man 2010 and 2009.

2010- 293 citations; 8 arrests
2009- 287 citations; 9 arrests

I found one site on the Internet claiming that in 2011 is that there were 4 arrests for battery. However this site says:

2011 – 42 citations; 3 arrests – this might only be the BLM though and not include County cops

(end – Burners.Me repost: it was too good not to share. There is more if you will to follow the link in the header of this section.)

Who’s Who

Before the last 10,000 tickets went on sale there was a projection that about 70% of the people attending this year would be people who have never been experienced to Burning Man or it’s culture; 10 Principles and more. Even with the additional 10,000 tickets the event became sold out. Yes – selling out for the 2nd year in a row.

Who actually attended this event that resulted in 52,000 attendees which is way short of the 60,000 tickets sold? It should also be noted that a lot of those bucket list burners could not take the extreme conditions of the dust and wind and went home with their tails tucked.

  • 40% returning and contributing Burners
  • 20% ravers and crackheads looking to party
  • 25% circuit queens
  • 15% posers /  tourists / people abducted

*strictly subjective

The above is all in good fun. It is as accurate as what the Huffington Post published last year from Oscar Remundo’s popular blog.

Enculration: Did it work?

Many camps had processes in place to make sure Burgins staying with them were enlightened with an understanding of the 10 Principles and how they applied to their stay at Burning Man and their camp. Among the toughest to make this culture work for their newbies was Comfort & Joy, Camp Beaverton and AstroPups.

MOOP: There was still a lot of MOOP (Matter Out Of Place) out there; basically littering. However, it seemed that there was generally less crap blowing around this year than I saw last year.

pARTticipation: There was the usual great participation out there that makes the city what it is. It did seem, from personal observation, that there was a little more active recruiting to help out between experienced burners.

Art: There was a notable lack of creativity on the playa save the amazing CORE projects out there on some level. While a few pieces really stood out: (note: this is a personal observation)

  • Shipwreck w/ The Pier
  • Mumuration (Queer Project)
  • Aztec Calendar
  • …and the new Orbitron*

*from the people who brought you Cubitron in previous years.

Theme Camps

New standards were breached on amazing camps! There was some definitely excellent work that went into many of them. Although we are a world of radical inclusion, non-judgyness,some should genuinely be rewarded for their amazing work:

Most Welcoming Ambiance

  • Comfort & Joy
  • Beaverton/Gender Blender
  • AstroPups
  • Celestial Bodies

Best Construction

  • Comfort & Joy
  • Glamcocks
  • BaalMart
  • Celestial Bodies
  • Motel Paradise

Most Chillin at Home Vibe

  • Yes,Please
  • Camp Conception

Best Entertainment

  • Comfort & Joy: Friday’s Full Moon & AfterGlow Party
  • Burner Buddies: post Gay Pride celebration
  • Camp Conception: Thursday’s Dance party with DJ Dan
  • AstroPups: Wednesday Night feat. Rocket Collective
  • Down Low Club: Monday Official Meet & Greet
  • Celestial Bodies… every night

Radical Inclusion and Intimidation

One of the best camps for creating a welcome atmosphere, certainly the most successful depending on your point of view, has been Comfort & Joy. I witnessed people from all corners come into their camp and structures because they provide such a secure and safe space.

This could be said very much the same for a camp like Celestial Bodies who attract a very eclectic crowd and have a loving and special atmosphere; AstroPups and Down Low Club were very open.

While some camps are not open to street traffic through the week it is usually relatively clear who those were. Camp Conception hosted an amazing party on Thursday night and were raffling off some amazing art pieces; but visiting the camp felt awkward.

Glamcocks had this amazing open structure, they hosted and published some top notch parties, but in my 3 visits there it never felt welcome. I observed a lot while visiting and it felt very cliquish.

PLEASE DO NOT BE OFFENDED… this is a perception and one held from a removed point of view. I have and had no agenda other than working on networking camps so be can be supportive with each other and develop a better leadership collective.

Flow is important for a camp setup and clear boundaries for what is welcome space versus private space. Nectar Village is very good at defining these boundaries. A host or an active engagement with people visiting the camp can mean a world of difference if you have the people in your camp that flower in this area.

On another note: I received an email from a recognizable member of our community who complained he went to one of the above mentioned camps and was ignored; C&J. Upon reflection I realized I feel the same in some camps, but it is up to me to engage people in order to socialize. This is radical Self-Reliance in motion.

A host can be a great tool, but sometimes you (the individual) have to make the first step. As much as one can feel like they are not welcome at a camp, the camp and the individual each have the power to embrace someone new into their world.

THE BURNING MAN EVENT

Finally, with all the blah blah blah above we get into talking about Burning Man (Fertility 2.0) 2012. As this trip report it concludes with a solid thumbs up. The Gayborhood was a huge success to itself, but it is one element of the whole city. The Gayborhood was really a village that was larger than any other with Comfort & Joy and Beverton/GB at the nucleus of it.

Although the art was not quite up to par as years before there were some memorable pieces that includes the Pier with Shipwreck and a queer project called Murmuration. Yet, the CORE project (all 34 of them) were the best ever seen before (it is only the 2nd year for CORE).

Socially, queer camps really brought it big time and in pockets and in the Gayborhood we had branches that constantly reached into the city and welcomed anyone and everyone to participate along with us including the Gay Pride parade and a Naked Pub Crawl; which totally rocked. OMG Duck Pond was a hoot with their giant slip ‘n Slide.

The vibe was very different and though it might have felt a little foreign at the beginning of the week it felt very familiar by the end. Huge thanks to Placement at BMorg and the Exodus team. No no no… the whole freaking outfit!!!! Recovering from the ticket explosion in January to such a successful finale was sheer brilliance.

Welcome to the Default World

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Fertility 2.0 is now at an end and a new year begins marching toward August 25th, 2013 with a yet to be themed event (to be announced this Fall according to the JRS). Last time Larry had to take some time to name the theme he came up with this unimaginable Fertility thing. Five or six years before this the theme was announced after the man burned through BMIR radio.

For some of us, myself included, September always was the beginning of a new chapter. Maybe it was because when I was a kid typically the new school year started? Effectively, there has been a succession of changes that happen to me and the world about this time of the year and though it really has nothing to do with Burning Man specifically it is a nice punctuation culminating with the temple burn.

All members are encouraged to share their stories and experiences. The trip report will be published here soon, so look forward to some of those exciting details.

Burner Personalities

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Want to know about those personalities you will meet out there or in your community? Those burners you are still trying to figure out. This handy guide to identifying burners courtesy of reddit.com/r/burningman (In other words I didn’t write this):

• The Acquisitor: Measures how much fun they’re having by how much stupid crap they can stuff their pockets with. Warning: the

y’ll try to steal some key piece of decor from your bar. Also, they’ll try to trade you a handful of painted bottle caps for a dose of E.

• The Bad Couple: Fights all the time. Fucks the rest of the time. One or both of them may try to seduce you; it’s not worth it.

• The Barfly: If you have a bar, this person will keep people coming back to it, night after night. Always willing to spell you at bartending, always there when you need a smoke, always drunk enough to find everyone fascinating, will dance to any music, laugh at any joke, applaud any story. Will probably sleep on the couch even if their tent is ten feet away. This person is your bar’s heartbeat.

• The Burnier-than-thou: similar to the Jaded Old-school Burner, except this is their third year. Don’t try to tell these people awesome stories of your adventures… They’ve seen it before, and anyway you did it wrong.

• The Camp Bitch: Would really have been happier staying at a nice hotel in Reno… but then they wouldn’t have lazy filthy campmates to complain about! They can’t believe what giant slobs everyone else is. Will moan incessantly about how no one else wants to wash the dishes. If you’re burning with more than two other people, you have at least one of these in your crew. If you don’t know who it is, maybe it’s you!

• The Center-camp Hanger-outer: Hangs out at Center camp the whole time. By the end of the week, they’ll have spent more money on iced-coffee drinks than you spent on gas. PRO TIP: Center camp is lame.

• The Creepy Date-rapist: Always has plenty of drugs.

• The Creepy Photo Guy: Self-explanatory. Never asks for permission. Often found lurking in center camp or anywhere else women congregate. Refuses to make eye contact. Angry when confronted.

• The Cruise Director: Has read the guide. Knows what day it is. Eats spectacular meals in a different place every night. Easily spotted by the addresses written on their arms. If you want to go to bed early, spend the day with this person; by sunset you’ll be exhausted.

• The Dirt Hippie: wears earth tones, asymmetrical clothing, often in layers. Bare feet. Real dreads, not fake ones. Strong smell of b.o. and sometimes patchouli. Often sighted at yoga camps, sound healing domes and center camp, showing off their contact-improv-partner-acroYoga.

• The Engineer: On the up side, they’ll do all the work and keep your camp functioning. On the down side, they’ll never let you forget that they do all the work and keep your camp functioning. Try to get them laid.

• The First-timer Whose Mind is Completely Blown the Whole Fucking time: Depending on your point of view, these people can be deeply inspiring, or even more annoying than the Jaded Old-schoolers. Usually they take too many drugs and have at least one nervous breakdown.

• The Fish-to-water: It’s their first year, but they wear the playa like Jessica Rabbit wears an evening gown. Fearless, self-deprecating, and utterly charming. Makes even Jaded Old-schoolers smile. Make them your camp ambassador.

• The Font of Swag: Exact opposite of the Acquisitor. Each morning they’ll fill their bag with homemade junk, and won’t return to camp until they’ve “gifted” away all their garbage.

• The Jaded Old-school Burner: Never shuts up about how much BM sucks now… but still comes! You won’t see much of these guys, though, because they never leave their camp.

• The New Age Pussy Hound: Man of any age, but often 35+, sometimes with a eurotrash accent. Lures women into his orbit by several means, often involving a “punani trimming camp”, “shower camp” (ladies only of course) or other “Goddess-servicing” camp. Tells you you have an old soul. Likes to offer shoulder massage or g-spot massage to release your Inner Goddess.

• The Overly Spiritual Burner: Can be easily identified as the person who never laughs at your jokes. Thinks Burning Man should be like Easter mass: solemn and incomprehensible. Just drop them off at the temple while you hop a totally undignified art-car to the upside-down-on-a-pole-in-a-wet-t-shirt drinking contest at Pinky’s.

• The Overprepared Neighbor: Forgot your can opener? Your toenail clippers? Your corkscrew? Here you go! No, you can keep it; I brought twenty.

• The Person Who’s Having Way More Fun than They Seem to Be: Often the oldest person in their camp. Has had a hard life. You have trouble catching their name. You’ll worry because they just sit at the end of the bar the whole time, drinking from a flask. but when you catch their eye they give you a giant shit-eating grin.

• The Perv: All their clothing is shiny and/or crotchless. They brought a “bag of tricks.” For most of the week you don’t know where they are; that’s because they’re next door, having earth-shaking sex with your dumpy middle-aged neighbors. If this person invites you to a party they heard about, FOR GOD’S SAKE GO!

• The Philosopher: Prefers shots to cocktails. Often fails to notice hot nudity that’s right next to them. Has rough mornings. Loses their voice.

• Playa Barbie: Furry leggings, sparkly hot pants, furry bikini top, fake dreads, goggles perched on head. Often high or drunk, they travel in packs. They appear underfed but never actually seem to eat — ecstasy totally like omg doesn’t make me hungry at all!

• The Raver: Wakes up at sunset. Measures fun in decibels. Runs out of drugs.

• The Seagull: That filthy kid stumbling around asking for water/food/drugs. Can also sometimes be discovered digging through your cooler if you leave it visible. Occasionally found passed out in your tent if your tent is near a road (true story – a campmate found one of these in his tent one year). Probably got into BRC via a “I Need a Miracle” sign and a gifted ticket.

• The Shell-breaker: who would have thought boring old Doug from work can sing like Barry White and do beer bongs like Bender?

• The Sparkle-pony: No camp is complete without some of these. Well costumed, and fun but offer not much in the way of usefulness as Sparkle Ponies. They hug, but don’t do dishes, nap during dome setup or offer sunscreen but not help tear down. They’re a bit like furniture you might get a chance to fuck.

• The Weekender: Arrives on Friday in an RV that’s more luxurious than your apartment. Doesn’t want to meet their neighbors. Doesn’t pack out their trash.

• The Wrecking Ball: Spills drinks, knocks over barstools, falls off of tables, rides their bike into support ropes and is humorously flung backwards, wanders off with the bong, invites thieves over, gets hurt, gets tickets. Can always lay their hands on a megaphone.

• The Yahoo: Says woo. Picks fights. Is a dick.

• Your Dream-girl/guy/both/other: Your perfect soul-mate. You’ll spend the most wonderful night of your life with this person. Then you’ll find out they’re married.

10,000 more souls

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The more the merrier? With the (oh not so long ago) shit storm with the ticketing situation many disenfranchised and sad-sallie burners could never have imagined any hope of recovery. The mud on BMorgs face could have been a cleanse?

Many of us were pissed off. Many of us saw the lottery for the flaws the minute it was announced. What if it was a success, then who would be wearing the face-mask? Well, it wasn’t and according to a press release a lot of tickets went to people who never participated in the Burning Man experience before. It was estimated to be 70% (yes for real) people who never looked at the 10 principles before.

The Canvas

The fabric of the burner community has been changed, perhaps ripped away, then made into something new. Not only is this the year that Burning Man, LLC became The Burning Man Project 501(c)(3), but the participants who buy tickets also changed. There will be tens-of-thousands of new heart beats out there with new points of view and new expectations.

the future of burning man?

Thankfully before the last 10 to 20 thousand tickets went on sale BMorg (Burning Man Organization) took a step back and setup a system where people had the pleasure of buying Tier 4 tickets for $390/bux each instead of a real chance at getting anything less. Fortunately, some of those tickets also went to help low-income applicants.

So, on the chess board that was the ticket shit storm BMorg made some headway.

Camps were portioned allotments with the ability to purchase for their encampments. Tickets went to Art Cars, Artists and finally moving in the direction they needed to be.

Newbie Orientation

There was a huge emphasis on how we as a community do several things. One of the most important was another new word in the Burner Community: Enculturation. Even at the Leadership Summit in March 2012 that hosted in San Francisco and attracted leaders from all over the world, there was a strong emphasis on this.

Queer camps like Comfort & Joy, Camp Beaverton, and Astro Pups have all embraced this concept in different ways.

The goal is to get  new attendees to embrace the 10 principles and  make their participation meaningful without destroying those already entrenched in the life. This means much more than a party or festival. This is more than a bucket list item. But, for many that is all it will ever be.

10,000 More People

Yes, there will be close to 65,000 people out there this year than last year; more than 10,000 additional souls with a prediction for another 10,000 in 2013. The ticket screw ups earlier in the year aside, there is a flushing out as it were, and change is forced upon us.

Not many burners are really welcoming of “change” in spite of the hippy attitude projected on burner activity. Burners and Burner Leadership have to set the example.

We have no choice. We embrace and move forward. We saw the BLM bring sanctions with a deep inhale and the exhale follows an announcement of 10,000 more souls.

With that comes responsibility, too. For US who need to embrace change and for THEM whom we hope to enculturate. It will hopefully culminate in WE in the light of the temple burn. The 10 principles are the biggest key we can hand over to a new generation or a new breed of burners. But this thing, by Larry Harvey and his cavalcade of 5, is/was something very meaningful and the fear is that it will be lost…. or changed.

Change is… inevitable.

How to get a Burning Man ticket

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Many of us who have taken very visible positions in the burner community amongst our wonderful queers have been asked on many occasions HOW do I get a Burning Man ticket. “Can you help me get a Burning Man ticket?” The answer is yes.

10 Principles: Start Here

There are tickets available. While either passively with BMorg’s help or through articulation tickets have managed to become available and wanting badly to be in your hands. In just recent weeks people have been offering tickets for community members in need.

Why start with the 10 principles? Well, one of them is very important when it comes to almost anything in the Burner community… it is the one that will slap any Sparkle Pony… spank any tourist… it is Self-Reliance. Not to sound snarky, because I am going to tell you how to get a ticket either free or a reduced cost if not full price, but you have to be a participant.

Participation is 90% of the infrastructure of the Burning Man event and if it were not for it’s volunteers or do’ers there really would be nothing to go to. You have to be a part of something or be a contributor in some way. You have to add to the fruit salad of Burning Man with blood, sweat, tears or whatever your Radical Self-Expression might be. So the answer is be a part of the salad.

Be part of a camp infrastructure, help on an art project, create your own art project, art car, performance… whatever. If you are a part of someone’s collective and get your face involved in a community of people then you suddenly have more eyes looking to help you get that ticket.

The Answer

If you skipped down to this part you are missing the point. Burning Man is not a tourist destination. Although a lot of people have figured out how to go and offer nothing with Plug N’ Play camping, thinking it is just one big party, or having no understanding of the lifestyle many of these people have evolved with.

If you skipped down to this part reconsider if this is what you really want. Burning Man is not a bucket list item. Coming to this event with no expectations… Giving of yourself over to the Black Rock Desert… unconditionally and without any expectation… then you are on the right journey.

Conclusion

Be a part of a community by representing yourself as part of a collective. It might just be 2 people, it could be 120, but add to the fruits salad! (If you don’t get the fruit salad comment please read back). Just being on this web site is not the answer but could simply be the point in which you tie into something through the Groups section or by talking with another member. The answer my friend is simple: pARTticpate.

Support Art

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Art is the core of Burning Man. No, not the whump-whump-whump-whump-whump-whump-whump-whump …no. Art is the core because without it it might as well be the Electric Daisy Festival. But then again, even EDC gets burner art at their event.

CharonIn recent years we have been blown away with pieces like Charon, Bliss Dance and so many more. Art by Queer Burners can’t be separated from the herd, but we can talk about it a little more as we honor our pink-tinted brothers and sisters of the playa.

This year there are more exciting projects and the fear that art was vanishing because of the ticket disaster might have been premature… or they fixed the issue. Either way let’s look ahead to some cool stuff.

A few pieces have made their way to the Gay Burners page on facebook and we anticipate greatness on the horizon. Exciting… but money is needed to make these things happen and even $10. can go somewhere.

Murmuration

Murmuration is an insanely cool interactive kinetic art piece for Burning Man 2012! We are a small group of L.A. Burners bringing art and fun to the Playa. Looking forward to bringing this insanely interactive kinetic art piece to the Playa 2012!

Issues on the Table

This one is the most personal project to date as it goes back and reaches deep into the very dysfunctional relationship I had with my father growing up. Looking at the graphic you can clearly see two sides of a dining table with one side melting into the other.

The Pier 2

Last year 25 great friends came together to build a 300 foot long third world pier in the middle of the Black Rock Desert for Burning Man. We all thought the idea was pretty cool but we were unsure of how well everyone else would receive it. Much to our surprise the people of Black Rock City seemed to adore The Pier and we were asked to bring it back!

Mayan Tricycle

I want to build a great big “hamster wheel” that people can run in that will roll inside an even larger wooden wheel all connected to an odometer to show the workings of the Mayan Calendars. It will stand 22’+ tall, have gears meshing with gears and the whole thing will burn down a week later.

Breaking Wave

The Breaking Wave sculpture wants you to be involved with it’s construction. We want random pieces of wood, specifically abandoned lumber that has drifted onto a west coast beach or coastal area. The Breaking Wave will be constructed from scratch on the Playa at Burning Man with drift lumber contributed from all  over the World.

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Support art going to Burning Man any way you can.

Why were these pieces chosen out of so many? Well, these are actively engaging our community and are reaching out to us.