David Best

David Best was on Chico State Campus yesterday. One of the art professors had brought him in to speak to one of his classes and then he spoke in Aryes Hall last night. Jerry and I went and it was a real thrill to hear him speak and see some of his slides.

David is a well known artist from San Francisco. My friend Pema has seen a couple of his art cars at the de Rosa Preserve Art Gallery in Napa. He has build these incredible temples in: Chicago, Temple of The American Dream; San Rafael, Temple of the Workingman; Ireland, Temple of Truth; etc., as well as 6 different ones at Burningman.
Temple of the Mind 2000
Temple of Tears 01
Temple of Joy 02
Temple of Honor 03
Temple of Stars 04
Temple of Forgiveness 07
(Check out the art car he drove to Burningman 07 at the end of the YouTube video posted below.)

A few David Best quotes from last night:

A ball of shit on the table is better than a ball of shit in you heart. This is art.

Nobody here can replace anybody that's here.

It's all about collaboration, you can't force people to do it your way. If you want someone to make a straight line for you, as you perceive a straight line, you have to pay them.

Burningman 2008

We drove into Burningman on Monday, August 25th during a white out. They ended up closing the gate shortly after we made it through and some of those folks behind us had a 5 hour wait until the they were allowed entrance into Black Rock City. It was a tough landing. Thanks to our friend D. who had arrived early, we already had a wonderful campsite partially set up for us and we were able to drive our motor home right up into our prearranged spot. I was glad I was not a virgin first timer as the welcome home this time around was rather harsh and I might have wanted to turn around and go home. Our motor home which Jerry calls Old Smokey and I call Burning Love was mana from heaven. I never made one trip to a porta potty during my seven days on the playa and that was pure joy, especially because my body loves to bleed during Burningman. During my first two years at Burningman, I started my period on Sunday, the day before the official opening of the city. I was bleeding heavy which entailed many trips to the porta potties with my intricate ritual of juggling the hand sanitizer, one ply toilet paper, handi wipes (not to be dropped in the porta potties but returned to the burnable trash at camp), light, if it was dark out to see what I was stepping on, all the while keeping one hand clean to carry out my sanitary business. It was quite the balancing act ordeal. This time, I bled two weeks before Burningman and was thrilled to not have to deal with all of that. Well as I mentioned my body loves to bleed at Burningman and I started another cycle the day after we arrived! But this time around all I had to do was step into my own clean, well lit, with running water, private potty room. There is a Goddess and I am She.

The dust storm finally ended, the city reopened, we set up camp and walked out to the man and then into center camp to check out the sights before returning to our little home on wheels and a lovely clean and comfortable bed.

1. The Man on Tuesday.
2. I am determined to get my tramp stamp this year which will be a burning sacred heart with wings, a vision I experienced at the Valentine's Day Love Intensive last year. These wings felt lovely to attach myself to.
3. Buddha at Hotel Galactica.
4. The Man lit up at night.
5. and 6. A couple of pics from the smorgasbord of schlongs.
7. My sweetie bedecked in his handcrafted recycled jewelery.
8. Basura Sagrada Temple of Trash Alchemy and Sacred Space. Oh my god. This temple, made out of all recycled material was both a political and spiritual act. I was overwhelmed by the sacred power of this space. It was lovely beyond words. Peaceful and awe inspiring. By far my most powerful temple experience from 3 years on the playa.
9. Temple hummingbird that reminded me of the one woman I fell head over heels in love with. I still feel cheated of the opportunity to ravish her body with the powerful sexual loving energy I experienced for her.
10. Temple chime.
11. and 12. Temple Wisdom. Love and time. Isn't that the truth.
13. More winged heart reminder to get that tattoo.
14. Leaving the Temple of Trash at Sunset to go home and prepare dinner for our Peace Camp mates.
15. 16. and 17. War crimes and the human condition we are all a part of.
18. There is only love.
19. Me on burn night.
20. The Burningman
21. 22. 23. and 24. My temple offering. I've been carrying around some major pain and suffering. I wrote it all out with the intention of releasing my attachment with a prayer for love and truth. I stuck an American Spirit Cigarette (Remember this year's Burningman theme The American Dream) inside and rolled it up tight, tied with with a red ribbon and smeared it with Sensual Beauty Amber Rose essential oil. On burn night I tucked my temple offering in my bra under my right breast and over my heart where it stayed while we partook in the burning of the man. Afterwards Jerry and I sojourned to to the temple where I tied my offering to a beautiful heart altar inside the temple.
25. Me and my baby soaking in the temple vibes after the burning of the man.

I'm Home! Six Burningman Pictures

We arrived home from Burningman today at about 2:00 p.m. I went to visit my mommy for awhile and then had sessions with two clients. Afterwards Pema brought over a bottle of wine to share while we watched a video of all my cool pics. Here are a few to tide you over until tomorrow when I will write lots more and share more pictures too. For now it's off to bed!

1. The first picture is of our peace camp flags flying on our corner, 6:30 and Fairlane.
2. The apron fence and American flag. Lots and lots of American flags flying at Burningman this year to go along with the theme The American Dream. I'll write more about that later as I had an interesting reaction.
3. Love Is Real--from the temple.
4. Picture of drift wood Yoni and clit from temple.
5. My burning love temple offering which I will write more about later.
6. Burning tits--mine.

Burning Love

I'm a little over tired right now. Well okay, A LOT over tired. Jerry and I have been packing the motor home ALL DAY, along with food shopping, cleaning the house, and all the last minute stuff that one does when they leave for a 10 day bacchanal in the desert (well, the actual bacchanal is one week but we will be will be gone 10 days.) I've been up sewing the last few things I needed to fix with the sewing machine and the rest will have to come as a mending pile to be sewn by hand. I haven't finished knitting my silk scarf with glass beads for one of my evening outfits yet either. I still have a bunch to do in the morning before take off so I'd better go to sleep here real soon. I'm yawning with big tears running down my eyes they are so tired. I won't be posting again until the 2nd or 3rd of September when we return in our Burning Love Mobile. What a nice little home on wheels it's making for us. I am so grateful. Happy, happy, happy to be joining my camp mates and other friends as well as a whole plethora of open hearted, open minded Burners. And oh, oh, oh, the art, the music, the wild and crazy shenanigans. I'm going home! I'll have pictures and stories to share upon my return. Love, love and more love.

A Busy Sunday And All The Chocolate I Want

Yesterday was significantly cooler than the couple of days preceding it. It was still a hot day but bearable. Jerry and I got up early and went to our storage, organized everything we need for Burningman and loaded up the car with what it could hold. Then we went to Costco and and bought some LED lights and a pair pack of fire extinguishers. I decided that I want to have a blender, fan and electric tea pot to use in the motor home so on Monday I'm going to go see my mechanic and make sure the battery situation is in tip top condition, purchase a new battery if need and perhaps a solar powered panel to recharge it as well.

Today I'm hoping to get a hold list of things accomplished which include taking my mom to the mall so she can get some new panties and bras and anything else that might suit her fancy. This morning I've already cleaned out my freezer and threw out a bunch of old food from the refrigerator to make room for the almost 13 pounds of chocolate I bought at Trader Joe's the other day. Yes, I know that sounds a bit excessive but I got this wild hair that inspired me to bring chocolate to the playa this year and I even bought this little thermal carrying case and some refreezable ice packets to keep it from melting as we are wheeling around in the sun on our bikes. I have milk, semisweet, and dark (72%) to satisfy a variety of chocolate desires.

Then God said "Let there be CHOCOLATE"; and there was chocolate. God saw that the chocolate was GOOD; and separated the light from the dark.

My friend Ren asked me why I didn't get any white chocolate and I had to explain to her that white chocolate isn't really chocolate at all. She told me to suck her chocCLIT.

My friend D. just called and there is a costume shop/Burningman yardsale happening right down the street and she's on her way to pick me up. Have a beautiful Sunday, I plan to.

American Dream

I have some exciting news to share. Jerry and I have become new homeowners! Well the home isn't actually new. It was built in 1976 so it's 32 years old. New enough for us. It wouldn't win a beauty contest but hey, living in the desert with high winds and dust flying everywhere, who needs that? Are we moving to the desert you ask? Well, for one week in August we are. Burningman 2008, and the American Dream, here we come! Yes, our new home is on wheels, with 40,000 original miles we paid $1,200. for it and both of its gas tanks are 3/4 full--what a deal! It was pretty stinky and dirty inside so I've thrown out all the mattresses, cushions and curtains and washed half of the nicotine stained ceiling so far. Supposedly the stove, oven, and refrigerator all work and we will be checking out everything along with the mechanics and buying a couple of new tires as well as getting a new mattress and some new custom cushions made soon.

2008 ART THEME: AMERICAN DREAM!

And so from hour to hour we ripe and ripe,
And then from hour to hour we rot and rot,
And thereby hangs a tale.– William Shakespeare

This year's art theme is about nationality, identity and the nature of patriotism. One species of the patriotic urge conflates the nation state with mass identity. Governments, as actors on a worldwide stage, become a surrogate for self, a vast projection of collective ego. And yet, there is another type of patriotic feeling that attaches us to place and people, to a home and its culture. Both these feeling states (and their attendant ironies) are relevant to this year's theme.

In 2008, leave narrow and exclusive ideologies at home; forget the blue states and the red; let parties, factions and divisive issues fall away, and carefully consider your immediate experience. What has America achieved that you admire? What has it done or failed to do that fills you with dismay? What is laudatory? What is ludicrous? Put blame aside, let humor thrive, and dare to contemplate a larger question: What can America, this stumbling, roused, half-conscious giant, still contribute to the world?

American Dream

I got Jerry's and my tickets for BurningMan 2008 today!

In 2008, leave narrow and exclusive ideologies at home; forget the blue states and the red; let parties, factions and divisive issues fall away, and carefully consider your immediate experience. What has America achieved that you admire? What has it done or failed to do that fills you with dismay? What is laudatory? What is ludicrous? Put blame aside, let humor thrive, and dare to contemplate a larger question: What can America, this stumbling, roused, half-conscious giant, still contribute to the world?
Words and picture taken from here.

The Raffle

That was one intense weekend! Friday night was the lighting of our community Christmas Tree in the downtown city plaza. We didn't go for the lighting but walked through the plaza after dinner when the masses had cleared. Then we went to the yearly Erotic Art Show and it was disappointing. I keep attending because there is so much potential for this event but each year seems to offer less than the year before. The first show was exceptional and I was very excited when the second year came around but it didn't quite cut it. The third year was even worse and it's been a downhill slide ever since. I keep going, hoping for the best, wanting to support the arts in general and the erotic arts specifically but this one has been a losing cause so far. I've done nothing to contribute besides attend, it's been a spectator sport for me so far.

After the art show we went back downtown to this unpleasant little pizza place where a band called the Yule Logs was playing. This band gets together only at Christmas time and they do all these funny, funky Christmas songs. Not my thing really but Jerry wanted to go so I tagged along. Besides, this event was being held in honor of Josh Read, a local musician who recently died and the money raised was donated to his music scholarship fund. Jerry bought our tickets and then threw in an extra $10 for raffle tickets. We listened to the music and people watched for about 30 minutes and then the band stopped and the raffle begun. We won 4 out of about 10 prizes. The first prize was a $25 gift certificate for The Naked Lounge, our favorite coffee place. The second prize was a white elephant which I took home and gave to my son. The third prize was two dinners at a downtown Mexican restaurant we enjoy eating at a few times a year. The fourth prize was a $50 dollar gift certificate for the restaurant at Sierra Nevada Brewery. Talk about a good investment on raffle tickets!

I was up at 7:00 Saturday morning and stayed busy until 8:00 that night when my work was done and I settled down to party! I was up washing clothes and dishes and then out of the house doing my mom's weekly grocery shopping by 9:00. Then I was back home picking pink camellias, mandarins and lemons to use as decorations for my friend Gerda's Memorial Service/Celebration of Life. Off to the church to help set up for that (although truthfully I just dropped a few things off and left as I had so much on my plate) and then I met my brother at Starbucks for a soy chai and chat before he went to visit our mom and talk with her about some financial issues I had been avoiding. My son stopped by to show us the "new" car he had bought (with a little loan from me) and then I dropped off my mom's groceries and rushed home to dress for Gerda's service which started with a Catholic mass.

Gerda wanted everyone to wear pink so I found some black and pink and dressed in a fitting outfit. As we were leaving the house Jerry asked if I had something to cover my head. I told him no, and he said, "That's what they do you know?" I was amused that although he was raised Catholic, I knew more about what would be expected of me than he did. Shows you how long it's been since he's been inside a Catholic church. It's not really true that I knew more than him though because he knew all the proper responses to the prayers they were reciting, did the sign of the cross at the appropriate times and offered this little genuflect thing when he passed by the altar. After mass we eat and talked about Gerda, her son showed a slideshow and Jerry's band, Spark and Cinder played.

Home to pack up in a hurry for the AfterBurn party. Bedding, food for dinner and breakfast potlucks, alcohol, PlayaWear, computer with BurningMan slide show, BurningMan photo album, towels for hot tub and sauna. Jerry and I parted ways as he had a gig, a Christmas dance party that I was sorry to miss because everybody who was anybody was going to be there...well, except the ones who were going to be at the party I was off to. Here's a few fun pictures I took. We even burned a man! Nice gathering of friends and Jerry joined up with us later.

Quite The Day

Wow. Yesterday was quite the day. Up at 7:00 and at work at the college by 8:00. It was a fairly busy day with students although the first of year rush as slowed down a lot. I finished work and then met with a friend at 4:30 for a beer to discuss various topics such as the freedom and creativity that Burningman inspires, polyamory, and jealousy as manipulation. My women's financial group met at 5:30 and we mostly discussed the pros and cons of disbanding. I hope we stay together but I didn't feel as if I had a very strong voice to offer as I haven't been putting much (if any) work into the group myself. I was secretary for the first year and took my job seriously but after than I resigned and just haven't had much to offer since then except appreciation and to research a few stocks here and there and show up for most of the monthly meetings with my investment money. We've been going for almost six years now.

From 6:45 to 9:30 my Juicy Women's group met. The women were pretty darn juicy too. Randi told us about the Summer of Love Fest and her 25 year bi-sexual loving relationship with her good friend. Pema reported how things continue to improve in her relationship with her lover and also of her polyamorous nature and her questions about the complications of living a polyamorous life. Molly is very focused and diligently editing her book. Lena is working on her house and getting some sexual loving from an old friend. She told a sweet story of the altar she has created of various lovers she has had over the years. Ana entertained us with various Burningman stories about public sex, validation, openhearted connections and her own sexual encounters which have followed her back into the default world. I shared a little about some of my Burningman highlights including my tea ceremony and the beautiful Ranger I encountered on the dusty road for a delightful and spontaneous mini make out session. Our check ins lasted so long that Ana only had the chance to share one brief but powerful sexual encounter as part of her sexual history.

Here are some more Burningman pics for you to enjoy.

I couldn't have asked for a better camp or more lovely campmates.

This is the tea room, behind the bikes. There was a yoga ball in there to stretch on and it made a nice space for napping in the afternoon.

A wonderful woman was looking for a camp with energy like ours to gift with this poster. She ended up staying for tea ceremony and also gifted us with some poetic spoken word.
Our address--We were at the corner of F and Eight.

Another view of Peace Camp
I can't remember where this was located but I liked it so snapped a pic.

The GreenMan--so nice, we burned him twice!

Isn't Yoda a quintessential Green Man? He was our guide all the way to the playa and then home again--oh, well the playa was home. And what a welcome it was!

I'm back and I hope to eventually return to some insightful musings with some substance. For now I'm still tired and dealing with playa skin which is red and inflamed from the wind, sun and dust. My lips are still chapped too. Was it worth it? You betch ya. But the default world has hit me pretty hard since my return.

My mommy isn't doing so well and I'm seriously investigating care homes. I've found one I like but they have a waiting list. My daughter and her girlfriend have basically moved in with her, bless their hearts. I have a home health care agency visit scheduled for next week.

I have some stories and pics to share. Jerry and I shared space in Peace Camp with eight other lovely folks. What awesome campmates. We connected with many incredible people with open heartminds, folks who are doing some intriguing things out and about in the default world.

For now, here are a few pics for your enjoyment.

This is the camp where people had the opportunity to share their secrets in a variety of forms. The secret board was popular. I was told that I should be stapled to the board as a secret. Although I found the comment sweet and endearing I don't want to be anyone's secret. Before last year's burn I had a friend tell me, "What happens in the desert, stays in the desert." I didn't like the sound of that when I heard it. I want to bring Burningman home with me. I don't want to deny my true self for fear of rejection. I want to let the world read my secrets. Thus this blog. I intend to claim my true self, more and more each day. If you are my friend, my hope is that you will be willing claim me publicly also. But as the secret below states, we all have our weaknesses, and those tender underbellies need to be treated gently also.