Foxy Moxy: Packing...but am I ready???

Less than 24 hours before we embark on the Festival journey of a lifetime

YES! Weekly thought it would be fun for me to share some of the round-the-clock craziness from one of the largest gatherings of artists on the planet, Burning Man, and I'm looking forward to it. For those who aren't familiar, the event draws over 48,000 people who come to create Black Rock City for a weeks’ time out in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.

Burning Man is an experiment in radical self-expression as well as radical self-reliance. Money has no value in Black Rock City, which instead operates on the principle of a gift economy. People build enormous works of art of the most improbable sort, simply for others to enjoy (or even ride upon, as in art cars), or create fantastical theme camps designed to provide others with a specific type of experience. Black Rock citizens pack out everything they came with and the city disappears without a trace for another year.

I know a fair amount about it in theory, but this is my first actual experience. I'm excited, sure, but I'm nervous, too. I've been to plenty of pagan, clothing-optional and nudist events over the last 10 years or so, even the regional burn Transformus, but they all feel like a dress rehearsal compared to this. Though it promises to be big fun, there's plenty to deal with when you're trying to camp in such inhospitable conditions as a desert.

At this point, I'm putting a fair amount of faith in the idea that everything will work out. For instance, I have no idea how I'm going mange to blog a daily report from the playa, since I'm not bringing a computer. I've never had the joy of finding out how funky I might become after 7 days without a shower, either (spilling water on the ground is a big No-No!). For that matter, I'm also uninitiated as to what nearly 50,000 OTHER unwashed people smell like after a week!

Of course there's always camp PolyParadise , home of "The Infamous Human Carcass Wash", but then you've gotta be happy with strangers (new friends?) cleaning every nook and crannie (talk about your public service) of your stinky self, and I think I'd rather keep my funk under wraps if it comes down to it. We'll actually shop for all our camp supplies when we get to California, so I'm crossing my fingers there's a better solution out there.

Other than that, the electroluminescent costumes (so we don't get mowed down by mutant vehicles, drunken bicyclists, low-flying space pirates, etc. at night) that I've been sewing are complete and I can hardly imagine what wonders may await us, out there on the playa. Whatever no-good and nonsense I manage to get into, let's hope the communications faeries are kind. If so, you'll be the first to know!!!