September 07, 2007
More Burning Man Memories
- Brina wrote some really sweet things to both me and Steven on the Temple.
- I saw a woman at the Temple drawing pictures in the sand. I told her that her drawings were beautiful. She looked up with a smile and tears in her eyes and thanked me.
- We saw a camp with a giant-sized version of Settlers of Catan set up. There were no commodity cards, but instead they had actual physical representations of the items. For example, they had little stuffed sheep and pieces of wood.
- After first 24 hours, I wasn't really sure I could handle the heat for five more days.
- There was a lot of drama with a camp-mate's dehydration problem, involving being helicoptered out and Brina and I having to stay a night in Reno.
- During that night in Reno we had a shower and Pizza Hut! Ah!
- Beautiful double rainbow on the way to the hospital in Reno (photo by mr_nightshade)
- Brina made us some wonderful food -- fried rice, pasta salad, bee cakes (mozzarella, olive oil, garlic, and herbs on a cracker), pancakes, mimosas
- "Happy Birthday" was constantly playing in a mystery port-a-pottie
- Our shade dome blew over in the biggest dust storm
- Steampunk Treehouse (photo by pixietart)
- I really came alive after the sun went down each night. The heat really sapped my energy during the day.
- I heard "All Over the World" by ELO playing somewhere, so I sang along with it as I passed on my bike.
- I heard a Tetris remix playing from a camp as I biked by, so I stopped, but found no one inside. So I just danced by myself like a crazy man. I heard people commenting as they walked by. After the music stopped, I got back on my bike and continued to my destination.
- I wanted to play Dance Dance Immolation, but it was too crowded.
- We climbed to the top of the 90-foot Crude Awakening tower and were treated to a wonderful view of the playa. (photo by john curley)
- Pictures of our camp's adventures taken by Steven: Burning Man 2007
I keep remembering more things, so there might be more memories to come!
Posted at 01:29 PM | Comments (4)
September 06, 2007
Memories from Burning Man 2007
In no particular order:
- In a drugstore on the way, we heard that the man had already been burned down by an arsonist.
- Packing the two vehicles was kind of nightmarish because we had so much stuff.
- Brina and I had hours in the car in which we organized the songs on the iPod. Useful and fun!
- Brina always yelled "Cow!" whenever we crossed a cattle grate.
- Prius navigation systems rock.
- I ran behind the water truck a couple of times to cool off. Watertruck! (not me pictured). And yes, once I was completely naked.
- Most of the time I wore only a sarong on the lower half of my body. Very comfortable and cool.
- Brina was a truly fabulous camper. She made us all comfy and happy and I can't imagine doing something like this without her.
- Monkeys!
- I should bring a camera that I'm not afraid of breaking.
- I biked by someone's camp that was just displaying a big neon "Y" out front. I yelled "Y!" as I went by and someone inside yelled "Exactly!"
- I'm not used to riding a bicycle.
- I loved meeting and talking to Devon, Hannah, Nathalie, Adam, Adam, Parham, Mark, Whitney, Don, Lynn, and several other people who's names I can't remember.
- It was great to hangout with friends I already knew, too: Ryan, Darby, Devin, Laura, Mark, Lois, Frederick, and Eve.
- Conversations with Keith can be surreal at times. Which is an excellent thing.
- Steven looks great with a grizzled beard and a straw hat.
- I wrote Blossom's name on the Temple and watched it burn. Blossom is a co-worker of mine that died a few weeks ago.
- Getting a crowd of 40,000 people to sit down is difficult.
- I've never seen a higher concentration of generous, caring people.
More later...
Posted at 10:22 AM | Comments (3)
May 08, 2007
I'm Not That Hungry
We often joke that the cats bring rats, birds, moles(!), and bugs into the house because they're trying to feed me. They see that I never eat meat, so maybe they figure that I'm just not good at catching anything.
The other evening Kaylee came in the cat door with a big crane fly in her mouth, and while everyone watched, she walked right over to me and laid it at my feet.
Posted at 09:55 AM | Comments (2)
February 18, 2007
Friendly Reader
Imagine my surprise when I clicked on a link about Google Reader and I saw a friend's (Chris Wetherell) face explaining it.
Posted at 09:41 AM | Comments (1)
August 06, 2006
Ocean Beach Cleanup
Last Friday, I volunteered with a group of co-workers to remove litter from Ocean Beach. We went out there at 9:00 a.m. and picked up as much trash as we could for a few hours. It was pretty hard work -- a lot of bending over to pick things up and then struggling to place them into a plastic bag that was trying desperately to rip free in the gusty wind.
Cigarette butts were probably the most numerous object I found. I guess because it's sand, people think that they're sitting in a giant ashtray? There were also a lot of broken beer bottles and bottle caps. The official beer of Ocean Beach seemed to be a tie between Heineken and Corona. I wish that people wouldn't just throw garbage onto the ground like that. It boggles my mind that there are people that don't care about the environment.
Other items I saw: a glow-in-the-dark plastic dinosaur, dead birds, socks, a t-shirt, charred magazines, cigarette lighters, and two nickels. I kept the nickels.
Posted at 04:42 AM | Comments ()
March 18, 2005
Married!
Yesterday, I married my best friend. Brina and I had a wonderful, sweet ceremony at the Alameda County Recorder's Office, with both of our mothers as witnesses. She and I looked into each other's eyes as we said our vows, and it was such a special day.
I've never felt so close to anyone before; it felt so natural to proclaim my love for Brina. We've already been living together and sharing our lives, but there's something about standing up in front of the world and really promising to continue. It's like the difference between talking about a flower and holding it in your hand.
Posted at 12:32 PM | Comments (3)
February 15, 2005
RandyCon '05
Brina (Jordan) and I (randomlife) went to RandyCon on the weekend of February 4. I could have sworn I took more pictures than this, but I guess I got caught up in all the debauchery and revelry. RandyCon is a weekend of gaming, drinking and eating with great friends that I wish I could see more often. It's in Chicago in February and it's purpose is to celebrate Randy's (Famous') birthday. Yes, I know—who would willingly go to Chicago in February? I've tried to convince Randy to change his birthplace to Hawaii, but he's stubborn in this.
We know we're in the right place:
Michi (BugRoger) finds a place that he belongs:
Watch out for the car, little blind boy!:
I liked the rocks outside our hotel room window:
Brina gets her nails ready for RandyCon!:
For our first game at RandyCon, we played Spank the Monkey—see I told you there was debauchery:
Brina received a gift from Dana (Skeeve) and MaryEllen that made her invisible. You can't see her, can you?:
Here are Brina and 2/7 of Jesse (mallemaroking). Normally, Jesse only allows 2/9 of herself to be seen at any one time. This is my favorite 2/7 of her:
A rare, full-body (relatively) viewing of Jesse and Esther (Raupe). They are discussing a career in balloon animals:
Michi and Vy think a career in balloon animals is absurd:
Randy always gets classic movies as birthday gifts:
John (Carneggy), Devin (Devilcrayon), and Randy get ready for some serious gaming:
Jesse and Kevin (Kestrel) are the saddest mariachi band ever:
This is why people go to Chicago in the Winter—Lou Malnati's pizza:
A cozy game of Sherlock Holmes starring Randy and Brad (Trouble) center stage:
Court (BattleCheese) is always angry when he eats. His wife, Lisa, knows not to disturb him:
Lovely dessert. I didn't get one:
MaryEllen (sitting) and her bodyguard, Jesse:
Dana's (Skeeve's) mother comes by to stop all the rabble-rousing:
Michi and Kevin—the two coolest guys around:
Delicious hash browns from Walker Bros.:
This shows how much of Jesse's breakfast she ate before the waiter even let go of the plate:
Andy (Zomulgustar) and Jeanette (jeanettic) plan their next moves:
This is Ra. I saw it being played a lot over the weekend:
A typical session of Das Amulett. Either that, or a highly unusual session:
Rachel, Brad, and someone who never existed mess with the timeline in Chrononauts:
The lovely Brina takes a quick trip into the future:
Early American Chrononauts. Oh no!—half the timeline is missing!:
Michi looks on as Ellen (Professorbooty) demonstrates the sharpness of her teeth:
Jesse waits in the hotel lobby for someone to offer her a margarita:
Michi: "Brina and Zach (perlmunkee) are planning to attack me, aren't they? I'll show them":
Kevin can guess the contents of any Kinder Egg:
How can any group of people live up to this coolness?? Michi, Kevin, Esther, Brina, Jesse, MaryEllen:
Carcassonne—The City. So fucking cool looking:
Michi plays Katamari Damacy as Brina and Esther watch. MaryEllen and Dana (Skeeve) call for help.:
Freakiest game ever:
Colossal Arena. Who's winning? Your guess is as good as mine:
Posted at 07:45 PM | Comments (4)
February 10, 2005
Both Sides of Death
Currently, in the evening before I go to sleep, I'm reading a book about how to live forever (Fantastic Voyage : Live Long Enough to Live Forever by Ray Kurzweil). On the way home from work, I'm reading a book about what happens to your body after you die (Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach).
There are weird crossovers between the two. They both talk about fat cells. In one, the author writes about how fat is created, what it's used for in the body, and why to avoid consuming too much of it. In the other, the author describes how maggots and bacteria feast on the subcutaneous fat after a body dies.
I feel like I'm getting a very weird perspective on life.
Posted at 10:11 AM | Comments ()