gah... why do people keep having to call it a fuckin rave party?

I personally dislike that people tend to bill it as a massive rave party, because there's really so much more to it than just the raves that go on at night. It's an experiment in community, a fesival where people defy the elements to live their life exactly as they want to for one week in the desert.

There's a lot of people who like desert parties, and can afford to bring their shit out and throw down. I'm one of them... There are also a lot of people who don't dig on the electronic music scene at all, and are out there rockin out and tripping on whatever it is that does it for them. I did far more cooking than I did dancing. I went out and met the neighbors, hosted a dinner party, helped build a badass "take a gift/leave a gift" structure to encourage gifting, and campaigned for Gary Coleman in 2003. You don't do that during a rave.

We build a city. Our camp served as a venue for hookah smokin, belly dancing, a historical re-enactment with hip-hop pilgrims, and a cool accordian player who taught us drinking songs. We had a system, but I'd have to say we listened more to Herb Alpert, Ella Fitzgerald and the Beatles than we did to techno. I love my city, it's got something for everyone. And that does include ravers and people who celebrate through dance, but it's not limited to them, and shouldn't be described as such.

I had this conversation with two raver bois from Boise who'd decided to make the trek out to BRC this year instead of Ibiza and were trying to compare the two. I asked what they'd spent their days doing... mostly sleeping and trying to recover for the next night of partying. Way to participate, guys! I mean, yes, there needs to be both people who throw parties as well as people who go to them... but for the most part, from what I've seen the *ravers* aren't really giving all that much back to the community.

Keep in mind that Burningman is all about participation.

Glad you took the important first step, which is survivng your first year.

Now it's up to you to take what you've learned and do something that will benefit the city, and not just your ass muscles. Then figure out how to incorporate that into your daily life. Welcome to life.

Before � � After