BM2008 post 2
Thoughts general and specific:

So, to start off with, although I had fun at Burning Man this year, as of right now I don't want to go back again. It's just too taxing, healthwise and in terms of the amount of work I have to do to live out there, for the amount of fun I get out of the event. I love hanging out with the Gigsville folks and enjoy going on trips with them, but I find I prefer doing it in less harsh places (I had an especially good time at Twigsville and Mule Days this year, for example). Based on what clynne and others have told me, it sounds to me like Maker Faire has everything I like about Burning Man except the nudity, and almost none of the bad stuff. Perhaps I'll try to go to that the next time it rolls around.

This year I didn't have to go to the med tent for myself (a primary goal of mine!), although I did spend the first 4-5 days feeling nauseous to the point of vomiting in the morning. We got there as early arrivals on Saturday afternoon, and by Tuesday morning I was to the point of saying "f*** it, I want to go home" and clynne arranged for me to leave with someone who was leaving that night. However, I managed to rally and decided to stay for the rest of the event, figuring that if I felt like I was going to barf in the morning, I'd just make myself barf and get on with my day. And by Thursday I wasn't barfing any more. But still, that's just too physically taxing for me. (I understand some people find eating cilantro revolting. I'm fine with it, and to me that's a fair swap for not going to Burning man.)

clynne and I really worked as a team this year, helping each other out during many tough times. Our only big fight was when we attended "Fight Club" at the Temple of Atonement. clynne stood up to fight, and when nobody would stand up to fight her, I volunteered. It turned out my old martial arts experience was a match for her roller derby skills. Perhaps we will start resolving all of our marital disputes through wrestling.

Other fun things included:

• Having chainboy under the Science Dome with us. You rock.
  
  
• Many fun art car rides on the Cheshire Cat and Barzilla.
  
  
• Attending the roller derby match that clynne reffed. Clobber Girl is my favorite superhero.
  
  
• Watching clynne take a pole dancing class.
  
  
• The Gigsville Prom. It's always fun to see everyone in their finery. There's a picture of us here from the photo booth there. Everybody seemed to love our western outfits, both on that night and the night before.
  
  
• Playa Trans shutting down the Esplanade. The best part was when a water truck obeyed the caution tape line Gigsville set up.
  
  
• Taking a ride out to look at art pieces on the day of the burn, including the Temple, which was beautiful; then going out by myself that night, when I got to see the zoetrope in action, climb up the Babylon tower to see the whole city lit up, and get up close to the party duck art car when it was in full effect.
  
  
• Bumping into people I knew: avocado_tom, my co-worker Jesse (who had told me about the art car he help build along with some other folks from Martini Village), and doafy's friend Courtney, who spotted me standing outside a concert venue one night and came by to say hi (and later came with some of her campmates to visit Hello Science).
  
  
• Lake Hughes Steve's shower. What an amazing piece of engineering that was, and how immensely it improved my outlook on life!
  
  
• Hanging out with folks during the various whiteout dust storms; it kept the crushing boredom of those times from driving me insane.
  
  
• Having our various construction projects (mostly) work, especially the wind turbine.
  
  
• And finally, having my prediction about clynne becoming Mayor come true!