tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88950975656943557952024-09-11T22:14:59.401-07:00Fiction, Travels, Essays, Poetryridgeoramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13714503961419931962noreply@blogger.comBlogger103125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8895097565694355795.post-70283068869505692362010-12-02T17:19:00.000-08:002010-12-02T17:19:00.829-08:00

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Monday we awoke to the sounds of vacuum cleaners and maids doing maidly stuff, we packed, and made our way to the car, out to the desperado for one last spin till the next time, and we made our way home. The drive was long and none too arduous, but it was a melancholy drive. We had enjoyed ourselves immensely, but it wasn’t necessarily because of the Fan Faire. The food had been good, but the

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The next day was the banquet and costume contest and we had decided to go. The shineys and I, as my bro had not brought his guild shirt, were all in tye-dyes and we decided to head there earlyish. Now this is were I got a tad bit irritated. The drinks they had were overpriced and pathetically small, but the food was not too bad. What was horrible was this guy they had for the MC position. After

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The next day we awoke, opened the drapes and had a smoke first thing. It’s important to remember, when abusing ones lungs to the extent that we did, that if you give them a chance to recuperate your doing it wrong. You want a healthy cough and a serious respect for the casino air that refuses, even with those ginormous fans and air-conditioning systems, to ever truly dissipate the smell of

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So we had finally arrived and in good form we lit up a smoke and searched for the best deal in booze. Now I don’t know about the rest of you but I remember a time in Vegas’s past when the cheap stuff was food, a show, and a room. I would surmise, being as in the ol’ days I was too young to enjoy the more complex and melodic joys of getting shit faced drunk, that in those times as well booze was

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As we crested into the desert we put in some Coast to Coast and, as it always happens, that sparked great conversation. We talked and we listened and I watched the land go by outside the passenger window. Now as I am usually the driver it’s nice every once in a while to take a break from it and be a passenger. Which is nice as you seem to see more of the travel then you would concentrating on the

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So I woke up that day after not much sleep as I was freaky excited, and I ate a bit and then hung out waiting. When I started to get real antsy I called him and he told me I was holding him up. I was still laughing when I hung up the phone. About thirty minutes later and my stuff was loaded in the car, his hybrid, and we were on the road. We cruised down the coast of California and as we

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So the laundry list I got was told to me pretty much in this order. A carton of American Spirit lights, coast to coast am shows on CD, and I decided to turn him on to some new tunes. I had been letting him listen to some of the stuff I had and his usual response was that it had a good beat to walk to. When I heard that I immediately played a bit of the ol’ Prodigy for him, to his joy of a decent

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The trip had been months in the making. In February my bruthah frum anuthah muthah had let me know that the fan faire was again to be held in the city of sin that is Las Vegas. He was totally geared for the jaunt as he had missed last year due to a bout of colon cancer. He had called us mere weeks before the 2009 fan faire and had let us know and had then canceled his ticket and the room charge.

ridgeoramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13714503961419931962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8895097565694355795.post-48514223531882078542009-10-13T13:21:00.000-07:002009-10-13T13:22:01.486-07:00

Addendum I happen to forget one of the most important things concerning Burning Man. The personal interaction that occurs between individuals. So here is a little something that occurred between me and a dude at the gate. As my Frisco buddy and I were traveling back from eating the burgers we were stopped by a guy at the gate. The deal was he didn’t have a ticket to get into the festival and he

ridgeoramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13714503961419931962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8895097565694355795.post-70300869233230970922009-10-13T11:50:00.001-07:002009-10-13T11:50:47.474-07:00

As with most of my travels, that last leg home, especially after walking all day long, was harsh to say the least. I had to stop every so often to splash water on my face and walk around a bit to get my head cleared. But I made it home with only a little effort. As I rounded the corner of a local small two laned highway that curves through a pass here, I saw a guy by the side of the road with a

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As night descended the lights came on, not only on most of the art but on the people as well. Though I didn’t see as much EL love as I thought I would. My Frisco buddy had dangly strings off of his vest so I looped a couple finger lights on him and he was set. As a rule of thumb, and not one used to legalize beating your wife, it is incredibly important to be able to be seen at night when out on

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The music there was techno in origin, but earsplitting in decibel range. Most of the musical art cars and camps have better sound systems then I’ve seen in most of the clubs in the small towns where I reside. The robot heart in fact has such a powerful system on it that when close to it, depending on your sense of smell and/or the acid you’ve imbibed, can give off a smell of intense electronics

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Now for those of you that have never gone to Burning Man, the best thing you can do is to find a regional event where you are and check that out first. That way you don’t have the dust and the lack of showers and the inability to use a cell phone and all the rest of what sometimes makes this society unbearable. You get the art cars, the art, the flames, the dancing, the techno music, and the

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The next aftermorn I awoke and they had already been awake and surfing the web on their own separate laptops at the ends of their couch. I hosed off in the bathroom and got ready in the gear I hadn’t donned since the desert and started to smile and couldn’t really stop. I was going back home by visiting just a slice of my desert world on the streets of Frisco, and I was excited. After I got out

ridgeoramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13714503961419931962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8895097565694355795.post-44817859707122767972009-10-13T11:39:00.000-07:002009-10-13T11:40:08.016-07:00

Now for any of you that happen to have ever drank, for some lost souls out there are sorely lacking in their ability to booze it up, there came a point in my evening that I’m sure you have encountered before. That blessed moment when you have to stop and seriously consider the possibility that if you puke now, the spins may stop slightly sooner then if you didn’t. Well I tell ya, I sat, then

ridgeoramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13714503961419931962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8895097565694355795.post-52776361067043783292009-10-13T11:35:00.000-07:002009-10-13T11:36:28.203-07:00

It was a nice drive out to Frisco. I went along the coast, north to the city, but before I got there I was instructed, by my buddy, to move more to the east as he was residing in the city of Hayward now. So I went around and found the general area, after many u-turns and backtracking, only to find out he was at a wine and cheese festival across the bridge in another city. So I went across the

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My other buddy was driving from out east of Fresno and was bringing his entire family. I had been filling his head full of stories of dust and desolation and art and bacon in the desert so he was jazzed and ready to go. So they were driving out on Sunday, but I was going to get to Frisco on Saturday sometime in the evening. Whether it was early or late was really up in the air. All this was

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With great exhaustion and fatigueyness I write for you all, for the intrepid tye-dyed informer shall always report on the weird, the whacky, and the righteous. It was once again the weekend of the San Francisco decompression and it was intensive and exuberant. But the prep for this one was not unlike trying to make it to the man. Sort of. I had tried like hell for at least a month if not more to

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We started back out the road, and I called the wifeykins to let her know we were heading back. And then we were on the road and heading south. Now it took us at least four hours from Frisco to get to Sierraville, but the way back was much faster. It ended up taking us only about seven hours. We ended up needing gas about an hour or so out and it was there that I got some burger king goodness.

ridgeoramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13714503961419931962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8895097565694355795.post-38388192820684927492009-04-13T14:05:00.000-07:002009-04-13T14:06:11.647-07:00

So we talked, and soaked, and talked some more, and then it was time to boogey back to the RV. I was so tired I could barely keep my eyes open. So I headed back and got ready for bed. My buddy walked back with me and he was out as soon as his head hit the pillow. I puttered around and arranged stuff and then passed out as well. Before I did though I set my alarm for 8:30 in the am as I was

ridgeoramahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13714503961419931962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8895097565694355795.post-5075716422060557352009-04-13T14:01:00.001-07:002009-04-13T14:01:42.496-07:00

Now at Sierraville hot springs the “quiet” rule really is in effect. No dogs are allowed, no loud noises, no cheering, no real expression of any kind, but they project a healing and tranquil environment. Tranquil it is, but for me at least, and possible for others as well, the tranquil bit is cool, but the yelling and laughing bit is sometimes quite meditative as well. Now since they had a “no

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“Man I’m friggin hungry. Do you have any bread duder?” I asked. “Nope.” “Any crackers man?” “Nope.” “Oh well. Guess I’ll have another bowl of soup then.” “Man! What are you doing?!!?? You eat soo much man!” Slight confusion now as most of the food I had eaten I had either bought on the road or had brought. So I decided that I was done and had had enough. “Alright man. I won’t eat any more of your

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The way up was beautiful. As we climbed the mountain slopes into northern California it got cooler and cooler and then there was snow on the ground and on the tops of the mountains. It was stunning and beautiful. On the way we stopped for gas and he decided to go into a fast food restaurant, but I dissuaded him stating that we would be at the philosophy café in a few hours and we should eat there

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The stairwell I used to make my way upstairs had little cartoony ant creatures painted on the walls. And of course, more art. As I made my way upstairs I saw that the top floor was another area where there was more booths set up for different volunteer groups within the man umbrella that allows for the infrastructure to be established within black rock city. Some of the booths were the exodus,

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