The problem with this year's burning man was a number of things. 

Problem #1: I drank way too fucking much
   What I mean by this is apparently there is a drink called a "Red Bomb."  It is made when Red Bull and Vodka are mixed together.  I filled a big gulp up with about three Red Bulls and as much Vodka it took to fill the cup.  Then I drank it in roughly 30 minutes.  This is the night where I blacked out... I was told at one point in an "Irish Bar" on the promenade I was standing on the stage holding onto the microphone screaming, "FUCK YOU!" to people I overheard talking trash about Johnny Depp.  All I remember is waking up at 3a.m. freezing and walking slowly to the gigantic candles by The Man for warmth.

Problem #2: Chantel forgot her prescription medication
   Unfortunately Chanty was going through withdrawals because she was forced to go cold turkey w/o medication for the duration of Burning Man, so on the day the man was about to burn she could stomach the pain no longer.  I did everything I could short of going around to every camp to ask for the medication.  I asked the radio station if they could help, the medical tent; I even almost broke into the Gerlach Hospital to see if I could acquire the right pills.  So this year I actually missed the burn.

Problem #3: I didn't document damn near anything
   Being really fucking drunk every night severally affected my ability to be concerned with picture taking and what-not.  This year's camp was rather large comparative to last year.  Everyone from last year was there, except Stephanie, with the addition of Neil & Farah (Neil looks like the Rock and will make you laugh about it, and Farah well she cooked, she cooked well... and we loved her for that)  Bones and some other guy Chris? (Bones was really cool and funny, but the other guy was a downer, he didn't really enjoy the whole thing)  Bryce & his g/f whom I cannot remember her name at the writing of this and Kyle (Bryce and Kyle are Chantel and Conrad's cousins just like Amy "...and Ian, who has never been to BM" they were all awesome, and got as fucked up as me, if not more so) and Amy's friends whom I don't remember their names, but I ran into one of them at a house party in Reno and he had great pictures from this year, unfortunately I never got to get copies. 

So there you have it... kind of, I'll try to explain further with the pics I actually did take... well here we go.

As I said, I didn't document a damn thing, and due to the many problems I don't think a proper group shot was done, or at least if one was I don't fucking have it... so this is as good as it gets this year.

 

The shade structure and the morning after

 

 

This year we wanted to have a more effective shade structure then we did last year, so when another white-out occurs we would be more equipped to not get thrashed with dust.  Well, thanks to Conrad and his parachute we constructed the awesome shade structure that was decorated by the ladies.  This is where I spent most of my time sitting and dealing with the previous night as roughly seen in the last picture.

 

Center Camp

Center Camp and the many camps around it are for people who during the day actually want to leave their tent and communicate with others.  I need to make it a priority next year to just hang there... so much to do, so little time. 

 

Critical Tits

 

 

For some reason I wasn't that excited about the Critical Tits parade during the first year.  I saw it as relatively the same thing over and over again.  This year I learned the true appreciation of the Critical Tits parade.  Not familiar?  Well over 1,000 women ride their bikes and while doing this they are generally at the very least topless.  Many women to add variety paint their breast, or do just plain generally cool things.  Last year I paid too much attention to the midget, the lady in the Rascal, and the white trash naked guy with the hard-on.  This year I sat back relaxed, and enjoyed the many beautiful ladies that were brave enough to be a part of the parade.  

The Beet People

What I love the most about Burning Man is summed up with the Beet People.  Basically a little way down the street from our camp resided the Beet People.  If you walked in front of their camp, and agreed to join their ranks, they stripped you of all your clothes and possessions and took you into their camp and covered you in beet juice.  Then afterwards you became one of the mindless swarms of beet people that went out running after potential new beet people to join your cause.  Only in Burning Man can people have this much fun, being this insane, while completely making a statement.

Drunk Trooper Chanty, and Voyage to Mars

 

 

 

While Chantel still had to deal with withdrawals she was still a trooper and tried her best to be in the spirit.  Another fucking great night I had was when we went to the Voyage to Mars like we did last year.  Last year it was a bunch of hallways with crazy shit inside them that led to Mars, which was a dance party.  This year not-so-much with the dance part and much with the maze.  There were two entrances and about five ways out.  We all went in a group and the way this place was designed was frigg'n beautiful.  Some people went upstairs, others got caught in the ball room, some (like me) found their way out and got to hang out with the guy playing "All Night Diner" on his acoustic guitar.  It like many things there are hard to explain, case-in-point, you need to go.  So hopefully I'll see you all there next year, and next year I promise, to #1 Bring Medication, #2 Pace Myself, and #3 DOCUMENT the fun.