There is nothing left for Black Rock

My life of 2012 had been completely taken over by Camp Occuplaya N:OW and the promise of dust filled everything. Who would have thought helping put a theme camp together could be so much work?

My main contribution was a small art installation for our camp, the N:OW Clock. The clock was 4 by 8 foot digital timeless-piece, illuminated by green LEDs that attempted to tell us everything but the time. Most often it just said N:OW.

Each clock digit is made from seven "bits" that are powered by a 12v car battery charger and actuated via an Arduino MEGA 2560 Board. The clock requires 28 outputs of the controller to automate the entirety of the clock, each output actuating a TIP-120 transistor ( these act like a relay ) and sending power to the individual bits. I am able to write all the numbers and most letters of the alphabet.

Power consumption was the main issue, but was solved by running the entire piece off of a small Colman generator.

It all seemed so important at the time. Although I had a great time, there is a thorn stuck somewhere in these kings robes. Friends were made and lost. Tempers tested and characters cultivated culminated only in an all purveying disdain for the burner community.

Last year I was the most jaded virgin, this year the crustiest customer. Looking around all I saw were sparkle ponies and frat boys. There was MOOP everywhere. A wise friend told me that if we spent half the time and money improving our communities that we spend on Burning Man we wouldn't need Burning Man. How true that is.

Burning Man is dead, it has become The Man, cloaked in a phony shell of the idealism that it once was.  Burning things away does not "leave no trace", we learned that long ago. Don't get me wrong, I love fire as much as the next guy, I just see through the bullshit that is Burning Man. It has gone from a community outpost to corporate entity. From a gathering to a frat party.

Good by Black Rock city. Good by dust induced chemical pneumonia. Good by and good riddance.

Though don't be too surprised if you find me back on the Playa one day ;)

Season of the Spider

As very few things scare me, I find many of my interests gravitate towards the exciting, dangerous, and downright stupid. I have always been enticed by heights and claws and creepy crawlies, fangs and legs, eyes and wings more...

Article accepted for Vision Magazine August issue

Keep an eye out for my article "The season of the Spider" in the August 2012 edition of Vision Magazine in the Café section.

Five weeks, not enough

As could have been expected, five weeks just wasn't enough. I came down the mountain on Tuesday, planning on getting my flight back to the US. I decided, by way of coin toss, to stay for another week or two. I still need to call the airline and see when they can reschedule my ticket for.

Things are coming along quite well even though it has been raining quite a bit. I am hoping to get more of my house's foundation done before I leave, so we will see how that ends up working out. The farm is such an amazing place, it's really hard to leave it. I haven't even missed surfing.

Ah, Costa Rica... I will be living here full time one day... but not yet. Back to Cali soon for some intensive gardening and money saving. Life is good <3

Coming down the mountain...

Back in the valley after a full week at the farm. Holy smokes life is all kinds of good after 5 full days of beautiful weather. Melisa, Paul and myself have dubbed ourselves the Trinamic Trio in honor of our synergistic bond that really gets things done on the farm.

When I got back up there, the place was pretty thrashed. Evidently we have had some less than desirable volunteers up there taking things apart and giving birth to a general disarray. A few days of raking and filling earth bricks eliminated a considerable amount of trash. Greenhouse has been rebuilt and seeds have been planted. It's really starting to look nice again. 

Melissa and I built a tee-pee for her to live in that turned out to be a free, dry and easy to build structure. From there we have been flip flopping back and forth between mine and Paul's Earthships with an average of eight tires per day being pounded. At that rate I should be able to have all of my foundation done before heading back state-side. A dry place to stay during the rainy season would be absolutely wonderful.

I will be posting to Eco Sanctuary Blog in the near future, so keep an eye out for updates there. As for now, the day is flying by and errands have been run, I best get back to the farm.

Party prep and goblygook sandwitches

The jungle is more my home than any city I have ever called so. Melanin rising, resistance to insect bites strengthening. Haven't been back to my earthship yet, but I have been working on my friends property, making all sorts of connections with other prospective ex-patriots. Ones that have capital to invest in all sorts of ideas. I am manifesting everything I need through positive intention. Denying urge to invest into the slave traders: Tobacco, Alcohol, Petrochemical.

No more drinking or smoking. Ride the bus or carpool. Well, I am working on it anyway. Got drunk at the party on the farm last night, woke up brutally hung over. My body is definitely telling me something. Not smoking is actually surprisingly easy, I tried to take a drag of a rollie cig last night and it was just awful. Don't get wrong, I did have a blast last night, but I would have had just as much fun if I was sober, and I wouldn't have to pay the consequences. Alcohol is strange that way, as much as I loathe it, I still drink it. Stupid slave habit that must be broken.

My new buddy Chris is taking off back to FEMArica today. Been having a great time hanging out with him. He has been coming to Costa Rica for over 7 years and has never ridden the bus. We went via busline to Cahuita, a little beach town on the east coast close to Panama. He had a blast and it gave me some ideas for maybe taking people on tours of the country. That could work out really well as I could charge the tourists as well as get kickbacks from hotels.

We took a nature walk through the hot and humid jungle. I love this weather, my skin and hair feel so good from it. We encountered all sorts of wildlife in our short 8km hike (4km each way) from the deadly poisonous side striped palm viper to the cuddly cute Costa Rican raccoon. I was looking into the forest and noticed a little blue crab hanging out by his hole in the ground, and once I saw one, I saw them all, literally hundreds of them once you know what to look for. And monkeys! I love monkeys, first we saw some mother howler monkeys climbing through the canopy and feeding with their little baby monkeys clinging to their backs. I am fairly certain that if you looked up "cute" in the dictionary.... Capuchin Monkeys are great too, a bit smaller and their heads are white, hence the name, cappuccino monkey.

I will be heading back to the farm soon, really excited to get some work done. So much has changed since I was there last I spent a rather large portion of time standing in awe. There is a community kitchen by the A-frame and a new improved version in the works on the "playa" area. Someone built a really nice lean-to and can dome by my earthship, so I have a dry place to stay and I am going to finish the can dome and use it for ceremonies an maybe make it into a sweat lodge.

My earthship is just how I left it, I only need to do a little bit of machete work to get everything going again. Things are really coming together here, I am getting hooked up with work through Chris ( he is building a house ) and the guys at the mechanic shop said they might have some part time work for me. Hopefully be teaching Yoga as well in the near future. Manifest reality!

Costa Rica bound

I will be returning to Costa Rica at the end of this month for 5 weeks or so. There is a lot going on down there and I can't wait to get back.

I have a full itinerary already. Getting more work done on my Earthship, the goal being to have the foundation dug and the bottom room dug out. There is a full moon party at the farm, Eco-Sanctuary and the Envision Festival. On top of all that I am hoping to squeeze in some surfing somewhere. We will see if five weeks is long enough.

And now the last year before the planet explodes

We are all aware that the planet will likely explode this year. Who am I to argue with the Mayans and their extensive research into the nuances of time. If time and reality are mere constructs of the mind perhaps the Mayans performed some ancient spell to create the illusion of solidity. But the spell was only temporary and so will the end be. The rapture has come and gone a few times now. Everything falls down eventually. It is no coincidence that the cosmic illusion itself is known as Maya.

I have decided to take the leap and dedicate my life to writing. Really though, what other choice do I have? I am currently writing a "fiction" account of the last two years of my life leading up to the Burning Man adventure. I am also finally compiling a first book of poetry. It beats writing code.

I am now required, by profession, to travel, read, be unemployed and live with my parents or anyone else that will let me hide in the corner with my laptop, fervorously typing the memories of my life and calling it fiction. The names have been changed to protect the guilty. The innocent can fend for themselves.