Burning Consumerism

I'm going to Burning Man this week. For those of you who aren't familiar with the concept (which kind of includes me), Burning Man is a festival in the middle of the Nevada desert featuring huge art installations, weird experiences and, presumably, lots of nudity.

Most importantly, however, Burning Man requires bringing all you own stuff. Food, shelter, water, etc - nothing is provided, and there is no money at the camp. (Highly ironic in my opinion, as tickets to this thing cost $250.) I hate camping largely because of the need to bring everything - I'm always looking for something, I'm never comfortable, nature isn't a big enough payoff. We'll see how Burning Man turns out.

Anyway, yesterday was one of those hell days of shopping that Americans have to endure a few times a year. I hit Costco, Foods Co, Safeway, a bunch of dollar stores, a bunch of thrift shops. I bought 45 gallons of water, four rolls of duct tape, two sun umbrellas, and a crapload of Budweiser. Sunday was a busy day at all the stores -- I felt like I was moving in a herd, and I also got that creepy feeling I get in Las Vegas -- too much capitalism!

Which again is ironic given Burning Man's anti-capitalism utopian mission. Full report to follow.