Burning Man

I was 16 years old when the first Burning Man event happened at Baker Beach in San Francisco. I was born and raised in San Francisco, but I only vaguely remember hearing about Burning Man. Over the next 20 years, I would hear about Burning Man, but I was (for no apparent reason) not curious about it.

However, in the last few years, as more people talked about it, my curiosity stirred. Still, I didn't want to know too much about it. I love surprises. Even bad ones. Therefore, even when I bought my ticket, I didn't know what to expect.

I had heard a few rumors that Burning Man is about sex, drugs, and rave music. I wanted to find out how true the rumors were. I'll address that in the next 3 articles. But first, let's get oriented....

Here's an aerial view of Burning Man 2012.

The location is called Black Rock City, and it is arranged like a clock.

• We are looking at the city from roughly 9:00 (some will say 9:30) position. 
• On the opposite side, in distance, is 3 o'clock. 
• On the right, you can see Center Camp, at the 6:00 position. 
• The open circular space in the middle is called the Esplanade; in the center is the Man. 
• To the left of the Man, at the 12:00 position, is the Temple of Juno. 
• The wide open space on the left is called the Deep Playa, since it is far from civilization. 
• The further away from the center, the perpendicular streets to the "clock streets" are called A, B, C, D, E, etc... 

Hence, at the bottom of this picture you'll find 3:00 and G.

This logic helps you get oriented, although it can be confusing when it's dark and you're on drugs.

See the upcoming three articles to learn and see more about the most surreal event in the Solar System. Each article gets juicier and juicier....