~*...psyche out...*~

on saturday night i went to the toronto burning man community's decompression party appropriately named "psyche out". i loved this about the om community, and i'm rekognizing that it applies to the burning man community too...the participants do not limit their interaction to the time of year that the festival occurs, and that's a beautiful thing.

the party was held in kensington market at a place called the boat. i had never heard of it before, then again it wasn't a club. it was more of a hall space used for our decompressing pleasure.


photo by taymar

planning my outfit for this party was almost as fun as wearing my outfit. this is what i miss most about the rave scene, the imagination and creativity that went into preparing and planning your night out...the joys of making a costume...the rush of knowing that others will be creatively outfitting their personality too and dancing. people not being afraid to be radically expressive. this burning man community truly embodies the spirit of the burn...radical self expression, creativity, and imagination served up at random in all parts of the world.

i wore my red cross colors jeans with flashing lights hanging from the belt loops. i had no shirt on with my chest painted in glow in the dark body paint. i wore a pair of red angel wings, my red tam for my dreads, and a pair of lightning wire sunglasses that i got in china town for $6. you can find everything in china town, and i found the store that wholesales to those stores. schweet.


photo by firedoll jamie

you know what? as i'm writing this blog, or should i say revisiting this blog entry, i'm really feelin this loss of my camera. i'm feelin naked without one. hell, i can't even post a pikcha of my outfit, and to a fashion whore like me that's a problem (i have a folder of images of my reflektion in the mirror so that i have a pikcha of my outfit from that night). i can't afford the camera i really want so i'm cameraless for right meow, but that doesn't mean my friends and people i roll with (you) don't have digital cameras. so here's what i'm going to do: if you have a camera i'm going to ask for someone else to take a pikcha of you and i (and whomever else might be around and feelin camera whorish ;). then you can email the pik to me and i'll use it here in my blog. i'll give you credit for the shot and link to your homepage each time i share one of your pix. prrrfekt. if i've posted a pik anywhere in my blog that you do not want posted here, please send me an email and i'll remove it immediately. now back to your regular scheduled blog entry...

it was my friend angela's birthday (week), so her and my laurien joined me that saturday night to paint the town red. these two beautiful women had a great time painting my body as we prepp'd for the party by watching the malcolm in the middle episode where they go to burning man. because my body paint had not yet dried, i had to walk to the party wearing only angel wings on top. yah, it got pretty freakin cold. by the time we were half way there, i was like "fuck it, i'm putting on a jacket." the cold isn't so bad when you're dressed for it, but shirtless in november in canada just ain't warm enough *smacks head* i did get quite a few cheers and beeps from passing cars though, more than usual ;)

when we arrived at the boat were greeted by the smiles of beautifully creative people. outside the venue there was a school bus that had flames painted on the side. inside was blacklit and there was a hot tub in the back of the bus. they also had the street sign from the intersection of 4:00 and ego from the playa.


photo by taymar

walking into the venue i was stopped by three burnerz at the door who asked me when i was born. then they proceeded to sing for me the song that was number one according to billboard magazine the day i was born. i can't remember the name of the song, but i was very impressed to see that they knew the song and the words to it. pure playa randnormness.

inside the party was going on full strength. gawd i love this burning man community, they get dressed up to party! maybe dressed up doesn't even come close to describing some of the outfits. so many people radically being themselves. jawsome.

photo by firedoll jamie

my friend lucy had an art installation there that created a tunnel of hanging christmas lights. your journey through the vines of kerstmis lights were made even more of an experience thanks to 3d glasses that you put on. so kewl, and trippy.


photo by taymar


photo by juicy lucy

the party felt like i was at burning man, only inside a venue. the energy, creativity, and the vibe were all being embraced by the toronto burning crew that night.



photos by taymar

i was really happy to be able to spend time with my friend dani. this year was also her first burning man. i had met her at harvest festival. she had come up and asked me if i was at burning man. she was camping with the c4 crew. dani is a pure jedi. like attracts like, or so it seems.


photo by taymar

dani is also the traveler who introduced me to couch surfing international, one of the most brilliant uses of the internet i have come across. sign up and lets vouch for each other! my nick is 'phenormenon' .

after the party, a large group of burnerz then headed up to kensington park where baby g lit off a beautiful selection of fireworks. yah, we were definitely not being quiet or courteous to the people who lived in the neighbourhood, but by the time anyone figured out what was going on and did something about it, we were long gone. its not anarchy, its creativity! perspective is everything.



photo by juicy lucy

angie and laurien came back to my place where we crashed out after an amazing night. the toronto burning man crew reminded me that the burning man energy doesn't just flow through the playa, it flows everywhere. its not just in some of us, its in all of us.

normaste