Burning Man defies description – Just search for “Burning Man 2013” to see how much trouble the mainstream media has explaining Burning Man to an audience with a 30 second attention span. Impossible. We just spent a week in Black Rock City with 68,000 of our closest friends and here are a few glib generalisations of my own …

Burning Man is a drug and booze driven week long dance party. Burning Man is a desert Spring Break in costume. Burning Man is a bunch of old hippies still trying to create a tie-dye, hedonistic, atheist but spiritual, chaotic utopia. Burning Man is a carnival where the customers bring the attractions. Burning Man is a experiment in created community. Burning Man is being ruined by rich poseurs showing up with massive RVs, generators, showers, and Segways. Burning Man is a massive explosion of art and creativity. Burning Man is an opportunity for reflection and detachment from the real world.

All of these are true and I know that I haven’t even begun to understand what is going on.