That said, based on everything I’ve read, this system really is not great for anyone poor or struggling with money. Here’s why you may never see me able to support this event while my fiscal position is as someone living below poverty level.

With the new system, you have to submit your credit card information at the time of the ticket lottery registration process. At that time, you have to give them a credit card that will have the funds on it to charge your tickets several weeks later.

If you’re like me, and you struggle with money on a regular basis, the challenges are multifold.

For one thing, this is at the very least, way more of a hassle if you don’t have a credit card. I’d go so far as to say the system discriminates in favor of those with credit cards — yes, ha! – Burning Man is now modeling the banking system — the rich get richer and the poor get screwed.

Ok — maybe that’s harsh… and at the same time, Burning Man has made a strategic decision that really does favor those with credit cards and really does make way more work for anyone without.

Burning Man does have a solution for you though. They suggest you buy a pre-loaded debit card with the total amount you need on it so you can set that aside and gurantee you have the funds. Seems like a reasonable idea to some degree, right? Aside from the obvious pain in the ass and extra work you have to do if you don’t have a credit card at least.

I mean, with a pre-loaded card, both my partner and I can apply and load the same card and enter the same card into the system, or at least I hope so or we’re doubly screwed there. It will suck if they check the credit cards and you can’t use the same credit card for multiple people which I’m not yet clear on. I’m just going to gloss over this and assume this part will work out in my favor.

Here’s the bigger problem I see. Because this is a lottery system, if I’m only willing to pay up to $320 which is the new mid tier price (or not go), I’m not actually sure I can actually use this lottery system to buy me and my partner a ticket.

I mean, best case scenario is I put enough money on the pre-loaded card for the two lowest priced tickets, I win the $240 lottery and then they charge the card and it works. Yah!

If i’m willing to pay up to $320 each (which I see the value of though I lack the funds to do), I still have to tie up all that money. As someone struggling to make rent, this means I have to tie the money up in the card from the registration date until I’m notified at some point a few weeks later. I’m not even sure I want to pay that much to go to Burning Man and now I have to make that decision and be prepared to shell out the funds in about 8 weeks — when the holidays are coming up, I’m traveling and funds are the tighest.

Then, on top of that, I have to know the exact amount of the ticket prices plus all charges/fees (which, to date, I have not yet seen, though Burning Man may get it together and publish that also). They said if your card is declined, the ticket goes to someone else. So don’t screw that up and get the wrong amount on your pre-loaded debit card.

I can just see it now — a bunch of people get pre-loaded cards because they scrounged the funds together and then they forgot some fee and subsequently don’t get their ticket, tied up money for weeks they really needed and then can’t go to Burning Man because all tickets in the “generally available” part after March will be $390.

Meanwhile, at present, it’s not clear if you request 2 tickets and your card will only clear for one ticket if you get the one ticket or you get no tickets. That lack of clarity makes it difficult to plan as well. Again, not an issue if you have a credit card — only an issue if you have to use this pre-loaded debit card system.

For example, if I get approved for a $320 ticket and I have enough money on the card for 2 tickets at $240 only, then only 1 ticket would clear on the card, or worse, no tickets. What if I get a ticket but my partner does not? Oh, right, then I can go back later (after March 1) and pay more when I’m already too poor to afford the $320.

It seems to me this system favors people with credit cards and money to set aside. For the rest of us, this basically blows and creates way more stress than sitting there one day and dealing with the hell of the ticketing system, at least in my opinion. YMMV.

And, while I’m bitching up a storm: I think it’s incredibly lame that Burning Man has put out information about this sytem and all I can find about the soon-to-be-revamped-and-combined-program for low income and scholarship ticekts is that it will be revamped. That does not allow me to make an informed decision at all.

So you’re pretty much screwed if you want to start working beginning of the year on a theme camp and you’re poor because, hey, committing may be useless since Burning Man, the alleged to be radically inclusive event, has now decided to descriminate against the poor.

Last I checked, as someone who makes my living largely (90%+ of my clients) within the Burning Man community, it seems like this organization’s new business practice is designed to not really care about the impoverished artists out there — which, as I’ve witnessed, is a large percentage of the community.

Or, put differently, I’m guessing most of the people on the committee that designed this system have credit cards and weren’t thinking from the perspective of those of us who do not.

Or, put differently, this new ticketing system is designed to change the clients of Burning Man to be richer people rather than the “Starving artists” who are probably the backbone of much of the cool shit out there.

But hey, if that’s their business practice, I can’t complain. I may have been excluded out of the game because of it, but I guess you don’t have to go to Burning Man to be a burner.

Sad day for me. So if you don’t see me on playa in 2012, now you have an idea in advance of why.

I enjoyed one of my responses, and thought I’d share.

Right now someone is appreciating the complex diversity that comprises the human experience such that one person could be starving while another is eating a rich decadent meal; that one person has 5 full bathrooms with running water and another lacks a house; that one person uses birth control because of their consciousness around overpopulation issues while another feels the primal need to procreate without these concerns; that at birth we all start out without any of this knowledge we are all lucky enough to explore and wow – - how lucky are we that we have the resources to sit here and discuss, investigate, educate and grow together even as others are simply struggling for survival.

Over the years I’ve heard two very dichotomous quotes examining our experience of an absent loved one. The first: “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” The second: “Out of sight, out of mind.”

I’m missing Patrick very much right now and it occurred to me that I finally could reconcile these quotes and through missing him as much as I do, I realize I now believe if we don’t really love someone that much, they will be out of mind when they are out of site. And if we really do love someone, the feelings within our heart will grow when we take space.

I’m appreciating the gift of loving someone so much. I feel like the last decade of my life was romantically very difficult and in many ways, tragic. I’m elated to have such a beautiful partner and to have the experience of missing him.

My love, my love, my love….

This  is a real test given by Human Relations  Departments at  many of the major corporations  today. It  helps them get better insight concerning their  employees and in their prospective  employees.

There  are 10 Simple questions, so grab a pencil and  paper.  Record your letter answers to each  question.

Ready?

Begin.

1. When  do you feel your best…

A)   in the morning
B)  during  the afternoon and early evening
C)   late at night

2.   You usually  walk…

A)   fairly fast, with long steps
B)   fairly fast, with little steps
C)   less fast head up, looking the world in  the face
D)  less fast, head  down
E)  very slowly

3.  When  talking to people you…

A)   stand with your arms folded
B)   have your hands clasped
C)   have one or both your hands on your  hips
D)  touch or push the person  to whom you are talking
E)    play with your ear, touch your chin, or smooth  your hair

4.  When  relaxing, you sit with..

A)  your  knees bent with your legs neatly side by  side
B)  your legs  crossed
C)  your legs stretched  out or straight
D)  one leg curled  under you

5.  When  something really amuses you, you react  with…

A)  big  appreciated laugh
B)  a laugh, but  not a loud one
C)   a quiet chuckle
D)  a  sheepish smile

6.   When  you go to a party or social gathering  you…

A)   make a loud entrance so everyone notices  you
B)  make a quiet entrance,  looking around for someone you know
C)   make the quietest entrance, trying to stay  unnoticed

7.  You’re  working very hard, concentrating hard, and  you’re interrupted…

A)   welcome the break
B)   feel extremely irritated
C)   vary between these two  extremes

8.   Which  of the following colors do you like  most….

A)   Red or orange
B)   black
C)  yellow or light  blue
D)  green
E)   dark blue or purple
F)   white
G)  brown or  gray

9.   When  you are in bed at night, in those last few  moments before going to sleep you  are…..

A)   stretched out on your back
B)   stretched out face down on your  stomach
C)   on your side, slightly curled
D)   with your head on one arm
E)   with your head under the  covers

10.  You  often dream that you  are…

A)   falling
B)   fighting or struggling
C)   searching for something or  somebody
D)   flying or floating
E)   you usually have dreamless  sleep
F)   your dreams are always  pleasant

POINTS:

1.   (a) 2     (b) 4      (c) 6

2.  (a) 6     (b)  4     (c) 7     (d)  2   (e) 1

3.   (a) 4     (b) 2      (c) 5     (d) 7   (e)  6

4.  (a) 4     (b) 6      (c) 2     (d)  1

5.  (a) 6     (b) 4      (c) 3     (d) 5    (e) 2

6.  (a) 6     (b)  4     (c) 2

7.  (a) 6      (b) 2     (c)  4

8.   (a) 6     (b) 7      (c) 5     (d) 4    (e) 3      (f) 2     (g)  1

9.  (a) 7     (b) 6      (c) 4     (d) 2     (e ) 1

10 (a) 4     (b)  2     (c) 3     (d) 5      (e) 6     (f)  1

Now  add up the total number of  points.

WHAT THE POINTS MEAN

• OVER 60 POINTS: Others  see you as someone they should “handle with  care.”  You’re seen as vain, self-centered,  and extremely dominant. Others  may admire you, wishing they could be more like  you, but don’t always trust you, hesitating to  become too deeply involved with  you.
• 51  TO 60 POINTS:   Others see you as an exciting, highly  volatile, rather impulsive personality, a  natural leader, who’s quick to make decisions,  though not always the right ones.  They see  you as bold and adventuresome, someone who will  try anything once, someone who takes chances and  enjoys an adventure.  They enjoy being in  your company because of the excitement you  radiate.
• 41 TO 50  POINTS:   Others see you as fresh, lively, charming,  amusing, practical, and always interesting,  someone who’s constantly in the center of  attention, but sufficiently well-balanced not to  let it go to their head.  They also see you  as kind, considerate, and understanding, someone  who’ll always cheer them up and help them  out.
• 31  TO 40 POINTS: Others  see you as sensible, cautious, careful &  practical.  They see you as clever, gifted,  or talented, but modest.  Not a person who  makes friends too quickly or easily, but someone  who’s extremely loyal to friends you do make and  who expects the same loyalty in return.   Those who really get to know you, realize  it takes a lot to shake your trust in your  friends, but equally that it takes you a long  time to get over if that trust is ever  broken.
• 21 TO 30  POINTS: Your friends see you as  painstaking and fussy.  They see you as  very cautious, extremely careful, a slow and  steady plodder.  It would really surprise  them if you ever did something  impulsively or  on the spur of the moment, expecting you to  examine everything carefully from every angle  and then, usually decide against it. They think  this reaction is caused partly by your careful  nature.
• UNDER  21 POINTS: People think you are shy, nervous, and  indecisive, someone who needs looking after, who  always wants someone else to make the decisions  and who doesn’t want to get involved with anyone  or anything! They see you as a worrier who  always sees problems that don’t exist.   Some people think you’re boring.   Only those who know you well, know that  you aren’t.

As I was driving, I watched it first appear, just the left half of the first one. I was driving so taking quality photos was a bit difficult but I snapped a few shots anyway just because it was too amazing.

In fact, it was so amazing that I then decided I would pull over into the vista point spot. It was a mad dash — I was not alone in my quest for the perfect spot from which to take a photo. In the time it took me to pull off 101 and get into the lot, the rainbow had gone from a partial rainbow to a complete rainbow.

By the time I managed to pull into a spot a few minutes later, the beginning of the second rainbow started appearing from the right (south). At this point I was just amazed — it was as if magic had happened and I was lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time!

It was utterly awestruck and giddy as I climbed the steps of the vista. Looking out to the east I saw the bottom of the right side of the rainbow — so very close to me. Before i knew it, the left side of the second rainbow was overhead as I was snapping pictures, joined by others who shared in the thrilling experience nature provided today. As I took it all in, noticing I was going to be even later than intended to my appointment, I thought about the adage about stopping to smell the roses and figured this was the visual equivalent. In less then 15 minutes I had watched the whole thing appear and then vanish slowly before my eyes. It was quite a miraculous experience and it literally stopped me in my tracks!

Here’s my attempt at sewing the pictures together to form a single image of the rainbow. Enjoy!

Elisabeth sent this to me and while I’ve seen it before, it’s worth publishing to the world IMO.

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck..
One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.
At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full..

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water.
Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.
But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the  woman one day by the stream.
‘I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak  out all the way back to your house.’
The old woman smiled, ‘Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?’

‘That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate  the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.’

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each  have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.
You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

To all of my cracked pot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

• 1 banana
• 1 cucumber, mostly skinned
• half a lime, no skin
• large chunk of skinned ginger
• 1 green apple
• 1 cup spinach
• optional, for extra texture, nuts or seeds of your choice

Yum!

throw a party…
dance under the stars…
fall asleep outside…
dream the day away…
…watch the clouds go by…
bask in the shade…
slip down a slide…
open some windows…
skip out of work…
soak up the sun…
smile at a dog…
kid around…
ruin your appetite…
break a sweat…
go with the flow…
sit absolutely still…
blossom…
follow your heart…
capture someone else’s…
take a moment…
carry your shoes…
enjoy the view…
hold hands…
watch your shadow grow…
lose all track of time…
drift…

Used to be, back in the early part of the millennium (that’s a cool thing to say, isn’t it?) that Craigslist.org was a great place to go to help my business. Today I just found out that not only do they require you have an account with them in order to post for things like personals and room mate adds, but also for simple things like class events.

Now it’s not that account that is so much of an issue for me — it is the blatant discrimination against people who do not have phones as well as people who want to do smart things like use different email address for sorting their emails (like I use in my email client). Since they have implemented this new system, if you associated a phone number with an email address, you’re screwed if you want to associate either a different phone number with that email or a different email with that phone number. Read as: you can only have one account per phone number on Craigslist which is quite limiting and, for me, is more annoying than the ongoing sound of nails scratching on a chalk board.

You’d think they would at least warn you in advance that you can’t change it or allow you to associate more than one email address with your account, like cool companies like PayPal…

*sigh*

A series of things went through my mind about how this sort of thing probably happens with all generations as they meet the one that follows them; that I didn’t want to be how I perceived the generation before me; that I had a choice in that moment to either could enjoy it and appreciate the way they were teaching me and helping me grow or I could do what I perceive my elders did and fight it.

I was grateful when I opened into loving the process of allowing the next generation to teach me and help me expand my horizons. I think, perhaps, when I stop doing that will be the day that I really grow old.

So, thank you to all of you who I can truly (and lovingly) label, “those kids today.” You inspire me.

• orbital, entering from left side — 35% success
• orbital, entering from right side – never, yet
• airwrap, clockwise — 45% success
• airwrap, counter clockwise – 30%
• BF, kick tap reversal into airwrap — 50/50 on which way is better but both are still at 20% success
• BTB same direction CAP turn around — left turn much stronger than right turn at this point
• Ronin hybrid 9/3 (L) CAP with (R) pendulum
• “cactus”
• jedi stalls with one hand btb
• waist wrap jedi — left is still so lame – i mean improving
• jedi both behind the back

The first day of  school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to  know someone we didn’t already know. I stood up to look around when a  gentle hand touched my shoulder.

I turned around to find  a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up  her entire being.

She said, ‘Hi handsome. My name is  Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a  hug?’

I laughed and enthusiastically responded, ‘Of  course you may!’ and she gave me a giant squeeze.

‘Why  are you in college at such a young, innocent age?’ I  asked.

She jokingly replied, ‘I’m here to meet a rich  husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…’

‘No  seriously,’ I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be  taking on this challenge at her age.

‘I always dreamed of  having a college education and now I’m getting one!’ she told  me.

After class we walked to the student union building  and shared a chocolate milkshake.

We became instant  friends.. Every day for the next three months we would leave class  together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this  ’time machine’ as she shared her wisdom and experience with  me…

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus  icon and she easily made friends wherever she went.. She loved to  dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the  other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the  semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never  forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium.. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her  three by five cards on the floor.

Frustrated and a little  embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, ‘I’m sorry  I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing  me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you  what I know.’

As we laughed she cleared her throat and  began, ‘ We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old  because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to  staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh  and find humor every day… You’ve got to have a dream.. When you lose  your dreams, you die.

We have so many people walking  around who are dead and don’t even know it!

There is a  huge difference between growing older and growing up.

If  you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t  do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am  eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow  older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up  by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what  we did, but rather for things we did not do.. The only people who fear  death are those with regrets.’

She concluded her speech  by courageously singing ‘The Rose..’

She challenged each  of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives At the  year’s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all  those years ago.

One week after graduation Rose died  peacefully in her sleep.

Over two thousand college  students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who  taught by example that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly  be.

When you finish reading this, please send this  peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really  enjoy it!

These words have been passed along in loving  memory of ROSE.

The doctors said piano definitely needed to go. So poof, there it was — my first form of communication and self-expression and my primary language out the door.

I then found poi, 2 years later, which became my second form of self expression.

I’ve done more to change the art form (and world) through poi in 10 years than I did with piano in 25.

Recently my RSI has been so bad that I wonder if I will need to give up Poi as well and not only do I feel the pain in my body from the RSI, I feel the deep pain in my soul caused by the fear and real possibility of that outcome.

I’m even more connected to it now because I just saw Billy Joel (and elton john) in concert. BJ was the largest influence in my life as I grew up as an idol, role model, artist, composer, musician and of course, pianist. I’m painfully aware of my deep, deep, deep well of sadness for the loss of that aspect of myself (pianist) right now even as I confront the possibility of having to lose another aspect of myself (poi artist).

So here I am… raw, scared, vulnerable and in pain…

The first section below is about the actual products and practices for external care.

1. First, and foremost, I always, always, always use a face cream with sunblock during the day. If you’re going to bother to put cream on your face, why not a cream that offers you the extra protection from the sun? I am particularly sensitive to this point as someone who has a sun allergy. I’m a HUGE fan of Murad products. For day cream, I use the essential C line which has SPF 30. It’s super expensive in stores, but you can get an 8 oz jug (which lasts especially well if you use the toner with it and I’ve had for my last one for about 9 months) for about $80 on ebay. If you buy it in smaller tubes it’s like $25 or something retail. It’s completely crazy.
2. Before I use the moisturize, I actually use a toner. I used to think toner’s were just a bunch of BS. What I found, after trying a sample for a while with my cream, was that the toner actually mixes with the cream and allows me to use *less* cream which more than makes up for the cost of the toner itself. Toner is relatively cheap and long lasting compared to cream, and something about the moisture of the toner I use (also from the Essential C Murad Line) combined with the cream really has me use just pea sized dollops of cream rather than dime or larger sized amounts. It makes a big difference in cost as well as the consistency of the cream as it is applied to my face.
3. After I tone and also before the moisturizer, I also use a skin renewing product. Generally I use the Essential C skin renewing complex from Murad, though I have used some of the capsules from Dermatologica and even the Walgreen brand capsules. They all work. That said, the Murad Essential C formula visibly reduces the lines on my face within 2 minutes of application. No shit. So while this stuff costs a lot (it’s $95 retail but again, you can get it on EBay for $50-$60 for a 2 oz jar) but goes a long way and has far better results than other face creams I’ve used.
4. Especially in the winter and when my face is dry, I use an additional night cream. Being the big fan of Murad that I am I actually use their Body Firming Cream. I LOVE it. I figure, if it firms my body, why wouldn’t it firm my face? I said that to one of the women at the Murad counter at PureBeauty and she said that she was surprised it didn’t feel problematic on my face — I guess it’s a more harsh formula.
5. Home Facials. They are a great way to do affordable self care when you can’t go to a spa and get a professional one — which I absolutely recommend!

Now there’s a whole other series of things which are less obvious about your internal care and how it impacts your face and its aging.

1. Hydration. Water cleanses every part of your body — inside out. So remain hydrated.
2. Reduction of daily stress on system. This means healthy drinks — dropping the coffee, the latte, soda and of course low alcohol consumption helps too. Low/no caffeine intake as well as low alcohol intake is one of the things I believe has helped me.
3. No smoking. ’nuff said.
4. Daily affirmation. My personal affirmation while I’m cleaning my face as well as applying my skin care products goes something like this: “I am young and healthy. I am vibrant. I have the cell regeneration of a peak performing human body. I look vital.” I have been doing this affirmation for years and I truly believe it has helped me to have the skin I have.

Having been a vegan, vegetarian to different degrees, pescatarian and meat eater, I can’t say that meat consumption has done anything negative to the look of my skin. I also think this is a personal thing. I know I started looking more healthy (less pale) when I reintroduced meat in limited quantities into my diet after taking a 10 year break. That’s just me — YMMV!

Hope this is useful!