Welcome Home!
It was an extremely busy event for us this year. The most daunting task was administrating the creation and operation of the village of Hushville, which drew 190 sound-weary campers to our space. Then we had the Mobile Portrait Studio, which rolled all over the city documenting the swarms of citizens. You can see the results of this fascinating study right here on these very pages! Let's not forget the three shifts at the Greeter station and the daily column for the Gazette. By the time we limped home to Seattle, we were dead tired and looking to spend three solid weeks passed out on the couch.

But if we did that, there wouldn't be this web site, would there? So here you have it, you lucky dogs... over 450 images that you can peruse in the comfort of your dust-free home. All we ask is that if you see us on the playa next year, simply wave, say hello, and give us lots and lots of snacks. Good snacks, not the stuff that no one in your car touched during the entire trip. You might want to make a special purchase and set it aside just for us.

The Chicken Claims Another Victim!
We've received new proof of why you should never turn your back on the Playa Chicken. Hushville resident One Eye provides a harrowing first person tale that you can read here.
The Return of the Gizmos!
All your favorite PlayaChicken.com gizmos have returned for 2001, and they (hopefully) work better than ever. Some of the cool things you can do include:
  • VOTE for your favorite image and see the results in the Top 10 section!
  • Send an eCard of a cool picture to that special someone!
  • Scribble a Comment about each picture for the world to see!
Coding all these things cost us untold years of our little lives, so please put them to use now!
The Chicken! The Chicken!
We're happy to report that the Playa Chicken made her rounds of Black Rock City and returned to the safety of our camp loaded with wonderful stories. Check out the Chicken section for all the details!

This just in: All the columns that the Chicken wrote for the Black Rock Gazette have now been posted! Read 'em here.

Pop!
No, I won't get rid of the copyright info that pops up when you mouse over the images, so posting rude messages about it won't do you any good.
What's Up With Hushville?
If you're looking for information about Hushville, I kept some of the planning pages intact and they'll be your best source of information until we get material put together for 2002.
Damn This Is Slow!
If you're on a slow connection then it's going to take you a while to get all the way through this site. Like last year, I sized all the images to 640x480, which puts each of them in the 90k to 105k range. I'm sorry if this produces a hassle for you, but the larger pictures really do look better. Besides, this site is best viewed from work.
What Would Sister Dana Do?
Don't you wish you had the rational judgment of everyone's favorite nun, Sister Dana? Well, now you can keep Dana's wisdom close to home with your very own What Would Sister Dana Do? shirt, mug, or hat! Check out this page at CafePress for the details, and please note that everything is being sold at cost... no profits are flowing anywhere!
Rant Rant Rant!
Every now and then I use this opening page as a platform for whining about one thing or another. "Don't bring your dogs to Burning Man!" "Chew with your mouth closed!" You get the idea.

This year, no rant. Consider it a suggestion. Something you can mull over during the time you're getting ready for Burning Man 2002.

Right now, ask yourself these questions: How will my presence improve someone else's experience? What will I do to make Burning Man better for everyone?

Yeah, that sounds kind of foofy and stupid, but I'm quite serious about this. We need to all stop thinking just about the things we're going to do to entertain ourselves, and devote a fair amount of our planning to our impact on the community at large. What if no one cared about making Burning Man a better place? It would be a rather dull event, wouldn't it? No theme camps, no DJs, no artwork.

Now, let's go to the opposite end of the spectrum and think about what it would be like if everyone was doing something special for the betterment of their city. This doesn't mean that everyone needs to be running a theme camp or building an elaborate art installation. Perhaps one person decides to spend a couple hours singing to the people waiting in line for the portos. Another person devotes an extra couple hours to picking up garbage. And yet another person stations them self at a busy intersection, with the goal of giving a hug to every single person who walks by. What would this be like? I suspect it would be absolutely phenomenal, but we won't know until we try.

It doesn't have to be expensive or unduly time-consuming. It can be in-your-face or behind the scenes. It can be a one-time event or something that you do for your entire stay.

Don't just do Burning Man.

Do something for Burning Man.