Trilogy of Playa Magic, by Jimmer Shine

With introduction by Jim Jordan

Forgetting to write as a writer is something of a crime.

Judging by the regularity of my blog, I could stand accused…

Yet, I don’t feel guilty of anything.

I have a brand new book you can purchase here.

Also, I’ve been experiencing: New languages, Many people of various cultures, Oblectation.

My new book, Sesame Glazed China, is now available for sale at local bookstores on their websites. (Yeah, it’s available on Amazon too, but why would you buy a book from Amazon, when you can support a small business just as easily.!? I will note they got the cover art up quicker, but they don’t know me apparently. The Jim Jordan noted as the author, as of this writing, is most definitely not your Jimmer. Hah!)
You can also order one directly through Oblectation Press if you’d like to have an autographed copy by emailing Oblectation-arts@outlook.com, though shipping time is extended to do so.

So, camping with an internationalized crew at the Burn was awesome. I’m confident a dozen nationalities or more were represented in the 53-person team that was my camp “Spice ‘N Vice” this year. Amazing!

Coming back from Burning Man this week makes me reflect towards a new year (academic calendar for me, friends). This is going to be one that requires great effort, but will certainly be worth the fuel and focus for the fracas that is the fiesta next time. For it was intense, and it made a difference. So many changes… “The time when the clutch is in,” I like to say.

Here, some stories:

Trilogy of Playa Magic

Where to begin? I carried a notebook, and in it, wrote many things. One note I made was to write the story of “Two Jims in a Frogcar” about guy named Reverend Jim and me. He had an age and dust-whitened goatee and a ephemeral house on the corner with a view of where I extracted an RV from after finding it in an inappropriate location. He and his friends had watched from a sky-hidden perch that day.

The two people in the uncommonly large RV were aiming to drive on the Esplanade (deeply unallowable) and I walked in front of them as they were. I waved to them and informed them that they were in the wrong location and that they would have to back up from where they were immediately. As I did, I hollered into the camp where they were aiming so that a representative could be roused for their reception. It was fairly early in the morning as I recall having seen the sunrise with a friend only a few minutes before. The convincing and success of the venture required a bit of grit applied. As I chucked MOOP into their camp to the refrain of “Hey! You got some MOOP here!” and “Hey [Neighbor Camp], you lost something!” and other comments of the sort that were designed to let the driver know that he was further in the wrong than he was previously aware, the friends of Jim and he were completely unknown to me. They watched me as if enjoying theater, unbeknownst to me. As I met the Opal of this neighbor camp, a kind dreadlocked woman who received the driver, my tone changed for her to calm. She thanked me for the delivery, then I left with a bow. As I went to the corner where I’d had the massive rig do a 3-point turn, I heard and saw them to the upper left from my stride towards the rising sun. I laughed, understanding the situation of their perspective for the first time. Towards them, I took a second bow, this one deeper and with comedic, theatrical flair. The group erupted in laughter and applause and sent down a representative. He introduced himself as Reverend Jim.

I laughed when he told me his name. He’d been carrying a set of stickers to offer me in tribute to the moment, as stickers are one of the many currencies of wealth that are shared by the burners at Burning Man. I showed him the notebook I was carrying and showed him my name, saying “that’s my name!” Hah! It was fun.

And so, we talked about the walk towards the Esplanade that we were walking towards.

In front of us to the right was a large steel dome with a sculpted tree reaching up through the center with paintings, flags, lights, poetry, and more standing in the area just ahead. It was an instillation that I liked extra because on the way to the event, I’d run into the lead pair of its creative team at a hot spring a few hundred miles away from the event.

When I saw their sculpture finally constructed, it warmed me a fair-extra bit. This was the first piece that Jim and I saw as we walked out into the warm cool air. He and I were talking about many things. At one point a discussion of frogs came up in relation to his history of being a Reverend, and as we walked through this absurd land of almost cartoonishly surreal environs, there was a light-peddling (I was to come to find out) root-beer-sharing cycle that I pointed to and stoked the great prank, asking if he’d enjoy “stealing that art car,” to wit, he said “yes.” I chuckled, knowing that his pace to my joke was too quick to be disconnected, and figured that he knew the owner at the very least. I headed for the passenger side of the converted paddleboat-cum-roadster. He hopped in after checking the trunk for something. Heh. I asked if this was his rig, it was. Heh. So, I found Reverend Jim, received prizes and stole his art car from/with him. Heh. We skuttled around the Playa a bit checking out the art. It was fun. We discussed the art and talked shit about the lasers and how there was more free fire-play in previous years. Shoot, it was funny. The car was shaped like a frog even. (I hope Eugene’s comic is well, and if not, thanks to him.)

So then, we circled back to about where we’d started and I hopped off at the tree/dome to read the lengthy by soulful prayer/poem by the mystic painter Emma (https://soulandstardust.mx/) after which I continued on to meet other people.

@Anisett and her friends enjoyed the afterglow and rode on into a brighter day than many before it. Dry, but thankfully, enough water was carried. So glad they were there to share.

A bright day, indeed.

This was the story of Two Jims in a Frogcar, a tale of Playa Magic.

Another example of Playa Magic is based on a series of individuals who were interconnected in a great way. The oldest friend of the group, per time known, last seen on another continent near ten years ago, hollered from an artcar in the middle of the night, through dust, recognizing my face in the dark as her boyfriend drove a giant faux airship with dancers on the roof. I looked up and heard from her, her name. I smiled, laughing, because the friend who I was still traveling with and I had on the previous day, visited the home-camp of this friend leaning out her door to me. Reason being, the friend who I was traveling with had participated in the artistic creation of the camp façade where the other friend lived! We had tried to meet up the day before, with directions and a plan but, unable to make that happen, had the late-night after the Man-Burn to thank for our chance meeting. We were able to hang out and visit for hours. In my opinion, some of the finest moments of the Burn for visiting and dancing under the star-lit sky happened on that whirl.

A dervish, I was, for my Persian dance partner was alit with a smile the whole time and what we echo is still fine. What a great night for dancing the Man-Burn night was~

The friend I was traveling with certainly is included with the Trilogy of Playa Magic. But with respect to her privacy, I’ll leave you only with her Playa name: Thought.

**************

And so, with Thought is mind, I find myself frustrated at geographical limitations again. The Captain Kirk move of being beamed one place or another would be well-welcomed by me in my life. I could honestly live in the place that she is, well. Yet, as she, similarly, I’m attached to the locale in which I sit for numerous months if not years for the situation of my life at the moment. Le sigh…

And so I settle into this setting, for the effort that got me here in the past deserves the respect of a space well-filled. And as such, I share a glimpse of my time upon landing here. New apartment, getting it organized for the coming term. Lots of bookshelves, I’ve ordered a desk. New classes for the coming school year, and a new arrangement of living, a bicycle to glide on, but with my best friends leaving town last month. I’ll focus on the studies a bit more, I guess. Maybe someone will ask me out for a weekend wander, could be fun. Beautiful area, this Bellingham. I’ll need to make a point to get out and see it while I’m here. For now, I’m glad to be here to meander for a while in the academic scene.

And… scene.