PEX

Pex was amazing. Amazing.

Pex is a Burning Man type summer festival in Maryland. It's filled with Philly and NYC Burners, and is a much cleaner version of Burning Man - with a bonus pool!

aerial performance over the pool

Happiness

Life has been chaotic for me lately, absolutely insane. I'm going a little insane and I've been trying to calm down. Pex was just what I needed.

I spent my days in the pool. We shared drinks - mine was Jameson and a pink lemonade/fruit punch combo. We floated on a variety of floats, often forming a massive "floatilla." Every so often, Stefan would throw his parachute into the pool, and we'd float on top of it...or hide underneath for a very different crazy experience. People would push you along on your float. In the pool, people wore bathing suits, costumes, hats, sequins, water wings, or nothing at all. It was a wonderful combination of Burners and pool. It was heavenly.

the parachute!

hooping class

There were workshops - not as many at Burning Man, but there were quite a bit of hula hooping workshops. In between dips in the pool, I'd go to hula hoop workshops until I sweat too much. Or I'd hit up the dancefloor next to the pool. My favourite moments - dancing in the pool to DJ Clarkie. Or when I went out of control for Small Change's old school jungle set. 

It was amazing to just chill, have nothing to do...but relax.

I love Burning Man - don't get me wrong - but it's not always relaxing. The environment is very harsh; the conditions wear on you; and there's always TONS to do. You could go and not sleep one bit and you still wouldn't do everything. Here, you didn't want to sleep (and I didn't sleep much), but there wasn't heaps to do. Check out this blacklight balloon party. Look at this piece of art. Hear this DJ. Just have a wander.

Hoop Performance

Good friends

shot ski at fireside lounge

flipflops

It ended up being one of my favourite parties in a while. I danced without abandoned, I hooped until my scar tissue hurt, I napped in the back of the dancefloor, I shared drinks with strangers, I pulled out my favourite costumes, I tanned deeply despite lots of sunblock, I shut my phone off, I hugged old friends, I made new ones, I poured my soul out to strangers, I asked for advice from random hippies, I laughed, I cried, I reached my arms up to the sky...and it came down to hold me.

Bananalicious Costumes

Okay, so I sound like a mega hippie but it was a beautiful, amazing awesome weekend. Only gripe: the meal plan sucked and was overpriced. But the community was great. I'm so glad my friend Rebeka told me about it, so glad I went, so glad I jumped in feet first because, honestly, sometimes that's the only way to do things.

nature

Decompressing

Surrounded by magenta shiny fairy wings, pink cowgirl boots, hula hoop pieces, Odwalla bars, sunscreen, an almost empty bottle of Jameson, and a pile of PEX stickers shoved onto me at my departure - I am forced to decompress.

Fourth of July. Fireworks should be littering the city skies soon, but on the West Side, so not sure how much I'll see. The two hours sleep I snatched last night underneath booming house music post-dawn are somehow sustaining me, though I feel slightly zombie.

But I also feel zombie. I spent the weekend at PEX Summer Festival - a kind of mini-Burning Man in MD. spending all day in the swimming pool or at workshops. It was like a summer camp for Burners. Cafeteria food, I could wear nothing and be accepted - or a gorilla suit. I spent a lot of time hooping (and thus, bothered scar tissue from my surgery of last year, ow). I danced. I did it all.

But this is abt decompressing. This is about walking through McCarren Park in a Burner-designed dress, pink cowgirl boots, pink suitcase and hula hoops and getting the stares. This is about missing my fantasy world where everything was love, where people listened to your problems and held you as you cried - even if you didn't know their real name. This is about how I wish I could just walk around in sparkly booty shorts every day and people would respect me regardless. This is about wishing I could live in a play world full of glitter and el-wire and creativity and community and helpfulness. This is me wishing I could permanently live in Black Rock City.