Nelson, Digital Kitchens & Burning Man

First of all a huge shout out to Nelson for the re-skinning idea for the blog. Spoke to Iain about it and we now have a clean eyes and reader friendly site. Thanks Nelly. For the rest of you I met Nelson while in NYC waiting for a meeting. He was grabbing a coffee from the machine and recognized my name. We spoke for a bit then grabbed lunch later - he wanted to ask me about January and how I managed to pull my shit back together after Barstow. This post isn't much about the story behind the book but I wanted to put it up anyway. I had a great meeting with guys from Grundy and Thames so the future looks bright for sure. Nelson was in one of the offices as a freelance web geek. He told me his dream is to work for Digital Kitchen who apparently are the top when it comes to web design type stuff. Me? I'd just be happy with a kitchen that has a breakfast nook!

Nelson also casually informed me that he would be flying out to CA to meet up with some old Berkley college friends in the Black Rock Desert for Burning Man. I've never been but heard and seen plenty about it. He say's he's a part of The Naked Chess Federation. I have also heard a rumor about that from someone I used to work with. These guys, as Nelson puts it: "play interactive chess." What that means, I was amazed to find out after probing a little, is that they get naked but for a couple of items of costume and become chess pieces on a 192 square feet board in the playa! They invite passers-by to 'play them'. One team is apparently sprayed white and the other red. If you're up there at Burning Man this week look out for them. He told me the basic outfits were:

Pawn: Gimp hat and harness.
Castle: Hard hat and buff body.
Knight: Suit of armor helmet and pony tail style butt plug.
Bishop: Miter and green/gold stole.
Queen: Stockings and garter belt, bra, wig and female make-up.
King: A Prince Albert fastened to chain round midriff and a steel crown.

Makes you think doesn't it. When you think your life is crazy there's always someone else who is closer to the edge! Maybe it's things like this that have always kept me at arm's length from Burning Man. Back to the main theme tomorrow. Thanks for the great comments so far keep them coming!
RE