Playa Name: Pookah

Mundane Name: David Berry

Orientation: Slightly bent

Age: 53

Marital status: Polyamorously married

Home Base: Cotati, CA

Prior Burns: 99, 00, 01

Camped with Poly Paradise: 01, was next door on the Temple of Love (AKA Temple of Ishtar) crew in 00. Both years with Laurie, my partner of 28 years, who is choosing send me off to play on my own this time.

Why Burning Man: Because it beckons me once again and I cannot resist the call. I kinda burned out on it after a couple of intense years in a row and chose to take a year off. That year somehow stretched into four, and I’m not going to spend the Burn Night sitting at home lamenting and trying to watch it on the website live cam again. Black Rock City is about the only place on earth that makes sense to me any more!

Volunteering on the Playa: Wherever a pair of willing hands, an open heart and a rather agreeably depraved mind can be useful.

Toughest things: Playafoot, sleep deprivation, sensory overload, re-entry into mundane life

Favorite things: Pedaling my bike at full speed into the empty blackness of night out by the trash fence and honking my squeaky horn just for the hell of it and hearing one just like it answer back from the darkness, being in a near constant state of awe, astonishment and amazement, experiencing what human society and creativity can achieve when the restraints are loosened, driving back home through Reno at 3AM and seeing the lights and thinking “Wow – cool camp! I wonder how many generators they’re using to run all those lights?”

More About Me: I’m on Tribe.net at http://people.tribe.net/pookah