August 29

Spent most of the day in Reno, working the internet, heating up the cell phone and provisioning for Burning Man festival, which lasts for a week. It takes place in a playa (the bed of a seasonal lake) in the Black Rock Desert, and no water or food is sold on site. The festival culminates on September 6th when the hippies get together and burn “the man,” which seems to be some sort of effigy symbolizing human impermanence or corporate evil or something similarly profound. I won’t be able to stay that long; I’m due for a dove shoot in Georgia around that date. But I look forward to the days I will be able to linger.

I just bought a case of Natural Light for $8.98 at the Sak-n-Save. The omens, I must say, are good.