Burner Resume: Ester the mental molester

Burner Handle: Ester the mental molester,

YMFFGM (your mother fucking fairie goddess mother) but Mama called me razor lips. I’m the M in S&M Productions, your Promo Team

Defaultia Region of Origin: Southern Michigan.

Years Burning/home burn: 4 years. Lakes of Fire, Paradox, and Mosaic Experiment. Years of being a radicalized dirty hippie over eighteen: 51

NSFW: Pretty much everything about me is nsfw...

Years of Servitude, ahem, volunteering: All of them. I have always volunteered at least 8 hours on site. I started volunteering with LNT at Lakes to get a volunteer ticket the next year. I can't step over moop as a rule anyway.  I’ve worked with LNT, TACO, DPW and PROMO. Made great friends and continue to do so.

Lead Role: Promotions co - lead and LNT co - lead
Why: experience, enthusiasm and snark.

I helped plan and execute an flower show event for 10 years that drew 22 to 30 thousand attendants, hundreds of entrants, and used 900 volunteers to stage., so i thoroughly understand the underpinnings and loved the work..

My areas of expertise were:

Data control, database design and programming, participant, judge, clerk, vendor and equipment tracking,

Press releases of judging result within 4 hours of completion so i can hussle.

Transportation for 22,000 (route design, driver schedules, snack service for drivers, coordination with UM Dept.of Transportation,)

Vendor vetting, selection, placement and service (I delivered via volunteers, water, their lunches and dinners for 4 days and spotted for their pee breaks so they didn't have to abandon their shops.)

Document production: 24 to 48 page color glossy program guide, reports, contracts, And for Matthaei Botanical Gardens: pamphlets, handouts and friends organization newsletter, reports, grant proposals, newspaper articles, and grant proposals (professors can be quite pompous)

And a bunch of life experiences (And a lot of biker events we don't need to talk about.)

I worked for Grounds Department at University of Michigan for 10 years and got my PhD in trash picking at that time.

Why does your dept matter?
The promotions team is the circulatory system in our collective body. Information on all the things is made available as soon as we can possibly get around to it. This is why burns don't happen with nobody there!

The LNT team makes sure we’re welcome back to the land we use and we’re not an embarrassment to ourselves.

Why does volunteering improve your burn/make you happy/work for you?
It gives me purpose! Oldest girl in a large family, I can't not do it.

Why should someone consider volunteering for you?
The last line in all my job descriptions is "Have a good time." Also I always do a good inservice, so what is expected is clear as well as what is not acceptable. I don't do favorites and I will get out in front and work my ass off. I lead by making my crew try to catch up with me.

What's your favorite volunteer story?

I can't tell you that one...

What's your choice nugget of wisdom for a virgin?

Don't get locked into a group where you can't go and do until the last one is ready. Fly solo at least part of the time.

What's your best burner skill?
I paint with words and I have some good tales. Also not catching on fire and listening.

What's your drink of choice?
Bunny's Reaper Bloody Marys!

What keeps you sane in Defaultia?
Who said I was sane? Who said I live in defaultia? My forest is my “hole in the wall” from hoomans.

Why do you love burning?
The application of the concept of consent in a fulsome way, along with the principle of radical self expression provides a maskless mass, willing to be. I feel at home, vibrating with my tribe. Normal just doesn't light my fire like unique does. I have suffered much for being unusual and at burns it's a cause for celebration.

Has burning changed your life? How?

I found my fairies. I found my tribe. I'm a misfit with bells on, sore thumb sticking out, purple, yellow and green, but I do belong somewhere., and it's in the burner community.

What does consent mean to you?

Everything. I insist. Also I have a touch of PTSD and will come unglued if consent is breached by surprise. Always ask, every time. You can get it down to lifting an eyebrow with someone you know, but ask!

Ask. Every. Fucking. Time.

Which principle is primary for you and why?

Radical self expression because I've been told to stifle it all my life and have suffered much for my refusal. I feel like I've alway kept the mask a half inch from my face. I find such joy in watching others peel it off. And they're so much easier to love without it.

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Esterized, thoroughly Esterized.