[Bigi] Mano

[Mano Marks]

Hi, just wanted to intro myself.  I'm Mano.  I'm 31, a
bear, and I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my
female partner of almost 5 years (wow!).  We have a
small place in Albany.  I'm a former Queer community
activist, a Quaker, and a geek.  I don't consider
myself an activist anymore because I'm not doing
anything actively, though I still of course support
all the cool lefty causes.  My partner and I are
non-monogamous.  We prefer that term, though we've
never had a deep discusion about terminalogy so I can
only say why I prefer it.  I prefer it because she and
I are not always with someone else, and polyamorous
seems to imply to me that you are involved with
multiple people at the same time.  We just have the
option.  We always maintain our primary romantic
relationships with each other.  I have a boyfriend of
almost 2 years, and she occasionally has other
partners or flings.  I know some people restrict
themselves to only playing with someone of a different
gender than their partner, but we don't make that
restriction.  It just seems to have mostly happened
that way.  It's funny, but I just realized that most
of the people I hang out with are in a similar kind of
relationship, though through work and some extended
community I know, of course, people who are both poly
and monogamous.  BTW, I'm not trying to start a war
over word usage.  Just adding perspective on why I use
monogamous.

Any other Quakers out there?

I am going to be reading from my piece Shadows in the
Mirror, published in the anthology Male Lust, as part
of a group of authors tonight at Cody's in Berkeley
(the Telegraph one) It starts at 8:00.  If anyone
wants to come, you are welcome.  My piece is about
sexuality as a sexual abuse survivor.  Many of the
pieces are intense and/or erotic.  Please be aware of
that before you get there.  Hope to see you there!

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