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LTD Newsletter
March - May 2007
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Unless otherwise noted, all events are at 8515
Penfield in Winnetka, directions on last page.
For all events: RSVP the LTD Hotline, 818-886-0069.
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SPECIAL EVENTS
Members $5.00 - non-members, $7.50
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We will discuss the interests of different poly groups in California and (less emphasis) elsewhere which may have things in common with Live the Dream and Family Synergy members. It will include ideas for bringing some of their members to Synergy / Live the Dream functions. We’ll also brainstorm about which groups are not specifically alternative lifestyles oriented but may have many participants who would be open to such possibilities –Human Sexuality college classes, nudist and pagan groups (like Pantheacon above), Unitarian Churches, etc would fit into this category. What kind of outreach can Live the Dream / Family Synergy as organizations and their members as individuals do to bring these people closer? What kind of events would entice new (and possibly younger) participants as well delighting members already in Synergy / Live the Dream, bringing more of them to events? Please bring your ideas to this meeting.
1:00 PM – POTLUCK LUNCH, we are providing corn beef and cabbage in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Bring your favorite salad, juice, fruit or other appropriate side dish to share.
Hot tubbing and socializing follow as afternoon activities.
At 4:00 pm we’ll be heading for the Family Synergy St. Patrick’s Day Party in Orange County. See www.familysynergy.org for more info.
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CALL TERRY TO RSVP BEFORE 3-28-07 PLEASE AT LTD HOTLINE
(818) 886-0069 (EXT. 3)
TO ARRANGE WHAT TO BRING FOR THE SEDER
OR TO ATTEND WITHOUT A FOOD CONTRIBUTION.
We need time to plan things and shop for supplies.
If you are planning to bring food, please arrive before 6:30 pm.
This is a Celebration of Freedom! This holiday commemorates the first time one People (the Jews) freed itself from bondage to another People (the Egyptians). Brian Gitt and Paul Brussel Gibbons will lead the Seder this year, There will be plenty of group participation. You don't have to read Hebrew to attend this or even be Jewish. Whether you want to learn more about your own heritage, just share this special holiday with those you care about, or discover a cultural experience new to you, you are welcome! This is a coordinated pot luck since it requires special foods.
This event is FREE to one clean up coordinator, one serving coordinator, and the single or couple who volunteers to bring 5 pounds of lamb or 10 pounds of chicken.
Cost: $7.50 with arranged food contribution and one bottle of Kosher wine for each adult in your party, one bottle of Kosher grape juice for each child or non drinker. $18 each without food/beverage contribution. Children under thirteen free with food, $7 without. Location: 8515 Penfield Avenue, Winnetka, CA 91306. Phone: (818) 886-0069
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Please be on time for this event as ‘MARK GROUP’ starts sharply at 11:30 am.
In the 70s, More House began as a series of group houses which offered sensuality/sexuality training under the name of More University. This activity is based on the groups used by More House to bring in new people for such houses and to the classes connected to them. David led such groups with that organization back then and has given them for Live the Dream in more recent years. We will experience the kind of intimate verbal encounter which leads to a deeper understanding of each other and of ourselves. David will also share with us the background of More House and how it became one of the longest lasting cooperative housing experiments of the twentieth century. He will also discuss how it continues to function today — yes it's still out there!
Location: 8515 Penfield Avenue, Winnetka, CA 91306 Phone: (818) 886-0069
1:30 pm Pot Luck lunch done Tribal Feast style — bring finger foods to feed one another.
Jacuzzi available all afternoon — bring sandals and towel.
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Dance around the May pole with us! Lusty wenches, Shakespearian theater and the royal pageantry/ rollicking fun of The Queen’s Show. Location Santa Fe Recreation Center. See web address.
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Note: This was originally written as “we might not all hang separately”. Since that writing last month, I have heard from Janet and Shasha Lessen of World Polyamory that their household was broken up by a law against too many unrelated adults sharing a home, even if there are plenty of bed rooms and bathrooms. This is not just an attack on our like minded friends, the Lessens. It is an attack on all of us who believe in alternative life styles, open committed relationships, group living and group marriage. They are on the front lines right now. It’s costing them plenty in legal bills to be on the front lines. If you would like to help with dollars or experienced advice they can be reached at:
Your group house could be the next one under attack. The government thinks it has the right to take your children away or even keep you from seeing your grand children if they don’t like your life style. It happened to my husband and me.
DON’T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU.
First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Communist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the sick, the so-called incurables, and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't mentally ill.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up,
because I wasn't a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left
to speak up for me.
Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)
It is my belief that the more solidarity which can be developed among poly groups, the more we as members of the wider Poly Community will benefit in terms of a variety of like minded people to relate to and the cross pollination of different ideas and philosophies. Greater numbers who agree on wanting similar freedoms will also give us more political clout.
Live the Dream merging once more with Family Synergy is a great first step towards this unification.
Family Synergy began in 1971 as an education and support group for those who believed it was possible to love and be committed to more than one significant other. It was largely based on the writings of Robert Rimmer such as The Harrad Experiment and Proposition 31, though both founders were also science fiction fans and had read such books from that genre as Stranger in a Strange Land.
Live the Dream began as a special interest group of Family Synergy back in 1984. In 1987 it split off from Family Synergy. The good news is that this month Terry was installed as a board member of Family Synergy and we agreed to merge the two groups as one group with the same values.
Now that Family Synergy and Live the Dream have merged, and I am on the Board of Directors again, I intend to put my efforts into education and outreach for that organization. While Live the Dream is more science fiction oriented than Family Synergy, this is not a major philosophical difference. I will see to it that we continue to have plenty of events on science fiction topics as well as parties, shared holidays and meetings of more general interest.
I am asking that those of you who are receiving this mailing join Family Synergy—membership application included here (please see page 5). We will continue to E-Mail our events to those who do not join Synergy for a while, but this is the last one which will be mailed out. It is my intent to contribute articles and events to the Family Synergy Newsletter instead after that. My contributions are already being carried in that Newsletter and have been since September of ‘06. It is an unnecessary duplication of effort to put out two Newsletters when one will suffice. Family Synergy membership replaces Live the Dream membership and is good through December of 2007. Please make this important commitment to support the lifestyles you believe in and to enjoy the benefits of membership in an organization which is about bringing you joy.
If you have any questions about this or just want to talk, feel free to call me at (818) 886-0069.
we’ll sure have more poly partners to cuddle with by doing it together.
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Many people together can live cheaper and a whole lot nicer than that same number could live separately. Over the years at our Live The Dream gatherings we've done an exercise in which we have everyone write down what they could afford to pay for a home and what they could pay monthly. Invariably, we discover that living together costs less and is quite affordable for most people.
Our own household came together through many connections in the alternative lifestyles community. Paul and I first saw each other at a Passover Seder in 1977 conducted by Family Synergy’s founder Hy Levy. This event took place at a group home Paul lived in known as the Allott house. Paul has always longed to recreate that wonderful group home. This home is the realization of that dream. While Paul and I are Jewish, the other members of our household are not; religious diversity is valued in our community.
I knew Paul for many years through Family Synergy—we had differences in musical preferences and Scientology was not my thing. When Live the Dream spun off from Family Synergy in 1988 (as a more science fiction oriented group), Paul was a frequent attendee of those meetings. When we first got to know each other, we were both in committed relationships with other people. I had gotten a divorce by this time and Paul was ready to move out of Anne’s home, though that dear lady was a close friend to both of us until her passing in 2005. Our differences mostly resolved themselves. We developed a deep friendship that turned into love. Paul converted to Judaism and I learned to at least tolerate what he calls music–especially if I get to watch him dance to it. We were handfasted March 13, 1993 and married a year later. He’s the audio engineer for my hypnotherapy business, Success Center, and my personal inspiration for many of the meditation CDs we create together.
Carl, another Synergy member, moved in with us January 15, 1995. I had met him a few months before at a Whole Life Expo where he and my son politely wrestled over who would carry my stuff to a hypnosis demonstration I was giving. Carl won. We later discovered many connections and mutual friendships. He had been in a triad with a long time girl friend of my ex-husband and a man who had been in my friendship circle for many years and still was close. Carl had been after our friend Dan to introduce him to me for quite while, but Dan had not gotten around to it. Carl decided he was home when he discovered we celebrated Shabbat dinner with traditional blessings which ended in passing around the wine glass with the salutation “Never Thirst”. Though raised Catholic (as Paul was), Carl was very much involved in the study of Judaism and also had been associated with the Church of All Worlds for many years. He was an avid science fiction reader as well. Carl was originally interested in my hypnosis business and is to this day invaluable to me in proof reading everything that business provides for clients and hypnotists. He’s also a Healer and helps other hypnotherapists perfect their skills. He does the shopping for our household and creates delicious meals seasoned with love. While not romantically involved with me, he is a valued and beloved member of our household.
Marcus Jenkins attended a Synergy gathering at our home in the summer of 2000, our first such gathering in many years. He was invited by a lady in his life who was disturbed that he delayed going to a permissive party with her because he was involved in watching Star Trek. She figured that someone who considered Star Trek more important than sex belonged with us. She was right. We discovered Marcus had more in common with us than SF. He had been in a triad with another of our water brothers and we had been hearing about him for years before we ever met him. His daughter was living in another group house put together by dear friends of ours who were also Live The Dream members. How had we not tripped on this man? He became a frequent visitor to our home as we grew closer. On June 2, 2001 we were hand fasted at Renaissance Faire and officially became a triad sharing our bed and our lives together. We have since had many occasions to choose between sex and Trek when the hour was late and we couldn’t do both; Trek doesn’t always win.
Marcus is Success Center’s staff artist (a great one), our top marketer, and has collaborated with me in writing the book Inspiration at Will and its guided meditation audio supplement. If you are living with us, interesting opportunities arise for self-expression and (sometimes) profit. It’s not required, just available.
Will “Taliesin” Jarvis attended Live the Dream meetings off and on beginning in 1997. Will is a published author who writes novels on alternative lifestyles and is carrying on for Robert Rimmer, a fellow New Englander, since Bob’s passing. Will has a wonderful SF novel series, scheduled to be published later this year, which features poly living, empathic aliens, and diplomatic derring-do onboard a star ship. He is active in lobbying for freedom of speech and other first amendment issues, issues also dear to Paul’s heart. He had become an intimate friend, though not as closely involved as Marcus. When we did the exercise of writing down what you could put towards rent on a place in June of 2002, I looked at what he wrote and asked if he was seriously available for living in a group house. He said maybe and we went through some gyrations with him not being sure he could handle living with other people after having been in his own apartment for 15 years. Will managed to overcome his trepidations and moved in 2003. He’s still with us as I write this in March 2007.
Most of our group house members have stayed for many years. Recently, we lost one who stayed only for about 14 months. Our triad handfasted with her at a Los Con, a SF convention Thanksgiving weekend of 2005. We gave it our best shot, but four became three again. She is still our water brother and a welcome guest in our home. Not everyone can live together. Back in 1992, I lived for a few months with a man who had been my lover for many years. We even became formally engaged to be married. When we discovered we had incompatibilities that made us poor housemates, it would have been easiest to break up in anger and not see each other any more. We considered that, but then decided that what we had before living together was too precious to throw away. We still spend four or five joyous and special weekends a year together, though he is now married to someone else and lives out of state. Each relationship, along with its transitions, has learnings within it. We grow and move forward.
Any ladies out there want to join a group house? Our housemate, Will, is 49, single, cute and Looking. We could use some more feminine energy around here besides my own, though male roommates may be considered. Our home is a beautiful one in a nice neighborhood of the west San Fernando Valley. It has two fireplaces, a high ceilinged grand living room, dining area and big country kitchen. We have a clothing optional hot tub which usually has good company available and music of your choice playing in it. We share good conversation, holidays, outings, special occasions, hugs... and (yes) household chores. We have a spacious room available with its own bath and plenty of closet space. Call us at 818-886-0069. Let’s talk.
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If you have a “What do you do when...?” for publication please E-Mail it to Live_The_Dream2000@yahoo.com or send it to 8515
Penfield Ave. Winnetka, Ca. 91306. We will take it with
your solution or brain storm and give it one or more of our
own. Let’s have fun with this and learn from each other.
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WHAT EXPERIENCES, BOOK REVIEWS, ETC, CAN YOU
SHARE RELATING TO THE POLY LIFESTYLE?
KNOW OF ANY OTHER POLY RELATED EVENTS?
LET
US KNOW ABOUT THEM!
GIVE US YOUR STORIES
We need your stories for research purposes
— your names will remain anonymous.
If you have been hassled by the government for your lifestyle,
particularly by any child services department, we want to hear
from you by phone, in writing or by E-Mail.
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Our phone number is 818-361-6737.
Our mailing address is
8515 Penfield Avenue
Winnetka, CA 91406
Our e-mail address is: Live_The_Dream2000@yahoo.com
Live_The_Dream2000@yahoo.com
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PLEASE FILL OUT AND MAIL THE MEMBERSHIP
APPLICATION NOW, or call to indicate an interest
in continuing to receive this newsletter by USPS. NEWSLETTER SUBSCRIPTION
IS ONLY FREE BY E-MAIL — WE NEED YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS
FOR THAT. REGULAR MEETINGS ARE NOW FREE WITH YOUR CURRENT MEMBERSHIP
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FOR ALL EVENTS PLEASE RSVP THE LTD HOT LINE:
818-886-0069.
LOCATION OF ALL EVENTS UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED:
8515 PENFIELD AVE. IN WINNETKA (ZIP 91306). NEAR CHASE AND WINNETKA.
FREEWAY OFF RAMPS: WINNETKA OFF 101, ROSCOE OFF
405, TAMPA OFF 118
THOMAS BROS. LOS ANGELES MAP PAGE 530 E1 (that's E ONE)
Where jacuzzi is mentioned, bring towel and sandals.
Jacuzzi is clothing optional.
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