[rewritten 2008-07-29 in the evening]

Can you tell that I've planned quite a lot? Charlie and I spent a few hours last sunday going through the whole guide, picking and choosing what we would do, planning some bits we'd go to together and others that is our own, and how we relate to different things in there and how we relate to each other in this whole thing with all our ideas. It was a lovely Sunday to have.

Aaaaanyway, the plan for today was this:

  • 07:00 - 11:00. Laundry. No, that's nothing to do with Pride ;-), but I'm wondering how the hell I'm going to stay up the whole day! Maybe I'll find some time to snooze a little, for half an hour or so, say...
  • 12:00 - 13:30. Mom-dad-child A seminar about how to be with the kids as a queer parent. It seems interesting, and it conflicts with...
  • 12:00 - 12:45. Poly 101 - Curious poly A beginners guide to being poly. Can't say I'm exactly a beginner, but it could be interesting to hear what's being said and what kinds of questions will come up. That also conflicts with...
  • 12:00 - 12:45. Activist entrepreneurship How to be an entrepreneur and do it with your queer activism/queerness at heart. This could be very interesting, aaaaaand... I think this is where my priority goes.
  • 13:00 - 13:45. Living in Sin FAQ A panel on being poly in practice. I think I'll prioritise this, as there are practical points that I might yet be new to.
  • 14:00 - 15:00. Theatre: QAOS A show by young queer activists. Why not go to a show in the middle of all? Have some fun in a serious day? Although...
  • 14:15 - 15:15. Svart är en färg man kan bli sjuk av... This is a seminar about jealousy. While my own jealousy is very small to none, I still have to deal with jealousy among my peers or, as the case is, the jealousy in a love's partner, and it could be good for me to have a greater understanding for something that is in part a mystery to me.
  • 15:15 - 16:15. Aspiequeer This is a MUST. I've an aspie brother, I've a possibly aspie son and I've a growing number of aspie friends, many of them queer one way or another. I want to understand them better.
  • 16:00 - 16:30. Music: Räuberhöhle 'A one-grrrl band which is Krawalla and her doll friends. Manga-pop and disco mixed with happy hardcore in a chockingly pink mix!' Yeah, again, why not a little bit of fun in between serious stuff?
  • 16:30 - 17:30. Acts of Translation A panel about queer feminist, post-colonial and anti-capitalist analysis and activism in America and Sweden.
  • 16:45 - 17:45. When the boundaries of the genders collapse We see more trans activities these days. What is a human body and where are the limits?
  • 17:00 - 18:00. Show: Girls, Girls, Girls A celebration of Femme!

The day started early for me. Someone will have to explain to me why I woke up at sodding 04:40! But anyway, it made it easy to have a slow transition to the laundry time, and that was kind of nice. I just hope that I'll sleep a little longer tomorrow, because I'm planning on going to a party late at night, and I need to store up on some sleep to be able to!

Laundry done, I was about to change into what I was going to wear today (same as yesterday except a white tank top) when I got an SMS from Charlie, saying she was better and was on her way to Pride House. Woohoo!

Arriving there, a little bit late, I went to Activist entrepreneurship seminar... or so I thought, the place was packed and they couldn't let me in, they weren't allowed to. So fine, I went to Poly 101 - Curious poly instead, and I don't regret it. I hadn't seen too much of Kip earlier, really, but seeing him and listening speaking at that seminar left me touched. This is a man who's thought it out quite well, or so it seems to me, and there's one part I'd like to mention specially, because it answers the obvious questions about jealousy and competition quite well. The way he sees it, his partners' partners (also often called bonus partners, by the way) aren't competitors, they are collaborators. He enjoys being buddies with his bonus partners. He enjoys ganging up together and make little surprises for a common partner. Isn't it beautiful? And if anyone would ask me "how does that work", I think the straightest answer would be "marvelously".

I reconnected with Charlie after that seminar, stuck around for a bit and got to chat with a few of her friends, and then we simply stuck around listening to Living in Sin FAQ. The panel presented two things, one being about having kids in a poly setting (presented by lovely Jenny that I mentioned in yesterday's entry), the other being about staying in a relationship while moving apart (presented by Kristine and Gabriel). I'll confess that I was more focused on Jenny's part. An interesting thing she started with was the opinion that all humans are born poly, and she's basing that on observation and studies of children. The conclusion is that children love naturally, but through "socialisation", they are basically taught NOT to love (more than one), which is a controlled suppresion/oppresion if natural emotions. She told us a lot about how it was for her, but also all the things she observed in her three daughters as well as their friends, with a lot of positivity in all of it. And all of this happens because she and her husband haven't behaved as if poly would be anything weird, rather the contrary, as the most natural thing in the world!
Somewhere in the middle of this, Charlie asked me with a smile if I was a little smitten with Jenny, and I answered that I was :-).

After this, I was quite a bit hungry, and so was Jenny, so we went having a bite in the nearby café as we were both going to the Svart är en färg man kan bli sjuk av... seminar, which happened in the same place as the previous two. Charlie had her heart set on Theatre: QAOS, so she went off.

Svart är en färg man kan bli sjuk av... was held by Anna, and she based what she had to say upon a number of intervews she had conducted with people on this very matter. There were quite a lot of different stories, mostly about what it could look like. Not really any new information in the matter for me, but it was good to get a little sense of who she was, because I'm going to take part in the workshop on the matter that she will hold on friday. The most fun was actually to translate the little bits that Jenny didn't understand (did I say she's from Australia?).

Directly after that seminar, I rushed to get to the Aspiequeer one... to find a looooong line. Charlie joined in with me as she's interested in the matter as well, but after being in that slowly moving line for a while, we were told it was packed and they weren't allowed to take in more people... How frustrating! Is this the day to get overfilled rooms or what?

So oh well, Charlie and I hung around for a bit, went searching for the exhibit of Femme pictures, didn't find it, went to the temporary shop and checked things out there, had a brief encounter with Ylva Maria Thompson, then found the lost exhibit and spent some time looking at some gorgous pictures! After a bit more time, it was time for me to join with Jenny and guide her to Pride Park to join with Kip and a few others. We spent a few hours setting up the poly tent, and sometimes Jenny and I spent a moment kissing or cuddling (or all of us ending up in a great lovely group hug :-)).

It's about 22:00 now, and I'm home, letting the day sink in with all the impressions and emotions, trying to get ready for the next. I'm also realising that I may need to rethink my schedule so I've space to spend time with people, and there are a number of them I want to connect with. So little time, so many people! :-)

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