NO HUMAN CULTURE ON THIS PLANET LIVES UP TO IT'S STEREOTYPE, WE ARE ALL INDIVIDUALS, WITH UNIQUE CHARACTER TRAITS. EVEN THOSE IN THE BEAR COMMUNITY, ARE NOT OF A SINGLE COOKIE CUTTER IMAGE. SO WHY DO WE LIVE BEHIND LABELS? IT'S ALWAYS BEEN THROUGH OUT HISTORY, WHERE SIMILAR, YET NOT CLONE-LIKE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ABBREVIATED TO A SINGLE, SIMPLISTIC TERM. WE'D FRANKLY, BORE OURSELVES TO TEARS, IF WE HAD TO DESCRIBE ANOTHER PERSON, WITH EVERY ADJECTIVE, ONE COULD COME UP, ABOUT THAT PERSON. WE CAN ULTIMATELY AGREE THAT THE BEAR, IS COUNTER TO THE IDEALIZED GAY MAN; THE "PRETTY" BOYS, MADE THE STANDARD OF MAINSTREAM MODELS, FEATURED IN THE ADVOCATE, AND OTHER LIKE-MINDED GAY PUBLICATIONS. A BEAR IS CHARACTERIZED, TYPICALLY AS A MAN OF CONSIDERABLE GIRTH, AND HIRSUTE, THOUGH NEITHER IS NECESSARILY A PREREQUISITE, ETCHED IN CEMENT. HE IS GENERALLY, COMPUTER/HTML LITERATE, AND KNOWS OF, OR STAYS IN TOUCH WITH FELLOW BEARS FROM EITHER AROUND THE WORLD, OR FROM A COMMON REGION, THROUGH AN INTERNET CONNECTION. HE WILL OFTEN FIND TIME TO ATTEND BEAR EVENTS, AROUND HIS COUNTRY, OR THE WORLD. THESE EVENTS INCLUDE THE ANNUAL, "INTERNATIONAL BEAR RENDEZVOUS' AT THE "LONE STAR SALOON" IN SAN FRANCISCO (A SORT OF PAGEANTRY, FOR THE HUSKY MAN). THERE IS ALSO , OF GREAT NOTABILITY, THE ANNUAL "BEAR BUST" IN ORLANDO, FLA.

THE BEAR MOVEMENT HAS RATHER PRIDED ITSELF AS NOT BECOMING TOO MAINSTREAM, BUT NEVER LESS IT IS A GLOBAL PHENOMENON, COMMUNITIES, PREVALENT IN BOTH AMERICAS, EUROPE, AUSTRALIA, AND SOME IN ASIA.

MY WHOLE LIFE CHANGED, ONE COULD SAY, DRAMATICALLY IN THE LATE SPRING OF 1999, WHEN I DISCOVERED THE BEAR COMMUNITY THROUGH CERTAIN WEB LINKS. THUS I REALIZED THAT MY NAIVE, IGNORANT PORTRAYAL OF THE GAY MAN, UP TO THIS POINT, HAD SUDDENLY BECOME OBSOLETE. AT 31 YEARS OF AGE, MY INNOCENCE BEGAN TO DWINDLE. HAD I REALLY BELIEVED, THAT THE TYPE OF MAN, I WAS INTERESTED IN, WAS STRAIGHT. TODAY, IT'S HARD TO FATHOM, THAT I ONCE THOUGHT THIS WAY. THUS, I WAS, UTTERLY IN DENIAL FOR A LITTLE BEYOND 31 TEARS. TODAY, I AM NOT AS EMBARRASSED BY THIS AS I ONCE WAS, AFTER SHARING THESE COMMON EXPERIENCES WITH FELLOW BEARS. I, THUS, FEEL MORE ACCEPTED INTO THIS GREAT COMMUNITY, THAN EVER.

I WILL ADD MORE, ON THE TOPIC OF BEARS, AS I BECOME, MORE AND MORE, INFORMED, AND EXPERIENCED WITH SUCH.

I EXPRESS MY APPRECIATION TO ALEX SCHELL AND GEORGE VARAS, WHO ADMINISTER THE LIST, TODAY, AND DO A "KICK-ASS" JOB.