LA life

Polyluv is essentially any number of adults deciding to share a home, relationships and sex together.

And apparently it's proving to be the biggest hit across the States since the Beanie Babies (the cuddly toys which the other half of America likes to cuddle up to).

First there were wife swapping parties. Then came free love. Now the couple at number 12 in my apartment complex reliably inform me that "Polyluv" is what's hip on the LA scene at the moment, and a wedding cake with anything less than six figurines on the top is simply old school.

Politely described as an "intimacy network" by its devotees,

A clue to who the participants in this new phenomenon are is to be found in a magazine on their coffee tables, called Loving More. Over 10,000 - mostly white - middle-class baby boomers in search of extra people to cuddle up to at night make up the readership.

And apparently it's proving to be the biggest hit across the States since the Beanie Babies (the cuddly toys which the other half of America likes to cuddle up to).

"Most people start off as a couple," explains Jeannie my neighbour, careful not to give away many details about her own menage-a-goodness-knows-how- many. "Then after a period of time, it's possible that either partner in the relationship might get bored and end up having an affair.

"Well Polyluv encourages the couple not to split up at that point. But to widen their circle and include that third person in their relationship and all live together.

"It has endless possibilities. If someone is in a bad mood one day, you can spend time with your other partners while they snap out of it.

"And it can mean other couples joining couples, bisexual people joining couples. And the difference between this and free love is that everyone makes a commitment to each other. Everyone lives happily ever after."

But what about jealousy? Loving More has the answer. It tells its "jealous" readers to attend therapeutic workshops where they should practice feeling glad that their mate is with another.

What Loving More has yet to come up with is an article entitled How To Calm An Irate Landlord When Your Rental Agreement Clearly States Only Two People Under One Roof. I suspect Jeannie may need it soon.