I love my mom. She cracks me up. I told her how I'd been chastised by some of the "LJ Romani" for liking faeries, etc, was called 'new agey' and a 'bad Romani', and that no one really took me seriously until I mentioned that I had the classic 'Romani feet'. She suggested making an avatar out of a picture of my feet, whilst holding a small faerie between my toes, which made me laugh hysterically. She said 'those fuckers are the biggest bigots out there'.

In all seriousness, though, I honor my heritage in my own ways, but I won't allow it to rule my life. So I like faeries.. big deal. Try going to Ireland and trashing the faeries, see how far you get.. and since when does heritage dictate behavior, anyway? I've known some people with German heritage.. should they be wearing swastikas and behaving like Nazis?? Of course not. I get so tired of the mentality that 'everybody wants to be a gypsy', well, I don't believe that. I think there are a lot of assumptions flying around and a lot of ego in that statement. And even if it were true, who cares? Let them be. Who are they really hurting? Do these people honestly believe that harassing (they call it 'educating') random strangers on LiveJournal is going to solve anything? My response to that would be, if you're sitting behind a computer screen, you probably aren't doing much to help.

I unsubscribed from most of the other Romani communities, (they are all run by one person!) I'm not going to debate my heritage with a bunch of strangers. I made some friendships, and there are people there that I value, and who have been a big help to me, but for the most part, they're just angry. At the same time they complain about Romani not being treated as equals and being underprivileged, they call me 'yuppie' when I buy a new car or a Prada handbag. So, apparently, it's okay for us to have nice things, just as long as they aren't too nice. My mom really put it into perspective for me.. she said, 'you wouldn't keep a snake in your pocket, would you, and let it continue to bite you?.. because that's what you're doing when you allow these people into your life, no matter how insignificant the manner'.