New Chances
So…let me tell you why I’m here.
Somewhere near February, one of friends had shown me this blogging book. In this blogging book were all sorts of things - crafts, old farmhouses, cookies, everything - and she thought it would be an awesome idea to start a blog with our little close-knit group.
Originally, the idea was to have all three of us on a blog, but we worried about some things. Exploitation (?), I think that is the best way to describe it…Anyway, the idea of a blog never really materialized and while the idea was refreshened every once in a while, (again) nothing came from it.
I, being the so-called “writer” in our little group was to come up with these philosophical sayings or something like that while Rose, the “artist” would share pictures, paintings, drawings, random sock monkeys…the self-proclaimed [‘second edition’ for possible copyright purposes] ”gypsy-junkie” was to have some sort of credit in the project as well. I’m not sure what her role would’ve been though. I think she just wanted some sort of credit - well, there it is. [no offense, fabulous person!]
Rose and I had gone through some difficult times between February and well, now, (I’m not going to say what due to privacy and personal reasons) and the blog was supposed to be our little way of giving hope to other people who are going through difficult circumstances. ‘Inspirational’ I think the word was.
Again, the project never took shape.
BUT - four days ago, I hosted a birthday party for my buddy Justin. It was fun and the best memory I’ve had in quite some time. At the party was his girlfriend, Victoria, who brought up tumblr, saying I should get one because it’s awesome. A couple days ago, I took a look at it and when I saw that it was a blogging site, I thought ‘why not try making that inspirational blog?’ I’m pretty sure that when she had me join this wasn’t what she had in mind, but oh well. I’m here aren’t I?
And now…LINKS!
You should follow them:
http://www.omgfairytale.tumblr.com (Victoria’s tumblr)
http://www.writingnaked.tumblr.com (Rose’s tumblr)
*Rose’s blog is inactive at the moment because of some technical difficulties with library computers. I may be able to convince her to try again at a later date.
“The Rudari were slave woodworkers (who also did gold-sifting and bear-training), and though they no longer necessarily whittle wooden tools, they still constitute a large Gypsy grouping in Romania. From the time they were first imported from south of the Danube, Nicolae explained, the Rudari, like other bondsmen, were called Gypsies. But they spoke no Romani, and apparently they never had. They shared no customs with the Roma, such as traditional dress or pollution codes. So were the Rudari Gypsies? Are their descendants? Absolutely: they were slaves.”
—Isabel Fonseca, Bury Me Standing.
Yup. Gypsies were slaves in Romania in the middle ages (and beyond). But it was not just Roma - Cigan (gypsy) became a word for slave. Hence, the Rudari.
“It is not really known how the slavery began. One theory is that the Gypsies came over as chattels of the invading Tartars... That is, they were already slaves when they appeared in the principalities and, abandoned on the battlefields by the defeated Tartars, they remained to serve their new Hungarian and Romanian masters. (No explanation is offered for the fact that the Tartars left no such impedimenta in the other Central and East European countries they attacked.) ”
—Isabel Fonseca, Bury Me Standing.
That parenthetical is so politely snarky, I love it.
