There's this weird teenage, "ACCEPT ME FOR WHO I AM!!!" mentality that doesn't seem to accept anyone else for who they are. It's not just about the wee goth kids, either. But if you're going to embrace a subculture that is steeped in a tradition of you know, a sense of social decorum and grace, it doesn't only apply to people dressed like you, wee goth babes.

Compare pictures of me from the first 2 years of college and now, and you'd swear it was two different people. For me, the full-blown goth look was like wearing a costume, and not descriptive of the entirety of me. So my clothing style changed, though there are elements of gothiness that remain. What hasn't changed is my love for goth and industrial music. I will always and forevermore adore Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus, Front 242, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, and Skinny Puppy.

I know many in the goth community would label me a poseur, but I'm comfortable with the contradictions in my life. Cyndi Lauper and Madonna live in my iPod next to MLWTTKK and KMFDM. I occasionally inject color in my wardrobe and will lust after designer goods, but my Doc Martens are among my favorites. Isn't one of the basic tenets of the gothic lifestyle acceptance? I'm comfortable with this hybrid, so why shouldn't the gothic community be?

Yeah, Jilli, in some column somewhere, there should be a mention of those goth-on-the-inside people, and the friends-of-goths and you know, the way the wee goths need to respect us when we go into the local Torrid or Hot Topic for shoes or hair dye, or gifts for the goths we love, and not look at me like I'm a Tool Of The Man.

Oh, yes, please. I went into Hot Topic to buy some tees for my 16 year old BiL and wanted to tell the cutest, gothiest little sales girl she had some nice ink and but she kept looking at me like I was from Mars so I didn't get the nerve to give her the compliment.

SAVE US FROM THE SNOOTY WEE GOTHS, JILLI!!!

Isn't one of the basic tenets of the gothic lifestyle acceptance? I'm comfortable with this hybrid, so why shouldn't the gothic community be?

Because some of the most vocal parts of the gothic community are know-it-all twerps who don't, actually, Know It All. And they see no irony in saying "Everyone looks down on me because I'm DIFFERENT, man!" while saying bitchy, stupid things about "norms" or "mundanes" or "tourists".

SAVE US FROM THE SNOOTY WEE GOTHS, JILLI!!!

I'm trying to.

but she kept looking at me like I was from Mars so I didn't get the nerve to give her the compliment.

Aahh, you should've anyway. It probably would have blown her little mind. My dad LOVES talking to the wee goths and freaking them out, because dad looks very, very normal.

Aahh, you should've anyway. It probably would have blown her little mind.

I will next time I go in. She's still working there.

And they see no irony in saying "Everyone looks down on me because I'm DIFFERENT, man!" while saying bitchy, stupid things about "norms" or "mundanes" or "tourists".

@@. Really. If you wouldn't think twice about taking me to Wednesday nights at the Vogue, then that's all the validation I need.

My dad LOVES talking to the wee goths and freaking them out, because dad looks very, very normal.

Deceptive, that.

If you wouldn't think twice about taking me to Wednesday nights at the Vogue, then that's all the validation I need.

I'd LOVE to be able to take you to the Vogue for Goth Night. And Allyson needs to visit so I can take her and the pet DJ can flirt with her.

Hunger satiating fats are the problem. The key is to eat as soon as I'm hungry, before my appetite gets bored and bails.