Only In Italia

-Girls actually do their hair everyday
-EVERYONE owns at least 3 Louis Vuitton bags (this doesn't include those they use for carrying ciggarette packs, makeup, glasses, cellphones and luggage.)
-Strait men walk around with Gucci bags and belts. (most men have "purses")
-You see men dressed in their 1920's Sunday best, reading the newspaper while smoking a pipe.
-They have a pizza called "pizza americana" which is a pizza smothered in french fries
More to come:)
Olive
p.s. THEY DO WEAR FANNY PACKS HERE

Leave Gaga Alone (And Britney Too:))

As all of us know by now through the news that they like to say "spreads like wildfire", Lady Gaga has recently stepped it up yet another notch and given us quite the "meaty surprise."
Of course PETA got on her case. Of course Ellen gave her a bikini made of vegatables to make a humorous point. And, of course we are all asking, "What the hell was she thinking?!"
Why does this come as a surprise? What else would we expect from her?
In case you haven't already figured this out, this is WHO SHE IS.
Why would we want just another pop star who doesn' quite know who they are so they go on with they're lives trying on new hats and never being truely happy with who they are?
So she wore a dress made out of meat? There are far more important things to complain about. And isn't it amazing that theres a human being that can get away beautifully with wearing nothing but meat and diamonds?? Isn't amazing that she can keep doing what shes doing and not let comments like "you're a tranny" and "you are insane" beat you down (but instead just feed your fire?) And there is no point in arguing that it takes pure talent to pull off posing for a men's magazine as a man and make it not look like a joke.
How many women do YOU know who are able to do that?
What the world needs to understand about Lady GaGa is that she is NEVER going to change because of what people tell her is wrong, weird, or crude. She has shown us that you can be yourself in anyway you want. All it takes is courage and the ability to love yourself for who you are when no one does. She isn't just a shallow celebrity whose name will fade. Has the world not seen yet that she is and will be a legend like the ones we know? (i.e. David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Cher, Madonna etc.)
You don't have to like her music, her fashion, or her lifestyle but, you must know that what she does is real. That is the only way to describe what she does and what she is. She does what few artists dream of creating but never take action in doing so. She has a depth in her music that not every artist can claim. She has devoted to living for her fans, her inspirations, and herself.
She gave voice to those, who because of their circumstances and time of life, didn't have one. (Look up the lyrics to her song "Dance In The Dark")
She doesn't live by what humans have had ingrained in them over millions of years as, "normal." What is normal anyways? It's everyday life choices we make because weve been told that's the way its done and theres no other way. Why cant we do it another way?
She is a raw example if this. She is definately not what humans consider to be normal. But, humans aren't "normal." We are constantly making mistakes, doing "weird" things and getting ridiculed by people who are in the same boat. Why can't we just accept that that's the way it is? Isn't it more "normal" to do what feels right and not judge others on what that is to them?
So, heres to a beautiful human being with two hearts. :) Lady Gaga

Listen To My Whining!!

As my few followers may know, I am now in Gorizia, Italy, where I will stay for the remainder of my school year and for a bit of next summer.
My town is very small and most of the buildings are very old and there is an old Roman ruin near my town. The beach is about an hour away in a town called Grado. I stayed there on my family's boat for a night but, it didn't exactly go over well due to the fact that I was already feeling sick when I woke up the next morning and they were frying fish for their friends and we had mysteriously moved from the dock to the middle of the sea. Half awake, I met their friends and then sat on the front of the boat when suddenly a wave of sickness over came me and I promptly vomited.
Since then, I haven't felt altogether there...mentally and physically... I am extremely homesick and I want to get over it as soon as possible...
On my way here, I arrived at the SLC airport all ready to leave when, after an hour of tom-foolery, they canceled my flight. Needless to say, I was upset... although, it was nice to see some of my family again before I left. When I finally arrived in Chicago, I had a lay over for 3 hours in which I made some pretty funny observances. First, there was the little german boy. He was accompanied by his sweaty elephant of a father and his mother who was sporting a fine mustache indeed. He was one of those children who are probably younger than they seem because of his portly figure. He had an very unfortunate haircut where his head was buzzed except for his bangs which were kept long in the front. They had given him a huge bag of Airheads which he was obviously devouring lovingly because his mouth and teeth were colored blue. Why wouldn't you give a child a bag of Airheads before a 14 hour flight?? It's a perfect way to let the person sitting in front of you know your there by consistently kicking the back of the seat.
I am disoriented to say the least. Being jet lagged mixed with gut wrenching homesickness is enough to make you want to die. I'm trying so hard to learn Italian but you start to hate it after a while when all you hear is noise noise noise noise!!!! It feels so incredibly good to write in English and not have to dumb it down. I am trying but, I can only handle so much of my host grandma following me around and talking to me in Italian thinking I know what she's babbling about.
So far, I have no friends at my school. My only friend is the maid at my house named Jeanny. She's very sweet, but probably thinks i'm so weird because I follow her around, make her listen to my sob stories about being homesick and I eat in the kitchen with her instead of eating in the dining room. It just feels weird to be waited on ALL the time. For once in my life I want to do dishes, laundry and other chores. Looks like all my complaining back home backfired on me.
Right now, i'm going to meet Jeanny's sister because my host parents went to a dinner. I think Jeanny knows I need to get out of the house.
More later....