POINT OF VIEW

miSSing my friends on world aids day

December 1, 2015December 1, 2015 by Gazelle Paulo

Hello there,

As another year is passing by…I miss you so much, my darling friends…all 23 of you…some more than others, of course…sorry, but I am being myself as usual, but I do love you all.

I wish I could say this world has improved since you left. But it is a mess, not a hot mess, just a messed up stupid mess…where people continue to kill others, sometimes not even knowing their own reasons why. Believe me or not, but everybody is famous now, everybody is fabulous or fierce, or fabulous & fierce…and again, most of them don’t even know why also. I don’t know either. Would you ask Confucius or Platus why? Aristoteles won’t text me anymore. Maybe Andy knows. Anyway…

I don’t want to sound pessimist, so, I guess you are not really missing nothing much…but I do indeed miss you all, some more than others of course…Please send my love to Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Rivers. Joan should be here…to fire that Donald Trump.

with love, from your friend who still got you under my skin….

Gazelle Paulo

World Aids Day – December 1st

Prezcobix Love by moi

FreakChic

by Gazelle Paulo

president barack obama gets four more years

November 7, 2012 by Gazelle Paulo

2009 New York Post
2012 New York Post

Today, I would like to believe that the majority of people in the world are really happy that President Barack Obama will be at the White House for four more years. Yesterday, his acceptance speech was inspiring, simple and beautiful. I don’t like politics…and I didn’t really like Obama…. and four years ago, I really wanted Hillary Clinton to have won that election…but these past four years, I have really allowed myself to like Obama…and honestly I don’t regret it. I was very touched by his message on hope…so here we go again on another four years…

http://www.barackobama.com/

Freak Chic

by Gazelle Paulo

cher & kathy griFFin: don’t let miTT romney turn back time

November 5, 2012 by Gazelle Paulo

Oh my God….Cher and Kathy Griffin are just hilarious, and of course very much to the point…check the video below…and don’t forget to vote for OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA…just saying !

Freak Chic

by Gazelle Paulo

a re-re and a gazeLLe in mOOrea

November 5, 2011 by Gazelle Paulo

re-re Eva and Gazelle

Moorea

photo by Mark Anthony

I was so surprised, perhaps wonderfully fascinated by the phenomenon ” re-re ” This term is the most used to describe transvestites in Tahiti. The real definition is that a ” re-re ” is a boy raised as a female to fill a woman’s role in the household, if there are no girls in the family. After researching a little about them I came across this statement. ” The most common theory was that a family that did not have any girls would raise one of the boys as a girl. Over the years reports have noted that it was the first boy, or the second boy, or the last boy, or the forth boy. If you ask a re-re that was raised this way, meaning it was not necessarily by choice to be raised as a girl, they will probably tell you that there was no rule as to which child it was in terms of order.“
Today, the Tahitians no longer choose to raise them as a girl, they choose their own path. These beautiful people are very respected in Tahiti. They can support themselves by holding regular jobs like everybody else. I saw a ” re-re ” working as crew member on my way to Tahiti, and another one working in a grocery store. Just incredible how they are a part of the society in such way that it is not really an issue…at least it seemed to me.

Freak Chic

by Gazelle Paulo

surfers with no mothers on mother’s day

May 8, 2011 by Gazelle Paulo

Rio de Janeiro
photo by Gazelle
05/08/11

I would like to believe that the only reason why these “brave young” men who have the courage to face the power of the violent ocean in Rio today, is that probably all of them have no mothers. I mean, is this the gift you give your mother on Mother’s Day? Since, 9AM this morning, helicopters are rescuing this surfers who can’t not get out of the angry water. I don’t want to be a downer, but they are putting their lives at risk which obviously they don’t care, but they are also putting at risk the lives of rescue workers…they should be fined, it should be illegal to enter the ocean when is that dangerous! Just saying…..

Freak Chic

by Gazelle Paulo

the stupid faLL of gaLLiano

March 3, 2011 by Gazelle Paulo

photo by Gazelle
NYC

There is a silly arrogance in the fashion scene; everybody knows better, everybody is a genius, everyone is the newest next big thing, everybody is invincible. It is an immense caged arena where fantasies are created but also destroyed, and in Galliano’s case, it was gone faster that you can say wow, although he was a king for almost fifteen years. Not everybody is untouchable, even Anna Wintour attends shows with bodyguards, a pie in the face is not really that glamorous when mixed with fur, but the show must go on…and some models still fall flat on catwalks…designers are so crazy. The biggest genius of all, McQueen, got fed up and said goodbye !
The two most dangerous things in the world right now are freedom of speech and political correctness, and on that note…technology will kill us all ! I strong believe that in the future, we will not talk, only text…everything that we could say, might go against us, unless we hold the title of comedians. I can hear the most outrageous wrong things coming out of a sober comedian, and people could almost die laughing.

Must I mention some politicians?

Galliano’s video is shocking, that is not the image of him that we got accustomed to, if he believed that expressing himself openly in a bar to strangers in a so politically incorrect manner would have no consequences, he is not only arrogant, but stupid, clearly not well…almost in the same level as Naomi Campbell entitlement to throwing phones on her assistants face.

I read his apology, or the apology written by his lawyer. It does touch all the aspects of this crazy event, “I fully accept that the accusations made against me have greatly shocked and upset people. I must take responsibility for the circumstances in which I found myself and for allowing myself to be seen to be behaving in the worst possible light”, he says. It does seem sincere, but “God” only knows what happened before or during the fact, he says he was threatened with a chair as a result of his look and clothing …but one must know that even under the influence of alcohol, the words ” I love Hitler ” is just too much, some bridges should never be crossed. We live in a world where everything is recorded in a matter of seconds and it is passed along. I am even suspicious of my shadow sometimes. It is sad, but we could not only be victims of our thoughts, but also of anything that has an on/off switch. I am not saying we have opinions like him, but I am certain we all have thoughts that we could be ashamed of, or that it could get us in trouble. Helen Thomas, where are you girl?
Galliano declared he is going to rehab; I have lived in the presence of severe addiction, and I have witnessed, felt in my heart and heard the most hurtful things as a result of it, unfortunately it is a difficult road to make people believe that what perhaps sometimes what you said it is not what you meant, since words can never be unsaid, so I hope he will start the long journey needed for a better way of living, maybe one day he will find himself free again to continue his brilliant career as the great designer he is.

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Freak Chic

by Gazelle Paulo

dreams of drug frEE favelas

December 3, 2010 by

Morro do Vidigal
Rio de Janeiro
photo by Gazelle Paulo
12/01/10

People lately are asking me what I think of the violence that took place in the “Complexo do Alemao” in Rio de Janeiro. I honestly wish it was a question easy to answer, there are so many social, economic and political aspects to this war, that I honestly believe it will never be over. It is funny how fast in some parts of the world they assume the violence and the deaths of innocent lives lost in this take over operation were perhaps unnecessary, I wish they could also understand how many innocents lives are lost everyday because of the drug trafficking, not only in Rio but in all parts of the world, unfortunately measures are needed to be taken, and in anything related to this, lives will be lost in the crossfire, it is the law of this particular issue. Drugs exist, because people use them(hello…), just because “some” of these people were arrested, if you think the problem will be over…it is not. The state needs to fight with social program and jobs, what happens in the favelas are different from what happens in the streets, situations would be treated differently if things were happening in Leblon or Ipanema in bright day light. Police needs better pay in all levels, so that corruption could be avoided, sometimes people in the favelas don’t know what they fear more…the corrupted police or the violent drug traffic.The state needs to really give priority to the safety or the population and it can be done. I have never seen the streets of Rio been so safe during ECO 92, yes it was safe the tourists windows of the marvelous city, why can’t the same effort and money be also direct to the less privileged. So I think…so I dream…

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Freak Chic
by Gazelle Paulo

my shaLLow moment

September 24, 2010 by Gazelle Paulo

photo by Gazelle
JFK – GRU
last night

People still often ask me how I manage to be in so many cities so frequently. Many years ago when I was much younger…all I wanted to do was to travel all over the world…to experience things, learn about different people, try new foods and enjoy the real pleasures in life. So the only way to make this possible(since I wasn’t born rich) was to be in the travel industry, so I became a flight attendant…and I have been everywhere while working a flight or enjoying my free time being in a First Class or Business class seat on my way to somewhere…sorry but I very very rarely fly coach; there are things that once you are exposed to it makes the whole experience more complete. So as I was sitting last night in my FC seat on my way to Brazil to some days off, I started to watch again Sex and the City 2, then finally came the scene where Carrie is seated in her fabulous First Class seat on her way to Abu Dhabi…I know exactly how she feels…and as matter of fact, in my very own “shallow moment” last night I remembered what a business man once said, that one of the best feelings in the world is to turn left once you board an airplane. I am not really that superficial, but I couldn’t agree with him more! Indeed…

Freak Chic
by Gazelle Paulo

steven slater: hero?

August 10, 2010 by Gazelle Paulo

Although I have to admit that what happened to Steven Slater on a Jet Blue flight is very funny, I honestly believe that to hail him as hero is quite a disconnect of the reality and choices that most people have about what these professionals(like myself) have to endure every time we decide to work a flight. It is a choice after all, like everything in life. I have a great job with a great life style and although we might be considered underpaid, “according to the market”…I get paid much more that everybody that I know, I have been all over the world….and I don’t take my job for granted. Yes it is true, there is a lot that you have to deal with, flying today is not what used to be, anybody can afford an airplane ticket and when customers finally board a plane they are so stressed and frustrated and they are left with the flight attendants who are the vulnerable faces of the company which they work for; and the working situations in most cases have not being the easiest ones, every airline company had different policies and pay scale, also add the fact that a perfect flight depends on a lot of factors to go smoothly…so it is not easy…but it is a job and you develop skills to deal with the circumstances. I applaud the decision that Steven Slater has made to change his life, but heroes in the airline industries are my co-workers who show up to work and deal with all with the problems and dramas on a daily basis and still have a friendly attitude, heroes are the firemen who died with flight attendants on 911, hero is Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. Somebody asked me today if I ever felt the urge to do what he did…if it means to change my life for better, yes but I wouldn’t exit that way…lol !! If anything good comes out of this, is the awareness of what flight attendants and people in the airline industry have to endure…now if you can’t deal with it, just get out…I guess that’s what Steven Slater did … me? Nothing against beer…but I drink champagne…my style is way different !