March 03, 2011
The Countess in Ragazza
SuperPop, Smash Hits, and Ragazza made up the holy trinity of my adolescence. I don't even know how Smash Hits reached that corner kiosk at Pitusa Park in Badajoz, but they were all there, and I made my pilgrimage every two weeks to collect my sources of information about the outside world (let's remember that back then we didn't know what the internet was). I think that's where my magazine-buying habit comes from, that imperative need to see printed photos that I still have, even though the internet arrived much later and hasn't silenced it because photos on a screen are not the same as in magazines; I'm sure folders covered with printed photos from the internet don't look good, heh, no.
Over time, SuperPop and SmashHits stopped interesting me, around the time you stop believing in your pop idols, who in my case were the New Kids on the Block (Team Jonathan forever. Who would have thought that Donnie's little brother would become so famous and respected? Right? So crazy, girl), but Ragazza (the "la" before it is essential) survived and stayed, in fact, it stayed on my shelves for many years. I don't remember very well what kind of content it had, certainly very wholesome, very pure, and nothing like what today's teen magazines tell (Have you ever read Loka Magazine? If I ever see my daughter with a copy, I'll send her to West Point), but I do remember that in summer they had a special section of tests that my group of friends and I would do completely. It's very much a teenage thing to do tests, isn't it? Do you still do them?
Super Jimy Vest
Soldier James Jacket
The thing is, with all this in my past, I thought I would die of excitement when I saw my jackets in Ragazza today. What are you saying, girl, girl, so crazy, I can't believe it, girl, so cool, girl, girl. It seems like I'm about to run to the kitchen phone to tell my friend Lupe. "You won't believe it, Lupe, it's crazy, I'm in Ragazza, pass it on and call Mon, and I'll tell Carmen, and we'll meet at 8 at González Arcades to do the tests."
