The little differences

Lucky for me and M, our work schedules have allowed us to spend a lot of time visiting each other in our respective countries.  Last year I visited Sweden twice, for a total of about nine weeks.  It's always fun to see the differences between countries, and this was especially exciting since it was my first visit to Europe.  I could go on and on about the major differences between Swedish and US foreign policy, taxes, health care, etc, but instead I'm going to talk about the surprising, sometimes brilliant, sometimes puzzling, little differences that I noticed.  I'm excited to start getting used to them.

• Bed Linens:  Fitted sheets do not exist in Sweden.  You just tuck the corners of a bottom flat sheet under the mattress.  Also, the bedspread is split into two separate, single-sized quilts: one for each person, so cover-stealing is never an issue. 

• Booze:  The sale of alcohol is regulated by the Swedish Alcohol Retail Monopoly, or Systembolaget.  All alcohol is quite expensive, but the fun thing about buying beer is that you can mix and match the different brands of single cans and bottles.  The not-so-fun thing about drinking the beer is that Swedes usually consume it warm, and always poured into a glass.  I plan to stick to my American roots when it comes to beer drinking: cold, and from the can....sorry guys.  (As a side note, all Swedish pharmacies were also government-owned until 2009.  When I brought M into a Walgreens he thought it was hilarious that you could pick up your prescription medicine along with a case of beer and a gigantic bag of chips all in the same store). 

•  Candy:  On Saturdays, all Swedish kids (and most grownups) are treated to Lördagsgodis, or "Saturday Sweets."  It's just like the pick 'n mix style of candy we have here in the US, but with a much bigger selection.  So, you grab your little scoop and go to town picking out the different flavors you want.  A lot of the candy flavors were a little strange for me...most of them were either big hunks of gumminess or licorice-based, while I prefer anything chocolate.  M's favorite is an absolutely vile invention called Jättesalt ("Giant Salt").  This stuff looks like little brown rocks and tastes like you gnawed off a chunk of one of those big salt licks my dad used to put out for the deer.  M calls it "proper" candy and was craving it the whole time he was in Texas.

• Christmas:  I confess, I could normally care less about celebrating Christmas, but I found the Swedish decorations and traditions to be tasteful and beautiful.  The houses are decorated with simple white candles in the windows and I didn't see a shred of the technicolor tackiness and materialism that vomits across the US during Christmastime.  It was almost enough to make this Scrooge feel all warm and cozy inside.

• Food: The four major food groups in Sweden are meat, potatoes, fish, and coffee.  I thought most of the food was delicious, wholesome, and simple, mostly due to the fact that M is an amazing cook who makes everything from scratch with meat that he's slayed with his own Vikingesque hands.   Once again though, some of the dishes were a little too salty for my taste.  One thing I tried that I don't think I'll ever develop a taste for was blodpudding, a type of crumbly sausage made from dried pig blood and other fillers.  My favorites were the endless piles of kantarelle mushrooms we picked in the forest.                                          

 

       Swedes love food that comes in tubes, whether it's caviar, bacon-flavored cheese, or crab-flavored mayonnaise.  The refrigerators in Sweden even have special little racks where you can hang all your food-tubes.

• Front Door Etiquette: When you come inside any house in Sweden, you MUST take your shoes off at the door.  Accidentally stepping more than a few feet into the house with your shoes still on will earn you immediate status as a dirty savage.  Don't do it.

• Grocery stores:  In order to get a cart, you deposit a few coins into a machine that holds all the carts locked together.  Sweden's dairy section was probably the most impressive...I have never seen so many different types of yogurt in one place.  I was also pretty excited about the mix-your-own-granola section.  In some stores, each child gets a free organic banana per visit.  Also, you pay for each grocery bag, so you have to eyeball the amount of stuff you're buying and decide ahead of time how many bags you'll need. 

• Laundry:  For some unknown reason, it takes over an hour and a half for a regular cycle of laundry to finish in a Swedish washing machine.  When M visited me in Texas, he was convinced there was no way clothes could get clean in a 30-minute washer cycle.  Also, you can't forget to empty out the big plastic water tank in the dryer between loads.  I spent about three hours trying to dry a load of laundry at M's house before I realized they were still wet because the water tank was full. 

• Nudity:  Compared to our uptight American culture, Swedes are not afraid of their bodies.  Butts and boobs are common sights on television, and are seen as normal as an arm or a leg.  Photos of women in magazines are average and healthy-looking without tons of airbrushing.   I picked up a typical housewife-y magazine at the gym and stumbled across an article blatantly illustrating different shapes to shave into your pubic hair, complete with smiling women and their landing strips, lightning bolts, and hearts.  No big deal.

• "Pizza":  Sweden has gotten creative with its pizza toppings, to say the least.  The normal pizzas were pretty good, a little thin on the sauce...but some of the more innovative toppings included eggs, peanuts, bananas, curry sauce, and tuna fish.  Thanks, but no thanks.

•  Urban sprawl (or lack thereof):  Within just a few minutes after driving outside the city limits, you find yourself amid huge, real forests with craggy rock cliffs and tall pines...not a bulletin board, strip mall, office complex, or condo to be seen.  After a few miles you get to the next town and back to civilization, but being surrounded by native forest reminds you of what the landscape is supposed to look like.  

EVERYONE Needs to Know The Difference Loving A Baby Makes!

Part 1

 “A baby is born with a need to be loved – and never outgrows it”                                                       ~Frank A. Clark

I just read a new research study and cannot wait to share it with EVERYONE!  It is thrilling to me every time we have additional scientific research demonstrating how important love and nurturing is to the brain….. and how important those early months after birth are!     

Those of you that know me or follow my work already know the intense passion I have for making early brain development common knowledge.  And it continues to baffle me why this is not yet information that every parent, grandparent, educator, medical professional, social worker, community leader, policy maker, business leader, and voter knows! Every adult needs to know the impact the experiences in the early years has on the developing brain.  Science has been demonstrating this to us for years.  Now economists are revealing how cost beneficial it is for us to know this—and to do something about it!

The primary focus of the awareness I want to create is the understanding of the dramatic and impactful difference loving a baby makes on the physical development of the brain.  This research clearly shows the powerful influence that results from positive early care giving experiences.

Good Parenting Triumphs Over Prenatal Stress

The new study represents the first, direct human evidence that fetuses exposed to elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol may have trouble paying attention or solving problems later on. But what may be more intriguing is the study’s second finding – that this negative link disappears almost entirely if the mother forges a secure connection with her baby.

Early interactions set up the basis for expectations, self perception, self regulation, and relationships throughout life.  Babies need loving interaction, attuned parents, and touch as much they need nutrition. In the braininsights® February newsletter I included a clip on Harry Harlow’s famous study demonstrating this need.

We can no longer let this information be ignored. This latest research ignites my desires to share all of this even more deeply (if that is possible!). My dream is to have the parent of every newborn learn how to easily provide the consistent care taking and loving interaction their baby NEEDS! 

If I could I would donate a Love Your Baby brain development packet to every parent of every newborn!  Since I cannot afford to do that at this time, below are a few interaction tips from the Love Your Baby packet with brain development information from the baby’s perspective:

LOVING ME CALMS ME
Realize that loving me does NOT spoil me. Show the love you feel for me through all of the interactions we have together.
Brain Insight
Taking care of my needs does not “spoil” me. Comforting me when I need you helps me learn to trust that you will take care of my needs. I will be calmer as my brain learns I can expect you to take care of me.

SHOWING YOU THE ATTENTION I NEED
Notice how important your attention is to me. Tune into how I let you know when I need comforting or just a fun connection with you.
Brain Insight
Attention and contact with you is what matters most in this stage of brain development. The first 18 months are the most important for the foundation of my emotional development.

WHAT DO I LIKE?
Notice what I like and respond to. Try to tune in to the level of activity I seem to need. If I seem active, do a more playful activity. When I want to be calm, read a story, hold me close, or sing a lullaby to me.
Brain Insight
My brain is not developed enough to adjust to different activity levels easily on my own. I really need you to match your behavior to my needs.

This is what babies want ALL adults to know. Do what you can to help create this awareness. … because we all benefit from all children with well developed brains!

Hopefully you see why I am so excited to share this research. It gives proof of the significant difference we can all make!  There is much more to say and share with you on this so make sure you sign up to receive Part II  -  Understanding Attachment Through the Eyes of a Baby.

My Weekend Crush

Yes, another post about women’s figure skating. Don’t worry, this only happens once every four years. So if impossibly graceful young women with iron wills and knives on their shoes bore you, go get a sandwich and come back Monday. Who knows, maybe there’ll be naked ladies again. But back to the ice, where last night was witness to – in my most humble of opinions – the most fucking amazing women’s figure skating finals I’ve ever seen.

This is why I watch the Olympics. Not just for the ice skating, per se (though, as I’ve said before, I do love it so). No, I love to see athletes reach their potential, do their best and truly enjoy their moment. I cannot recall ever seeing a more well skated final round from all the medal contenders. Not ever. None of the women in the last group fell. Very few made errors, and small ones at that. All shone in some way. Almost all were radiantly happy with their performance. Even the disappointed silver winner landed not one but two – two – triple axels in her program. And those plucky teenage Americans didn’t medal, but still showed their mettle. Hello, history, the ladies on Vancouver are calling.

And then, of course, there was Kim Yu-Na, the flawless golden queen of figure skating who carried an entire country’s expectations on her willowy shoulders, and Joannie Rochette, the adopted daughter of these games who battled through excruciating loss for a triumphant bronze. Damn, it’s almost like it was scripted. Bigger damn, I can’t believe the Olympics are almost over. Happy weekend, all.

Read Across America

"Children are made readers on the laps of their parents."
                                   ~ Emilie Buchwald

For the past 13 years the National Education Association (NEA) celebrates and honors Dr. Seuss’ birthday on March 2nd with Read Across America.  The goal of this day is to have every child in the U.S. reading in the company of a caring adult.

This is such a great goal.  Reading has so many benefits for a developing brain.   When a child is read to cells in the brain are triggered within seconds.  Some existing connections in the brain are strengthened while new connections are formed.  This helps create a more defined and complex wiring of the brain that will benefit a child for the rest of their life.  Reading to a child is so important that the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends that Pediatricians prescribe reading activities to parents during their well child visits. Children who are read to at home have a higher success rate in school and the National Commission on Reading found that reading aloud to a child is the single most important intervention for developing literacy skills.

Literacy skills development isn’t the only brain benefit that results from reading to a child.  Even reading to an infant is extremely valuable.  When reading a book, the child has the opportunity for visual stimulation, and hearing words.  A child needs to experience direct language.  Television and DVD’s do not provide the interactive language the brain needs.  The time spent cuddling while reading is also very important.  This closeness helps the brain make valuable connections contributing to healthy emotional development.  Young babies find the sound of the voice reassuring and calming.

Books also provide a way for children to gain new perspectives and learn about people, places and things outside of their immediate environment.  Reading with children also presents the possibility for children to open up about feelings or things that are bothering them in a comfortable way.

Unfortunately only 53% to 58% of children ages 3 to 5 are read to daily.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if 100% of children were read to daily?  “Read Across America” is a great effort toward this goal.  Starting this weekend there are reading events across the country. I invite you to share this information with everyone. Post it on your social networking sites and tell educators or people that have young children.

• Oh The Places You Will Go Reading- On Saturday February 27, 2010, Target is sponsoring a free reading of Oh The Places You Will Go, along with Dr. Seuss inspired games, activities and giveaways.  To find more information or to find a location near you visit click here.

• Cat-a-Van – NEA is sponsoring a van touring the country to bring special events to cities across the US.  For more information visit nea.org/readacross.

In addition to attending or sharing any of these events you can still participate in Read Across America on March 2 and then everyday at home!  Below are ideas for activities you can do while reading with your child:

            Brain Insights For Read Across America

            Reading Rockets Tips for Parents of Preschoolers

            Dr. Seuss Activities

If you know of other events or reading activities please share your comments below or email me. It will be wonderful to hear the ideas you have to share. So snuggle up with a favorite book or a fun new one and enjoy. I have a new one I cannot wait to get to myself. Happy Reading!

“C’est pour toi, Maman”

Women’s figure skating is why I fell in love with the Winter Olympics in the first place, all those years ago. While I was too young for the Dorothy Hamill hoopla (or, blessedly, the haircut), I distinctively remember the power and, let’s face it, sexuality of Katarina Witt. Then, as a teenager, came the Asian sensations. My heart stopped at the great Kristi Yamaguchi versus Midori Ito duel. My heart still hurts for Michelle Kwan. I identified immediately with these tiny dynamos. Sure, I lacked their grace and strength and dedication, but at least they looked more like me than Nancy Kerrigan (or, blessedly, Tonya Harding).

These Olympics again feature some great Asian skaters, none more so than South Korean Kim Yu-Na – the skater so famous she had to flee her country to train in peace. But the heart of the competition, and perhaps these games, beats and breaks with Joannie Rochette. By now, everyone knows the story. The Canadian skater took to the ice only two days after her mother died suddenly and unexpectedly of a heart attack after arriving in Vancouver to cheer on her daughter.

You could see the emotion, the pain, the tension in her face before her short program began. I held my breath. The announcers fell silent. And then it was just her and the ice. To say she skated well would be trite. She skated transcendently – her performance came from a place occupied only by muscle memory, pure grit and a mother’s love. And then after two minutes and 50 seconds of strength came the tears.

We have all had that moment – though probably never on so grand a stage or when it meant so much – that feeling of holding the world together and then finally letting it all go. I lost my father five years ago, also suddenly and unexpectedly, and I cannot imagine doing anything as beautifully as Joannie did Tuesday night so soon afterwards. While some might question why she would go on to skate after such a tragic loss, I understand it intrinsically. It is the one thing she understands. The one thing that makes sense. The one thing she knows she can do even though nothing else will never be the same. She had to.

But that she had to is one thing, that she did it so spectacularly is another. The Olympics have always been a microcosm our human condition played out over a fortnight. It is all of our dreams and life’s work distilled to that second when the starter’s gun fires. It’s your moment. Win or lose, what I think each athlete hopes for it to do her best. That is what makes it so universal. We all have dreams, we all work hard. We don’t all get rewarded at the end of the day with a gold medal or a Wheaties box. But we all try.

So now, on the day of the women’s free skate, I hold my breath again. My entire body aches for Joannie to do well. But even if she falters, if the understandable and unimaginable pressure gets to her, she will have already won. It’s not a victory for precious metal, but something much more precious. Love.

Yarrrrr.

I'm headed back to work tomorrow morning to live for five weeks on a seismic research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico. I work as a marine mammal observer, surveying for whales, dolphins, and sea turtles and ensuring the vessel is working in compliance with protected species regulations. What this boils down to is that I watch the ocean for hours on end, every day, for five weeks straight.  Some days can be exciting while others can be very tedious...just when you think there can't possibly be any animals for miles and you feel like your eyeballs will never recover from staring at the blue sky and horizon, something interesting makes an appearance, be it a sperm whale, sea turtle, dolphin, rainbow, flying fish, or disheartening piles of garbage floating by. 

                                           My early morning coffee with a couple of warblers.

                                                     Bottlenose Dolphin.  Photo by Jen Leo

 

         This is a sperm whale's dorsal hump (back), preparing to dive below the surface.     

    Photo by Melissa Hayes

  

Green Sea Turtle.  Photo by Melissa Hayes

                                                                                                                                        

 

Getting paid to watch each sunrise and sunset.

 

                            Seismic vessel BOS Atlantic, in port off the south coast of Australia.

                                                       This is always good advice!

Find a happy place

In case you hadn’t noticed, I love “Glee.” Fun, fabulous and so fucking gay, the show has almost everything I love. Singing, dancing, snarking. Jane Lynch, jazz hands, gay cheerleaders. That’s just quality television, right there. One of the other things I love about “Glee” is how it has become such a massive cultural phenomena. It’s cool to love this show. Hell, even President Barack Obama has jumped on the bandwagon and invited the cast to sing at the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll.

Yay, Gleeks! We’ve arrived! Right? Um, right, sort of. For all the show’s success, it also represents a fundamental dichotomy in our culture. While the larger world is perfectly happy to laugh along with us, they’re still not completely comfortable making us equal. We’re allowed into their living rooms for an hour each week, but we’re not allowed to live totally free every hour of every day.

Even this White House invite, while fantastic, typifies our struggle. Pres. Obama supports and is pursuing the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, but does not support full marriage equality. One step forward, one step still stuck in the mud. Granted, that one step forward is a big one. I don’t recall any open invites to tea from W.

Though, as impatient as we are, the “Glee” movement might just be a sign that better days ahead. Because, instead of breeding contempt, familiarity in this case could breed acceptance. Polls have shown over and over again that younger generations are more comfortable and committed to gay rights. The future, it seems is bright – there’s just that tricky matter of getting there, and quickly. The song remains the same: Don’t stop believin’.

Did You Know...

If you live in the United States, you may realize that we can be embarrassingly uninformed about other countries, especially the ones on the other side of the ocean. I've decided to start off with a few of the wonderful things we can thank Sweden for bringing into our lives:

1. ABBA



2. IKEA


3. Volvo


4. Pippi Longstocking (Pippi Långstrump)


5. Smorgasboard (Smörgåsbord)


6. Absolut Vodka



7. Carl Linneaus, Father of Modern Taxonomy


8. Meatballs (Köttbullar)


9. Ingrid Bergman


10. Swedish Fish



Contrary to some beliefs, the following items are NOT, in fact, Swedish:

Swiss Army Knives (duh)


The Swedish Bikini Team (invented in the US for Old Milwaukee beer commercials)


Lederhosen (German)


Saunas (Finnish)


The Swedish Chef

My first blog...yikes.

I'm currently in the process of applying for a 2-year residence permit in Sweden to move in with my sweet Swedish sea captain M. I work offshore as an environmental consultant and when we met on board in early 2009 it was all downhill from there. We're hoping the paperwork will be approved within the next few months and I'll be able to move to the beautiful island farm where he lives in the Stockholm Archipelago. I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!

To get this moving-to-Sweden timeline started, my permit application was received at the Embassy of Sweden in Washington DC on January 25, 2010, and I was interviewed at the Consulate of Sweden in Houston on February 16th. Now comes the waiting game...my Swede and I will be working on separate ships over the next six weeks, and unfortunately we have become experts at being away from each other. I have my fingers crossed that Sweden will be welcoming another blonde within the next few months.

In the meantime I'm going to try out this blogging thing...they say all the kids are doing it nowadays so I suppose I should give it a shot. As a disclaimer I will say that I'll most likely stray from the topic of Sweden into random stories about my previous wanderings as a nomadic wildlife biologist, homeschooled eldest-of-seven, and Peace Corps Guatemala volunteer. We'll see where it ends up!

Total Lezzy

Awww shucks, you guys, you’ve done it again. Thanks to you, I’m up for another Lezzy Award for 2009 Best Lesbian Entertainment/ Lesbian Culture Blog. The Lezzys (started in 2008 as the Lesbian Blog of the Year Award) are handed out annually by The Lesbian Lifestyle. Those of you’ve who’ve hung around here long enough might recall that I’ve been lucky enough to win the last two years (2007 Lesbian Blog of the Year & 2008 Best Entertainment/Overall Lesbian Blog of the Year honors).

This year the awards will be handed out in 11 categories. They are:

• Best Lesbian Entertainment/Lesbian Culture Blog
• Best Lesbian Humor Blog
• Best Lesbian Parenting Blog
• Best Lesbian Engagement/Wedding Blog (new for 2009)
• Best Lesbian Feminist/Political Blog
• Best Lesbian Personal Blog
• Best Lesbian “Out later in life” Blog (new for 2009)
• Best Lesbian Sex/Short Story/Erotica Blog
• Best Lesbian Podcast
• Best New Lesbian Blog (new for 2009)
• Lesbian Blog Lifetime Achievement Award (new for 2009)

Also nominated in my category are Autostraddle and Fit for a Femme. The former is the glossy girl-on-girl culture chronicles of Riese and her homosexy staff (not to mention their intern army of, like, zillions). The latter is the chronicles of the daily fashion choices of, you guessed it, a Femme. Both are fabulous, both are formidable.

So many well-known and equally great blogs are up for awards in other categories this year that instead of picking and choosing, I’m just going to go straight (but not in that way) ticket and promote fellow Team AfterEllen nominees. For Humor, Grace the Spot. For Parenting, Mombian. For Lifetime Achievement, the mother ship, AfterEllen.

Now, onto the mushy stuff. Since I started this blog in 2006, I’ve been continually humbled by all of your support, encouragement and generosity. Clearly, I don’t write this site for awards (though, let’s not lie, who doesn’t like to win things). Instead I write it because a) sleep is for suckers and b) if I couldn’t write my head would explode and c) you’ve made it such a wonderful place to keep coming back to. People grouse all the time, and rightfully so, about what passes for discourse online these days. But I feel forever fortunate that together, we’ve been able to carve out a space that is overwhelmingly civil, respectful and engaged. I never take that for granted, ever.

OK, OK. I’ve put away my Kleenex. This is, after all, a competition. So here comes the nitty gritty:

1. Voting is now open.
2. You can vote once every 24 hours.
3. For your vote to count you have to click the link in your confirmation email.
4. Voting ends at 11:59 p.m. EDT March 1 (technically 12:00 a.m. March 2, but people always get confused about which midnight that means and I don’t think that 1 minute will make or break anyone).

So, vote early and vote often, like an old-school Chicago politician. As fantastic as it would be to win again, what I’m most pleased about is that The Lesbian Lifestyle (and its founded Kelly, aka goldstardyke) keeps running these awards to recognize the wonderful diversity and depth of gay women on the web.

But, just to show you I do have some competitive spirit (I sucked at sports, this is my only shot), I’m going to sweeten the pot by running a contest. If you forward me a copy of your confirmation email, you’ll be entered in a contest to win either the complete season five DVD of “Weeds” or a review copy of the Indigo Girls double CD, “Poseidon and the Bitter Bug.” See:

The more you vote, the more times you are entered. And don’t worry, you don’t even have to vote for me to be eligible (confirmation emails don’t show who you voted for, so I’ll never know). Yes, I’ll even send it overseas out of my own pocket if someone abroad gets picked. Win or lose, that’s a thank you from me to you. Oh, and just to show how really, really competitive I am, this is also a thank you from me to you. Enjoy.

Mary-Louise Parker


Olivia Wilde


Rosario Dawson


Rachel Weisz


To truly be appreciated, that last one really needs to move.

CLICK HERE TO VOTE
(once every 24 hours, and don’t forget to click those email links).

Dr. Wonder-ful

Jaye Tyler is back! Sort of. Fine, still maybe only in my head. But Caroline Dhavernas, the artist formerly known as Jaye Tyler, is definitely back. The former “Wonderfalls” star (and my forever crush), has been cast as one of the leads in “Grey’s Anatomy” creator Shonda Rhimes’ newest medical drama. Yes, Wonderfallers, wrap your head around Jaye playing a doctor. I mean, I’ve thought about playing doctor with her quite a bit, but that’s different – different in a good way.

I’ve expressed my extreme, eternal love for all things “Wonderfalls” before here (and, yes, I still have the smooshed-face wax lion). I have the box set. I have the “I Surrender to Destiny” hoodie. And sometimes, when I’m feeling blue, I play the bouncy theme song and dream about inanimate objects talking to me.

Now, my conundrum is that I don’t really watch “Grey’s Anatomy” or any Shonda Rhimes productions, for that matter. I’m just not huge with the navel gazing (the lesbian couple gazing, however, is much appreciated). Also, another medical drama, Shonda? Are you going for a medical drama hat trick? This drama, called “Off the Map,” follows three American doctors who move to the jungles of South America to work at a free clinic.

Caroline will play Lily who, according to TV Guide, is a young doctor who heads to the jungle to escape tragedy. Awww, sad Jaye Tyler? Joining her will be Manny (played by “Without a Trace” alum Enrique Murciano), an “egotistical plastic surgeon,” and Meena (not cast yet), “an infectious disease specialist with a shadowy past.”

I can see the love triangle already. But maybe, just maybe, Shonda will remember the rabid devotion Calzona (and previously Callica) fans have lavished on Grey’s and make it an unexpected love triangle. Like, say, Lily lost her longtime college girlfriend in a tragic field hockey accident and then flees to South America where she is comforted by Meena. Meanwhile Meena, who has had a series of relationships with men that never felt quite right (or lasted very long), finds herself unexpectedly attracted to both Manny and Lily. Things get sweaty. Mosquito netting gets tangled. Lots of tank tops are worn. Boom – I’ve just written your first season for you, Shonda. You’re welcome.

Taylor Swift Hot Pictures and Wallpapers Gallery

Taylor Alison Swift is an American country-pop singer-songwriter, and Hollywood actress. She was born on December 13, 1989 in the borough of Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Scott Swift, a stock broker, and his wife Andrea, a homemaker. She has a younger brother, Austin.

In 2008, Taylor Swift was in a high-profile relationship with pop singer Joe Jonas. On November 11, 2008, in an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Swift claimed that Jonas broke up with her in a 27-second phone call. Swift's best friend has been Abigail Anderson, whom she has known since ninth grade. Swift is also close friends with Kellie Pickler.

Birth Name : Taylor Alison Swift
Birth Date : 13-12-1989
Birth Place : Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, United States
Profession : Singer-songwriter, guitarist, actress
Instruments : Vocals, guitar, piano, ukulele,
Years Active : 2006–present

Actress taylor swift photo with lautner


taylor swift in a bikini at a beach


taylor swift hot kiss image


beautiful taylor swift looking hot


picture of taylor swift in a bikini


pop singer taylor swift pic


wallpaper of taylor swift


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actress and singer Taylor swift


song writer and singer taylor swift sexy image