Hello Natasha’s Notebook readers! Thanks for logging on:-) I am away on holiday for the next two weeks but will return with my regular posts from Sun 14 September onwards.
Take care of yourselves, Nat X

PLEASE cut out and keep this post whenever you have an idea but think it’s silly and no-one will buy it.
On Bank Holiday Monday I hit the shops at Brent Cross. In the middle of the mall we spy a stand with the word Oxygen emblazoned across a banner.
My first thought was that the girls behind the counter were promoting a bar (I know there used to be a bar called just that in Leicester Square).
However, on closer inspection we find that they were selling actual oxygen to passers by.
For I don’t know how many British pounds, (I was too embarrassed to stand at the stall long enough to find out) punters could buy themselves ~ scented air!
Come on, have an open mind… Gwennie Paltrow does it you know%-/

WHAT wonderful descriptions Rebecca Front writing in the Independent gives to natives from the country my parents hail ~ Italy.
And in light of the fact I’m off to that sunny land next week I thought I’d dedicate today’s blog to Italian-ess.
Front had just returned from Calabria and described Italians on the beach: “(they) look self confident, relaxed, carefree. They wear the briefest of swimwear without caring whether it suits them, and they wear it with such swagger that somehow it does”.
She goes on:
“They smoke endlessly, eat copious amounts of food, swig beer and caress each other publicly, guiltlessly, joyfully. It’s rather wonderful to behold.”
Apparently us Brits aren’t like that? Surely we too look ‘cool’ with our tummy-hiding, floral tankinis? Or our knee-length surf shorts? What about when we say sorry and thank-you all the time ~ that doesn’t attract admiring glances?
All that glimmers isn’t gold
Well Rebecca thinks not and what’s more, the British comedienne wishes she was Italian! Well, as an Italian in British clothes (born and brought up in Britain/Italian parents) I can see the good and bad in both nationalities.
Let’s start with the negatives of being Italian. Firstly, your business is never just your own. Family get involved in every detail of your life.
And what’s worse they do so in a loud voice! They shout when they’re talking to someone who’s right in front of them! The only way you’ll know if it’s an argument, is if you see pots and pans flying about.
There’s more…
The next thing is food. ‘Full-up’ is a very ignored word in Italian families. In fact in my family, food is SO important that instead of asking you how you are (as in English families), they ask ‘what have you eaten’ ~ to determine how you are.
Anyway, in the meanwhile, if you’re still not entirely convinced that it’s not that cool being Italian, here are some Italian words to delight in: “Ciao! Cosa stai facendo? Che cosa hai mangiato oggi?” (Hi! What are you doing? What have you eaten today?)

SO, Love Letters of Great Men has hit the shops.
The collection of love letters from the likes of Beethoven and Napoleon is now published by Macmillan after demand soured from Sex And The City fans for the fictional book which featured in the cult movie.
I will admit that I got quite excited when I read about the book’s release in yesterday’s Metro. However after looking it up on Amazon and reading a few of the letters, including the one Carrie read to Mr Big (Beethoven’s letter to an unknown lover) I soon changed my mind.
Just get a load of this:
“Be calm, only by a calm consideration of our existence can we achieve our purpose to live together - Be calm - love me - today - yesterday - what tearful longings for you - you - you - my life - my all - farewell. Oh continue to love me - never misjudge the most faithful heart of your beloved. Ever thine Ever mine Ever ours”
This is only part of the letter. And if I’m not mistaken, it’s enough! Just because Carrie thought these ancient love letters were great it doesn’t mean they are.
They are NAFF. And this is coming from me ~ an old romantic girl! What I think was far more inspiring were the tips given in the Metro article by Laura Scott on ‘how to write the perfect love letter’.
Love letter writing tips
Tips include, filling your love letter with gushy things no one else would have noticed such as ‘the way your eyes crinkle when you smile, the sexy way you throw back your head..’
The love letter advice also suggested not just saying ‘I love you’ but quantifying your emotions and writing ‘I love you desperately’.

ON the day I buy a rotary egg beater for my other half (his request), a friend of Natasha’s Notebook suggests I write about how more and more men do the cooking in modern day relationships.
My friend Maria added: “Isn’t this a turnaround? This would have been unheard of a few years ago!”
What has caused this change in society? Could it really be down to the abundance of celebrity chefs filling our TV screens such as Gordon Ramsey, Jamie Oliver and Marco Pierre White?
Who wears the apron?
Let’s indulge in that image for a moment because it really is bliss. Woman: relaxing on sofa, in front of TV. Man: apron on, chopping garlic, grill flames making the meat sizzle on the stove.
And like my friend says, years ago this would have been unheard of. It is the equivalent of imagining today’s man taking great delight in making sure all creases and stains are out of shirts and dresses before going back into wardrobes and draws!
Man about the house
I think when it comes to chores, the likes of Gordon Ramsey has made cooking look macho! So what we need is another sportsman or ‘cool’ bloke to make… being a house husband hip:-)
This is how he’d sell it to them: “Going out to work is a mug’s game! The only stress stay-at-home husbands get is making sure the floors are swept, the bathroom wiped-down and furniture dusted.”
I think, put like this we might get some takers..

THE Olympics has been marred by Chinese controversy over another.
If it wasn’t ‘free tibet’ protestors hijacking the limelight, it was George Bush slating China’s human rights record.
But the thing which did it for me was the deception caused by using a ‘prettier’ child to lip-sync ‘an ode to the motherland’ in the opening ceremony.
The actual singer, seven-year-old Yang Peiyi had a few milk teeth missing and a chubbier face compared to the ’smiling angel’ face of nine-year-old Lin Miaoke.
Straight teeth sound better
An authority that can allow that to happen sends out a very miserable message. It says ‘we don’t care about the damage done to one of our own children’s feelings as long as we look good in front of the world’.
And how needless? The talented young singer was just as cute, if not more so but instead ’straight toothed’ Lin basked in all the glory.
Take the Shame switchers! And the most shameful thing is that they don’t realise that perfection is not beautiful. Beauty lies in the imperfections.
Like in matters of the heart; Love isn’t about finding the perfect person; It’s about finding the imperfect person and discovering out all their perfections:-)

HOW refreshing it was to read Roberto Cavalli’s criticisms of Kate Moss, the supermodel he used to front his lingerie adverts immediately after the Cocaine Kate scandal.
The Italian fashion designer was quoted in yesterday’s Metro saying Kate ‘lacked star quality’. He then went on to say that the likes of Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell are used purely to make his clothes look good.
Roberto then added that he prefers working with musicians such as Victoria Beckham (he probably meant former musicians).
The aspect so invigorating was that he doesn’t care for the repercussions of his comments.
Worzel Gummidge eat your heart out
Supermodels would be nothing if it wasn’t for their skinny frames.
But some magazines and newspaper gossip columns insist on glamorising them to the point of naming certain models (such as Agyness Deyn) best dressed person of the year?!
I have refused to buy Grazia this week entirely for this reason! I’m sorry but I think Agyness dresses like a scarecrow.

WELL done ex-WAG, Suzanne Franklin who spoke out against the champagne-quaffing and designer lifestyle in the Mail on Sunday.
Suzanne, who was arm candy to West Ham’s Nigel Quashie, said the whole experience was horrible and lonely - despite being able to spend £8,000 a week on designer clothes and handbags! (well her ex was earning £25,000 a week)
Surprise
Other WAGs knew only about shopping and Quashie himself was getting squashy with another woman the whole time he was with Suzanne.
He even bore the other woman a child and both women were oblivious the other existed!
Suzanne is now a trainee teacher, working at a school for disadvantaged children and probably so much more fulfilled.
However, I couldn’t help notice (and others I’m sure) the designer-looking heels on her feet in the photo shoot

TUCKED away on page 24 of Metro this morning was the sad story of a recluse whose corpse lay undiscovered for two years in the bed of his terraced home.
The 70-year old, former soldier died in his sleep back in 2006 and no one raised the alarm because he was an 'incredibly private man' according to neighbours in the Lancashire town.
Prying = nosy or caring?
One elderly neighbour was quoted as saying: “I think it was about three years ago when I last saw him out on his bike”! Apparently Brian Dean had ‘changed’ on his return from Germany, where he served in the Army in the 1970s.
Local councillor Paul Gott was unsure what to do when first concerns were raised saying: “..because you don’t want to pry into people’s lives..” But doesn’t a healthy dose of prying mean you care?
Natter with your neighbours
When did community die? In the post ‘Smile you live in London’, I mention that many people find London a lonely place to be single but now I don’t think it’s only London.
It would seem that people keep themselves to themselves from London all the way to Lancashire!
I think a national newspaper should start a campaign ~ “Natter with your Neighbours!” Although we don’t know Brian Dean, I can’t help thinking that a friendly chat could have made his life so less lonely.