The first time I heard her music I was unimpressed, but now it’s hard to imagine my life without Lady Gaga.

I’ll be the first to admit I am behind the curve when it comes to one of the most ubiquitous pop stars of the past year, because I didn’t get her album, “The Fame” until late June, but it quickly became the soundtrack to summer.

It’s always a stretch to call someone “original,” but Lady Gaga, born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, seems as close to the description as anyone can get. Not since Bjork wore that swan dress at the 2001 Academy Awards has anyone been so sartorially uninhibited.

Onstage, Lady Gaga can be seen wearing such garments as something resembling giant bubble wrap and often performs with a glowing sceptre in hand.

Lady Gaga is not one to wait for a red-carpet event to break out the lavish clothing and this tempting little sprite often wears black leather to hug her shapely frame when out and about.

Through interviews she stated Lady Gaga is not an alter ego, but a personality and another person she evolved into. For Miss Germanotta, Lady Gaga is not a character or a performance. It’s just her.

Whether wearing knee-high, lace-up boots, styling her hair into two small towers rising from her head, or using black lipstick to cover only a portion of her mouth, she is always an interesting sight.

Probably her most prevalent getup is a one-piece swimsuit-style outfit, baring her legs, which she often pairs with a blazer, because she doesn’t want her shoulders to get cold. Sometimes she opts for a hooded garment instead of the blazer, even wearing a bright red version of this outfit, which made her resemble Little Red Riding Hood.

Recently during a German TV interview, she wore an outfit complete with a headpiece, made with Kermit the Frog dolls. It looked utterly ridiculous, but she worked it because she’s the only one who can. She’s also been seen wearing outfits with plastic crystal-like structures protruding from the material.

“US Weekly” has a section called “Just Like Us!” featuring photos of celebrities performing such mundane tasks as grocery shopping, walking their dogs and waiting at the airport, but Lady Gaga is among the most entertaining people to follow on the celebrity gossip sites because she is nothing like us.

She seems like a modern version of somebody who would grace the society pages of the newspaper in the 1920s. She would never appear in the “Just Like Us” section because she lives in her own world, where normal is relative.

While she does admit to going grocery shopping, she’s said she’ll never be seen wearing flip-flops while doing so. It’s probable she doesn’t even own a pair of flip-flops, opting for designer heels and pumps instead (although she does go barefoot beside the pool in the “Poker Face” video).

While Lady Gaga offers much in the realm of fashion, her musical talent is as varied as the collection in her closet. Her album kicks off with her breakthrough hit “Just Dance” (I challenge you to avoid doing so) and goes directly into the energetic and risqué “Love Game.”

Gaga’s said her album is about pop culture and celebrity, and the song “Paparazzi” is one of the best tracks on the album. It’s slower than most songs on her CD, but it has a sound which is transporting and the almost 8-minute-long video for the track is an excellent fit for the song.

The voice in “Poker Face” is deep and sultry, but on tracks like the lackadaisical “Summerboy” and “Nothing Else I can Say (Eh, Eh)” Gaga sings with a sweet and soft tone inviting listeners to come and play.

Lastly, what makes Gaga so amazing is her drive, talent and ambition, three things once necessary for stardom and now often an afterthought. At 23, Gaga is a young celebrity, but she’s earned it after playing in clubs through her teenage years. Her talent allowed her to write for Britney Spears, which pretty much makes her one of the coolest people alive. In an era when society makes a star out of someone who belts out a karaoke song on TV, it’s more than refreshing to see there are still people who perfect and hone their talents over time and finally receive their rewards.

Gaga stated she’s not interested in the monetary aspects of rewards, preferring to spend her money on her outfits and her shows. It’s really the public who is reaping the rewards of Gaga’s efforts and it couldn’t be sweeter. She’s set to go on another tour soon and I plan to “Just Dance” in the front row.