Rihanna showed off her big bad blingin' ring as she made her way through LAX yesterday. She's quite a jet setter these days, but that wasn't always the case for the pop star. In a recent interview, Rihanna talks about growing up in Barbados, becoming a celebrity, and why she'll never take anything for granted. Here are highlights [1]:

[1]

• On being famous enough to make her own decisions: "In the past, I had no say in how I was presented. Those decisions were made for me, right down to the colour of my lipstick. Then I got to a point where I felt confident enough to say, 'This is how I want to look. Take it or leave it.' You could look at it as a form of rebellion. I prefer to look at it as a transition from teenage girl to young woman. I make my own decisions now. When I decide something is going to happen, it happens."
• On her home life: "My dad left home when I was nine, so I was really young when I was living with his addictions. I didn’t understand exactly what was going on, but I knew he was doing something he shouldn’t be doing."
• On the party scene: "If I go to a club, I go for the sounds. I go out to have fun, to dance and laugh at people fighting or dressed like whores. I might have a few drinks, but I don’t get tipsy too easily. I don’t ever get to the point where I want to throw up, can’t stand up straight or say things I’m likely to regret in the morning."
• On appreciating what she has: "I don’t take any of that for granted. I grew up with little or no money. It’s made me appreciate everything so much more."

While Rihanna had a pretty tough childhood, it sounds like she still came out of it with a good head on her shoulders to go along with her big talent.

NPG [2]