smart girls have more fun!

A few things:

First - I have been busy with Children of Eden rehearsals and work, so I've been slacking a bit on my blog-reading this week. But I just got all caught up on everyone this morning and tried to leave lots of love in the form of comments so y'all didn't think I'd forgotten about you. I'm still alive! :)

Second - OK, so if you read this post, you'll know that I'm already a big fan of Amy Poehler.

But while I was procrastinating at work last night, I stumbled across something that made me love her even more. And I'm so sad I didn't know about this back in 2008 when it was an actual up-and-coming thing. Amy, along with Meredith Walker and Amy Miles, made this web show called "Smart Girls at the Party" where they interview pre-teen girls about their talents or whatever they're passionate about, and then the girl guests teach the grown-up girls a little about that topic.

In an online interview, Amy P. said the goal of the show is to encourage girls to be passionate about something, because sometimes it seems like it's cooler to be cynical and not care about anything but that's just not true. She said she realizes the pre-teen years are tough ones to get through and she wants to highlight girls that are smart and talented and are "changing the world by being themselves."

Different episodes include "The Writer," "The Dancer," "Sisters," and "Rock Band" among others. And at the end of each episode, they all have a dance party! A dance party that includes Kristen Wiig and Will Arnett! Can life get better? I submit that it canNOT!

I love Amy P. for being funny, and also for being a loudmouth and a spazz, which I can really relate to sometimes. But it's so cool to also see her being an awesome role model and doing something like this to cheer on the next generation of ladies! And the cool thing is, she recognizes that these girls are intelligent go-getters and she doesn't talk down to them and say, "aw, isn't that cute that you are such a good little dancer!" She takes the guests seriously, but she does "serious" the way we all did serious when we were 11 years old. So she's on the level, but not dumbed down or hyped up. And I like that.

Amy is my hero. And so is her "Smart Girls" producer, Meredith. Just so you know, that is pretty much exactly what my job is. Only not as cool because I don't produce for Amy Poehler. But go ahead and add that to my list of dream jobs...producing for AP. And also, my headset is not nearly as cool as Meredith's.

My favorite part of this episode:
AMY: What do you do when you have writer's block?
MEREDITH: I just write through writer's block.
AMY: Wow. What do you do when you have producer's block?
MEREDITH: I write through that.

So true, Mer. So. True.

Last thing about this - a lot of gals out there are upset that this cool little show is sponsored by Barbie because of the doll's "impossible body image being the exact opposite of the show's message." Or something like that. But here's my thing - Barbie started out as what? A fashion doll. OK? Not a role model for little kids. Throughout the 50 years she's been around, she's been an astronaut, veterinarian, armed forces, Olympic medalist...pretty much anything. But guess what? That probably had just as much to do with "what new outfit can we make for Barbie?" as it had to do with "what can we use Barbie to encourage girls to be when they grow up?" When it comes down to it, she's still a fashion doll. And just like fashion models, she's not made like most of us ladies are. And I'm ok with that. The point of these donut spots around the "Smart Girls" episodes is about playing with Barbie, not looking like her. It's just about having fun, even if fun with Barbie means making Astronaut Barbie the scary giant Martian lady in your Lincoln Log world of tiny LEGO people like my sisters and I did! It's about moms connecting with their daughters, which I'm guessing the advertisers are hoping they'll do when watching this show together. So cool down, ladies. We're just having fun!

OK, sorry. I'll get off my soap box now.

Anyway, that does it for me. There are all these cool lists that people are doing on their blogs and I'd like to try a couple of those, so I'll work on that. Until then...happy Friday! :D