Smart Girls. As in, the antidote to Mean Girls (and more of Earth’s problems).

Amy Poehler and friends Meredith Walker and Amy Miles have created a website and social network to celebrate the individuality and intelligence of girls of all ages. The site features episodes that each highlight a specific girl’s story. These segments focus on young girls and their interests, thoughts and achievements. The video above gives a good overview of the site’s mission and inspiration.

The participation of Amy, Meredith and Amy in each segment reinforces that women of all ages should support the education and development of their fellow girls. In addition, the site emphasizes that girls and women alike should value and cultivate their relationships with each other. The site encourages girls that individuality, intelligence and motivation are cool and fun. The member profiles (mostly adult women) further inspire the camaraderie of females united to support young women.

I encourage you to create a profile and invite other Smart Girls you know – it may seem silly, but watch some of their episodes and you’ll want to be a part of this community, too. Celebrating and supporting the individuality and advancement of young women is something to dance party about!

Here’s a sneak peek at Season 2, the first episode of which is already up!

If you’re on twitter, follow Amy, Meredith and Amy at @smrtgrls.

Wear your smarty pants proudly!

“It’s better to be drunk in the afternoon than in the evening. It’s intoxicating. It feels like having a secret.”

I watched Hors de Prix (“Priceless”) last night for the third time. It’s not a particularly brilliant film, and were it in English or with two different lead actors, I’d probably hate it – but it’s Audrey Tatou! Sure, she plays a shameless gold digger, but she’s so little and cute! How can you resist that face? I want to be her throughout the entire movie, despite her “profession.” As I described to a friend last night, she really is supernaturally gorgeous in this film, it’s unnerving and fantastic at the same time.

"I wake up looking like this."

Her suitor, Gad Elmaleh, is so lovably dorky that your heart breaks and eventually soars for him as the story develops. The basic premise: gold-digging young lady mistakes bartender for a wealthy target; hi-jinks ensue.

Here’s the trailer in French without subtitles, just because the American trailer (with English voice-over narration) is so horrendous:

Here are some of my other favorite quotes from Audrey Tatou’s character, Irene:

“I don’t really like caviar. I force myself to eat it and with time I’ll start to like it. I’m sure when you like it it tastes great.”

“He’s been divorced four times and pays four ex-wives’ alimony. He doesn’t have much left. Believe me, I can do better.”

Follow the jump for Netflix and Youtube links to watch it, plus some B-roll of French people being silly…

I watched it (with English subtitles) on Netflix’s instant feature, but it appears that it’s on YouTube in 10 parts, as well… Here is part 1, hopefully related videos will direct you to the rest:

And after you’ve seen it, watch this goofy blooper reel that I assume is even cuter if you understand French. I’m determined to get that Rosetta Stone more than ever now.

Au revoir!

Rediscovering this poem also made me think about how unpopular this brand of motivation is today. The trend of overly confident kids who have been told they can, will and deserve to achieve anything they desire can be pretty disturbing to witness. It seems like the collective fear of low self-esteem has resulted in an over-correction that is hardly beneficial to a child’s development. Kids are increasingly insulated from the realities of: failures; not always being the best; and achievement rather than entitlement.

Re-reading this wonderful Dr. Seuss piece made me wish more children could hear this message: namely, that you will fall down, it is okay, and you can succeed despite failures.

I dare you to read this and not want to pump your fist and be actively you, fighting through the ups and downs. I hope you find these words as hopeful, honest and inspirational as I did!

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
by the incomparable Dr. Seuss
(from http://www.teamhope.com/seuss.htm)

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And
YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that
case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s
opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people
as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever
you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and
Hang-ups can happen to you.

continues after the jump…

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your
gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant
bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a
Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not
marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re
darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and
chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-
and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around
back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid
you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down
long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on
for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear,
toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring,
or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or
waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for
their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a
string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or
Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying.
You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are
playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride
high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because
you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There
are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And
the magical things you can do with that ball will make
you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be
famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world
watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll
be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll
meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There
are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can
scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you
will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a
frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and
your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I
know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just
never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up
your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or
Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

It’s over! What a semester. Thanks to my sicknasty dancers whose sweat and attitude made this come together in just a few months. And of course, a huge thank you to Max Tannone whose genius created Jaydiohead.

Though that is a decision I must live with, it is frequently haunting, and I still like to claim some sort of ownership of my experience. I feel that I “know dance” in a way that others do not, whether or not I am actually entitled to that opinion, being a “failed” dancer, as it were.

As I have found styles of dance outside of ballet that I enjoy, it is unfailingly emotional to return to the memory of ballet in any way. I can’t bear to attend performances, watch videos, or (most of all) attempt any ballet classes. Nevertheless, a new film has piqued my curiosity. While I’m not sure how I would fare watching it, it appears to be a more faithful look at ballet than any previous attempts in film (Center Stage comes to mind), except for maybe Etoiles.

The documentary is called La Danse, by Frederick Wiseman. Perhaps because I was trained by a former member of the Paris Opera Ballet, I feel a sort of awe and sadness. Bear in mind that this is the world of French classical ballet – not American and certainly not Balanchine. The Paris Opera Ballet is arguably the most esteemed in the world at this style. So, let me say from my possibly unearned sense of righteousness: if you are interested in the “real” gold standard for classical ballet, let this documentary be your guide.

Update: It should be noted that while the Paris Opera Ballet is famous for classical ballet, they obviously perform other styles by a wide variety of choreographers, as you will see in the trailer.

Sad Panda.

But seriously, how?

I had a wreck of a week, and I condemned it as such on Monday. That’s no good. Tues-Fri had no chance.

What’s your strategy? Bestow your wisdom upon me, readers.

For those of you who have not had the fortune of following this saga, the above image is of Sad Panda. Catch up on the story here.

Ostwald Helgason for ASOS

Something has happened. I’ve gone geometric-leggings wild.

The above examples are by Ostwald Helgason at ASOS.com: dream leggings. Pure fantasy.

I mentioned in my previous post that I didn’t have time for a DIY with gargantuan earrings – that’s in part because I already have a massive DIY project that has me convinced I could never make it on Project Runway.

Let’s just say that the costumes for my piece this semester will be… haute couture.

For better or worse.

(more photos after the jump)

booty shot!

My personal favorite.

I’ve been doing more of this:

Regularly scheduled plinks will return shortly! Thanks for sticking with me.

[Images are of me in "Perfect," "Passenger Seat," and "Nocturne," all can be viewed here]

I realized this after reading this post over at Ladylike-Fatlace today. I’ve listened to her music for quite some time, but never seen pictures of her. No surprise, she is badass and feminine, stylish and talented. I’m green.

From fatlace.com/ladylike

More photos after the jump…

Thanks to Ladylike for a whole new inspiration. Now I’m REALLY itching to dye my hair dark – per a suggestion, I might go with a semi-permanent. Rock-stardom, here I come.

On a side note, tonight is the first class of my newer, scarier acting class, and I’m freaking out. Will me some Alison Mosshart swagger and confidence to get me through!

Praying/destroying my fingernails throughout the day. Hope all is well with you.