Smart Girls are the new black

I was going to do a Thursday Thirteen blog today (inspired by Lulu once again) but frankly I'm just too tired to think up 13 things. There's something about Thursdays -- by the time it rolls around every week I'm just plumb tuckered out. We usually just have sandwiches for supper on Thursdays but tonight we actually had a real meal. But that was because I actually cooked it LAST night. I can usually be so organized for about two days in row and then kerfluey. Instead I'm going to talk about something near and dear to my heart....smart girls.

I've always been a "smart girl." I was, in fact, charter member of the Nerd Herd in high school. I took 5 AP classes my senior year, went to Governor's Honors, Hugh O'Brien Youth Leadership. I'm not bragging -- it's just how I was known -- my rep, if you will. To illustrate my point, when my husband was in the National Guard in my hometown he was telling this kid in his unit that he was married to me and this kid said, "Oh yeah. I know her. She's smart as shit." I barely knew this kids in school. But he knew me! I guess if I had to have a rep, I'll take that one. There were a few times I longed to be part of the cool crowd. I did have friends who were on the cheerleading squad, etc. so I could kind of float between both worlds, but mostly I was just brainy. And I liked to read, so that was kind of weird, too.

Now, in full disclosure I have been known to say "I don't know. That's why I was an English major" when faced with a math problem. But really, I'm just being lazy. I was always really good at math. Well, up until AP Calculus that is.

So anyway, that's why I'm really psyched about Danica McKellar's new book Math Doesn't Suck: How to Survive Middle School Math Without Losing Your Mind or Breaking a Nail. I am sick to death of the "stupid girl" persona taken on willingly by so many girls in Hollywood -- you know who I'm talking about -- Paris, Nicole, Lindsey, Britney and all the rest of the clones. Do young girls actually look up to these trollops? I don't know. But if you look at the way they dress I would say they do. If I had one wish in regards to this book, other than that it be required reading for all sixth grade girls, it would be that I wish Danica had written this book at the height of her Winnie Cooper fame. (Girls, just go ask your dad who Winnie Cooper is.) I'm afraid most girls in this generation don't know who in the heck she is. We need someone the girls can really relate to. Who is she? Cindy Crawford is supposedly super smart, but she's no longer really a supermodel. Who will step in to support this smart-girl revolution? We need smart girls to come out of the closet! Show yourselves! Don't be afraid! Boys WILL like you! Smart boys. The kind you want to ask you out.

I say let's even design our own little rubber bracelet so that we can identify each other on the street. What should it look like? What should our slogan be? "Readstrong?" Or how about "Smart is the new black?" Leave your thoughts in the comments. And don't be afraid to be smart!