Art I Heart — Souther Salazar

Thanks to Drawn!, I learned of Souther Salazar's newest work, "Alejandro and the Idea Machine." This is a sculpted piece, which differs from the wall-spanning paintings I'd grown to love via various Giant Robot group shows. On his blog, you can check out a cute time lapse video of the piece's creation.

And if you're around L.A. tomorrow evening (which, due to a San Diego wedding, I won't be), he's giving a gallery talk at This Los Angeles.

Watch This — (Ideally, with a Cool Girl b/w ages 7 and 12)

That Amy Poehler...always giving me reasons to love her.

I just discovered her webisode project, "Smart Girls at the Party." Now entering its second season, the series is aimed at showcasing pre-teen girls' under-represented talents and interests— no shopping, boys and other precocious nonsense. Poehler interviews a young gardener, a steel drum-player, a yogini and, as is the case in the first episode of Season 2, a robotic engineer.

Find more videos like this on Smart Girls at the Party

Smart Girls' tagline is "Change the World by Being Yourself." You really get a feel for the authenticity of that sentiment as you watch these refreshingly awkward girls. There's scarcely a Disney'ed out pre-diva in the bunch. The interviews are set up "The Daily Show"-style and it's adorable to watch the deadpan responses to Poehler's faux-reporter shenanigans.

If you can get past the intro yodeling, I'd say this is a great (albeit, short) viewing alternative to "iCarly" and the nauseating like. Bonus for geeky grown-ups: The episodes end in dance parties featuring Will Arnett and an interchangeable cast of Poehler's celeb friends (Aziz Ansari, Kristen Wiig, etc.).

The Newest Swirl Syndicate Design!

The Swirl Syndicate site is back in action, after a (possibly, too-long) hiatus. I've streamlined my stock a bit, added a ton of stuff to the sale section and made the switch to using all 100% organic cotton shirts.

This is my newest design, made possible with the technical help of my very brilliant friend, Daniel Lievens.

"Soul and salsa. K-pop and klezmer. Bhangra and bluegrass. Whatever your little one's mix, it rings out in perfect harmony."

Thanks to Daniel and, of course, my husband (aka, #1 Computer Genius) for helping me get back on my feet. Now, don't let all their hard work go to waste...go shop!

Wantables — Gimme 2 Pair...

Just spotted these via the NYT site. It's been a minute since I've obsessed over sneakers*, but when I scrolled through this "Africa Lifestyle" collection by New York artist Kehinde Wiley, the old yearning came back. I'm also loving the West African-inspired prints on his little collapsible canvas Tekkies.

*Actually, the last time was another pair of Pumas, designed by Kozyndan...but the limited-edition designs only came in big honking guy sizes back then.