The Spectrum of Cool

As I'm getting out more, making friends, I've been thinking about what is cool. And if I'm cool, how do I recognize others like me?

During my first year in college there was this one guy, I think his name was Pete. He was tall and had scraggly, long brown hair. Not attractive. Very skinny. And make no mistake, he was a total flaming geek. And when we would bowl, us and our friends, he would dance a geeky jig with each strike. He went on to work at frito lay, making artificial flavorings. He was way cool. I miss him a bit.



I think he was cool because he owned who he was. Which is tricky when you are everything that is not, by definition, cool.

Then there are the smart people, possessed in self confidence, all indy as get out. Urban, thrift store chick wardrobe. Ultra cool. I knew a girl who fit that description. We hung out a lot in college. She had a boyfriend who was macho and grew his own vegetables. They were vegans. I was all like, here are my people. All smart and sassy like. This hip duo was the first couple friends Mr. Hall and I had. I thought they were cooler than us. They were definitely cooler looking.



Then we all went to a Halloween Haunted House constructed by local high schoolers. It was cool for what it was. They, the ultra cool couple, kind of rolled their eyes and called it lame. Which I thought was totally bad manners. Then they were jabbering about politics. Because politics WAS A FAVORITE TOPIC OF CONVERSATION OF THEIRS. And not just any politics BUT KARL MARX. Yeah, I know. So cliche.

Then Mr. Hall and I were getting all into the Haunted House. Loving the hand painted doors, the teenage kids with rubber masks who trying to scare us, the candy corn . . . getting into it. Cause that's what we do.



We get into things cause we ENJOY OURSELVES ALL THE TIME. Then I started waxing poetic about Christmas. And she, of our first couple friends, did the "Pssh-shaaww" noise and said, "Oh, I hate Christmas."

It was then I decided that for the rest of my life-- I would never be friends with anyone who wasn't a fan of Christmas.

True to my word, we never spoke to the cool couple again.

So, to me, cool is a spectrum. In order to even register as cool, one must have ownership of self. But, the self needs to be awesome. Happy and passionate for life. Then the exterior needs to match that interior. Because frumpy and not showering is uncool. And above all, being kind is the coolest. Cause no one likes a cool asshat. In fact, that defeats the purpose.

And now, a very cool song indeed. . . Lust for Life by Iggy Pop.

Stupid adverts in front of videos ARE NOT COOL but I just couldn't find another copy.

apologies.

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