So Not Cool

I am so not cool.

I don't know if I ever was cool. I used to think that I was, but that was probably just an illusion of youth. I have never been very stylish (though I do have a nice hairstyle), and I never know what the hip movies, bands, or clubs are. Is cool still cool or is there something cooler than cool now that I haven't heard of? Hip, maybe? Phat? Oh please don't tell me that's it!

Funny thing is, I have several friends who declare me to be their "cool friend." This absolutely cracks me up (and I'm sure you're rolling on the floor if you know me!). Maybe it's because I don't really care about being cool - not because I'm too cool to think about it, but because I forget to think about it. Maybe it's because I don't have kids at my advanced age like so many of my friends.

I'm mostly aware of my low cool quotient when I'm at some place like the Hi Tone or the Buccaneer (great clubs, both!); or sometimes at my book club when I proffer a book that's so passe that everyone gags (and I'm not talking about the Divine Secrets, DaVinci Code or anything like that - maybe just something I heard about on NPR).

I have one friend, a guy friend, who's a couple of years older than me. He's a philosophy professor and is too cool, even for his own good. Anyhow, though, he's always got the niftiest new shirt from Banana Republic (maybe I should shop there?) and seems to know about the most obscure bands and whatnot. Even though he's 37 or 38, he still talks about canoeing with vodka soaked pineapple chunks as his lunch. He seems to work at it. Is that cool?

It's probably not cool to think about being cool or what's cool or who's cool. So, to avoid further embarrassment, I'll just chill out.
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