The Cool Factor
I'm going to admit something now that I am not really proud of.
The only thing that has ever mattered to me is to be cool and hang out with cool people in cool places.
Now, according to my "rules of cool," there are multiple and specific qualities to being cool. You can't be a liar. You can't be an asshole. You can't be unkind. But you do need attitude.
For eight years, I have been craving cool. George and Laura, and even their daughters, aren't cool. And, worse, they made America NOT COOL. For eight years, I have felt like Sysiphus, pushing that boulder up the mountain of cool, only to have it roll down again and again and again.
The Clintons are cool in a certain way. But, Obama is the man. And, even in Europe, in the British press, they headlines are saying, "Joe Cool Arrives at the White House" only to go on to say,
"Whether or not he lives up to the hype (and, frankly, who could?), Barack Obama looks set to become the coolest president America has ever had.
Here's the link to the whole article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5114796.ece
All over the world, it is cool to be an American again. Personally, I'm loving it.
I was the one who had to have go-go boots when I was 13. I threw a tantrum of sorts outside the shoe store until my parents (who had three OTHER children to feed and clothe) counted their spare change and hoped it would add up to the $48.00 the boots cost in 1966. Ka-ching, Ka-ching. Why did I have to have white go-go boots? Because I saw them on Shindig on television and they were definitely cool.
I've hunted down cool boyfriends, cool cars (BMW 2002s), cool apartments, cool friends, cool restaurants, cool music, cool ideas and I hope some cool clothes. I even went for cool schools for my kids (Waldorf, although that isn't cool to everyone, it is super cool to me.) In reality, I probably just exist in the thick of mediocrity, but it doesn't matter as long as you feel like you are cool. It's all about that. And I feel cool again.
One thing I definitely want to say. Cool is NOT about money. Maybe that is why I am excited again. Everything has been about money and status for about 15 years. And cool is NOT that! Some cool people have money, but cool people don't have to have money. Some of the very coolest people I ever knew were musicians, artists, therapists / wise women, priests, writers, and teachers. Just off the charts cool. So I am very happy to get back to what is really cool - which is very different from status. Status always deteriorates into boring. Cool never does. You can stay up all night with a cool person. With a person of status? Well, you never know. If they aren't cool, they are interesting for about 5 minutes.
So, there you have it. I rearranged my Minneapolis apartment today because it was so not cool. Like, I didn't even want anyone to see it now that most of my furniture has been shipped to my really cool apartment in NY. It really bugs me when my apartments aren't cool, because I have good apartment karma and usually get cool ones.
So I shoved things around I made it moderately cooler today. I'm likin' my clothes, I'm doin' hats this year. I've got rockin' clients who really are way cooler than me, but they help me stay cool. And I've got an uber cool husband, and very cool kids and extended family and all (but one, who is going to have to work on being cool now) voted for the man - the "kid" as my 97-year old grandmother calls him.
My mojo's back.
The only thing that has ever mattered to me is to be cool and hang out with cool people in cool places.
Now, according to my "rules of cool," there are multiple and specific qualities to being cool. You can't be a liar. You can't be an asshole. You can't be unkind. But you do need attitude.
For eight years, I have been craving cool. George and Laura, and even their daughters, aren't cool. And, worse, they made America NOT COOL. For eight years, I have felt like Sysiphus, pushing that boulder up the mountain of cool, only to have it roll down again and again and again.
The Clintons are cool in a certain way. But, Obama is the man. And, even in Europe, in the British press, they headlines are saying, "Joe Cool Arrives at the White House" only to go on to say,
"Whether or not he lives up to the hype (and, frankly, who could?), Barack Obama looks set to become the coolest president America has ever had.
Here's the link to the whole article:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5114796.ece
All over the world, it is cool to be an American again. Personally, I'm loving it.
I was the one who had to have go-go boots when I was 13. I threw a tantrum of sorts outside the shoe store until my parents (who had three OTHER children to feed and clothe) counted their spare change and hoped it would add up to the $48.00 the boots cost in 1966. Ka-ching, Ka-ching. Why did I have to have white go-go boots? Because I saw them on Shindig on television and they were definitely cool.
I've hunted down cool boyfriends, cool cars (BMW 2002s), cool apartments, cool friends, cool restaurants, cool music, cool ideas and I hope some cool clothes. I even went for cool schools for my kids (Waldorf, although that isn't cool to everyone, it is super cool to me.) In reality, I probably just exist in the thick of mediocrity, but it doesn't matter as long as you feel like you are cool. It's all about that. And I feel cool again.
One thing I definitely want to say. Cool is NOT about money. Maybe that is why I am excited again. Everything has been about money and status for about 15 years. And cool is NOT that! Some cool people have money, but cool people don't have to have money. Some of the very coolest people I ever knew were musicians, artists, therapists / wise women, priests, writers, and teachers. Just off the charts cool. So I am very happy to get back to what is really cool - which is very different from status. Status always deteriorates into boring. Cool never does. You can stay up all night with a cool person. With a person of status? Well, you never know. If they aren't cool, they are interesting for about 5 minutes.
So, there you have it. I rearranged my Minneapolis apartment today because it was so not cool. Like, I didn't even want anyone to see it now that most of my furniture has been shipped to my really cool apartment in NY. It really bugs me when my apartments aren't cool, because I have good apartment karma and usually get cool ones.
So I shoved things around I made it moderately cooler today. I'm likin' my clothes, I'm doin' hats this year. I've got rockin' clients who really are way cooler than me, but they help me stay cool. And I've got an uber cool husband, and very cool kids and extended family and all (but one, who is going to have to work on being cool now) voted for the man - the "kid" as my 97-year old grandmother calls him.
My mojo's back.
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