Cool depends so much on context. For me, cool is something that strikes me as an unexpected you in aprehension. It could be an idea, a solution to a problem, a look, and much more. It is a kind of elegance, but a brand new, elegant approach to something old.
There is also classical cool. The Marlon Brando, James Dean look. It is a kind of “I don’t have to do that, because it’s enough that I’m here” cool. I can just be, and people will want to see me, be near me, be me!
Cool, in boys, gets all the chicks. Cool, in jazz, is the kind of stuff you can’t believe just happened. Cool, in clothes, is the cutting edge on the street, before it gets snatched up by the fashion trade.
Most cool can not be held onto. It must be refreshed. It gets old fast. It is relevant for such a short period of time, and then, we’re on to the next cool.
Certain things really can’t be cool. Geeks, for example. There is, perhaps, geek chic, but this is a tongue-in-cheek cool. Everyone knows that geeks really are too geeky to be cool.
You have to pay attention to be cool. You have to notice what is happening and take it one step further. One new step further. But even that’s not enough. You also, almost always, have to be young to be cool. Geeks just don’t care. They are interested in what they are interested in, and don’t notice anything outside of that. Not cool.
Some people can never be cool. Moms and Dads, for the most part, are not cool, but there tends to be one cool Mom per every several blocks. The cool Dad has usually done something in the public world that makes him cool. Either that, or he takes his kids on the most unexpectedly awesome adventures.
Business can not be cool. Except if you are Google. Showbiz is too glamorous to be cool. Patriotism can be sort of cool, but it’s a different kind of cool. I don’t know how to explain it.
I have always wanted to be cool. I thought that if I were cool, I’d have all the chicks I could handle. But I never got to be cool. And now I admit right up front, that there is no chance in hell for me to be cool. People laugh, but they get it. They are nice, too, and often let me hang around. But I don’t even bother trying to get into a club. It is painfully obvious how uncool I am, when there is cool all around!