Remember back when you were cool? In my case, cool was the decade from my late teens to late 20s. Those were the days of exploring, living on the edge and taking risks, not only because it never occurred to me that I wasn’t immortal but because I was cool. I had finished college and moved to the big city.
Now that was cool. Apparently, all it takes to be cool is to get out of the suburbs. My first apartment. My first real job with real money — just waiting for me to get my cool on. Boy, did I ever. I spent money on a steady diet of movies and live music, but the bulk of my newfound wealth went to keeping my local record store and bookstore in business.
I was hip to all the musical artists, those of the rock ‘n roll kind. I was cool. Of course I was; I read Rolling Stone. Back in those days, FM radio was cool. At least it was in my city, Montreal. CKGM-FM played all the cool music, and me, being so very cool, soaked it up. Being so hip, I loved the Grammys and cheering on my favorite singers and bands.
The same went for movies. For a few years there, I must have seen every movie Hollywood put out. I loved the movies. And every year I’d watch the Oscars, knowing every actress and actor that walked the red carpet.
As for books, there too I was pretty cool. I mean, hey, every week I read The New York Times Review of Books from cover to cover. I’d clip reviews of books I wanted to read and stuck them in a file folder called “To Buy,” the precursor to the to-be-read pile teetering by my bedside. I still have that folder. One day I’ll go through it, see whether there are any good books to read, by authors whose names I recognize. From the days when I was cool and with it.
I am so not with it anymore. I am reminded of that fact whenever — and this has been going on for years — I read an article about something, and included in the article is a list of X, whether that’s a list of authors, musical artists, movie stars, painters or whatever. And where I used to know, when I was cool, every one of those names, now I’m lucky if I recognize just one.
Here’s one list. See if you can guess the occupation of these people:
The Weeknd, Khalid, Charlie Puth, J Balvin, David Guetta, Demi Lovato
Those are famous musicians. Now this next group:
Leigh Bardugo, Tamsyn Muir, R.F. Kuang, Sangu Mandanna, Naomi Novik, Deborah Harkness, Chloe Gong, Ava Reid, Sabaa Tahir, M. L. Wang, Sable Sorenson and Sarah J. Maas.
Famous authors. Now these:
Sheryl Lee Ralph, Ali Larter, Julius Tennon, Connor Storrie, Natasha Rothwell, Paul Mescal, Rose Byrne, Delroy Lindo, Isa Briones, Alona Tal
Famous actors. I don’t recognize a single name.
This weekend at Wimbleton, women’s final: Karolína Muchová and Linda Nosková. Who? Whatever happened to Martina Navratilova? Now, there was someone who was cool.
Our musical interlude today is from John Hiatt …
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