The Cool Meter

Baby: I'm not particularly cool. I wasn't a cool kid. I think I manage to stay current and slightly hipper than most men my age. That is to say that on the cool meter (the cool meter goes from 1-10 and is graded on a curve so you are only compared to people of the same sex in your age group, in case you didn't know. I have to remember to write that book called The Cool Meter so I don't have to explain it every time.) I was about a 5 as a 21 year old, but with so many men dropping off the meter altogether I am now a 7 as a 36 year old. I avoid most of the aging hipster cliches while staying current on denim trends, headware and t-shirt designs. I don't wear giant sports jerseys, pegged jeans or dirty white tennis shoes. Is the baby going to change all that? Will I care? I know the baby will be the most important thing in my life, but how much of my current life will still exist? A lot of men around my age have become frozen in fashion time. You see them wearing clothes that were cool 10 years ago when they stopped caring about what they looked like. Will I still find time to read the many, many magazines I scour to learn about good music? People with children always complain about how they don't get to the movies anymore. Will I still go? Will I only have time for the blockbusters or will I still get to see the independant stuff? Will I finally join Netflix and see them after everyone else has in the privacy of my own home? These things will be determined in time. For now I just can't wait to see the face of my very own child.