Silk & Shadows

Currently working on: Memorizing the lyrics to R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It”
Mood: “And I feel fiiiiine…”

The temperatures are definitely shifting and the sun is setting sooner every day.  I’m busy writing Book 4 of the Marked Souls.  With the end of summer and deadlines looming, I feel a little bit like I’m going back to school.

This may surprise no one, but I was always a bit of a nerd and a bookworm.  (Well, maybe the “a bit” part would surprise you.)  I was not hot, which was our topic here at Silk And Shadows last week, and I was not cool, as is this week’s topic.  Either one — hot or cool — would have been nice, but instead I settled for a rich fantasy life and a facility with words.

Which brings me to some cool people I want to share with you.  These are some of the cool people I would’ve liked to hang with back in the day; luckily, now there’s the internet, so they can share their coolness with all of us.  (Disclaimer: My definition of cool may have been irrepairably damaged by my bookwormy nerdiness.)

Cool person #1: Allie from Hyperbole and a Half

Not only is she hysterically funny with words, she draws too.  When I feel bad, I like to look at her “Better Pain Scale” strip.  By the end I’m feeling better.  Or maybe I feel like #11 on her better pain scale, but at least she’s given me a way to relate to my feelings.

Then I read various other posts and LMAO and all is well.

Cool person #2: Clay Shirky, smart guy

If you kinda wish you were going back to school, just because it’s been awhile since you stretched your mind, check him out.  Sometimes, he makes my head hurt.  In a good way.  (#3 on Allie’s pain scale, maybe.)  If you ever wonder “What is the world coming to?” you can read the ongoing blog spun off his book HERE COMES EVERYBODY.  It’s not always good news, but always fascinating.

Cool person #3: Modern Toss

Okay, not really a person, but a bunch of clever, cool people.  And I’ll admit up front that I am vastly amused by South Park because I find cursing children hilarious; swearing by Brits is similarly amusing.  Modern Toss’s Periodic Table of Swearing is funny AND wrong, so of course it’s cool.  I daren’t include a snippet since it might offend someone but I’ll just say this… Prat.

Right.  Looking at this list now, I realize there was no way I could ever have been cool.  Oh well.  Were you a cool kid?  What was it like?  If you weren’t a cool kid, which group did you belong to?