I was recently posed with the challenge of trying to describe myself in one paragraph. ONE! Can you imagine?! I know it doesn’t sound like a difficult task, but try it! Try to express, in 300 words or less, what makes you YOU. (In fact, if you can do it and it fits in the comments section of this post, I’ll send you a prize.)
For me, it was hard to know where to start. I mean, the general goal in putting oneself in a nutshell like that is to express–in no uncertain terms–your utter awesomeness, amazability, uniqueness, your own singular brand of “cool”. I figured the best way to get the ball rolling was to make a list. But as my list grew longer and longer, I began to realize that while everything on my list was true, I felt like they painted a picture of an awfully BORING person–not “awesome”, “amazing”, or “unique”, let alone “cool”. I wanted to sound COOL, and I wasn’t quite sure how to get there. I decided I needed to do a little research…afterall, I was a history major, and if there’s one thing us Liberal Arts majors know how to do, it’s reasarch. So I turned to the ultimate source of all things “COOL” in Seattle: The Stranger (Seattle’s alternative newspaper).
In the back of The Stranger are the personal ads, where the funky kids loiter about in the hopes of finding other funky kids to bum a smoke off of and eventually shuffle down to Neumo’s with for a show. How would these people, the very definition of “Seattle Cool”, define themselves? As I started to read, I began to see a trend: all the things that used to be avant garde and unique in Seattle, were suddenly trendy and hip! Apparently while my back was turned, it stopped being “unique” to listen to KEXP, or to hang out at the Sit N Spin. It stopped being ok to just like Starbucks coffee, and instead you have to be gulping down a cup of black mud that tastes like ashtrays and pretend you like it because it’s made from free trade beans. Paying top dollar for organics at Whole Foods WAS cool, but now it’s not anymore…everyone is shopping at their local farmer’s market now, didn’t you know?
All of a sudden, it dawned on me: these kids weren’t “unique” by any means…they were all THE SAME! I was looking for “cool” in all the wrong places… It was then that I discovered, my fingers covered with newsprint, that BEING YOURSELF is the new COOL. Something it turns out I knew all along.
At the end of the day, I knew exactly how to describe myself:
I have a membership to Seattle’s Sci-Fi Museum. Yes, I went to Comic-Con last summer…and no, I didn’t wear a costume. But I think the people that did are truly dedicated fans that put me to shame. Yes, I’m obsessed with tv shows about paranormal researchers trying to document ghosts and various otherworldly phenomena. I enjoy attending lectures by Michio Kaku. I LIKE STARBUCKS, and my car doesn’t operate on bio-diesel. Yes, I like Muse, and yes I jumped on the bandwagon a little late. So what? I write poetry every day, and prefer Diet Coke from the fountain. I like laughing so hard that my body shakes in violent fits of silent hysteria. I have a penchant for Sci-Fi tv shows like Stargate Atlantis, Battlestar Galactica, and Dr. Who. I enjoy reading books on Quantum Physics that are way over my head, and am rather proud of myself when I recognize their applications included–albeit often crudely–in a popular science fiction novel. I go to the movies alone, hate to cook, love vaccuming, and prefer the company of my cat to that of a child I’m not related to any day.
I’m Stephanie–and on February 7th, I’ll see you at Seattle’s Science Fiction Short Film Festival, tub of buttery popcorn in one hand, and Milk Duds in the other. Please bring napkins.
