Coolness factor???

Haha... just got a testimonial from Andy this morning on my Friendster. Apparently my 'cool' factor is dropping coz I listed Hanson and Yanni under my fave music... hehe. First of all, I wasn't even aware that i had the 'coolness' factor, haha!

This brings to mind, for the umpteeth time, the 'coolness factor' topic. Have always wondered:

1. Wat is defined as cool;
2. More importantly, WHO defines wat is cool

U know how when we were in school, there was always the 'cool' group where the girls (i say girls coz I came from an all-girls school) are usually regarded on a higher plane coz of:

1. Wat they wear/carry on their being (usually funky, branded stuff... or distasteful but attention-grabbing garb);
2. How they behave (loud, rebellious, i-dun-give-a-fuck-abt-respect-and-authority);
3. How they look (the pretty ones, the 'macho' ones) ;
4. And interestingly, their race (the 'lain-lain' category seem to attract more attention)

And though I hung out with the so-called 'cool' group towards the final yrs of my high school, I'd never felt particularly cool coz I:

1. Never subscribed to the entire 'cool' concept coz it never made sense to me;
2. Was neither exceptionally pretty nor macho (haha!) nor loud nor rebellious... just ur average prefect and good-girl-next-door who just happened to have great friends who were in the 'cool' group (i must say that my friends never intentionally did anything that promoted their 'coolness'. They are how they are and the other girls just seemed to think it's cool, haha);
3. Preferred to be in the background, observing interesting and weird patterns in human behavior... hehe...

Even now, in our adult world (or at least, some of us are trying to act like adults, hehe), I've noticed this 'cool' factor come into play, though perhaps it may not be as apparent as it was when we were in our schooling days. Some of us have this perpetual need for approval from our peers and would constantly strive to maintain our 'coolness' factor, be it in terms of material things or intangible, behavior-like areas. And the extent to which some ppl would go to to obtain this 'approval', astounds me sometimes.

This sort of pack behavior, so to speak (coz the 'cool' ppl usually travel in packs/groups), never fails to intrigue me, especially in uni... where certain race/nationality/social groups would sport similar hairdo/dressing that u'd be able to tell wat/who they are or to which group they belong to from a mile off. And u can tell that they think they're cool coz of the way they carry themselves (speaking, walking, etc.). I know some sort of uniformity is supposed to portray and enhance unity and all that but heck, do they all have to have the same hairstyles?! lol!

Anyway, I'm a firm believer in NOT conforming to certain societal norms and to watever the mainstream definition of 'cool' is. Not that I openly flaunt my different-ness... I just choose to stay away from/ignore things that I dun fancy, including those that are considered cool. So yeah, I enjoy Hanson and Yanni... and if this makes me uncool, who cares?! If I enjoy their music, I'll listen to 'em. Like i've always believed, 'coolness' is one of the MANY things that are man-defined... and I have an aversion towards most things defined by man... haha!