Hipster?

Guess which 6 of these 10 people I find absolutely adorable.

I'm always astonished that a lot of people see me as a "hipster." Especially since 1) I'm still not even sure what "hipster" means (even though some people say that lack of awareness is itself is a distinctive "hipster characteristic") and 2) Because I'm probably the most uncool person you've ever met: I get excited about Medical Training and Evolutionary Psychology. I enjoy Ke$ha and Katy Perry un-ironically. I constantly wish I could just be "one of the boys."

But then--sometimes, in my occasional moments of self-awareness and clarity--I do notice that some of the facts add up.

1) I wear "Buddy Holly" glasses. But only because contacts are obnoxious and thick-rims are easier to find in the morning when I don't have glasses on.

And because they are an excellent disguise when working illegally in Eastern Europe.

2) I sincerely believe that anyone that doesn't appreciate Bob Dylan "just doesn't get it" and probably doesn't have much to offer me in the long term at all.

Blasphemy.

3) I am open to talking to almost anyone but often realize that I despise about 96% of the people I have to interact with day-to-day. It just bothers me that they seem to mesh so easily into society whereas I have to pre-script conversations to get anyone to treat me like something more than the member of a low social caste.

4) I really do divide the world into the "cool" and the "uncool" and base my decisions on those distinctions.

5) I do appreciate irony. In fact, some of my friendships are constructed on ironic character stances that I never dropped upon getting to know the person better. My "love of cycling fashion trends" and my "interest in the darker side of musical theater". My whole life, in fact, may just be one ironic joke about human futility. Wouldn't surprise me.

Me and Augustus at the Coca-Cola factory in Atlanta, GA. 

I really see the hipster impulse to be cool in its evolutionary sense. It helps us stand out, be different, be a source of fascination, be a magnet for attention. In turn, these characteristics become a force of attraction to help us catch the eyes of a quality mate.

And that's when I think that I can't be a hipster. Because at the end of the day, the only reason I want to be different is because I want to be liked.

And that's terribly uncool, isn't it?