Wait, there's more

Here's another little snippet from the same Jonathan Franzen piece (see below) in the New York Times:

"BUT then a funny thing happened to me. It’s a long story, but basically I fell in love with birds. I did this not without significant resistance, because it’s very uncool to be a birdwatcher, because anything that betrays real passion is by definition uncool. But little by little, in spite of myself, I developed this passion, and although one-half of a passion is obsession, the other half is love."

Passion is by definition uncool. Wow. I think humanity is divided into two groups, depending on whichever side of that statement you fall. You either have passion and are uncool, or the opposite. That explains a lot of what goes on around me, and how I relate (and how I don't relate) to people around me.

Alas, I believe the people who'd rather be cool far outnumber the people who "betray real passion."