What exactly is indie credibility? Isn't that a contradiction in terms? The idea that there are some criteria that you have to live up to in order to be independent seems really backward to me. I was watching Forrest Gump last night as I was laying in bed before giving in completely to sleep. Like clockwork, Forrest finds out he has a son and the waterworks begin. Yes, I am a softie. And it dawned on me that my appreciation of sappy movies that make me cry would get me snickers and eye-rolls from my indie peers.

Let the litany of my supposed uncoolness begin. I like Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. I am a sports nut. I like doing touristy things in places I haven't been (and also in places I've lived for years). I have a Ph.D. in engineering and enjoy all the nerdy interests that would suggest. And if this gets me ostracized or otherwise made to feel inferior by people who share my so-called "cool" interests, then they can go stick their heads in a toilet.

This sense of not caring was what drew me to those sort of people in the first place. They do what they think is cool. But lately I've been wondering if that's not so much being indie as it is being narcissistic. Just do what you like. If you like wearing swanky clothes, going to the happening shows, and hanging out in bars, more power to you. But don't expect me to put up with you when you make jokes about the khakis I'm wearing, how I missed the last Death Cab show, and how I find other things to do instead of having drinks in a dank smoky room.

So I'm on the train this morning on my way to work, and I pick up a copy of the Metro (a free "lite newspaper" in Boston) someone has left on a seat. I suppose because I have some deep-seated desire to get angered, I generally turn to the editorials first. And this is what I am greeted with.

"And our guest columnist today, BRAINIAC, operating on forty minutes sleep". Wasn't this guy one of the aliens with telekinetic powers on Star Trek? Geez! I thought he was going to light me on fire! As if his picture wasn't bad enough, the column was some speculation on what "the face of evil" really looks like. I dunno, but after seeing that picture, I've got some ideas.

Luckily the readers' page was able to distract me, as the letters were even more ridiculous than usual.