On Cleverness

This summer I enjoyed a play called Cyrano de Bergerac. During the intermission we were discussing what we thought about it, and I mentioned that I thought that Cyrano was very clever. A guy whose name escapes me right now quickly caught that and asked me if cleverness was attractive to me in guys. The question kind of caught me off guard, but I quickly realized that yes, I do like it when people are clever. Not just guys, but all people. Clever people are cool.

I also like getting e-mail. Blogs are cool, too, but they're basically public, so you have to be a little guarded about what you say. Well, since I have a major case of The Fridays today, I've been browsing some old e-mail messages, and I would like to quote from some of them. I am fortunate enough to receive e-mail from some really clever people, so enjoy! This installment is from Cash (names have been changed to protect people).

"Game-playing in Salt Lake City is almost always unbearable. I’ve gone to "game parties" before in the SLC and they’re typically ranked right up there with mammograms, Rod Stewart, and McDonald’s. It’s not necessarily that the games are unbearable, it’s more the atmosphere."

"...wastes of time should per se be enjoyable."

"I considered urinating on him – then I’d be rid of him forever! ... Or would I?"

"We had to dilute it before (she) would even consider it as an entry, and even then it was like drinking an entire bottle of an 85-year-old’s perfume."

"I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically that four girls who were talking VERY SERIOUSLY about sex and lingerie had been – a mere five minutes earlier – racing each other down the stairs ala Macaulay Culkin in Home Alone using their sleeping bags as toboggans."

"There was a truck parked on our lawn and a barbecue on the driveway. Donna and Jack were challenging each other to a belching contest. Mike and Brock were leaning against the truck, wearing sweat pants, and drinking Mountain Dew. The winner of the pie-eating contest won a Kathy Ireland exercise slide. The newlyweds and our neighbors were no doubt praying for the swift return of our parents from Hong Kong."

"If you’re in Utah, the "Settlers" is to be pronounced as two separate words: "Sett"-"Lers." If you pronounce it as one fluid word, you will be revealing your brains. That’s not always a good thing in these here parts."

"When I revealed that I knew what the word "gamut" meant, everyone in the room feared me."

Okay, so I think these are clever. The funny thing is, you might not. So, while I say that I like cleverness, we all probably have a different idea of what about cleverness is attractive or cool. And the attractiveness about being clever can be unattractive if you know you're being clever or if you're trying too hard to be clever. So... I guess that it has a lot to do with delivery. Anyway, I'm glad I have clever family and friends. So there. Yay for me!