’ve always loved this guy. You probably know him from Sesame Street as ‘The Count’ although his full moniker is actually ‘Count Von Count’.
Despite the obvious resemblance to Romania’s most famous son Dracula, I have always found the Count to be a character who represents passion, optimism and unwavering commitment to the thing he loves more than life itself – counting.
And the thing I’ve noticed is – counting never seems to get old for our cloaked friend. He is always truly delighted and amazed at the results of each summation, even to the point where he will laugh in disbelief at every subsequent addition.
It has never been truly explained why Von Count finds so much meaning in his vocation or what he plans to do with all the information he amasses. And this is precisely why I find him so inspiring. He counts for the joy of counting.
You can see it in his Styrofoam eyes. Despite extensive past experience, and being as well acquainted with basic arithmetic as he is – he is as switched on and curious about what comes next as he probably was on his very first attempt. At no point does he assume that things will simply be ‘the same’ as last time and thus his curiosity for the world around him is preserved.
It could also be that he is on acid.
