MNT: shorten logic + docstring

Author: tacaswell

lib/matplotlib/cbook/__init__.py

@@ -1708,7 +1708,8 @@ def safe_first_element(obj):
 
 def _safe_first_finite(obj, *, skip_nonfinite=True):
     """
-    Return the first non-None element in *obj*.
+    Return the first non-None (and optionally finite) element in *obj*.
+
     This is a method for internal use.
 
     This is an type-independent way of obtaining the first non-None element,
@@ -1717,7 +1718,7 @@ def _safe_first_finite(obj, *, skip_nonfinite=True):
     """
     def safe_isfinite(val):
         try:
-            return np.isfinite(val) if np.isscalar(val) else True
+            return np.isscalar(val) and np.isfinite(val)
         except TypeError:
             # This is something that numpy can not make heads or tails
             # of, assume "finite"