a catch

while Mother Nature typically has a knack for matching up people who are physically comparable, there are always anomalies. for instance: the Sexy Lady + Unattractive Man cliché. even less common, though, is the opposite pairing. yet here's just such a mash-up now! a married couple consisting of one objectively dashing gentleman -- all talldarkand chisel-smiled, and free of any pretension-induced swagger -- and one humble-looking (shall we say) woman. both fortyish. both upbeat. and both clearly very taken with each other. they're so sweet i can barely pry my eyes or smile away from them. but i digress and repeat: he's really something of a specimen. which, of course, shouldn't matter in the least (the hormones of certain onlookers -- ahem -- notwithstanding). it's just that the physical disparity between them is so unusual that i can't help wondering what's behind this unorthodox equation...

one possibility is that Ma Nature -- ever the wiley one! -- is just trying to keep us on our toes. (a-ha! this couple'll surely stump 'em!)

then again, perhaps there's a lesson to be learned from the relationship logic of Mr. and Mrs. Cliché (referenced above). after all, The Clichés make perfect sense together once we factor in two other convenient -- and nauseating -- stereotypes whereby Sexy's a gold-digger and Unattractive is an arm-candy fiend; thus, he gets the catch, she gets the cash, and bob's your uncle! if times they really are a-changin', then our forty-somethings may just be one example of a twenty-first-century, gender-bending variation on this theme: maybe Humble's middle name is Moneybags and she's bent on parading Specimen around; and maybe he's the one jonesing for a larger disposable income.

then again (again), maybe this theory's all a buncha hooey. because the more i stare at our duo (this hobby is truly shameless at times...), the more i realize they are, without a doubt, among the more delightful coffee-shop couples i've seen in a long time. the only remaining cause for suspicion then? well, they just make it look so easy.

and now back to translating...

the ministry

holiday monday, august 5

for all its breathtaking scenery (imagine gazing northbound from the corktown pedestrian bridge at sunset), ottawa is especially notorious for its bureaucrats: gaggles of nine-to-fiving, pulp-and-paper-pushing civil servants who work for one of the country's gazillion federal Departments and Ministries.

for better or for worse, the mythology surrounding bureaucratic life tends to twist my stomach into uncomfortable knots, calling to mind the sentiment of pink floyd's "money" (it's a gas; grab that cash with both hands and make a stash... *cha-ching*) and the image of a cubicle-shaped vice-grip tightening around the "autonomy" and "imagination" chambers of the brain.

but that perspective has suddenly (if only slightly) shifted, 'cause there's a new ministry in town: the ministry of coffee. a new elgin-street café, where the hot chocolate (still in its experimental stages, according to one of the kindly owners) already dazzles the taste buds and is -- be still my heart! -- scheduled to undergo some kind of nutella-based transformation come wintertime. brrr-illiant!

and that ain't all. there are yummy chicken/cranberry/walnut wraps and suzie q doughnuts waiting impatiently at the counter; kickass, artful photographs suspended from the walls; and van morrison b-sides humming on the speakers.

but how does one really know this place is groovy? by checking in with one of the harshest critics (of anything at all) around, of course. and looky who's here: BRF! (with her foxy beau in tow.) true to form, her resting face is as foul as ever. p.u.! uncharacteristically, however, her mug wavers now and then, revealing a telling expression. yep: that there is a smile! and particularly since she's choosing to be here on a stat holiday -- when all other ministries are temporary dust bowls of activity -- it seems clear that this ministry isn't just the newest of the bunch.

and now back to translating...