couples

a few nights ago, i arrive home to find a small, padded, canada-post envelope leaning up against my apartment door. as if the delightful bubbles of the packaging aren't gift enough -- *p-p-p-pop* -- the envelope contains a handful of items. among them, a gift card for the bridgehead coffee shop and a note from the friend who'd sent the goods: "y'know, fuel for blogging, thesis-writing and whatever else you like to do at bridgehead." hmmm, could this be a reminder to hop to it on the thesis front? pfff! that can't be right. surely it's more of a written nudge from the coffee-shop gods -- with my friend acting as the trusty conduit -- urging me to get back to blogging (or at least bloggery) after well over a month of neglect. (tsk tsk.) and since, as chance would have it, the past couple of weeks have proven to be quite the bonanza of café-based activity, here goes...

sunday july 13: the blues
it's the day after my very first bluesfest experience. Stars, on a sunny outdoor stage: outstanding! equally outstanding -- though far less predictably so -- is being at my usual caffeine-obsessed hangout today and spotting the couple who'd stood right in front of us (amid the sea of rather unfortunate back tattoos) at last night's concert. the guy's a spark plug of a Matthew Fox lookalike (hubba hubba!) and, therefore, decidedly memorable. but it's the girl i especially recall, namely thanks to the persistent ailment she seems to be suffering from: b*tchy resting face. ugh! when BRF's in the room, the festival of blues apparently never ends...

monday july 14: the heat
holy jeebus: it's hotter than hades, plus a helluva lotta humid! yet somehow i find myself working on the rooftop patio of a westboro second cup. and, not surprisingly, it's deserted. except, of course, for my new love interest and me. which raises the profound philosophical question: if a couple engages in public displays of affection on a coffee shop patio and no one's around to see it, are such displays still "public"?

wednesday july 16: the game
some great ideas are only "just fair" in practice. evidence suggests that -- despite the creative genius of its name -- monopolatte (ottawa's one and only board game café) is a case in point. first and foremost, their hot chocolate blows: wa wa waaa! second of all, since players need to concentrate on their moves, there's no background music playing. this is doubly problematic. any potential for ambience has been essentially nixed. (the space almost immediately feels clinical.) plus, you can hear everything the other groups of players are saying. if you've ever wondered what sound "ridiculous" might make, you need only overhear two people delving -- in absolute seriousness -- into the rules and objectives of a complex board game they've never played before. at one table: the player with a pig in his field will score x number of points for his city. at another: similar jibber jabber about how to play -- wait for it! -- zombicide. nuff said. nonetheless, there's hope for success over the long term, and i'll certainly be back in the near future, since, c'mon, who doesn't love board games! but today's rating = no dice.

saturday july 20: the nerve
thanks to the recent opportunity to complete an online starbucks survey, today has granted me a freebie hot chocolate. pure bliss! except that, as we all know, nothing's actually free. in this case, the not-free fee is enduring mother-daughter quality time in which thirty-something Mom -- who's rather preoccupied with the state of her hair and otherwise appears to be caught in the headlights, like a well-known antlered creature -- ignores her eight-year-old daughter, while Daughter bonds (via ipad) with Dora the Explorer. y'know, at top volume. as though this were their living room. in times like these, i wish i had the proverbial balls to walk over to their table and hand them my set of earphones. then again, i'm not quite sure Mom would understand what to do with them.

tuesday july 23: the boy
this morning, a duo of baristas are all a-tizzy over Kate and William's new bundle of joy.
barista 1, exasperated: it's just another baby!
barista 2, swooning: yeah, but Kate looks amazing!
as it happens, John Lennon's "beautiful boy" is playing in the background. could this be prophetic? despite the genetic influence of William's increasingly enormous forehead and horse-jawed mouth, Baby Royal really does stand a chance of being a looker -- which is, after all, the most important of royal duties. and yet such hopes are dashed only a day later when we find out what they've named him. forsooth, the parent who giveth his or her child a horrendous name sentenceth said child to ugly-dom! oh, boy George! if only your middle name were Costanza. then, at least, you'd be a contender for court jester.

friday july 26: the heart
this evening, for the first time in a while, i'm at the coffee shop alone. there are lots of other people here, actually; it's just that i don't recognize them. with the exception of one person. a guy with a charming smile and demeanour. the close friend of the man i'm now no longer seeing. i notice Friend only as he's exiting the coffee shop and passing by the large window on my right. what i want to do is hurry over to him, just to say hello and talk about nothing much at all. some brief friendly banter that allows me to reconnect vicariously with our mutual friend. but he doesn't seem to see me and, more importantly, probably wouldn't want to. fair enough. so i remain still in my seat, suddenly and once again wondering a number of things. like how it can be that even very short relationships can leave an indelible mark, compelling you to feel and learn so surprisingly much. or how it can be that, despite knowing a decision is right, you still don't have answers to all sorts of legitimate questions. my mom, i suspect, would tell me to start with some smaller, more manageable pieces of the puzzle. those that have simple, constructive solutions. so i'm starting with comfort: wrapping one hand around a venti mug of hot chocolate and using the other to begin writing; one of my very favourite couplings. sometimes, hot chocolate really is a hot date.

and now back to translating...