when money floweth into one's bank account, so doth hot chocolate into one's tummy. and during such free-flowing times (are you picturing willowy, sixties-style, drug-enhanced, flower-power folk frolicking about a forest glade?), ye olde coffee shop represents a safe space. a welcoming haven. a cozy nook where "sufficiently social" meets "sufficiently anonymous" and where work meets comfort. *swoon*
when the purse strings are tight, on the other hand, the coffee shop betrays you. like a slap in the face. (yow!) suddenly -- before your very eyes, before your psyche, before your bursting-at-the-seams salivary glands, before your wallet (gulp!) -- it transforms into a looming, always-in-the-back(orfront)-of-your-mind threat...into the most vivid of (what's-that-across-the-street?!) mirages and the ultimate of tests: can you go the whole day without a hot chocolate?
sound the alarm bells!
i have tried to resist before. to abstain from that exquisite frothy-topped warm beverage. to restrict the number of mugfuls ingested per week. all in the name of Financial Responsibility. and, each time, i have failed; efforts flopping left, right and centre.
yet, this time -- having reached into the bowels of the bowels of Self-Discipline and Free Will (those bastards!) -- i've somehow managed to skip not only last thursday's mugging but also friday's. and saturday's. and -- hold onto your hats! -- sunday's, too. and lo and behold it's monday, and it's official (well, as official as these things get): something has shifted.
while a small, glorious death will always accompany a hot chocolate, the visceral pull towards those café seats and sounds and flavours is not nearly as fierce now. (some people, i think, refer to this as...moderation?) so, today, for the first time since i can remember, i've arrived at the coffee shop as part of a plan (vs out of happy habit). yes! from now on, monday is the day: Day of the Hot Chocolate. the visit fits in before my evening class begins, kinda like another class would: a scheduled, forty-five-minute period that follows a bout of solo researching and precedes group seminaring; a time set aside for personal writing and reading, for overhearing others' (delightful, messed-up, intriguing, hilarious, etc.) conversations, for blogging...and for -- thanks be to gawd! -- enjoying the luxury that is that one weekly mugful. sssluuurp!
and now back to translating...
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