"read"-handed?

Professor FLQ's legitimacy has become even more questionable. literally thirty seconds after i post the last entry, he pops over beside me, with an all-knowing grin on his face. the conversation goes something like this:

-pro(f)lq: *enthusiastic* you look like you're a journalist! 
-me: *slightly awkward laugh* no...
-pro(f)lq: oh! i could have sworn you were just working on your column for tomorrow.
-me: *more uncomfortable laughter* my thesis advisor sure would be thrilled if i wrote something for him tomorrow! but, no, i'm translating.
-pro(f)lq: *excited* oh! traduction? at the university of ottawa? well, *encouraging tone* there's going to be a lot of work for you! and i look forward to reading your work in *uses hands to draw some impressive banner in the sky* The Translator! you are going to be great. i can tell...

the fact that he pounced so quickly, was clearly trying to be charming -- the oldest manipulation trick in the book! -- and (i can't deny it) was doing so very successfully just may suggest that he's as "undercover constable" as i'd suspected! the question now (aside from: what might he have read off my computer screen?) is: what exactly is he "undercovering"? perhaps, just like me, he's wondering why there are so many cops in the coffee shop today...

and now back to translating...

it's raining (police)men

the grey drizzle of dreary skies makes the cozy insides of coffee shops particularly alluring. this has never been more true (it seems) than for the male police officers of ottawa this morning. they are not only fulfilling everyone's favourite stereotype -- though mixing it up a bit by favouring the danish over the traditional doughnut (this is a classier bunch than you might have expected!) -- but also doing it all in impressive numbers. within less than two hours, four groups of three (or more) cops have visited. and these are just the ones in uniform! who knows if the elderly guy in the trenchcoat behind me -- the one who's loudly claiming to be a professor researching the FLQ (pfff, a likely story!) -- isn't actually an undercover constable.

and now back to translating...