F.i.in.e Moods

- « Cher adulte, calme-toi ? » is "Dear adult, calm down?"... 

Pousse, mais pousse égal.

Il y a une grosse nuance entre

une insouciance de jeunesse,

sans malice, et son contraire.

Alors, prends un respir,

il y a beaucoup pire.

rough translation...

« Pousse, mais pousse égal » literally translated is "Push, but push equally"... it wouldn't make much sense in English... so the close equivalent (paraphrasing it, really) I came up with is the following first line...

Put effort into it, but do it reasonably.

There's a huge contrast between

a youthful act of unawareness,

without malice, and its opposite.

So, take a breath,

there's a lot worse.

- he had laser eye surgery many years ago ;) 

When my British douce moitié

holds me, and says, in his accent:

"You're so goddamn sexy, woman!"

I can't help quip back that his

laser surgery needs a refresh.

But inside, I'm fanning my heart,

to help it recover its breath...

- mixed messages... 

This girl?  Eh là là.

She can't, for her life,

even if it depended

on it, use makeup.  

Her nails? O-M-G. 

It's a sad state of

affairs, mildly put.

And her hair?  Ayoye.

Medusa's is infinitely

More manageable!

Her styling it?  Ha.

No, no.  Not an idea. 

I'm telling you, the girl's

an absolute disaster as

concerns anything about

women's things.  She'll

say that we're disguising

her as a woman when

we convince her to let us

have fun fixing her up

to show the stunning

beauty that she is.  She's

embarrassed, poor dear. 

Sigh, how so very pretty

she truly is, but of course,

she doesn't see it at all. 

Wonder why, how, 

she's so blind to it?

- but what do I know?

Here's another random thought :

As a democracy, should there not be

a choice on the ballot list to allow the

voters to clearly indicate that NONE

of the choices which are available

meet any standards of satisfaction,

or more importantly, trust ?

It seems to me that'd be giving

a true choice, a true voice,

a true power of decision.

I hazard a guess it'd reveal 

that most vote for the least worse

than actual belief it's best for them.

So those 'main' politic groups are

probably only still around for

that very unhelpful reason.

Some would ask, "What if everyone,

or the majority chose NONE?"

Well, if that should happen, I'd say

it's time to rethink our model, then?

"He's a liar, a cheat, and a thief!", he shot out without any clear reason.  A moment ago, we were just sitting quietly, looking at the gentle waves on the lake.

He carried on grumbling.  I didn't say anything, I just looked at him, and listened.  Teeth clenched - (I'll exclude the expletives) - he followed on, "I really don't like that guy!  I swear, if I had my way... !"  

Remaining silent for a moment longer, I asked, "Want to talk about it?", in the hopes it'd prompt him to provide me a little bit more of a context for this mood shift.  

I had a feeling that I knew already.  Lately, his irritations were directed at Joey, his sister's recently-arrived-on-the-scene boyfriend.  In the last few months, it'd become a pretty common occurrence that whenever the guy was around, a lot of unpleasant, if not downright concerning, things tended to happen.

My feeling was more along the lines of "What now?" than "What's going on?".  To a certain extent, a part of me kind of wished I wouldn't find out, even though I'd just invited Roger to tell me.

Looking at my face, I think my expression might have betrayed to him that I didn't really want to know what Joey had done this time.  He understood that I was enquiring only out of concern for how he's feeling since he was clearly upset.

So, slapping his thighs in response, he smiled, "You know what?  He's not worth it.  Your face says it all!"  He'd said that last part bursting out in laughter. 

Reaching for a beer in the cooler, he handed me one, and we got on with our beautiful day at the lake.  Best buds on a break, the rest could take a hike.

- dropping French expressions or lines in conversation for a bilingual person in Québec is usual...

Ayoye, I don't know, man.

One day I think I found it,

The right footing to have

With this particular guy.

But then, on another day,

It's like the North Pole...

Still, and as cold as you like.

Makes my footing stumble.

J'sais tellement pas, man.

Figuring it out takes some doing,

'Cause we really don't know

One another in the strict sense of it.

We're basically passersby

With frequent crossings.

Nothing much deeper, really.

But still, it throws me off.

One minute,

Seemingly warm.

Another minute,

Complete opposite.

So...

Qui sait ?

Difficult to know

Without being told.

People... I guess.

This moment's mood?

An urge to disappear

Retreat back quietly

Away from all eyes

The thought's formed

Calling for me to listen

'Cause my mind knows

It's where it's the 'safest'

The heart disagrees though

Yearning to not isolate away

However, here we are again

No doubt dark days're ahead

- remember there was a time when you'd only hear of a sparse millionaire, here and there... ?

There's obviously nothing wrong

With being fortunate enough to be

One of the few among the wealthy,

But...

There's such a thing as obscene.

Parce que...

- ** c'est l'cas de l'dire, ils ont du front tout l'tour d'la tête... 

Si j'avais les mots

Pour décrire ces maux

Ce serait sûrement

Soulageant !

If I had the words

To describe these ills

It would surely be

Relieving!

Mais, nous voici

À leur merci

Ces imposteurs

Sans coeurs

But here we are

At their mercy

These impostors

Without hearts

Ils ruinent tout

À tous coups

Avec égoïsme

Avec narcissisme

They ruin everything

At every turn

With selfishness

With narcissism

Aucunes considérations

Juste un paquet d'obsessions

Toutes reliées à l'argent

Ç'en devient dément

No considerations

Just a bunch of obsessions

All related to money

It becomes demented

Aux autres, ils font perdre la vie

Juste pour plus de profits

C'est dégueulasse, sidérant

Mais, the way it is, apparemment

They make others lose their life

Just for more profits

It's disgusting, staggering

But, the way it is, apparently

C'est très peu satisfaisant

Au point d'en être trop frustrant

Ce n'sont réellement pas les bons mots

Pour décrire l'ampleur de ces maux !

It is very unsatisfactory

To the point of being too frustrating

These are really the wrong words

To describe the extent of these ills!

Mais j'peux dire sans hésitations :

Plus que tannée de leurs dérisions

Sans nous, ils n'auraient rien

Qu'ils s'en souviennent serait bien

But I can say without hesitation:

More than fed up of their derisions

Without us, they'd have nothing

That they'd remember it would be good

**  - c'est l'cas de l'dire, ils ont du front tout l'tour d'la tête...  is an expression that means something along the lines that they have an astounding level of audacity. 

« c'est le cas de le dire » means something along the lines of there's a case to be made

« Front » means forehead

« Avoir du front » means having audacity

« Tout le tour de la tête » means all around the head

So the image is a bit of a play on words... something like their audacity is so big, it's like a forehead that spans around the whole head.  It's one of those Québécois expressions...

« Ce serait sûrement / Soulageant ! » (It would surely be / Relieving!)

- it's common when we speak here to say something in a way that's presented by its opposite.  For example, we often say « Ce n'est pas terrible » (It's not terrible) to mean it's actually very terrible.  So this line is said in the same mood, unconvinced.

Then there's « écoeurantite aigüe » which means an acute overflow of being sorely fed up.  « Écoeuré » or « tanné » are being fed up (QC).  « Écoeurantite » is a made-up word, it's a few levels above the former two... words ending in -ite are for medical conditions involving infection.  This is a very Québécois expression too...