by Riel
After an hour or so of business television earlier this morning, I switch over aimlessly to the Food Network. Or was it the Travel channel. I don’t remember what channel it was, but there was Anthony Bourdain on the flat screen, one of my favorite personalities. I tuned in, always entertained by the format of his travel and food review show. I was hoping to catch another episode with a segment on a slab of meat. A good steak. Or a hearty stew. Maybe assemble a BLT with a thick-slice of Canadian-maple bacon. Roasted chicken, perhaps? Whatever.
It was a rerun of “No Reservations: Tokyo”. Great, I thought to myself. Sushi and sashimi galore– the one thing I haven’t found a truly authentic rendition of just yet here in Montreal. I felt I was setting myself up for disappointment. You know, the type where you get an itch that you can’t quite scratch.
One of the show’s segments was on “Ikebana” or traditional Japanese flower arrangement. Now honestly, there were quite a number of interesting concepts. No, really. I did pick up on a few: The differences in length of flower stems, dispersion of branches, thickness of foliage, richness of color, and size of petals all contribute to the overall presentation. A beautiful mess. Stylish disarray. I can’t believe I just said that…must be turning metrosexual. Anyway…
Bern was on the couch, immersed in her iPad, not really paying attention to anything else. She was living in her own little bubble. Oh so typical. She is ALWAYS laughing to herself about something! So annoying, I should know. 🙂
Nothing. I cleared my throat again, a little louder and more obtrusive this time. “AAHHEEMM!”
Hmmm. Slight movement. Right eyebrow raised ever so subtly. I think I got her attention. Not missing a beat, I blurted “Blah blah blah, TV’s great, you learn something new everyday…”
Time to impress. I throw out the big word, “Blah blah blah, did you know that IKEBANA is the art of flower arrangement in Japan…”
Her gaze slowly rises from the glowing iPad screen, she cocks her head to catch a glimpse of the show, wisps of her long hair falling softly across her face — Damn. She’s cute. 🙂 but I digress…
Encouraged, I continue talking. “Blah blah blah…there is beauty in symmetry, as well as in asymmetry. And there can be beauty in nothingness.” Woah. Even I impressed myself there.
This is the part where I should have stopped while I was ahead. But as is typical of me (and perhaps most other men), I bite off a little more than I can chew. “Blah blah blah… You know, I CAN see Ikebana in everyday things… Blah blah blah.” Uh-oh.
Silence I peer at her out of the corner of my eye.
She had put her beloved iPad down (that’s saying something!), and looks at me with one eyebrow still raised. She didn’t say anything, but I could almost hear an exasperated “Oh really?”
I should have probably just kept quiet, pretended not to have seen her. But I felt pressured somehow. No, I felt challenged! And what meat-eating, red-blooded male does not respond to a challenge?!? Especially a challenge from the wifey! 🙂
So with mind racing, I look around quickly, confident I would find something. Thankfully, I didn’t disappoint myself. I gesture towards the corner of the room. “See there,” I state authoritatively. “THAT is Ikebana.”
Bern’s eyes slowly move towards the direction I was pointing to. Then with a bored, almost dismissive yawn, she says “Fantin-Latour’s subject is NOT Ikebana.”
***one looong awkward silence***
Well… I could have accepted that observation. After all, Ikebana is at times more about “less”. A piece of bamboo on a clean sheet of paper… a splash of white petal against the vastness of dark wood… These are better descriptions of Ikebana. Okay.
Thing is, I WAS NOT referring to the Fantin-Latour print hanging on the wall. I was referring to the beauty and simplicity of MY “flower arrangement” in the foreground. I can’t believe she missed that. And I thought she was smart! ;p
Mars… Venus… Whatever. 🙂
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Risa de Guzman hahaha. Kuy, I don’t see the “right” putter lemme guess, it deserves its own arrangement
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Ceña Espiritu We wanted to ask you guys if you wanted to have Japanese lunch with us last week! We should get together before we fly to Manila…
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Tintin Gutierrez ikebana – raf, marco & gabby!
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Bern Gutierrez-De Guzman Ceña Espiritu, perhaps we can meet there and have real sashimi.