As I’ve said before, not only do Google adapt their logo according to the date, but they do so according to location, too. I find it strange, though, that June 21st should warrant a special logo only on the google.es page – celebrating el inicio del verano – and not on the .com or .co.uk versions. After all, surely summer starts on the same day?
Continue reading “summery”
Category: dates & time
april
While others bundle and bunch
under umbrellas, shrug
into pak-a-macs and hunch deep
into their collars, their faces
scrunched, gurning
against the elements, she
pokes tongues
at raindrops and laughs
glitter from her hair.
In the UK we are used to hearing that “April showers bring May flowers”, an expression that apparently can be traced to its earliest known form – Continue reading “april”
swallows
with primaries taut, they finger-tip
the contoured air, screeching
a splay-tailed upward glide to peakthen tuck – dip – swoop –
and skim the puddled mud,
gape-mouthed and hungering.
It’s San José – St Joseph’s Day – which is Father’s Day in Spain, and a bank holiday in parts of the country. It’s also the day that the swallows return to Capistrano, which is why I’ve chosen to post this poem. (Or, perhaps, this ‘poem draft’.)
Continue reading “swallows”
positively crackers
When there used to be an M&S in Madrid, you could buy hot cross buns at Christmas – I think they labelled them bollos de Pascuas – but I’ve always thought of them as an Easter speciality. On the other hand, I’d associate crackers with Christmas or birthdays, but it seems there are places in the UK where you can now buy crackers for Easter.
Christmas and birthdays are times for gifts, and the knick-knacks, fripperies and party favours seem totally appropriate.
Easter, though, has always struck me as more focused on the religious side of things. Which meant my first idea was that there should be no paper hats and plastic toys, but that an Easter cracker should burst open with a loud Hosanna and a dazzling manifestation of the Risen Christ.
Further thought made me decide that this was unrealistic and that a little more symbolism would probably be appropriate.
So I’ve reached the conclusion that you must pull the crackers on Easter Sunday, only to discover that, just like the tomb, they are empty!
(Thanks to MG for the photo.)
spanish dates
I enjoy the changed logos that Google offers to commemorate different occasions. They’re usually pretty much the same for the .com and .co.uk versions, but I notice that they don’t always appear if I’m using the Spanish version of the search (google.es).
This morning, however, I find a symbol on the .es version that is not on the English language pages:
The little red icon is so small that it’s hardly identifiable, but zooming in, it clarifies into a votive candle, and the mouse-over text reads “En recuerdo a las víctimas del 11M“.
Continue reading “spanish dates”
don't confuse the narrator 