don't confuse the narrator

his ‘n’ yours

I think I’ve been insulted. I went down to buy the paper in the local shop this morning and bought The Observer and the Woman’s Weekly Fiction Special, as shown in the photo.

Yes, it’s true, I read women’s magazine fiction. It’s light – actual weight-wise, not simply ‘light reading’, it comes in a disposable format, and it’s particularly suitable for travel reading. (I also like to know what’s being published these days, in case I feel inspired to turn my hand to fiction.)

But it’s not the only thing I read.
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time flies

And there are too many things need doing for me to write much, so I’ll settle for a picture of this rather splendid creature I found in the garden this morning.

I suppose it’s a kind of tiger moth. (I should have stuck a ruler in the picture as an indication of scale, of course, but it must have been something over an inch long.) Its impressive camouflage would have been marginally more effective if it had chosen the cream painted wall for its morning siesta.
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the way it really happened

Discussing the draft of a new poem last night, I found myself close to using the phrase “but that’s the way it really happened” as justification for including an apparently inessential word.

This startled me. After all, I’ve made it clear that I don’t think of poetry as autobiographical. Life is a stepping off point for poetry, but I think facts can – and should – be sacrificed if they interfere with the poetical worth of the writing. So what made this particular occasion different?
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sinful snacking

I’ve already commented on how fond the Spanish are of the genitivo sajón so I suppose the strange and entirely inappropriate little green leaf in the logo of this packet of “snatt’s” isn’t really surprising.

Still, it does make me wonder once again who does the copy writing and design for Spanish advertising agencies.

I imagine the brand name “snatt’s” is someone’s interpretation of the sound of the English word “snacks”. But what purpose does the leaf serve?

If it’s purely a design element, surely it could have been put somewhere where it wasn’t likely to be mistaken for an apostrophe? Or did the company chairman think that an apostrophe added a sophisticated English twist to the name?
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immortal bird

At half past one this morning, I was tossing and turning, unable to sleep because of the loud birdsong outside my window.

I’m not at all good with identifying birds from their songs, but I’m pretty sure it was a nightingale singing from the cherry tree. It stopped briefly when I put the light on, but then, from what I remember – I did get some intermittent sleep – it continued all through the night until I was awake again around six. Gradually, as it got lighter, the voice was joined by others, and now it’s daylight, there is still much birdsong, but it is more scattered as they are all off about their usual business.
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