Everyone else is asleep. It’s almost eleven o’clock, but I can’t sleep. I lie tossing and turning in my bed. Above me on the wall are framed verses from the Quran. Even I know the characters Allah Akbar, ‘God is Great’. I smile. Is it his will that I am able to […]

You’re waiting at the train station, the anticipation that’s been building for the past few weeks pumping feverously around your body as you stand there eagerly, peering down the track wondering why it can’t be here already. The last few seconds of a wait that has been weeks on end, […]

Those of us who have always lived in the town fall into a number of camps when it comes to the prospect of living in the countryside. Camp one hates the idea; where are all the shops? Camp two likes the idea, but after a bit of consideration appreciates it […]

While browsing through my e-mails on the evening of Friday 8th June, I came across one advertising this year’s London Naked Bike ride, and as a keen photographer who likes attending and photographing alternative and wakey events, I just had to go along and see it. I made sure my […]

The sun makes a perfect excuse… The last few months have given only a few insipid hints but tradition assures us that summer is planning an appearance and is languidly travelling over to our blustery little island to relieve the insistent rain. Without suspecting the worst, there may only be […]

Public Displays of Affection – or PDAs – can mean anything from a peck on the cheek to squeeze of another type of cheek. All in all though, I can’t stand them. Call me grumpy, call me gloomy, if you’re northern then go for ‘mardy’, but I can’t help how […]

As school terms and university semesters come to a close, the time has come to pack up your stuff, scrub down the mildew, hoover under the beds and move out of your student abode. Whether it’s your 7x5m room in halls or your shared student house, the fear of the […]

It was a couple of nights ago that I was in bed and re-reading Twilight that I recognised those familiar butterflies flitting around my stomach. The problem was of course, was that this wasn’t caused by Meyer’s perfectly beautiful rendering of the sparkly Edward Cullen reminding me of my own […]