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You’re finally in the situation all young adults want to be in: you’re moving out! Maybe you’re preparing by packing all of your clothes and trying to bring some sort of order to your amazing DVD collection. It’s an exciting time for everyone, and also very scary, but you can’t let your new life smell the fear. Moving out has so many positives, but those aside, you do need to take a world view. Moving out can hold a lot hidden costs that may soon leave your bank account drier than the Sahara desert. Living on your own is expensive and it seems not many are truly prepared for the cost. Here are some hints and tips to make the process a little easier.

1)     If you’re renting, find out the deposit/bond required, this is often a month’s rent plus a bit...

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Perle Noire, sometimes nicknamed the "Black Pearl" is a burlesque dancer from Dallas, Texas. She's performed all over the world to America to Japan. Referred to as "the reincarnation of Josephine Baker", she took some time out from her busy schedule to have a chat with us.

To someone who doesn’t know what burlesque is, how would you describe it?
Burlesque is one of the oldest forms of theatre. Imagine a opulent, fantasy land featuring dancers, magicians, comedians, fire eaters, puppeteers, and strip tease artist. That’s burlesque! It’s a spectacle.Read On...

Beltane (pronounced bell-tayn) is one of the eight Pagan sabbats which make up the Pagan wheel of the year. In the northern hemisphere the celebration starts at sunset on April 30th and finishes at sunset on May 1st. In the southern hemisphere the dates are pushed forward six months and fall from sunset on October 31st to sunset on November 1st. Some celebrate this day on just the one day; either May 1st or November 1st depending on which hemisphere they live in. As with all celebrations, how Beltane is celebrated will vary from person to person. It also depends on which of the pagan denominations the person identifies as.

Some of the other names for Beltane include May Day, Cetsamhain, Walpurgisnacht, and Roodmas...

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This is a rather multi-faceted topic which is incredibly hard to define, thanks to the subjective topic with the difference in opinion, stigma associated with certain types of parental behaviour, and the touchy nature–try joking around with someone about their appearance or a quirky personality trait and they are usually game, but attempt to suggest a parental technique or give advice on how to stop the baby crying and you might suddenly find yourself removed from the Christmas list. "What gives you the moral high ground to tell me how to bring up my child? You don’t even have children yourself, how could you possibly know? It’s easy for you–you had a strong support network when your baby was going through the critical teething stages, I’m doing this on my own!" etc etc.Read On...

After submitting some samples of my writing I was accepted on to the course as a part-time student. At the age of forty-something this was no walk in the park, and since that first year I have juggled classes, assignments, a part-time job with the local authority and being a school governor. All of this whilst looking after my nine-year-old son. Being a single mum this is a challenge in itself, but combined with everything else I often find I have to sacrifice time with my son to make sure I don’t fall behind with my university work. What brought all of this home to me like a mallet recently was the voice of a frustrated boy: "Mum, how long have you got left at university?" When I asked why, his answer hurt: "Because I want my mum back."Read On...

Mabon (pronounced may-bon) is one of the eight Pagan sabbats which make up the Pagan wheel of the year. It falls on the autumnal equinox, which means that there is no set date for this festival. In 2013 the festival will fall on September 22nd in the Northern Hemisphere and March 20th in the Southern. As with all celebrations, how Mabon is celebrated will vary from person to person. It also depends on which of the Pagan denominations the person identifies as.

Some of the other names for Mabon include Autumn or Fall Equinox, Harvest Home, Harvest Tide, Pagan Thanksgiving, and Alban Elfed. Mabon is the second of three harvest festivals (the other two being Lammas and Samhain), and is a time of equality and balance as the day and night is at equal length...

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Ostara (pronounced oh-star-ah) is one of the eight Pagan sabbats which make up the Pagan wheel of the year. It falls on the Vernal equinox which means that there is no set date for this festival. In 2013 the festival will fall on March 20th in the Northern Hemisphere and September 22nd in the Southern. As with all celebrations, how Ostara is celebrated will vary from person to person. It also depends on which of the Pagan denominations the person identifies as.

Some of the other names for Ostara include Vernal or Spring Equinox; Ēostre’s/Ēastre’s Day; Lady Day and Alban Eilir. In pre-Christian times this was a celebration of the goddess Ēastre (also spelt Ēostre or Ostara) who was the Germanic Pagan goddess of dawn and rebirth...

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The development of technology, specifically the gaming industry, is truly staggering. In a relatively short time, certainly compared to other art-forms, it has dominated the entertainment market and smashed all pre-conceived ideas, boundaries and limitations. The future is indeed looking bright for gaming, not only for amusement purposes, but also for connecting human beings together and re-establishing the ties of family and friendship.Read On...

If you’re a budding writer, or working to become one, then congratulations on discovering a noble and much admired profession, but I am sorry to say that this beautiful form of art and creativity has a dark side. Becoming a writer is never easy, for it is a journey full of many vexing trials and challenges.

Long ago writing was a talent taught to only the high ranked of society who were often highly educated, but here is where things split in fairness among men and women: those high powered writers were always men.

Don’t get me wrong, there are tons of male writers whose work I adore from the classic Bram Stoker to the more modern Curtis Jobling, but I always feel as though there are many female writers who are not treated as kindly...

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You’ve stood to have your photograph taken in your gown and fancy hat, the ceremony went past in a blur and you’ve recovered from the celebrations, but what happens after graduation? For many of us who are lucky enough, it’s a holiday with your mates and lots of sun. For those who have to, it’s time for the scramble for summer jobs and internships to glam up our CVs and bring in some much needed money.

In just months, the floodgates of the latest graduates will be open, and there’s no stopping it. Recent figures show that the number of unemployed graduates is almost the same as unemployed school leavers. Being a graduate would mean that we should have the edge over school leavers, but this does not seem to the case. So what must a student do to get the edge?

It comes back to the ...

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