Rites of Spring & READ ALL ABAAAHT IT

Oh my gawwwd, guys! The magnolias are almost in bloom. The trees are donning their juicy emerald coats. I'm going out sans hoodie. Do you have any idea what this means? If not, here's a handy equasion to help you out...

Yep, spring is here, which means that a) it's only a couple of months until summer comes a'calling and b) after a winter of woolly hosiery, it's acceptable to wear flesh-coloured tights and loafers when gallivanting around the park on yet another procrastination outing.

Blouse - Warehouse, satchel - Topshop, skirt and belt - charity shop, headscarf - Oasis vintage, shoes - New Look.

I picked up this smashing skirt and belt combo yesterday when prowling the streets of Canton. I'd been looking for a whimsical floral skirt and chunky black waist belt for a good long while, so finding both for under £6 actually made me do a little glee-jig at the tills. My lazy summer wardrobe is sorted, leaving me to muse on more important issues such as where to go camping, and when to start cracking out the Pimms.

In other news, issue four of our student newspaper The Phoenix was released yesterday! I can't explain how proud I am of the collective effort in bringing the issue together - it's our best yet. For those of you who don't know, The Phoenix is one of the only independent student newspapers in the whole of the UK. It was conceived and set up by my friend/coursemate/crazy powerhouse of energy and determination Ellen Coyne.

Without ANY Student Union funding or support (just to put this in perspective, our direct rivals at Gair Rhydd - Cardiff Uni's student paper - receive £20,000 a year from the S.U), she managed to whip together a team of eight or so third years who were ready, eager and committed to producing a monthly 32-page investigative student publication.

We all put our respective skills to use; Ellen is the driving force and relentless newshound, Efa writes amazing, hard-hitting features on miscarriages of justice and political activism, Mike does a stellar job of writing and editing the scathing critiques of music and popular culture, Huw, Erik & Ben use their crazy-awesome design skills to put together our pages, whilst Tom and Dan are top of the league (teehee...sorry) as regards their fantastically comprehensive sports pages. I write features about anything and everything. It's stressful, time-consuming and sometimes downright soul-destroying when things don't seem to be working out, but all those aspects pale into insignificance when compared with the incredible feedback we receive and the bucketloads of fun we have putting it all together.

After three issues, we've already been recognised by journalists at the Independent, had a piece written about us in Private Eye, had stories lifted by Media Wales and have royally pissed off our university press office on more than one occasion. As young journalists, we must be doing something right!

Betti Baudelaire xxx