Blue Monday

Beat the Monday Blues

Today is Blue Monday. Somewhat apt, not least for the fact that this was the same colour my feet turned today as I waited for a train in the snow. Reportedly the most depressing day of the year, many of us will be hit by the January ‘blues’; a combination of crap weather, concerns about funds, the after burn from Christmas, failing our new year’s resolutions and low motivation. Mathematically speaking it looks like this, which in itself looks depressing enough:

But before we cry “Goodbye cruel world!”, we’ve decided to take heart in the simple things that have made Jan 21st 2013 actually not all that bad.

National Hug Day: Conveniently enough, Jan the 21st marks the halfway point between Christmas and Valentine’s Day, and with it comes the holiday recognised as National Hug Day designed to combat those emotionally low feelings of gloom. Hugs have been proven to be very therapeutic so today provides a good excuse to get in on some that hugging action, be it with your girlfriend/ boyfriend, underappreciated work mate (c’mere Dandy), or that very attractive woman walking down the street…

Weather: It’s a freakin Winter Wonderland out there! Clearly the novelty of snow has yet to fade for some of us, but for you snow haters you can’t deny that at least it makes for a change of scenery plus it’s the best get out clause in the world: “Ah there’s just no way I can make it into work today…you know all the weather reports they’ve been showing on the news? Like how Scotland has 8 inches of snow atm…yeah my front gardens exactly the same. Shouldn’t like to chance being eaten by polar bears, best play it safe and not come in all week…”

Call in your debts: Yup it’s been a lean lean month. We got paid early December and blew all our money on presents and booze so are having to stretch our pay check until the sweet relief of funds come through. But like the noble squirrel you’ve been storing your nuts for the winter: all those drinks you bought mates throughout last year, now’s the time to recall em to ensure maximum tipsiness and minimum spend.

You’re not alone. With a brand new year, came the chance to make some changes, a fresh start, begin anew….and I managed to cock up my new year’s resolution really quickly. Cutting back on the fizzy pop seemed like an easy, somewhat achievable resolution that I could stick to…until I realised that I had nothing else to mix my JD with. So if you’ve managed to break yours too, we’ve decided to implement smaller weekly challenges to wean ourselves into an overall lifestyle change, rather than going whole hog or cold turkey. We start tomorrow.

Devil May Cry – Traditionally January is a pretty quiet month for games, but true to form Devil May Cry (which we’ve been looking forward to for AGES!) has stormed in and blown us out the water. The first major game to come out in 2013 its already hit the number one spot across all the charts and all the platforms, outstripping the December players and looks everything that we wanted it to be. We’ll be picking up our copy tonight. Review to feature soon.

Ever get that feeling that you’ve become nocturnal? Tis a well-known fact that sunshine= happiness but at this time of year you’re having to travel to and from work in the dark, stuck in the office throughout daylight hours and the closest you get to the sun is shining the lamp at your desk into your face. But look on the ‘bright’ side, the days are getting longer and summer is just around the corner as these daring bikini babes reminded us. Stripping off at a pop up beach beside London’s Tower Bridge on behalf of Hilton Hotels and Resorts, if they can grin and bare it (literally) well we can too. Thankyou for giving us a cheeky glimpse of summer in these cold winter months.

Blue Monday? It’s actually a load of bollocks. One of those popular pseudoscientific myths that continues to hold sway despite the fact that it was originally invented as a marketing scheme on a long lost TV channel to sell holidays! Check this post: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/brain-flapping/2013/jan/21/blue-monday-depressing-day-nonsense-science

Yes indeed Blue Monday is all in the mind. We bet you’re smiling already :)

Angelic Rogue
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