T.S. Elliot knew shit. April, my arse. If there is a month more depressing than January, I’ve yet to live through it. It’s hell.
Finances stretched like the defence at Recreation Park with another twelve months of war, famine, death and plague looming before us, there is precious little light at the end of that particular tunnel.
Factor in the return to the day-job and the realization that the only extra pounds available are the ones around your waist and every completed day without managing to stab yourself in the face is a victory of not inconsiderable proportions.
It gets worse; the forty fourth birthday is smirking at me from far too short a distance and the Princess Of Darkness turns seventeen this year, too. Ah, shit. Just remembered Lurch makes it to 21 as well. Sigh…
Melanie Phillips, another season of the X Factor and, no doubt, another few thousand massacred Palestinians still to come and you find yourself, suddenly, wondering if cryogenic freezing might actually work. No? Just me, then…
January 2011 is even worse than usual as a couple of extra apocalyptic horsemen have ridden grimly into view to add to the pain. The smug-faced toff, Cameron, aided by that repellent and unscrupulous liar and opportunist, Clegg, is cutting a swathe through the nation’s finances with services and jobs already falling in their thousands to the anti-working class scythe of the coalition. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Labour continues to prove its credentials as defender of the poor, huddled masses with all the effectiveness of the proverbial chocolate fireguard.
The Tunisians and the Egyptians, at least, are providing cause for celebration and, clearly, understand those most important of historical imperatives; talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words. Best of luck, comrades, and if you feel like exporting a little of that magic, apply in person at any UK job centre.
Still, there’s always rock ‘n’ roll, whisky and the love of a good woman to sustain a weary heart. At least for those of us fortunate enough to have access to that most holy of trinities. Alternatively, just grit your teeth, batten down the hatches and hang on; February’s nearly here and while only a marginal improvement, it does move us another step closer to summer.
Speaking of which, anyone know what day it falls on this year?
The beatles wrote ‘ All you need is love’ Oh yeah? Trying fucking living off it