# WE Are In The MOST Depressing Time of year! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 6, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518 "2008-01-06T19:05:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/1 "2008-01-06T19:05:25Z")
The holidays are over-all around us, the Christmas lights are going out (sob)…and the darkness presses. We haven’t got a holiday till Valentine’s day! Meanwhile, the bleak days of january assault us-we just got our friendly “reminder” from the IRS, that income taxes are due! How do YOU cope with the January slump? :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/2 "2008-01-06T19:07:47Z")
Knowing that it’s temporary. Looking forward to new TV series/comedies starting up their seasons. Looking forward to summer. Knowing the hassle of Christmas is behind us for another year. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/3 "2008-01-06T19:15:14Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] We haven’t got a holiday till Valentine’s day! [/QUOTE] Why do you hate [Martin Luther King, Jr.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Day)? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/4 "2008-01-06T19:17:49Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] The holidays are over-all around us, the Christmas lights are going out (sob)..and the darkness presses. We haven’t got a holiday till Valentine’s day! Meanwhile, the bleak days of january assault us-we just got our friendly “reminder” from the IRS, that income taxes are due! How do YOU cope with the January slump? :mad: [/QUOTE] I hope for decent playoff games. Been so-so this weekend so far. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/5 "2008-01-06T19:19:53Z")
I put in an order of garden plants on the Solstice. That’s a nice tradition that gives me hope. After the Solstice, I entertain myself by watching the time-of-sunset get later and later. Some day, I will drive home from work and it won’t be dark. Won’t _that_ be something? ---
**Author:** ![ASAKMOTSD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/919ad9/32.png) [@ASAKMOTSD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASAKMOTSD)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/6 "2008-01-06T20:43:34Z")
I am enjoying the rain taking away the 10" of snow from my yard today… I need a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/7 "2008-01-06T20:47:08Z")
I thought you _had_ a hobby. ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/8 "2008-01-06T21:02:39Z")
The days are getting longer, the holidays are finally over and becoming more distant. Spring is still far enough away that I’m not hoping for 60 degree days yet. I don’t mind this time of year at all. In fact we’re having a warm winter day today at about 40 degrees. I’m going for a walk. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/9 "2008-01-06T21:23:38Z")
My birfday is in January, and _that_ should be cause for celebration enough! This year, I’m taking a day off and going to a local gun range. Several thousand rounds of ammunition will be expended into various produce items. I like to think of it as an off-season 4th of July. 😃 Tripler I’d do my regular ‘hockey’ birfday plan, but there ain’t no ice in middle Georgia. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/10 "2008-01-06T21:25:41Z")
You think your slump is bad? I spent Christmas in Cancun. The weather in SoCal feels oppressive. ☹ I’m looking at my pictures and trying to remember why the hell I came home and didn’t just disappear into the jungle. Actually my husband’s birthday is this month, then mine is 3 weeks after his, so it’s not so bad after all. And not too long after that, it’ll be wildflowers and riding season again! And tomorrow I’m trying my hand at making some pollo pibil to remind me of the Yucatan. I braved the Vallarta on a \*Sabado \*and bought banana leaves and everything. Fuck slumps! ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/11 "2008-01-06T21:35:17Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] How do YOU cope with the January slump? [/QUOTE] By getting home from work and enjoying the balmy summer evenings. They’re great for BBQing. And then going walking later in the evening. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/12 "2008-01-06T22:14:12Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] The holidays are over-all around us, the Christmas lights are going out (sob)..and the darkness presses. We haven’t got a holiday till Valentine’s day! Meanwhile, the bleak days of january assault us-we just got our friendly “reminder” from the IRS, that income taxes are due! How do YOU cope with the January slump? :mad: [/QUOTE] What January slump? The nightmare that is Christmas is over, it’s a new year. Life is good! ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/13 "2008-01-06T22:15:10Z")
Aussies! 😛 I’ve had to adjust my attitude about January and February. Instead of the two worst months of winter, they’re breathing space before the hard work of spring and summer. Nobody expects much of me, and I aim to please. Plus, the days are getting longer! ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/14 "2008-01-06T22:16:28Z")
My birthday is February 7th, and the days are getting longer. Good enough for me 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Bruin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Queen\_Bruin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Bruin)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/15 "2008-01-06T22:21:17Z")
I think **Hal Briston** ’s is on the 7th too, **Autolycus**. Mine’s the 8th, which is why I remember such a small detail. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/16 "2008-01-06T22:24:47Z")
How do I cope with the gray days of January? I read Holocaust books! [Holocaust Chronicles](http://www.amazon.com/Holocaust-Chronicle-Marilyn-Harran/dp/0785329633/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199657985&sr=1-1) [Night](http://www.amazon.com/Night-Oprahs-Book-Club-Wiesel/dp/0374500010/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199658095&sr=1-1) [My parents went through the Holocaust and I all I got was this lousy t-shirt](http://www.amazon.com/Parents-Through-Holocaust-Lousy-Tshirt/dp/1931643768/ref=sr_1_20?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1199658184&sr=1-20) Ok, I haven’t read it. I just found it through a search on Amazon. The title alone puts it in my Must Read List. ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/17 "2008-01-06T22:56:30Z")
I don’t care much for Christmas and am happy to have the holiday pressures over. I love this time of year, as I have almost seven weeks off and get bunches of home improvement projects done. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/18 "2008-01-06T23:42:19Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] What January slump? The nightmare that is Christmas is over, it’s a new year. Life is good! [/QUOTE] My thoughts exactly! Now February though.. that’s the slump. ---
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/19 "2008-01-06T23:44:29Z")
[QUOTE=ralph124c] The holidays are over-all around us, the Christmas lights are going out (sob)…How do YOU cope with the January slump? :mad: [/QUOTE] The Superbowl. It’s the only football game I watch, and I watch as much for the commercials as I do for the game. After that, I gotta start thinking about Valentine’s Day. Vlad/Igor ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518/20 "2008-01-07T00:03:22Z")
I take hope from the fact that at least the days are getting longer, if only by tiny increments, each day. A few years we spent a short week in the Caribbean, which gave us something to look forward to until early February, and then when we got back it was only a couple weeks until spring. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/we-are-in-the-most-depressing-time-of-year/432518.md?page=2)