Editorial: Kind of blue

There’s a petition on Facebook to drop a reading week into the middle of every term. It is true that, if petitions on facebook were ten a penny, then inflation would sky-rocket. Yet there may be some sense in this idea, the second soundest solution to end 5th Week Blues.Unlike other hackneyed clichés that we peddle from time to time, this one actually exists. If Gordon Brown can suffer mid-term blues, why not your average undergrad? In Hilary especially, some kind of annual plague seems to set in; a malaise of the chest cavity assuredly, but also of the mind. It’s a kind of Hypocratic notion, but the middle of term does appear to knock our humours out of kilter.Various tactics besides the posited reading week may be summoned to our aid. It’s not a bad idea to indulge your torpor; to wallow in the melancholy for a few days and come out, if not refreshed, then at least well watered. Listen to Robert Johnson. Listen to Ella Fitzgerald. Listen to The Smiths’ ‘I Know It’s Over’ if you want to do it properly; just don’t overindulge on Miles Davis.Other forms of overindulgence are permitted, even recommended. Which is where the soundest solution of all comes in. Take a sharp object – some scissors, ideally, or a knife. Don’t do anything rash. Instead, turn to our centrespread. Gasp at the smorgasbord of offers, competitions and events. Go forth and eat. Pies, sausages, cake, fresh fish – these and more come cheap in 5th Week.  Then buy a larger size of discounted jeans to accommodate your new and dignified bulk. Spend the early evening at a dance class before showcasing your acquired talents at Eclipse – taking advantage of Cherwell offers and working all that food off again, all at once.5th Week is not the time for panic, nor for solitary confinement. It is the lowest point in the wave that is Hilary term. Let this week’s Cherwell be the surfboard you escape on.