Today I experienced my first ever “snow day,” as my Reading Poetry class along w/ the rest of the University of Pittsburgh’s classes got canceled; and to commemorate it I thought I’d add a couple more “Apocalyptexts”: basically things I’ve read recently during a bout of mild yet much deserved academic irresponsibility.  For someone who grew up in Tucson, Arizona, a snow day is completely novel.  The closest I ever came to anything resembling a snow day was school being canceled b/c of floods, but that really isn’t the same thing at all, for the rains, when they come—even when they are torrential and flood the streets w/ feet of water—are a blessing: they slake the perpetual thirst of the desert.   For this snow day, however, it isn’t even snowing (it’s actually sunny and quite nice, if cold, outside).  The nearly 2 feet of snow that got dumped on the ‘burgh b/t Friday evening and Saturday morning is basically still on the ground, and doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon (there’s another 3-6 inches expected Wed.).  The storm that hit the mid-atlantic states this past weekend dumped the most snow pittsburgh has seen since 1992, and is one of the 4 worst snow storms in terms of inches since they started keeping track of this stuff.  Basically, it’s kinda epic.  (Though the pics below don’t quite do it justice, esp. since things have “melted” a bit in the past couple of days.)  Wandering around the city has been surreal.  I haven’t been driving b/c my back-wheel drive pickup truck would not get very far—esp. w/o the sandbags in the back I’ve been procrastinating putting there all winter—though I do have a large amount of respect for the many inhabitants I’ve seen valiantly digging their cars out and spinning their wheels down streets it looks like no one has even tried to plow.  There has been an infectious sense of joy amidst what they are still calling a “state of emergency” (or maybe it’s just me, whose current life is such as to be minimally effected by this type of inclement weather).  More people are walking around the streets than I’ve ever seen before, and people are generally smiling and cordial, esp. those brave souls who have gone to work, opened much needed services and stores, and basically kept the whole capitalist train running.  My thanks.  But I am sitting at  home, warm and happy, pouring hot water down my pipes to unfreeze them (they weren’t that frozen thankfully) so I could do some much-needed laundry.  So what better way to spend a snow day, to endure what Barack Obama called “snowmageddon” (no fooling), to do some apocalyptic blogging?  My thoughts precisely.  On to some Apocalyptexts.

Also, someone has recently pointed me toward this delightful apocalyptic flash video, check it out.

Some pics (though they aren’t as apocalyptic as could be, as I just stepped outside to do them, rather than, as I shoulda, taken my camera when I was wandering around the city earlier):

wait, that tree limb isn't supposed to be there. . . .

Yep, that tree limb has definitely decided to come hang out on the porch. there's also a grill, a table, and some chairs out here somewhere. . . .

I'm not going anywhere.

holy nuclear winter batman!

tree, please don't fall on our house.

I’ll try to be more prescient and try to take my camera elsewhere, but not today.  cheers.