#snowmageddon

[oneofthosecrazycatladies]

To all the people in (primarily) the Midwest and the South dealing with this terrible weather, I hope you’re doing well. There has been a literal blizzard raging all day where I am in the Midwest and I’m currently sitting at 8 inches of snow with more to come.

I wasn’t able to get groceries before all this started so I’m completely out of food but I’m grateful my power is still on and hopefully it’ll stay that way.

Please don’t go outside unless it’s an absolute emergency and stay warm! And fuck those East Coast Elites who didn’t give a shit about this until it started heading their way.

[introvertedlass]

It’s here!

[uiraya]

Snowing tonight.

Every time it snows, I hope for another Snowmageddon. It never comes. And now that I work from home, it would have to knock the power out to get me off work, which would be inconvenient. (Better than being at work though.)

Our actual Snowmageddon was in January of 2020, and holy fuck, the entire city just got buried. Polar Vortex-chan leaned over onto us and we were like 'this is fine'. The low pressure whateverthefuck just would not shove off.

And I was burned -out- at the time. I had no vacation days, urgently needed some, and now all of a sudden there was so much snow the plows couldn't get out and there was more coming. Working from home wasn't a thing then, so the whole town shut down. For over a week. And because I'm a spoiled civil servant with a union that likes to shout and yell, all six days of surprise vacation were paid, for free.

I mean, I'm still burned out. Probably worse than I was back then. (I wish I was as burned out as I was when I first realized I was burned out, etc.) But a surprise week+ of sitting in my warm brick shithouse of an apartment playing Breath of the Wild while my wife did crochet and backseated the whole time? (She had finished it twice before I started.) It was incredible. I will remember it fondly for the rest of my life.

Then two months later covid happened, whoops! Not to get into that whole story, but I was 'essential' which means for about four weeks I worked every other shift and got paid for all of them, then had to actually go to work the rest of the time. No cerb for me :( I remember when the guv wanted us to work from home... sigh.

And then a year later I was on hormones! Yay! It was totally the vaccines. *eyes roll back in head so far they fall out and tumble down the hall*

[daziechane]

For @the-pen-pot. Sneaux in New Orleans!

If you want to see more photos, here are some IG accounts to look at:

marcorasi1960

dpritykin

lookatthisfuckinstreet (PG-13 language)

fringe.and.company

nola_prepared

nolanews

breauxmart

nola_central

[miz-deliverance]

I haven't seen snow in my home state in about 8 years.

[sorchathered]

Snowmageddon update- it’s officially waist deep. The power hasn’t gone out again so that’s a small victory! We are just hanging in there and trying to stay warm.

Happy Sunday!

[artemusstarcat]

2025 is starting like 2024 ended... SNOW!

[mephestopheles]

It's very gross out today. So I'm going to take advantage of the time and reset my apartment. I'm trying something newish and gamifying my cleaning.

Meet the distraction monster I need to defeat. All told he has 250 HP and I have to handle this list to defeat it. Yes my reward is brownies, as I'm going to make some brownies. I don't know what else I can do as a reward since my ADHD brain is waffling between art journalling and crochet right now. So I'll figure that out later.

First roll to tackle the list:

Which is move reusable bags! I'll update this as I go. It's gonna get long or boring so feel free to block Meph vs distraction monster as the tag.

[boobachu]

[jimflanigan]

I survived 2 Mageddons

The past week was rough. First, we had Snowmageddon a week ago. I paid the price physically. Those 3 days of heavy snow and subsequent back-breaking snow removal were followed by 3 days of Coldmageddon. I paid the price mentally on those cold days. The 3 days of Coldmageddon were not the coldest Chicagoland has ever seen, but they were brutal, down to -16F/-26.7C overnight. Highs during the day…

[midwestdadia]

2+ feet over a few days, and it's still coming down. 30-50 mph winds coming after sundown

[pimento-playing-hopscotch]

Someone’s pretty lights showed up in the snowstorm tonight

[introvertedlass]

Looks pretty from inside. Grateful I am inside warm and safe.

[wahlpaper]

Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh Review

Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh by Rachel Lippincott

CW: Swearing, Underage Drinking, Poorly Arranged Marriage, Misogyny, Past Toxic Relationship, Minor Injuries with Blood, Internalized Homophobia, Queerphobia, Classism, Abusive Parent, Past Death of Parent

3.5/5

I automatically chose to read Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh because Rachel Lippincott had once again targeted the niche audience I am a part of; queer Pittsburghers whose favorite genre is queer YA romcoms. After She Gets The Girl, a book which Lippincott wrote with her wife, Alyson Derrick, I assumed this book would also be a love letter to Pittsburgh. Although it missed that mark, which I will elaborate on later, it was a very intriguing book with a sweet romance and loveable characters.

Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh starts with Audrey, a seventeen-year-old girl from 2023 Pittsburgh who gets transported back to North England in 1812. She lands in the field of an estate belonging to an absent father and a girl of high society named Lucy. Audrey realizes she only has 25 days to spend in the past, but not why she's there. She works with Lucy to blend into the 1800s and to solve her mystery. They have narrowed it down to two things that may be connected: finding love or regaining her passion for art, so they try both out. Only, Audrey isn't finding a spark with any of the handsome men around her and she can't stop drawing Lucy. Meanwhile, Lucy is trying to come to terms with her marriage arrangement to an awful older man. Will the two girls truly be able to help each other?

I normally avoid period pieces because the language it's confusing and goes over my head, but Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh is far more approachable. The language isn't too heavy and many things are explained on-page to Audrey. Having both Audrey and Lucy's POV helped with getting the full picture. Audrey knew things I did and served as fresh eyes to the 1800s. Lucy was in awe of the world Audrey came from. And well-versed in her own. The tropes used also helped with approachability, adding a familiar element. A training montage, an animal with an attitude, and kissing in the rain, all help this period piece feel like the modern literature it is.

Lippincott created a really enjoyable and well-developed cast of characters for her book. Audrey is thrown into Lucy's world by a curmudgeonly but secretly sweet old man with a backstory you'll want to stick around till the end for. Lucy's world holds 3 potential suitors for Audrey that would all be wonderful picks in their own right. They all have hidden depths beyond their attractive looks. Even the awful man that Lucy is set to marry is full of personality. The best of the characters in Lucy's life is likely Martha, the staff member of the estate who practically raised Lucy after her mother died. These characters and more all added something important to Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh.

The title of this book, Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh, is false advertisement. That isn't a reason not to read the book. It is still a cute queer time travel romance, but it's important to know what you aren't getting into. Although I have never read Pride and Prejudice, I have it on good authority that this isn't a modern-ish adaptation of it. The only connection is that it takes place in the regency era. It also barely features Pittsburgh. It's there when Audrey is in her own time and she thinks about it a little bit, but that's all. Audrey has a line in her head where she mentions the "polar vortex that hit Pittsburgh a few years ago", taking me completely out of the book. It reminded me that Lippincott isn't from Pittsburgh and is older than her characters. Audrey would have been 4 years old at the time and a real Pittsburgher always calls it Snowmageddon. I had assumed that the 1800s portion would take place in 1800s Pittsburgh. I am still left wanting a book with this premise.

The queer rep in this book was both romantic and realistic. I appreciate that it addresses how it may be far more unsafe to be openly queer in 1812, but it can still be a problem in 2023. I related to neither girl knowing her queer identity at the start of the book, despite the obvious signs. They're both only about 17, which is around the time I started being honest with myself about not being straight. It takes time for some people. Thankfully, this couple had some people on their side in 1812. Queer people were not unheard of then, despite the secrecy.

If a WLW regency romance with time travel appeals to you, give Pride and Prejudice and Pittsburgh a try! Rachel Lippincott understands how to write two clueless characters falling for each other, and that alone would make this book worth reading. If you happen to know of any other Pittsburgh romance books, send them my way!

[emmonlou]

Me during snowmaggedon

[girlpowerempire]

Snowmageddon in Saudi Arabia ❄️☃️💰💙👑

BEAUTIFUL 🏔️