Blizzard

(Blogsplosion Post #4)

According to your friend and mine, the National Weather Service, "A BLIZZARD WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 12:00AM CST THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10." They inform us of "* Snow Accumulations: 10 To 14 Inches Is Expected By Wednesday Afternoon Most Places... With Locally Higher Amounts." Furthermore, "This Will Be The First Major Winter Storm For Wisconsin... And Will Likely Have A Significant Impact On Society."

And indeed, I got a call from The Head Librarian*, who told me that mayor is shutting the town down, man! This includes the libraries. Some of the clerks at my work today (I was there for awhile but came home early because I had a headache that felt like hyenas were eating my brain) were discussing the unlikelihood of the libraries closing--there was some disagreement as to whether it's happened once or twice in the past several years. If that's not enough to convince you that this 'un is a big 'un . . . the university cancelled classes. That winter year before last, when we got 100 inches of snow, often parceled out by the foot or so? They called off class once, in the afternoon. The University of Wisconsin-Madison apparently only calls off school once every decade or two. This storm is going to be crazy.

*When I refer to my boss, since we don't really use words like "boss" at my work, I tend to say "the head librarian." Neal says this conjures the image of someone behind a big desk in a darkened room, stroking a cat in a sinister way.**

**She's not actually like that, though. Click here to read more . . .

Gussying

You may have noticed that I've been gussying the ol' blog up a bit.

I picked the new layout because the skinny text column was driving me CRAZY. I had to resize the pictures down there of Shatner and Mangino over and over. Blogger is terrible enough at pictures without worrying about having room for them. (Because, for reals, Blogger is TERRIBLE with pictures.)

I also added a badge for my Twitter. Twitter is basically a teeny tiny blog (or like a facebook status). You can only post a sentence of two at a time, so it's a nutshell of what's going down at the moment.

I updated my links a little bit to add my sister's Japan blog. She doesn't update much, but it's very interesting when she does.

Finally, since I complain about the weather in Madison so much, I figured I'd just put a little bug over there. Click here to read more . . .

Alberta Clipper

The weather here isn't . . . great this week.

According to the National Weather Service, we're getting the effects of an Alberta Clipper, which is a pretty name for "it's going to be colder and windier than you can shake a stick at." (Side note: one of these days, I want to literally shake a stick at something, just to do it.)

This is just one good reason why Neal and I didn't wait another six months to get married. When people came up here in July, everybody loovvvved Madison. Can you imagine if it were this weekend? (Saturday's high: a balmy 19!)


Compare:

Yesterday, when it was warmer but snowy and cloudy, I took a picture with my phone from about the same spot:

See? Not as good. If you didn't know there was a lake there, you wouldn't be able to tell--and I mean in real life, too. I walked around on the lake when I was over there, and I only had a vague idea of where the shoreline was. Click here to read more . . .

Good Times

Well, winter and the winter-esque leg of spring seem to be officially over now in Wisconsin (excuse me for a moment while I go knock on all the wood in my apartment).

Yesterday, for the first time this calendar year (and probably for the first time since October? September?) the temperature broke 70. Oh man, it was awesome. And today? It's going to do the same thing again!

A corollary to general weather awesomeness is some particular clothing awesomeness. I bought this shirt off the internet a month or two ago, but it's been tricky to wear because I don't have anything that looks very good underneath it. But today, Dinosaurs on Bikes Shirt will be flying solo!

Good times indeed.

Click here to read more . . .

UPDATE . . . about Nothing in Particular.

Hey guys.

So, I know I haven't posted in a while. It's because I'm not feeling very creative.

Why? In large part, because the Wisconsin winter is sucking my very life force out of me. Now, I'm not saying I'm a solar-powered cybot or anything, but it turns out that I do need some sun to keep running. Also, it will not stop snowing for anything. This has the practical side effect of keeping me indoors, away from other humans, but also away from Slidy Roads of Death. Oh, and my internet keeps going out. (I'm writing this from the reference room in the library. I like the reference room best because it's not cold here. I'm so in love with Not Cold right now.)

As I'm sure you can imagine, staying inside feeling blue/internet-deprived is pretty much the anti-recipe for clever blog posts.

Should I think of something to say, provided I am able to access the interwebs at the time, rest assured I'll put it here.

In the meantime, balloon chicken:

Click here to read more . . .

Wee Updates

1. New post over at doppelblog. (Movies!)

2. Remember how I was telling you about ordering a wedding dress, on or about January 3rd? (So, I didn't mention ordering. But that is what happened.) They told me I'd get it in March or April. Turns out? Got it January 17th.

I shall never suffer anyone to say anything less than glowingly positive about David's Bridal in my presence for the rest of my days.

3. The high tomorrow is still going to be 0. (WeatherBug had been saying -2 for awhile, so . . . hooray?) Click here to read more . . .

Three Terrifying Words

The weatherman's forecast for Saturday here in Madison:

"High near zero."

Siiiiiiiiiiigh. Click here to read more . . .

Guess What? It's Snowing.

Here in Wisconsin, we haven't had any devastating ice storms or things like that, but we have had lots and lots of snow. Since it had been snowing since about 10:00 this morning, I decided to check out the hour-by-hour forecast on weather.com, and here is what I found for the rest of today:

That's just ridiculous. Thanks, Wisconsin.

Click here to read more . . .

An Ode

When everything around me
is dull and dark and gray
When cold and ice and wind and frost
hound me through the day
When sweaters are inadequate ,
When longjohns fail to please,
I ache to return to you--
you never let me freeze.

You make my room so cozy
You make my life so bright
Blankets can’t compare to you
On a chill Wisconsin night
How could I brave the temperatures?
How could I stand the snow?
Without you to revive me--?
I never want to know.

I promise we’ll go on like this,
me cherishing you so
I’m so thankful that I found you
At Wal-Mart, ten months ago.
I knew it then, I know it now:
In truth--there’s nothing sweeter
than to bask
in the warming range
of my dear space heater. Click here to read more . . .

I Think I Want a Sewing Machine

It's finally nice in Madison. The nice weather and a random desire to look just a little cuter than usual made me really wish I had a jean skirt to wear tomorrow. I only occasionally feel like wearing a skirt, so the only ones I own are all churchy. So no jean skirt. I therefore decided to make one.
I took a pair of jeans and cut 'em up, and began sewing them back together in an alternate configuration. If I had a sewing machine (or if I had decided to take up this whim before 10 o'clock), I bet I could have finished it.
Also, I would like to take up sewing someday, mostly because of all the cool stuff they sell in fabric stores. I mean, have you ever looked at how many types of buttons your run-of-the-mill fabric store has? Or how many colors of thread? I hate to think that someday those places and products will become extinct, but really--how many people a day in the whole country can you imagine saying, "Well, I better run down and get some multi-colored flourscent ladybug buttons and some medium-pale chartreuse thread!" But I want there to be a bunch of those people. And if I have to be one to make that happen, so be it. Click here to read more . . .

Updates of Various Kinds

1. I did not win the John Adams eyeliner picture. Very sad. I'll just try to console myself with the fact that it says "For David." After all, I'm not David.

2. It continues to snow, so today I walked on down to Ace Hardware and bought a shovel. (I walked because I can't move my car--hence the shovel.) The best part of that story is me jaunting about town (including a trip into McDonald's to get me a salad) with a shovel over my shoulder.

3. Still no George Washington dollars at my bank. I went in and asked, and even got the same guy. He didn't remember me specifically, but did have the air of someone who's been asked the same question many a time.

4. More and more people are discovering how mind-bogglingly, superhumanly, unbelievably fantastic Acie Law IV is at playing basketball. That previous link is but one example of what I'm talking about; type Acie Law IV into Google News if you don't believe me. I dare you.

Click here to read more . . .

Snowtime

We got quite a bit of snow over the weekend, here in southern Wisconsin.

They're pretty good about plowing, though, and this is all the snow they shoved up off my parking lot:

(I know it's not a very good picture, but use that car in the lower right for a size reference.)

My roommate was very impressed by the big ol' pile and told me I should take a picture of it, so I did. She did not tell me that I should climb up there and make that wee snowman, but I did anyway.

Here's a zoom on my tiny snowman:

Click here to read more . . .

Good News!

I just found out that the high is supposed to be 40 tomorrow. Can you believe it? I'm so happy, I almost got choked up.
Blogging about it is my version of shouting from the mountaintops. Forty!
(!!!!!!!) Click here to read more . . .

Another Complaint about the Weather

You know how when you eat a popsicle or ice cream or something, it can make your teeth hurt? Well, today I realized that my front teeth were aching because I had smiled outdoors for a minute or two. Not kidding. Click here to read more . . .

Sub-Zero Musings

I would like to share some of the thoughts I had as I drove home from a Super Bowl party tonight in the balmy -13 degree weather. (On Wisconsin!)

When I was a kid, I had this crummy bird call device made of a little piece of metal surrounded by a little piece of wood that you'd twist around it to make a terrible squeaky noise. The same noise that my steering column makes in this weather.

It might be nice to drive a stick shift car to give my left foot something to do--its toes had about 70% less feeling in them than the right toes.

After the car had been running for a few minutes: "Oh, I think it's starting to get warm in here. Either that, or I'm dying." Click here to read more . . .