Apocalypse Now: Snowmageddon 2013

Looka all that snow/ Not that much at first/ Walking is becoming a chore
Visibility is not that great/ It does look pretty though/ Futility, thy name is shovel
Up to the tops of my boots now/ What one wears for Snowmageddon/ Thank goodness, coffee!

I have a strange fixation with the apocalypse. 

Whenever people tell me about some HUGE event that will probably make traveling and stuff a little less convenient, I like to give it an inappropriate title.  When they closed the Gardiner Expressway in Toronto down to fix it, people were worried that they wouldn't be able to get anywhere in the city, since that expressway was a main artery.  So I liked to refer to that weekend as "Carmageddon" because people were talking about it like it was a CATASTROPHE!

Today we had a little snow storm.  But people have been talking about it for days.  Yesterday the buzz at school was that there would be a snow day.  And lo there was.  (I shall never doubt you again Dee.)  Because people were "preparing" for this "emergency"  D and I started calling it "Snowmageddon" in our household.

Unfortunately, the frozen end-of-the-world is not enough for D to stay home for work.  So off he went in the thick of it for justice or whatever.

Me, I stayed in bed and dozed.  Texted some teacher friends congratulating them on a free day of rest, and read some of my book.  But I got wondering how bad it was outside.  So I decided to brave the storm and take some adventure photography.

Really, it wasn't that bad.  Just a lot of snow.  A lot of snow.  And a lot of bad driving.  And shovellers.

I was funny though, I took some pictures and walked around for a bit, and noticed that my fave cafe was open.  So I took a break, and waited before I went out to face the snowpocalypse again.  By the time I drank a coffee and ate a muffin, it had snowed almost 6 inches.

And I started thinking about other types of end-of-the-world scenarios.  Here's what I thought of so far:

• "A-pod-calypse": Over pollenation of ragweed and other weeds that lead to the over-active allergies of people to spread a virus that will end us all.
• "Sunmageddon": the explosion of the sun, not to be confused with  the Hotpocalypse which is extreme global warning, and the need for sunblock SPF 1 million.  Which again is different from the "Hot-Pocketalypse": which is extinction by eating Hot Pockets.
• "Robacalypse": The rise of the machines.  hopefully they will just create a Constitutional Robocracy instead of using us for batteries.
• "Infomageddon": The internet crashes, and we are left to our own devices.  Does anyone know how to use a dictionary anymore?  What about a card catalogue?
• "Zombegeddon": Um. Zombie apocalypse, natch.
• "Babygeddon": No more babies.  No more people.  Like in Children of Men by P.D. James.
• "Crunchmageddon": the opposite of the Big Bang.

Besides being a strange young person, why do you think about these things, Stephanie?

I'm glad you asked that, voice in my head.  I have two theories:

First:   Every time I read the news, or watch something on TV, I'm confronted by news of things that will or should have killed me.  Its tiresome.  I refuse to be scared of possibilities.  So I give them funny names.  My brain tumor scare was "Cancergeddon."  Its how I deal with the fear of the unknown.  I guess.


Second:  I really do think that how we think about our end, can help us to be better people, thereby avoiding that ending.  Its why I like to read apocalyptic novels.  It is interesting to think of how writer see humanity.  Will we come together and help each other out?  Create a new utopian society?  Or will we become even more violent, and competitive and try to eat each other?  it is a great philosophical question.  Much more thought-provoking than knowing what someone thinks about a glass of water. So, are people inherently good, or bad?


I'll leave you with that question.  I'm off to count our canned goods.

Bassability Books: Reading the Apocalyspe

Before I started writing down my thoughts on the books I read, I didn't realize that I read thematically.  I mean, I start with one book, and I'm drawn to books along the same them for a while after I finish that first one.  I don't always do this on purpose... But with this theme, I found that I did want to see how authors treated the situation of the apocalypse.  I devoured these books.  Even though this isn't the most uplifting subject, these books left me feeling... well, good actually.

Ratings:

*** 3/3 - Couldn't put it down.  I may have taken a day off work to finish it.

** 2/3 - Glad I read it.  Passed the time, probably won't read it again.

* 1/3 - Finished it.  Still don't know why I bothered

0/3 - Didn't finish it.  Life's too short for bad books.

Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky: This was the most recently published of what D calls my "Apocalypse List."  Without giving too much away, much of the story takes place in Russian subway stations where people are forced to live in the year 2033 after a nuclear war.  Its bleak, much like most Russian lit I've read; but you can't help but love the main character.  He's so curious that it makes you root for him, even when you probably shouldn't.  I found it ingenious how the author explains how they live, and eat in these stations.  So clever.  This is a sci-fi, so expect normal sci-fi twists and turns. (***)

Alas, Babylon by Paul Frank:  Alas, Babylon was written at the height of the cold war.  It was like Frank took a picture of American Southern society and wrote about the fears of the future through a 1959 lens. In this story, the cold war becomes hot, and the United States is bombed with nuclear warheads.    All throughout the story, I was amazed that people treated the deaths and catastrophe in stride.  I couldn't even guess what I would be like in a similar situation.  Sometimes the characters reminded me of a line in Robert Frost's poem "Out, out" "...And they, since they/ Were not the one dead, turned to their affairs."  You would think such a book would be overwhelmingly sad, but  the book was not a downer, there was the theme of hope through all the actions of the people in Fort Repose.  The plot follows the protagonist, Randy Bragg, as he morphs from apathetic bachelor to brave leader of a small Southern town in the midst of the fallout.  And I wanted him to be successful.  (***)

Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut:  Its no secret around this part that I love Vonnegut.  I've read all his books now.  This one is my favorite, because the apocalypse comes as an accident.  There is not war, just an accidence of science.  I think Vonnegut is writing about being careful with the power that science has.  As a student who studied Humanities in college, I totally agree with the message.  For all their intelligence, I don't feel as much a connection with the characters in the story.  I was more interested in their circumstance. But every time I read this book I think about something new.  (***) 

Patron Saint of Plagues by Barth Anderson: Have you ever played the game Pandemic 2?  This book cited the apocalypse as a international pandemic.  What I love about this book is the author's construction of the political state of the world.  The head of the world in Anderson's future is Mexico led by a over-zealous Catholic party.  It is fascinating the laws and obstacles that theocracy put in the main character (an epidemiologist's) way to solving the world health crisis. (***)

Now, I don't feel better prepared to survive the Apocalypse, but I do feel more hopeful... In all these books the theme of hope shines on through.  Humans stand a chance, regardless the circumstances.  And that's good news to me.