Go outside. Like, right now. Spring might have decided to show up fashionably late this year, and we might still be a bit bitter from the overcast Spring Weekend. But the sun is out, the grass is soft, and it’s socially acceptable to take off clothing during the day.

On a day that’s as nice as today is, here’s what you should be doing:

1. Iced, iced coffee

If you’re not drinking liters of iced coffee, you’re doing it wrong. Because, seriously, who’s going to need Flex Points in two weeks from now? Alternatively, find out when fresh baked cookies come out of the Blue Room oven and attack like a cloud of descending locust.

2. Throw a frisbee.

Or, if you’re like me, get hit by a Frisbee.

3. Get a farmer’s tan…

… and then lose it. Let’s lose those shirts and show some skin. Who cares if you’re shivering because it’s just a few degrees too cold for your outfit? Refuse to put on a sweatshirt because you look too damn good.

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Well…wow. Most of the school has already seen the picture above. After looking at this screenshot, I was inclined to think that sure, there are some disappointed people here with this temperature. You know something? If you had told us six days ago it would have been 55 degrees outside, we would have given anything for the opportunity to enjoy it. And you know something? Not only is it warmer today in Providence than it is in San Diego, according to the Weather Channel’s Accuweather 5-Day forecast, but tomorrow is going to be hotter than parts of Colorado and Oklahoma, and almost as hot as Arizona and New Mexico.

This list continues: if you can even believe it, it’s going to be hotter in Providence than it will be in Rome and Sevilla; and it’s going to be warmer than South Dakota, Oregon, Washington, and Michigan.

After tomorrow, we’re going march up to Old Man Winter to take back our spring. Byaaaaah!

Image via. 

Yesterday’s pre-downpour heat got us (maybe a bit prematurely) in the mood for the season. We’ll milk it for all it’s worth.

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Dear Rhode Island weather,
please get your shit together.
You’re ruining my ‘do,
and messing with my attitude.
Don’t taunt us with the promise of Spring,
when we really don’t know what tomorrow may bring.
Oh, wait—I know…
Rain, and snow, and terrors untold.
No, I’m not exaggerating.
You truly are exasperating.

So for fuck’s sake,
give us a break.

Image via.

That crafty, cunning bitch. Gray-eyed Athena in all her metis has crafted a winter storm and will proceed into battle with the Northeast tonight just a little over week after we had to deal with the rowdy Sandy (Cohen).

Conditions will include rain mixed with snow, wind gusts over 50 mph, and temperatures in the low 30s, all products of the goddess’ detailed, calculated work.

There’s no way to hold this storm back: while Sandy (Cohen) may have been easily distracted by the presence of bagels, the helmet-wearing, spear-bearing Athena means business. Don’t even try to seduce her… the virginal goddess won’t budge. Hephaestus tried it before, and trust us, it didn’t work. Everyone on Olympus made fun of him, and they’ll make fun of you too.

Image via.

It’s climate change, betches! I don’t mean to sound excited about that, but for any non-believers out there — the snow that fell on Saturday, October 29th better have rocked your world. And if that wasn’t enough to get you thinking, this snowfall was NYC’s earliest since 1869. In the dialogue about climate change, there’s a lot of emphasis on the global warming bit, but the truth is that our climate is changing in a lot of other extreme ways, too. In case you haven’t noticed, winters have been colder and longer in the past few years. Remember how long it took to whip out our short shorts last spring? Hate to break it to ya, but chances are that it’ll be the same deal this year. So why, exactly, is global warming causing fucking freezing cold winters that start in October? Let me break it down for you:

Note: this is the oversimplified version of the explanation, get at me for the dirty deetz. 

1. ice caps are melting because of higher global temperatures

2. as ice sheets melt, less of the heat on earth can be reflected back out

3. wait doesn’t that mean it’s getting hotter?  [Read more →]

Ew.

Fellow Brunonians! I bring you the great news that the heat is in fact on. Facilities has just informed us all that they will now be guaranteeing that all rooms will stay at a balmy 68-72 degrees (unfortunately they picked a pretty nice day to send that email out).

There definitely are good signs and bad signs in this one. Yes, winter is coming, and so are the numb ears and fingertips that come with it, but maybe now I don’t have to bring my comforter into the hallway for 4 am Saturday night floor parties anymore.

We hoped it wouldn’t be so, but it seems that the 80-degree days are finally behind us.  Temperatures have started dropping steadily, reminding us that the dreaded Providence winter is fast approaching.  Say goodbye to iced coffee, Froyo World (oh, who are we kidding?  It’s never too cold out for Froyo World), and shirtless guys playing Frisbee on the Main Green until April – or maybe March, if we’re lucky.

If it’s your first year at Brown or you just never left the library during finals last year, you might not be aware of exactly how cold it can get up here on College Hill.  So we asked some students from warmer climates (California, Florida, and Texas) for six words of wisdom about how to stay warm.  Check out their answers (and our commentary on how helpful their advice actually is): [Read more →]

Freshmen be warned, it’s the fall. And if you thought that this season meant long, leaf-accented walks of shame through the Main Green for last night’s WhisCo hook-up, you thought quite wrong. “Ooo baby it’s rainin’” and not looking to stop any time soon. In a recently posted article, weather.com tries its hand at humor and describes the ‘four letter weather words’ that it claims will define the fall season for the Northeast and Midwest. If process of elimination isn’t your thing, those two four letter words are ‘rain’ and ‘wind’ (ok, perhaps that’s not fair, since ‘snow’ is also four letters, but we’re not at Colgate and for that we can be thankful). According to the expert meteorologists (oxymoron?) at weather.com, we can expect more rainy weather than average (again, to the LA freshmen, average is more rain than you’ve ever seen in your sunkist lives) and that means you should get your rain gear together now more than ever. Rain in Rhode Island is nothing new, but if weather.com is correct (which it is roughly 20% of the time, unless the weather’s actually occurring outside your window, at which point it’s 70% accurate) this will a be a memorable few months for the precipitation fans on campus. While next week is looking sunny, just remember that weather.com also predicted heavy rain for all of Spring Weekend 2011, so consider all predictions with skepticism. Happy Thursday! Don’t blame God, blame yourself. And seriously, buy a raincoat.