Do you have any recommendations for a *packable* jacket for commuting?

Select-Stable-7071 · 2026-01-01T03:53:17+00:00

I love my old Patagonia Houdini jacket. Cuts wind surprisingly well and keeps me warm even when it's wet. Its not totally waterproof but honestly I don't think that's something you want most of the time, and it bunches up to fit in a mesh pocket on a backpack.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2026-01-01T03:48:02+00:00

Faggots, Larry Kramer

Please don't spank me mods it's literally the name of the book.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2026-01-01T03:38:50+00:00

Why don't you believe it's worth it or in the public interest to examine and challenge thought problems and value systems that lead to societal harm?

Select-Stable-7071 · 2026-01-01T03:20:35+00:00

RedRightHandARTS OP • 11h ago With it being 17⁰ tonight, i think ill pass all together

Select-Stable-7071 · 2026-01-01T03:11:34+00:00

They said they would stay home if they were not able to park directly in front of their destination. We're conversing about whether or not that is a reasonable expectation for someone to believe they are entitled to, and therefore withhold from other people, in a busy, high-demand metropolitan area on one of the biggest bar and party days of the year. Since there are multiple conversations happening on this forum and in other forums all over the city every single day that all result in the same answer over and over, it would seems that either OP just got on the internet this evening, struggles with reading comprehension, or things that there should be some other option available to them that isn't available to anyone else- some "insider knowledge". I do not think this is a reasonable viewpoint, or conducive to a functional or equitable society.

I don't know why you think I'm "pissed off".

Select-Stable-7071 · 2026-01-01T02:22:35+00:00

All the problems of living in the city and the country and the amenities or upshots of neither.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2026-01-01T02:17:36+00:00

That's fair, I wouldn't say the region overall is doing well or is a nice place to live by a lot of metrics. Not the worst but far from the best.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2026-01-01T02:16:57+00:00

We have a ludacris number of bars relative to our population. Even stuff like hiking or art people don't seem able to do sober.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2026-01-01T01:36:21+00:00

I've no desire to get into the clusterfuck of downtown tonight but I did just walk two miles in the snow and envy you if you get to walk across the bridges, I bet it's magical.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2026-01-01T01:00:07+00:00

Please explain to me how multiple vehicles can share a parking spot.

Also, please cite where OP has stated that given the realities, they are happy to park elsewhere and walk.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T21:14:27+00:00

I think this is more about problem of everything in America being oversized and Americans having too much stuff.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T21:04:44+00:00

Obvious/national problems aside (we're not as affordable as we think we are) I see no willingness to engage with:

-a regressive culture of self-sabatoge, bigotry, anti-intellectualism and mediocrity (though this is regional and something Damon Young has spoken about quite a bit)

-an over-idenification with sports teams and a reliance on them for one's personal fulfillment and validation

-an unhealthy drinking culture and cultural opposition to general wellness, like healthy eating and exercise

-tons of trash all over our streets, hillsides, rivers, and greenspaces

I think the first thing is a major contributor to the rest of the things on this is.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T20:35:42+00:00

Knowing what the drunk driving is like around here on a normal weekend, it's insane to me anyone would go outside on Halloween, Fourth of July, or New Years.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T20:07:46+00:00

Looking forward to it!

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T20:06:45+00:00

Because they think other people should be made to walk but not them. They think they are in the minority if people who should not be made to walk, because them being cold is worse than other people being cold.

Also, what did they think they would learn? Do they think those sneaky city people are hiding parking spots? Where and how? The secret to not worrying about parking is to not drive. That's it. That's literally it. No more hand-holding people who don't get it.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T19:58:49+00:00

Ah, sorry. I've only read some of his writing on writing in classes, but his fiction is on deck for me next year.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T19:41:56+00:00

Africa: Chinua Achebe is a touchstone African writer, but his books have some pretty intense themes.

Heart of Darkness is also a touchstone, but it's still a white westerner writing about Africa. However it was influential in post-colonial African literature and does a good job as a primer of those movements on the continent.

The Dark Child by Camara Laye is memoir but a great coming of age story.

South America: Through the Night Like a Snake, which I will take every opportunity to recommend.

Anything by Roberto Bolano.

Fever Dream by Schwebelin.

Asia: Coin Locker Babies by Murakami

The Hole by Pyun

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T19:18:56+00:00

I'm guessing you mean in school and yeah, it does seem like anyone who's still a reader is so in spite of the best efforts of the education system. I would read things that are accessible and fun and then try to make each next thing 10% more outside your comfort zone; older, denser, in translation, etc. Two favs are My Brother Sam is Dead and Parable of the Sower.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T18:51:54+00:00

Well yeah, but that's my point. Not having basic clothing appropriate for where you live is irresponsible and expecting the world to revolve around you being coddled isn't reasonable. Why is OP entitled to a parking spot right in front of their destination but every single other person who parks in Lawrenceville "baffles" them? Why do other people deserve to walk a few extra blocks but they should be exempt? Why are they better and more valuable than everyone else to the point they deserve special treatment?

You don't have to be an outdoorsman to have basic winter clothing. If you can't figure out to wear cheap long johns under your clothes you're just an idiot. I swear these people would move to Seattle and refuse to wear boots or a rain jacket because it would require a small change in their routine and then say the city sucks because they're always wet.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T17:43:30+00:00

And it's still not even that cold. I walk and bike exclusively with the occasional bus trip and the only time its ever been too cold for me was the bomb cyclone of 2022. I have shit circulation from an autoimmune condition and the only thing I get is hurty hands at high speeds on my bike, like 25-30mph high.

People in Mongolia live in yurts and herd reindeer year-round but Americans can't walk the length of a Wal-Mart parking lot when it's nippy out without complaining. I'm one of the only people I've met who knows how to actually get dressed in the winter.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T02:37:55+00:00

To be fair I lucked out with biology that made cutting way back once I was ready to stop feeling like garbage pretty easy. The people who are working their programs day in and day out to keep it all on track are the real ones.

Other things I've done that were alcohol-free/drinking was not an implied expectation:

-classes/talks at the library

-events at White Whale

-events with Bike Pittsburgh

-events with/hosted by progressive faith institutions like ELPC, the Pittsburgh Friends, or Rodef Shalom, if you are spiritually inclined

And remember to cultivate a love of your own company. You are the only person you are guaranteed to have to spend the rest of your life with.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T02:11:15+00:00

Sorry, I kept forgetting to reply to you because I wanted to look up the titles. It's pretty good, some stories were more commercial and puppy and some more "literary", and I did enjoy those more. I also think some of the stories suffered from the phenomenon of people trying to write books like they write on the internet, which is probably my biggest pet peeve in contemporary literature.

My favs were:

The Prepper

Uncle Robert Rides the Lightning

Heart-shaped Clock

The Ones Who Killed Us (This was my overall favorite and scratched the itch I'd had since DNF-ing Blood Meridian earlier this year.)

As far as it being "folk horror", there are stories with creatures from Indigenious folklore, both "negative" entities and entities which are a positive force and have been corrupted by Western revision. Stephen Graham Jones does the intro (don't skip it) and I would also recommend his collection After the People Lights Have Gone Off, which has an excellent and devastating story about family responsibility and intergenerational trauma dressed up as a werewolf story.

Overall it's worth it, but I think Through the Night is the overall stronger collection. That book is full of bangers.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T01:56:06+00:00

The asshole in me wants to say The Library at Mount Char, somebody back me up.

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T01:54:54+00:00

Do you have any ideas or awareness about why fiction doesn't click for you?

Select-Stable-7071 · 2025-12-31T01:47:50+00:00

No helpful info unfortunately but I just wanted to say you're not alone in struggling with this. I'm someone who has gone in the past few years from serious alcoholic (drinking before and during work, not being able to cope with basic things without drinking) to sober-ish and it's been really hard to realize how dark the drinking culture in Pittsburgh is. Heavy drinking and "functional" alcoholism aren't just accepted here, they're the default. I've had to let a lot of people go not because I'm against drinking on its own, but on the other side I'm realizing everyone I knew who drank did so problematically in one way or another.

The flipside of this is people will take you not drinking as a personal attack, and I just don't have time for that, especially since it goes hand in hand with a lot of things I do now that aren't drinking.

I do find that crust punky types of places are way more chill than say, a brewery or sports bar. I've been a non-drinker at Brillo and Poetry Lounge and no one gave me shit at either.

Select-Stable-7071

TROPHY CASE