Join Us. Don't Be Afraid.

[Freeky]

4. February.

For about a week or so between the end of winter and the begining of spring, there were evenings that felt perfectly still and...idk how to explain except to say tepid outside.

3. Whimsical arrangements of saguaro and how they seemed to wave at me in such a friendly way as I drove to work in the morning. It was like being in a cartoon about the desert but for reals. Leaving PHX felt like leaving my little buddies behind.

That whole post is very yes, but these things I just wanted to tell you I know exactly what you're talking about.

Also, the cacti are blooming right now.  The desert is rioting, Nav.  You're missing all the pretty.

[navkat]

I was never really able to enjoy Seattle. I just felt like it was expensive and not as nice as Vancouver, you know? But then, I've only been there twice and one of those doesn't count because I spent a couple of days sort of stuck and miserable after being denied entry at the Blaine overland crossing over some silliness.

[navkat]

4. February.

For about a week or so between the end of winter and the begining of spring, there were evenings that felt perfectly still and...idk how to explain except to say tepid outside.

3. Whimsical arrangements of saguaro and how they seemed to wave at me in such a friendly way as I drove to work in the morning. It was like being in a cartoon about the desert but for reals. Leaving PHX felt like leaving my little buddies behind.

That whole post is very yes, but these things I just wanted to tell you I know exactly what you're talking about.

Also, the cacti are blooming right now.  The desert is rioting, Nav.  You're missing all the pretty.

This made me feel less lonely for a minute. <3

[Freeky]

It's getting to that point in seasons where you can be outside (in the shade, anyway, for safety reasons) and bake for hours, but you won't die of heat stroke.  It's wonderful.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I was never really able to enjoy Seattle. I just felt like it was expensive and not as nice as Vancouver, you know? But then, I've only been there twice and one of those doesn't count because I spent a couple of days sort of stuck and miserable after being denied entry at the Blaine overland crossing over some silliness.

You want to know what's funny but true? Neither Portlanders nor Seattlites say much about Vancouver.

San Francisco, we'll talk about, sure.

San Jose and Vancouver? No fucking way.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

It's getting to that point in seasons where you can be outside (in the shade, anyway, for safety reasons) and bake for hours, but you won't die of heat stroke.  It's wonderful.

Ireland it is.

Most stable climate I've ever been to. No colder than 30, no hotter than 80. Now I just have to learn what all that Celsius bullshit is about. Oh, and kph.

[navkat]

Yeah, see? I needz moar hot.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

Yeah, see? I needz moar hot.

I hate extreme temperatures. In New England you get hot and humid summers and cold winters. I look forward to spring and autumn.

This of course makes me a quintessential New Englander. We always have cause to complain because in Spring and Autumn we have either cold or why the fuck did I wear my coat in 76 degree weather. Oh right, it's dropping to 30 inexplicably  after 5 pm....

We wouldn't have it any other way.

If we can't complain, we cease being New Englanders.

[navkat]

I grew up on Long Island, so...

After a few years living in areas of the country where central a/c is a necessity, I was absolutely shocked by how much of a pussy I'd become, unable to tolerate 78 degree nights with nothing but an oscillatng fan.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

I grew up on Long Island, so...

After a few years living in areas of the country where central a/c is a necessity, I was absolutely shocked by how much of a pussy I'd become, unable to tolerate 78 degree nights with nothing but an oscillatng fan.

I've noticed that about Massholes that relocated to California. They suddenly can't take the cold. Not that we like it when we stay but they just can't take it anymore. We can deal with the yo-yo up here and complain constantly, but we can still deal.

Actually, if you recall, I confused you for a high school friend, who is basically the opposite of you except that she moved back to Louisiana. What are your thoughts on Southerners that move up North?

[navkat]

One of two things:
1. They're either horribly homesick and immediately find a way to move back down as soon as possible--no amount of money is worth this.
Or
2. They become addicted to the New York lifestyle and take to it like a fish to water in a way I never even could and never, ever want to go back again.

There isn't any in-between for the Southern gal.

New Orleanians are different from "Southerners," though. Yes, N.O. is the south, technically, but it's also not in some ways that are infinitely important. Hell, even the coon asses of Houma are just different. Louisiana is a part of the US that refuses to accept it's not part of Europe and even its good ol' "country boys" have a sort of street savvy about them that sort of demands more of the world around them than your typical redneck. Coon asses aren't happy to eat things that came out of a jar, package, box or can unless they put it there in the first place.

[Nephew Twiddleton]

One of two things:
1. They're either horribly homesick and immediately find a way to move back down as soon as possible--no amount of money is worth this.
Or
2. They become addicted to the New York lifestyle and take to it like a fish to water in a way I never even could and never, ever want to go back again.

There isn't any in-between for the Southern gal.

New Orleanians are different from "Southerners," though. Yes, N.O. is the south, technically, but it's also not in some ways that are infinitely important. Hell, even the coon asses of Houma are just different. Louisiana is a part of the US that refuses to accept it's not part of Europe and even its good ol' "country boys" have a sort of street savvy about them that sort of demands more of the world around them than your typical redneck. Coon asses aren't happy to eat things that came out of a jar, package, box or can unless they put it there in the first place.

Interesting. My Cajun friend lived in NYC for awhile, and then moved back to where you are (also, take the mistaken identity as a high compliment). From what I understand it's that she spent her younger years in LA came here for high school because her parents moved here and got the fuck back to New Orleans as soon as she could. She's also of Polish extraction which makes it funnier, but I would never think of her as anything but a Louisianian. Never a Bostonian or a New Yorker. It was as much of her identity as my Irishness is to mine. (Gogira has a good take on the Irishness, btw, as was discussed over dinner. I confirmed evidence, but I'll leave it up to her to bring it up in the appropriate thread).

[Triple Zero]

It's getting to that point in seasons where you can be outside (in the shade, anyway, for safety reasons) and bake for hours, but you won't die of heat stroke.  It's wonderful.

I never really stopped to realize before how wonderful it is that I can be outside and the weather is not trying to kill me.

Pretty much the whole year. Except for maybe a handful nights in winter but you'd probably survive if you have a coat.

YAY FOR WEATHER THAT DOESN'T KILL YOU!!!

[East Coast Hustle]

Seattle: Not quite Canadian but not Portland either!

Seattle is quite unique and wonderful in its own right. But I think that when Portland became New York's big crush after it had been so in love with Seattle in the '90's, Seattle got jealous (not that it wanted New York anymore, it just couldn't believe that New York would choose Portland over it) and ever since then, the way Seattle feels better about itself is by putting Portland down. "Oh, well, I'm older, more grown-up, and more sophisticated than Portland!" "Everything Portland does, I do better, and I did it first!".

Seattle, it's about time you let go of this. You're better than that; instead of dancing around trying to divert attention from Portland, highlight what you're good at. It's time to let your little sister off the hook for dating the boy you had a crush on in seventh grade, and instead of trying to upstage her at all of her talents, write your own mythology. You have so much potential, if only you'd quit comparing yourself to your kid sister. It's demeaning.

It's been happening since even before PDX became the cool new "in" city. And the amusing thing is that it's a behavior that is almost solely engaged in by people who are, of course, not really from Seattle at all. People move there and get the "Seattle Freeze" from the local populace so they think a good way to prove their hardcore Seattlishness is to be obnoxiously vocal and intense in their civic support. I went through the phase as a teenager, thankfully, and got over it before I became a real person worthy of being paid any attention to by other real people.

The problem has been exacerbated in recent years as gentrification has taken over the inner core of the city and robbed it of many of its long-time indentifying characteristics and landmarks. One thing I LOVE about Portland is that nobody cares about some rich asshole from out-of-state who wants to remake the place in his image. And as far as I know, nobody even bothers trying that shit here. No Paul Allen building up South Lake Union into a high-tech yuppie cluster. No Kemper Freeman trying to build a walled city full of glitz and social immobility in Bellevue. No Howard Schultz yowling paeans to the glories of civic virtue out one side of his mouth while selling off some of the city's most beloved and identifiable treasures to people who just want to destroy them or relocate them. If Seattle is a wealthy real-estate developer's wet dream, PDX is that same developer's sweaty nightmare brought on by too much greasy korean food and inevitably ending in a bed-soaking shart.

[East Coast Hustle]

I was never really able to enjoy Seattle. I just felt like it was expensive and not as nice as Vancouver, you know? But then, I've only been there twice and one of those doesn't count because I spent a couple of days sort of stuck and miserable after being denied entry at the Blaine overland crossing over some silliness.

You want to know what's funny but true? Neither Portlanders nor Seattlites say much about Vancouver.

San Francisco, we'll talk about, sure.

San Jose and Vancouver? No fucking way.

Vancouver is crap. Oh sure, it's pretty enough to look at, but it's all tourists and hippies and junkies and meth whores and not the cool interesting kind either. And it's got to be the most expensive city this side of Geneva. We don't talk about it because there's nothing about it that's interesting enough to make even derisive jokes about.

San Jose isn't even a real city. It's just the largest suburb in America.