<p>From a great clothing website: </p>
<p>“Upstate New York: It’s like New York City’s unemployed father.”</p>
<p>(Google it…they have ‘Ithaca is gorgeous’ shirts)</p>
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<p>I’m sorry, but not only does the mugginess in Florida want me to poke my eyes out, but after reading about the Burmese python and Nile monitor epidemic ravaging South Florida in the latest New Yorker, I would be happy to never have to go back to Florida again. It’s mostly just a drained swamp.</p>
<p>And since when aren’t hurricanes bad? Remember Andrew much?</p>
<p>I’ll take my snowstorms and quiet nights playing Scrabble with a crackling fire, thank you very much.</p>
<p>Cayuga, mugginess beats a numb body any day. And a burmese python or monitor is nothing to be afraid of. I am sure it is blown out of proportion anyways, and south florida is not my ideal part of the state, Tampa is.</p>
<p>Sure andrew was bad, but that was 17 years ago. They started building stronger housing after that to hold up against hurricanes. And this is the far south end of florida we are talking about. I am from north central florida. In my 20 years there, I experienced 2 actual hurricanes in 2004 during a 2-3 week period and that was it. We lost power for a little bit in the first (got a generator afterward) and had a mess to clean up in the yard, but no actual damage was done to anything. Florida is not new orleans, it is not going to ever flood in the way katrina did. </p>
<p>I’d happily go through another hurricane over freezing my brains out. But please do stay in the northeast. I hate that florida is turning into a long island retirement home, as a 5th generation resident, I wish we weren’t overridden with yankees. It is to the point people don’t even think I am southern because I come from florida (and I live 1 hr from georgia border!, north of 99% of the retirees). I’d move to the northeast permanently if I wanted rusty cars, dry skin, rude/obnoxious people, extraordinarily high cost of living, and to be miserable. I prefer year round jetskiing, swimming, fishing, ATVing, hunting, and numerous other outdoor activities florida offers. Ever been swimming in february?</p>
<p>Cornell vs Williams
I think we are done with that, and we know the outcome.</p>
<p>New York vs Florida
We could go through the same analysis.
Which one is more prestigious? Which one would give you more recognition? What about costs? Social life? And diversity?</p>
<p>Let’s make a three way…</p>
<p>New York vs Florida vs New Orleans</p>
<p>I already know who would get the short end of the stick with that comparison <em>insert devil face here</em></p>
<p>Three way…short end of the stick…</p>
<p><em>insert obvious sexual pun here</em></p>
<p>Our people are obnoxious?! Hahahah ok. At least our people aren’t so unbelievably stupid they screwed up the 2000 election. Nice one, Florida. Thanks for that. I’ve only been to the tourist part of Central Florida, Orlando, and good Lord, the average person looked somewhat like this: <a href=“http://stuffgodhates.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/fat_ass.jpg[/url]”>http://stuffgodhates.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/fat_ass.jpg</a> So much for those outdoor activities…:D</p>
![http://stuffgodhates.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/fat_ass.jpg[/url]](http://stuffgodhates.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/fat_ass.jpg%5B/url%5D){kind=link}
<p>I went to Miami a couple months back and it was beautiful. 70 degrees, in December! Perfect winter vacation spot. But I HATE really hot weather and it’s ridiculously hot and humid most of the year. My boyfriend’s from Miami and wants me to come down after the semester ends. I heard it gets crazy-hot there over the summer, I can’t imagine. </p>
<p>Hermanns, you can’t seriously be complaining about the cold in NY. It was barely cold this year, not too much snow. If you want to feel cold, go to Minnesota! It’s intense.</p>
<p>It sounds like Chandler Bing will be heading to Williams in the fall…just a guess.</p>
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<p>Actually, Upstate had one of the worst winters in recent memory from Thanksgiving through the end of January. February and March were fantastic, though.</p>
<p>NY is not just the megalopolis, no matter how self-centered you downstaters think you are.</p>
<p>I know it’s not just the megapolis…I lived in Upstate NY (Saratoga Springs and even Norwich for a bit) for years before moving downstate (Long Island and NYC).</p>
<p>Downstate had a huge snowstorm as well late in in the winter, it was refreshing after such a mild winter. Maybe it was colder upstate earlier, but my friends at Binghamton/Cornell/Geneseo seemed to think it was just fine up there. Wouldn’t mind moving up to Saratoga again, personally. I thrive off of cold weather so my definition of mild is probably different than yours. I’ll take 4 distinct seasons and some snow over 12 months of humidity anyday. But yeah, I guess most people would prefer the sunshine in Florida.</p>
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<p>Hopefully there are no short sticks in said three way…</p>
<p>stargazerlilies, the fat people you saw in orlando were probably tourists. I personally can’t stand orlando. Tampa is a MUCH better city, and busch gardens is a much better theme park than disney and universal anyways. Plus, the gulf is better than the atlantic in central florida (further south the atlantic is better). </p>
<p>And Cayuga is exactly right on this past winter. I go to Cornell, not NYU or Columbia. Ithaca had a terrible winter at the beginning of the semester. The first four days I got here this semester were literally single digits the entire time. Hot and humid beats <10 degrees for 96 hours straight (and then a bump into the extra comfy teens the next few weeks). And I have nothing against NY (especially upstate where the people seem to be much nicer than the major northeast cities), just could not live here long term because of the weather and all that comes with it. Wanting four seasons is stupid when 2 of them keep you cooped up indoors. However, one thing going through an Ithaca winter has done is give me more appreciation for my home state which is about the only positive I can think of.</p>
<p>hermanns, I was joking about the fat people (it’s not like people up here are particularly healthy lol) orlando is a city of tourists. </p>
<p>but see here’s the awesome thing about winter you’re missing out on - skiing and snowboarding and sledding! you don’t have to be cooped in indoors december through march. weather <10 sucks but if it’s 18 to 30, go out and have a snowball fight. my boyfriend’s from Miami, even warmer than Tampa, and he was pretty shocked by the 13 inches or so we got a while back.</p>
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<p>As someone who is consistently happy when skiing, I think that your statement above is over-general and a bit misinformed. Also, some of my most fantastic memories with friends are of the ample time we spent in our youth playing in the snow – making igloos, digging snow tunnels, having fun with snowball fights, sledding, tobogganing, and even picture-taking. The technique for cold weather comfort is simply knowing your way around cold weather gear and clothing.</p>
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<p>You should try skiing or snowshoeing for the winter. Or learning how to read a good book while snuggled up next to a fireplace with a cup of steaming hot chocholate.</p>
<p>And I am unsure as to what other beautiful Upstate season you cannot enjoy the outdoors. It certainly can’t be spring, with its beautiful, refreshing afternoons (much like today) just begging you to get outside and throw around a baseball. And it certainly can’t be the dog days of summer, where the nights don’t cool down that much on account of the Great Lakes’ heat. And it certainly can’t be fall, when on a crisp autumn morning you could go for a great kayak ride among some of the most vibrant colors the world has ever seen.</p>
<p>No. You are right. A drained swamp filled with roaming packs of gargantuan snakes and lizards, track housing, lame amusement parks, and strip malls everywhere the eye can see is much better.</p>
<p>Please don’t call me stupid.</p>
<p>I have to admit that as much as I enjoy the New Orleans weather and being able to sit by the pool in January, I really do miss the snow and all of the fun that came with it. One of my best days in New Orleans was in December when we had a snow fall, reminded me of home. </p>
<p>I miss the change of seasons that NY has. In New Orleans we have mild, chilly and disgustingly hot and humid. I am not looking forward to the latter.</p>
<p>I can water ski (or tube, or wakeboard, etc…) year round and not be cold while doing it. I grew up on a large lake, so watersports are kind of my thing. And I didn’t really mean two entire seasons keep you cooped up inside, but about half of fall, winter, and half of spring do. </p>
<p>The part of florida I am from is no drained swamp (although our football stadium is called the swamp), we don’t have track housing (and its not like other states don’t have it), busch gardens certainly is not lame (the orlando parks are, but only because they have too many tourists from the rest of the country making the wait times seemingly forever), and is not full of strip malls. I am not from orlando or miami. And by the way, snakes and lizards are cool. Its not my fault that morons release pets they never should have had.</p>
<p>My part of florida is only one hour drive from clear calm waters in the gulf (where we scallop/dive and fish), or an hour from the atlantic. There are clean, beautiful lakes all over, and it is not overpopulated.</p>
<p>Bah. By my definition all amusement parks are lame. </p>
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<p>Fair enough. Just don’t come begging me for help when a twenty-foot python decides to make you his lunch.</p>
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<p>The point that is missed here is that you are making an unfortunate choice. There is no need to be cooped up in the winter. If you consider the last few posts in response to your unfortunate aversion to winter, you might realize that there is so much fun and beauty to be found in snowy wonderlands.</p>
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<p>awwww…you’re no fun :-P</p>
<p>I’m not a fan of Busch Gardens in Tampa though…I’ve been there way too many times.</p>
<p>Colm: My point was that I can have just as much fun wakeboarding or standup jetskiing without freezing my ass off.</p>
<p>Cayuga, a burmese python rarely gets past 15 feet. You must be thinking of the reticulated python. However, I doubt any python could eat all 6’ 2" of me. If there is one thing I know a lot about it is reptiles. I have a rather sizable collection of turtles/tortoises and lizards (and have one snake). I am working on a breeding project of a critically endanged species of tortoise in fact. Reptiles do not scare me in the least. I would have probably gone into zoology if I did not hate science so much. And if I was attacked by a giant snake, I would simply shoot it. Being in florida, a state that believes in allowing its residents to practice their second amendment rights, will allow me, a law abiding citizen, to rather easily get my CCW permit later this year when I turn 21, which I am looking forward to.</p>