PUSSYPHOBE

TO THE EDITOR: The front-page picture of Vol. 13, No. 01. Three-eyed kittens. Strike that--fuckin' creepy three-eyed kittens. They are staring at me, you know. Why have you done this thing? I ask you, do I deserve these nightmares?

Dustin Voss

KIDS TODAY

YO, KATHLEEN: Another great insight. I read the piece you wrote about Seattle not being grown-up [Some Candy Talking, Sept 25]. There was a part of that article that I really identified with: "There are a group of us suspended between boomers and Xers, paddling around 40 but still living like kids."

Yo, there are so many of us in that category that perhaps it is not a Seattle thing--but perhaps that's what you meant? An East L.A. writer whose name I forget once wrote, "We are the generation that was too early for CHE and too late for the Berlin Wall." Anyway, I don't know, nor am I a part of, the hipster black-clad unknown-rock-bands world you write so much about, but your writing is always crisp and witty, and it flows well. I wish you'd write a damn book.

Mauricio


BULLSHIT CALLED

TO THE EDITOR: Just thought I would let you all know that Adam Ford, who won the Alley Cat and sprints competitions [at the Cycle Messenger World Championships], was not really the fastest rider in the Alley Cat ["Seattle Skid Marks," Eli Sanders, Sept 18]. He did not know where he was going. He trailed two of our best local riders the entire way before freewheeling his way down Capitol Hill to victory. Your article quotes him as saying that locals should have had an advantage but he took us out on the hills. I have to say that is all bullshit. If he were truly honest he would give credit to those locals who won the race for him because he had NO CLUE where to find the checkpoints! His only high point was the sprints, which he did fare well in, without the help of locals, so congrats to him on that.

Matt


PRICE AND HIS WIFE, BARRY

DEAR EDITOR: I was pleased to see the article on the Clark movement in your paper this week ["The Clark Effect," Sandeep Kaushik, Sept 25]. However, imagine my surprise when I read the caption under my picture, which described me as "wife"! My name is Sarah Barry, and I happen to be married to Kevin Price. I did not give up my identity when I got married, and I was pained to see that your art department decided to. Women have fought long and hard for equality, and things like this do matter. How hard would it be to make the caption "Price and his wife, Barry"? Even in a liberal-leaning paper such as The Stranger, we find elements of sexism. We have come a long way, baby--but not far enough!

Sarah K. Barry, MPA


STDS MIA

DEAR STRANGER: I recently read your new feature on the Seattle school handbook. I enjoyed it--that is, until I got to the section on STDs ["What's That Down There?" Dan Savage, Sept 25]. I've been impressed with The Stranger's recent "take no prisoners, stop at nothing to get the truth to the people" approach toward STDs. But in the STD article, under the section entitled "AIDS," there isn't so much as a mention of the fact that HIV is invariably (over 99.9 percent) fatal. Maybe the author assumed people would just know that, but isn't that exactly the sort of lack of social responsibility that The Stranger has been criticizing? Why aren't there any gruesome details about the kind of complications that accompany HIV infection so that people will take the disease seriously?

On the same note, why isn't there any mention of the hepatitis viruses? Hepatitis C's prevalence among intravenous drug users is extremely high (sorry, I don't have any numbers on this one), and although it is rarely sexually transmitted, I think it should fall into the STD category. Hepatitis B is definitely sexually transmitted, and 15 percent of the people who get infected never kick the infection. Of these, 15 to 20 percent go on to develop end-stage liver disease (cirrhosis) or liver cancer, both of which are fatal complications. Most people get vaccinated through school, but shouldn't the word be put out there that if you aren't vaccinated, it would be worth getting that done?

In sum, I'm rather disappointed that the STD section skipped over some of the most sobering details of sexually transmitted diseases, particularly given The Stranger's stance on this issue.

Anonymous, via e-mail

DEPT. OF CORRECTIONS: Last week, we incorrectly reported that John Manning had been convicted for domestic violence ["None of the Above," In Other News, Erica C. Barnett]. In fact, Manning pled guilty to two misdemeanors, criminal trespass and violating a no-contact order--a reduction from charges of felony burglary and assault. The Stranger regrets the error.

Also, in Kathleen Wilson's piece "Anger Management," which appeared in last week's issue, the year stated in Local H singer Scott Lucas' quote should have been 1991, not 1999. The quote should have read, "I don't want to say, '1991, man! Nirvana! We could have changed the world!'" The Stranger regrets this stupid destruction of a perfectly good quote, and the copy editor responsible has pledged to curtail his breakfasts of gin-cantaloupe smoothies.