THE SMOKING BAN SAVED MY MARRIAGE

DAVE SEGAL: Thank you for your article ["Take it Outside," Dec 15]. You said all the things I've been thinking! What baffles me is that people are so attached to the object of their addiction that they can't see what a stupid useless waste of a LOT of money, alveoli, taste buds, and healthy skin it is... I'm one of the quiet nonsmokers who loves music, and now my homebody husband even wants to go out more instead of staying home while I go out and dance, flirt, and come home smelling like an ashtray. I-901 might just save our marriage.

Shannon

JOHN IN THE MORNING IS OVERPAID

I was honestly quite saddened to learn that KEXP DJ John in the Morning makes $90,000 a year ["On the Record," Eli Sanders, Dec 22]. When The Stranger made mention of the $120,000 figure in last week's issue, I scoffed because though I had read the Seattle Weekly piece on KEXP's troubles, I did not remember that figure being attributed to him. I considered doing some fact-checking and writing The Stranger to say that there had been a mistake, though I did not want to be seen defending John in the Morning, as I have long found him to be the most irritating "celebrity" in this town, regardless of the many good bands he plays. So to then see him say in print that his salary is $90,000, I mean I just couldn't believe it. I never thought in my wildest dreams he would make that much money. Even a third of that would be generous as far as I'm concerned.

Mark Craig

CHEERS FOR BAREBACK MOUNTIN'

ANNIE WAGNER: Thanks for pointing out how silly most reviewers have been, even as they heap their praise upon Brokeback Mountain ["Bareback Mountin'," Dec 15]. Of course the cowboys' relationship in the film transcends sexual orientation; it's a well-made film. Thanks also to Ang Lee and the stars of Brokeback Mountain for creating an honest, challenging, romantic gay film that people are actually going to see. We don't need another cheap, self-absorbed movie about a vapid West Hollywood gay person who develops a crush on a neighborhood barista and then talks about it endlessly with his/her gang of wisecracking friends. Gay people flock to these films, of course, but everyone else has rightly ignored them.

Alex O. Williams

ERICA IS RIGHT ON

DEAR ERICA C. BARNETT: Thank you! Finally someone wrote an article about the Embarcadero as an example solution to the viaduct's woes ["Driving Lessons," Dec 15]. I grew up in San Francisco, and for the last five years (while living in Seattle) I could never figure out why no one thought to look south for an answer. All of the Seattleites I mentioned this to always seemed to dismiss the Embarcadero's format as too large for Seattle, or not fast enough to move people through the city. So thank you for finally writing an article illustrating the beauty of a surface-level road in place of the awful viaduct.

Courtney

BUT NOT EVERYONE AGREES

EDITOR: I'm surprised that Erica Barnett thinks that the Embarcadero on San Francisco's waterfront is a model for Seattle. As she points out in her article, the Embarcadero is six lanes wide. That's tantamount to putting Aurora Avenue on our waterfront.

Seattle's waterfront is the most significant urban land in the Northwest and should be a place for people to enjoy, not a concrete river for cars. What we need on the waterfront are parks, plazas, and businesses that meet the needs of Northwesterners. It should be a great place for people with easy pedestrian connections between Elliott Bay and the neighborhoods nearby. How do you do that with six lanes of traffic blasting through the neighborhood?

David Yeaworth

Executive Director, Allied Arts

AND SOME THINK SHE'S NUTS

ERICA: You are comparing apples to oranges. The Embarcadero was an end destination—the terminus was Broadway. In fact, the most traffic was on Friday and Saturday nights into North Beach. I lived on Telegraph Hill pre- and post-Embarcadero. In Seattle, the viaduct carries far more daily commuters, and to suggest that people use alternate routes such as Interstate 5 is a joke. The cut-and-cover tunnel is the best solution as Seattle continues to grow.

Steve

FROM THE FORUMS AT WWW.THESTRANGER.COM

POSTED BY ENDQUOTE: The Our Worst Enemy column is definitely the most entertaining thing in the paper this week ["Holiday in Hell," Dec 22]. I can't believe Cienna [Madrid] couldn't find people to go caroling or to an AA meeting with—isn't anyone down for random adventures anymore? Everyone says, "I'll try anything once," but most people stick to their ruts. The column is fun because the readers get to adventure vicariously without actually having to leave the barstool.

Obsess about Cienna and contemplate what she looks like naked at forums.thestranger.com.