THE ART OF SUICIDE
DEAR CHARLES MUDEDE: Regarding your article, "Jumpers" [April 13]: A few years ago, while staggering out of the wreckage of a painful marriage, I picked up a bit of a death habit. I was contemplating suicide on a regular basis. At the time, it was my fantasy to purchase a functional weapon, enter [a] chapel, position myself in front of the biggest, blackest canvas, and administer high-speed "lead therapy" to myself, therein creating my own interpretation of a Jackson Pollock. Now that's narcissistic!
You're right Charles, theatrical suicides are like something obscene that some tortured soul sees fit to cram into our consciousness; and while the actual methods are limited, it is the stage that separates a moment of desperation from [a moment of] art. I don't wish to sound like a proponent for suicide -- I am not. But I do believe that taking on the role of judge and executioner can be very powerful when approached aesthetically.
C. S. Kennedy, Seattle
CHARLES MUDEDE: Like a police officer filling out his report, you classify jumpers and tell us how they think. Dry jumpers, you say, are sending a "fuck you" message to the world. "Wet" jumpers are hoping for divine intervention. Jumpers are like anyone else, Charles -- all different. Some want to be seen, some want to inflict pain, some simply want to end pain. You do a disservice to suicides, the suicidal, and the rest of us with your piece.
"Ishmael," via e-mail
TO CHARLES MUDEDE: Fourteen years ago, on Thanksgiving, my sister jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. At that time, we didn't even know she had gone missing for two days -- we would not have known that she jumped if her body had not been recovered at the mouth of San Francisco Bay. I believe that -- far from a bid for momentary fame or some sense of the dramatic -- unrelenting emotional pain and desperation led her to jump from this most iconic of suicide spots.
That December, an acquaintance showed me a calendar for the upcoming year, illustrating famous Seattle locales: The Aurora Bridge [was featured]. It was "a leap year." I had to tell him [what happened], and explain why this joke just didn't hit me as funny. I felt the same way about your article, though it was well-written and well-researched. When you know someone who has leaped to their death, it's most likely that you have spent some time imagining the prelude to the fall, the jump, the journey, the landing, and its aftermath. Reading your article was a revisitation for me of Karen's inexplicable death. If you hadn't thought of that aspect of your published writing, you might in the future.
Tina Hoggatt, via e-mail
TO CHARLES MUDEDE: What the hell did you sit down at a desk and write this lengthy article about suicide jumps from the Aurora Bridge for? Didn't you see your own mistake? You were whining like a bitch in the whole fucking article, talking about how you hate "jumpers" because they are sensationalizing themselves. Hello?! You just gave them a buttload of attention yourself, dummy.
You make inaccurate statements such as "We hate jumpers" -- which clumps the opinions of every person in Seattle into a whole (FOR YOUR SELF-SERVING RATIONALE). You use fancy phrases, neat little bullshit statistics, and disgusting imagery to catch our attention, but listen, you little spineless fuck: You are only one step away from a tabloid writer, A PERSON WHO WANTS ATTENTION DRAWN TO THEMSELVES. Your story comes across as a fucking college term paper. You should have titled your story "Charles Mudede's Morbid Fascination with Suicide."
Anonymous
DEAR EDITOR: Charles Mudede's story on the Aurora Bridge was terrible! He speculated the entire time! I want to know where and when Mudede got his Ph.D. in psychology. He seems to know the mind of EVERY SINGLE SUICIDAL PERSON out there! Why not make HIM a suicide-prevention specialist?! Has he EVER had a loved one commit suicide? I lost someone who was very close to me, and it wasn't a last effort for her to get attention.
Also, your comment about the whales who beach themselves in the effort to get out of the despair of the dark "endless and depthless sea"? You not only appear to know what people with suicidal tendencies think, but also what WHALES ARE THINKING WHEN THEY BEACH THEMSELVES. So, Mr. Hot Shot... tell me what I am thinking right now. I think you need an education.
Skye Lee, via e-mail
DEAR EDITOR: Dan Savage did a service to the community in exposing Governor Gary Locke's backpedaling on domestic partner benefits for gay and lesbian state employees ["Queer Move," April 13]. Time and again, Democrats -- including Locke -- have talked the talk to get our money and our votes, but they have not walked the walk. I hope Dan employs his considerable skills to dig into the malaise of fear that seems to paralyze our Democratic state officials every election year. We miss the courage, boldness, and strength of former governor Mike Lowry.
Janice Van Cleve, Seattle
TO THE EDITOR: With regard to the article titled "Queer Move," I want to say an emphatic "THANK YOU!" to the gay leaders who attended the meeting.
Curt Pavola, Olympia City Council Member, Olympia
EDITORS: I am appalled at the Governor's recent meeting with gay leaders in Seattle. Why wasn't the Washington Federation of State Employees (WFSE) invited, and in particular WFSE's Gay and Lesbian Advisory Committee (GALE)? As Bev Hermanson of WFSE mentioned in Dan Savage's article, this is OUR issue. GALE has been working on domestic partnership benefits for over six years. As gay state employees, why were we not included in any meeting the governor might have?
Gary Locke continues to miss the boat when it comes to our community and gay and lesbian state employees. While I appreciate the gay community's support in Seattle, this is a state-employee issue, and one that state employees should be involved in. Locke's lack of consideration to those working directly on this issue is disturbing. My checkbook is closed, and so is my willingness to work on this governor's upcoming election.
Randy White, former chair and current member of GALE/WFSE
EDITORS: Only a delusional fool would waste her time prophesying the end of lyrics ["Lyrics Are So Over," Erin Franzman, Excellent, April 6] using examples like Alanis Morissette to illustrate the point. The real reason decent lyrics don't appear on albums these days: (1) CDs are cheap and easy to burn, so more crap is out there. (2) Many of these shitty bands are getting press from dolts like Franzman, and record deals from labels as out of touch as Sub Pop. (3) Most purported musical innovators lack the technical proficiency and mental acuity to wed phrases with sounds.
The much-maligned art of songcraft is still the skill that separates the wheat from the chaff. Franzman has her misguided head so far up her ass she can't use her ears. Fuck the much-maligned Stranger meat issue, Franzman's ignorance chaps my hide EVERY issue. There's a ton of great music lurking in this city, and I am convinced Erin Franzman's neither qualified nor interested enough to seek it out.
"Gene Ween," via e-mail
EDITORS: In her piece "Lyrics Are So Over," Erin Franzman notes that "Surfin' USA" has "wimpy lyrics," but adds "but man, the tune said it all!" There's a very good reason for that: The Beach Boys ripped off that song -- lick for lick -- from Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen." It took a lawsuit to get royalties paid to Chuck Berry, and to get him credit as "co-writer" along with Brian Wilson.
"Juan Don," via e-mail
EDITORS: There were two important omissions in your column on committing Seppuku ["So You've Decided to Commit Seppuku..." Yukio Mishima, April 13]. First, any decent assistant will bind your legs in the kneeling position. Secondly, he will cut the neck from behind, but not all the way through. Taking these two steps will ensure that the body does not fall over, and the head remains slightly attached. This allows the person committing Seppuku to retain his dignity, even in death.
Brad Howard, via e-mail
