Letters to the Editor

GETTING THE BOOT

EDITOR: Calling the foreclosure crisis a boon for renters is just
about as far off the mark as you can get. The tenants living rent-free
following foreclosure that Dominic Holden describes in “Home Free” [Oct
2] are the rarest of exceptions. Most renters in foreclosed homes are
kicked out with little or no notice, and while legislative fixes are in
the works, there are currently no protections. Some tenants, including
those who have paid rent on time every month for years, don’t even find
out about the foreclosure until the bank puts a notice on their door or
a sign on their lawn. Tenants need protections in the form of leases
that are honored, adequate notice, the return of deposits and prepaid
rent, and relocation assistance. And even then, foreclosure will still
basically be a hard boot out the door.

Emily Paddison

IT’S CUTE, REALLY

DEAR EDITOR: I am delighted every week to lay my hands on the newest
issue of The Stranger. Every article is well written and
interesting (even when they drone on and on about the newest and
hottest cookie-cutter electronica snoozefest), but on every
read-through there is a point where I set down the paper and sigh.

Bar Exam: STOP BOLDING RANDOM SENTENCES. Bethany Jean Clement
is grossly abusing her ctrl-B privileges. An example—”…people
bedded down in run-down campers under part of the West Seattle Bridge,
a community in the shadows with grit sifting down on it” [Sept
25]—bolded text implies emphasis. Ms. Clement might be proud of
her flowery prose (it’s cute, really), but the next time I’m attending
a poetry jam, I’ll listen carefully to see if any of the professionals
loudly shout the bits they’re particularly proud of (and laugh when
they do). Until Clement’s habit becomes a national trend, I’ll keep
making fun of this free paper.

Kavan Phalon

IN THE HOSPITAL

Editor: I liked your article about placing more inspirational art
into hospitals [“The Traumatic Arts,” Jen Graves, Oct 2]. An
environment that is positive makes you feel good—isn’t that what
a heath-care professional’s primary goal is? I was injured in a car
accident in 2003 and in a hospital for a month. As generic and cold as
you can imagine a hospital being—mine was certainly that. My
surroundings were completely covered in those nauseating tones of
lima-bean green and watered-down yellow. The few paintings I did see
were generic landscape prints that filled a space on the wall. Nothing
close to liberating. The rehabilitation wing of that hospital was
pathetic. I have never seen so many exhausted, resigned faces in one
room before. It was Easter around that time, and I wanted more than
anything to have something around that could take me out of that place.
The staff eventually hung up a pastel-colored “Happy Easter!” sign. It
seemed mocking considering what was going on there.

A hospital is not a cheery place, and a nice picture on the wall
isn’t going to make your pain any more bearable. But, in one of those
instances that you find yourself happy to be alive, it would be nice to
have a symbol around that reminds you how your world of plastic tubes
and cafeteria food is only temporary.

Todd Foster

HUNGER STRIKE

EDITOR: Regarding Joan Hiller’s recent article on Mexican
restaurants [“The Right Combination (Platter),” Oct 2], any person who
writes approvingly of Velveeta should not even be allowed to eat, much
less publish a restaurant review.

Joel Schwartz

BURN

Dear Brendan Kiley: Regarding your All Tharp preview
[“American Dancer,” Sept 25] and review [“Pop Art,” Oct 2]: Kinda burns
when you refer to Twyla Tharp as the “most famous living choreographer”
one week and then have to admit that Opus 111, her premiere for
PNB was “insubstantial” and “barely leaving an
impression.” Now
maybe you will reconsider your suggestion that Allison Van Dyck’s
The Snow Project (mentioned in the All Tharp preview) is
derivative of Ms. Tharp’s work and give her her own review.

Erin Mitchell

A CLOSE EYE

EDITOR: Thank you for wrapping this week’s issue [Oct 2] in a voter
registration form! This is fucking brilliant. I know the form is “legal
and compliant” (it says so, right there on the wrapper!), but I still
fear that the friends of McSame will try to contest these forms. Please
stay on top of the issue and make sure that the secretary of state and
his county deputies don’t try to destroy these things. The grass-roots
Democrats have already had troubles getting the King County Elections
office to accept large batches of completed forms this year.

I hope you’ll keep a close eye on things this month—and I hope
you’ll republish the form in future election years.

Phil Scroggs

A GIRL NOT CUT
IN TWO

EDITOR: As someone who respects you for being “sexually
enlightened,” I am disappointed in your blanket stereotype that
May-December relationships are “pervy” [“The Abasement Tapes,” Sean
Nelson, Oct 2]. I am 27 and my partner of three years is 51. He is not
rich and manipulative, and I am not in need of a father figure. We met
while working together (as coworkers, not a mentor-mentee
relationship). I’ve since left that job and nearly completed law school
(which I pay for myself, in case you were wondering). We have lived
together for two years and exist in a healthy, egalitarian
relationship. I consider myself a very progressive, intellectual
person. I am always amazed at how the progressive community is
accepting of gay relationships, biracial relationships, bisexual
relationships, etc. while still thinking it is acceptable to judge and
snicker at May-December relationships. I expected more thoughtfulness

from you.

Disappointed