DEAR EDITOR: In response to Tamara Menteer's letter "Attempted Murder Ain't Cool" [Letters to the Editor, Oct 19], I [want to] inform Menteer that I accepted responsibility for my actions when I walked into a police station 18 years ago. But just because I accept responsibility doesn't mean I have to validate outrageous accusations against me. Get this straight: That pipe bomb was placed in MY car, and [it scared] the hell out of me. The gun involved wasn't mine, either. I had nothing to do with digging any hole; if that hole was meant to be a "grave," it was meant for me. I immediately turned myself over to the police, while the man I shot had to be found and interrogated before charges were pressed. I did 12 years in prison. Since then, I've tried to salvage what's left of my life. I contribute considerable time and energy to a variety of violence-prevention programs. That's why I donated the essays in Robert Gordon's book, The Funhouse Mirror ["Falling into Prison," Trisha Ready, Sept 28]: to shed some light on the pointless tragedy of violence. Anyone who reads my essays, who [knows] me, knows that Menteer's letter was inaccurate and ignorant. She doesn't know me at all.
T. J. Granack, Bellingham
EDITORS: The owners of Hattie's Hat are full of shit ["The Ballad of Ballard," Tamara Paris, Oct 12]. Co-owner Ron Wilkowski bemoans how "Ernie Steele's went"--meaning it was ruined by its new owner. Asshole! That is exactly what Wilkowski and his pretentious, greedy, holier-than-thou partners did to Hattie's. Within months after those Nazis took over, 99 percent of the older staff were pushed out and replaced by young, trendy people. Gee, I thought [only] evil corporations were guilty of age discrimination. Those pukes talk about "preserving" the old-time aesthetic; well they can't have that when they push all the regulars out! Those bastards ruined the best bar I have ever been to.
Frank S., Seattle
EDITORS: As a newcomer (from New York) to Seattle, I don't get why there are two "alternative" weekly newspapers that are exactly alike--The Stranger and the Seattle Weekly. Same format, same ads, identical back pages, ditto personal ads--I bet even the same writers write for both papers, since the opinions and choices are carbon copies. What a waste of paper, of trees... and it doesn't say much for the diversity of ideas and viewpoints in this city. One gets the impression that only self-absorbed, rather dim males (and their shallow, timid gal pals) are allowed to publish. What's with the twin act?
Annie, Seattle
EDITOR: So, I eagerly click onto your regular Chow section [Oct 19] to read all about the menu items at the Pacific Inn Pub. But all this Rachel Kessler does is riff on and on about the dumpster-diving dumb-ass father of her unborn kid. Who gives a pumpkin fuck? "Chow" means CHOW. Not TRASH. Not DEAR DIARY THIRD-GRADER HORSESHIT. Review food, people!
Carol Banks Weber, RV Life Magazine
EDITORS: Jason Pagano's review of Bamboo Garden Vegetarian ["Where to Eat," Oct 19] was right on the money, except for one thing: He neglected to mention that the restaurant reeks of piss so bad, it reminds me of eating at the house of a crazy cat lady. So while the food is delicious, I suggest takeout.
"The Continental," via e-mail
DAN SAVAGE: You've apparently got no clue about the art of persuasion. Do you honestly think I'm gonna cross over to your side because you insulted my intelligence and got snotty? [Savage Love, "Nader-Baiting," Oct 19.] Fuck you, you condescending, self-important prick! You've had your bully pulpit for so long, you apparently think people can't get enough of your prattling. Why don't you go expend your energy on some more "adult" voter tactics, like licking a lot more doorknobs? Lord knows the "sex column" bullshit was all played out at least five years ago.
Rob Yoder, Seattle
EDITORS: Oof. Just for this week, I have to revert to an earlier belief: Dan Savage IS Seattle's brilliant journalistic hope. SLICE: There he goes, through layers of self-deception without a shrug. Savage's reply to the sheltered idealism of the Vote for Nader movement--hey, I'm FOR Nader; I'm just not VOTING for him this round--was flawless. Genius.
Ivy Green, via e-mail
DEAR EDITOR: Sheesh. Charles Mudede is sooooo boring ["Meet the Narratemes," Stranger Fall Books Supplement, Oct 19]. The ideas that we can't "(a) die; or (b) write a novel in any traditional sense" are so old, they're not even really ideas anymore, just kinda silly little fossils that are amusing, hopelessly cliché. Fluffy. Poofy. A nostalgic book report. What's "postmodern"? Jeez, anyone who's anyone knows that postmodernity is the cultural baggage of our now. And that it doesn't matter. Why waste all this time with proclaiming pompous stuff when you could be doing something relevant, or fun, or interesting? I'd rather read Police Beat.
Pauls Toutonghi, Ithaca, New York
EDITORS: Lisa Schnellinger ["Freedom Rider," Oct 19] and Dan Savage ["Unfare," Oct 19] have put their fingers directly on a key problem, as anyone who has ridden the bus in this town knows. Savage is right to say that the dollar fare is not an issue to regular riders--safety, quality, and convenience is. The only thing that struck me as odd was the way Savage railed against "virtue riders," describing them as "different from you and me." I think that a nationally syndicated columnist, radio personality, and best-selling author probably makes enough money to buy a car; it is a stretch for him to consider himself to be one of the "no-choicers."
Tim Callaghan, via e-mail
EDITOR: Thanks Dan Savage, for the great article on transit choices, but let's call bullshit on your flip characterization of "virtue riders" on the buses. Riding buses is not just for the destitute and simpering moral elitists; many of us are just middle-class blokes from burgs like Kent, Bothell, or Northgate. We're just trying to save a dime and the hassle of a daily game of freeway chicken against careening SUVs.
Tara Peattie, North Seattle
DEAR TRANSITPHOBES: Oh ye of faint heart, aren't you Lisa Schnellinger? The reality is that the road is not open, and that little blue Toyota will cost you between $2,000 and $3,000 a year just to own and operate. What you gain in mobility, you'll lose in actual freedom and spending power. Oil changes, washings and cleanings, finding parking spaces, and other car-related tasks; gas, insurance, license and other fees; and the occasional repair job... all so you can take your fish sauce to a party. I'm going to make the case that you were never a real bus rider, but a dilettante rider.
John Reiher, Kenmore
EDITOR: First Dan Savage flirts with endorsing John Carlson for governor ["He's Not Locke," Oct 12], then both Dan and Lisa Schnellinger write Metro-bashing articles in the same issue. Did Tim Eyman just buy a year's worth of advertising in The Stranger? You think the Metro bus system is lame? In Seattle, you can catch a bus anywhere in the city until midnight, with a maximum half-hour wait between buses. People in Phoenix, Los Angeles, Houston, or Atlanta would kill for a bus system as good as ours. To bash Metro in favor of a monorail is stupid. I'm all for the monorail. It's cool technology. But the argument that the monorail will somehow [inspire] all those SUV-lovin' Seattleites to jump on the mass-transit bandwagon is absurd. Monorails have stops, just like buses. People still need to get from those stops to their destinations. They'll accomplish this the same way Metro bus riders do: on foot or by connecting with another bus.
Mark Horowitz, Seattle
EDITOR: In his glib, sweeping [article], Dan Savage divides the bus-riding public into the choiceless poor and the virtuous rich, as if free bus service could not appeal to anyone in the middle. Yet some of us do actually want to save money. Free service wouldn't attract everyone, but it would draw a lot of people who don't want to burn their money and send it out their tailpipes. I'm all for the monorail Dan, but for heaven's sake, buses aren't anywhere near as slow or unpleasant as you make them out to be. Express buses take no more than 15 minutes from Northgate to downtown.
Tom Davis, via e-mail
