Letters to the Editor

The pink belly of terror:I remember Amy Jo Stewart (aka Stitches Stew) from junior high ["B.A.D. Girls," June 1]. She used to trip me and then sit on my chest and give me a pink belly until I would shout out, "Amy Jo rocks!" Then she would take my lunch money. She terrorized this shy, skinny teen for over a year.

She was hell on wheels even back then. I'm glad to hear she now has a suitable outlet for her aggression, [one that] provides entertainment instead of fear.

Aaron Rothenburger
Tempe, Ariz.

Do we look like a dating service? Well, come to think of it ...:Nathaniel Eaton wrote a great piece ["Image Consciousness," June 8] on the photographer Michael Garlington. The art is hauntingly beautiful, the man a modern-day Neal Cassady. I look forward to seeing his stuff in person.

A good-looking bad boy WITH talent ... single? Hmmm, I would be his groupie any old day, with or without the "chick magnet" van and the cream sauces.

Kristina [last name withheld]
Richmond District

If people are going to start sending in reasonable letters respectfully disagreeing with us, we're going to have an awfully hard time thinking up snappy bold-face lead-ins:I think you should reconsider your new comic Mild Abandon. The art lacks a persuasive aesthetic. The content is stale. The overall visual/ intellectual impact of the comic is flat and lifeless.

Please bring back Red Meat. The humor in Red Meat might sometimes be offensive and/or repulsive, but at least it's funny, at least the artist has some sense of design and a visually engaging aesthetic.

Brad Wright
Mission

Musicians on the move:I am a student at the S.F. Conservatory of Music mentioned in the article ["The World on a String," April 20]. Thank you for featuring our school (and my good friend David!) and portraying an accurate depiction of the experience of being a music student in a major conservatory. However, I strongly disagree with the assumption that we as music students have an "unlikely goal" and that the "statistical likelihood of playing violin in a full-time, professional orchestra is about one-third that of an NCAA Division I linebacker playing football for a full-time, professional team."

Yes, it is a highly competitive field. But there are many students here, David certainly, who will have fine musical careers if that is what they desire. It is a struggle to win a job, but if one tries hard enough and refuses to give up hope, it can be done. I just recently won a position in the Tokyo Symphony, which is a full-time major orchestra in Japan. I am only one of many of my friends in conservatories all across the nation who are winning good jobs while still in school. Even if one does not get a major full-time job, there are still many ways to have a rich and fulfilling career teaching or playing studio gigs or in part-time orchestras. Nowadays many of these ensembles are first rate!

Adelle-Akiko Kearns
Outer Sunset