TO THE EDITOR
MEANINGLESS LABEL
In his letter (“Being Gay is a Choice,”
6/10), Steve Twede tells a story of a friend
who “elected to leave” the gay lifestyle (after
“many years”). First, would he please define
the buzz phrase “gay lifestyle”?
There may be a perception that this must
include things like unsafe sex with multiple
partners, but in reality “gay lifestyle” is
about as meaningless as “straight lifestyle.”
As for the issue of choice, people like Mr.
Twede seem to think homosexuality is sim-
ply a behavior, but as with heterosexuality
there’s a variable drive behind it. People can
be somewhat flexible in their sexuality, but
most have a preference that is curiously mag-
netic, and hardly a choice.
The fact that a percentage of gays (or per-
haps bisexuals if they can truly switch) at
least try to be “straight” doesn’t change this.
Some gay people who are hammered with
negativity might try to bury those feelings,
but with how much success and at what cost
to their mental health if they fail? And how
many heteros have been successful at
repressing their sexuality? But then, gays are
nothing like pure and natural straight folk
like Mr. Twede, right?
Ryan L Newburg
Eugene
ART FOR THE AGES
I say thank you to Annie Kayner (“Real
Artists Don’t Play Games,” 6/10) for her
straight up letter on an ugly situation in
Eugene. It seems that many fail to realize
how much goes into real Art. Art and craft-
work, as Tom Blodgett says, are divided by
an abyss. Art is Art and nothing else.
I had the privilege to study under Tom
Blodgett. His work is proof of a lifetime of
study and labor. But, for reasons including
those highlighted by Annie Kayner, he works
virtually unnoticed under the weight of those
who forgot just how important Rembrandt
and Van Gogh are. It seems that Eugene
operates on a contradiction; People are so
ready to accept everything as art, but are
likewise unwilling to pay art prices for it. As
Annie alluded to, you can’t find art at Wall-
Mart. It takes mature human beings to see the
value of a real artist.
I write this as an invitation to all those
who understand the importance of the finan-
cial support needed for an artist to continue
his work. Blodgett has lived and worked in
Eugene for decades, yet he is kept a secret. To
those who look to be thrilled, come to his stu-
dio and see for yourself. His work sets a stan-
dard, and standards are essential for growth.
There is art for the ages right here and now.
Michael James
Elmira
REAL ARTISTS
Hey Annie, get your gun and shoot your-
self in the foot, because you have already put
EDITORIAL Editor Ted Taylor
Executive/Arts Editor Lois Wadsworth News Editor Aria Seligmann
Contributing Editor Anita Johnson
Staff Writers Alan Pittman, Bobbie Willis
Calendar Editor Ben Fogelson Contributing Writers Brett Campbell,
Rachel Foster, Jerry Harris, Kate Rogers Gessert, James Johnston, Sharleen
Nelson, Mary O’Brien, Sylvie Pederson, Vanessa Salvia, Sally Sheklow, Lance
Sparks, Martha Ulman West Interns Andrea Damewood, Emma Juhlin, Aleta
Raphael-Brock, Kate Storm
y
ART DEPARTMENT
Art Director/Production Manager Kevin Dougherty
Graphic Artist/Webmaster James Bateman
Graphic Artists Todd Cooper
Contributing Photographers Kurt Jensen, Paul Neevel
ADVERTISING
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Display Marketing Consultant Jennifer D’Angelo, Rob Weiss
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it in your mouth (6/10). Yes, real artists do
attend openings and First Friday Art Walk.
Real artists don’t consider all galleries as
“blood sucking.” Real artists recognize the
crafts and the lesser arts. Real artists can
sometimes pick up some cheap material at
the Wal-Mart that you hate so much. It’s
great that you have been in seclusion for 40
years, because it is quite evident that you are
not a real artist.
Jerry Harris
Eugene
EMPTY BLOCKS
What makes a great neighborhood? It’s
not the price of the housing or the home
owner/renter ratio. It’s a very special place
where neighbors know each other, celebrate
together, share resources (from vegetables to
trucks), cherish the children, and provide
“eyes on the street” at all hours of the day
and night. Such is the livable neighborhood
where the Eugene Faith Center is situated .
Recently Faith Center neighbors were
informed of the Center’s expansion plans;
only two days after that the trees started com-
ing down. Next up is the removal of one and
a half blocks of affordable rental housing, to
be replaced by a large parking lot. This space
will be used on Sunday mornings and
Wednesday evenings. The rest of the week it
will be, well, one and a half blocks of empty
parking lot. If money allows, a youth center
will be built where five of the homes once
stood, but according to Pastor Thomas, that
could take as long as two years.
When asked by concerned neighbors if
shuttles from the fairgrounds or carpooling
would alleviate congregation parking needs,
we were told that the congregation doesn’t
like shuttles. I pray The Faith Center will
reconsider their immediate plans to remove
the homes before they complete the permit
process and have raised the funds they need.
I also pray they work with the neighborhood
for an equitable design solution that balances
private property rights with the common
neighborhood good.
Paula DeBell
Eugene
PERILOUS STRETCH
Gag me with a spoon! Week after week
adoring fans flock into the Bijou, wildly
applauding the faux-spiritual film What the
#$*! Do we Know? For me, a workaday
physicist far removed from the genius cate-
gory, the whole concept is atrocious, riddled
with misconceptions and reflecting a popular
trend to extend quantum physics from the
submicroscopic to the macroscopic world,
tapping the perilous machinery of analogy
and metaphor.
The highly credentialed, babbling scien-
tists and spiritualists are clearly there to
hawk their latest books. The Heisenberg
uncertainty inherent in the behavior of ultra-
BUSINESS Director of Sales and Marketing Bill Shreve
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Eugene Weekly • 1251 Lincoln Street • Eugene, OR 97401 • 541.484.0519 • fax 541-484-4044
JUNE 24, 2004 5