Letters

Now we pass the microphone to you, to read from your letters and emails.

Last week Emily Friedman did a story about artist Nicole Bourgea, who has created life-size oil paintings of random strangers who pass in the street. She's about to put those portraits back out on the street with signs saying, "If this is you, this painting is yours to take." Our listener, Kathleen, loved this idea, and writes that she "will probably be looking around town for any and all paintings of myself — just in case."

A few weeks ago Jonathan Wilson took us inside the admissions offices at two local private schools. That story prompted this response from Evette in Clinton, Md. She writes: "I heard Metro Connection's report on private school admissions policies. I listened intently, having gone through the process twice in the last two years. I have to say the representatives from Maret and the Potomac School were totally disingenuous! As a parent, I did not receive any offers for help or possible placements in other schools that may have been a good fit for our son. We only received a two to three sentence rejection letter... He's a freshman at Gonzaga — everyone else's loss."

And finally, Sabri Ben-Achour's recent story on tourist farmers — also known as woofers — received some enthusiastic responses from people who've taken part in this sort of apprenticeship on the land. Susan writes, "When my husband and I took a year off to backpack around the world, we used WWOOFing as a way to get to know locals and culture and to help us defray costs. We WWOOFed in Australia and New Zealand... We worked on a Lavender Farm and a Miniature Horse and Cattle Farm. It was a fantastic time. I would recommend it to everyone!

If you'd like to share feedback, or suggest story ideas for Metro Connection, please send an email to metro@wamu.org.

[Music: "A Message to You Rudy (Karaoke-Version) As Made Famous By: The Specials" by Charly Karaoke Group from Karaoke World: Here We Go / "Falling in Love With Love" by Grant Green from Reaching Out]