I am somewhat in the LW's position right now. One of my closest friends has been on the dark side of the moon from me for the past couple of years, she says due to depression and family issues and other things, but those were things we used to share like close friends do. I got a Christmas note from her vowing to reconnect with me this year, but even though I've tried on my end as usual, so far no go. I leave messages that are just never returned. Or on the rare chance they are, it's when she has to be out the door to the airport in 15 minutes or she's on a cell phone going through my old home town and thought of me, and inevitably the signal goes out and that's the end of the conversation.

I don't know what I did. We had a couple of what seemed like minor personality clashes through the years, and there was a period of time when she helped me out financially without expecting repayment. I rack my brain for hints of her possible displeasure with me. The one thing that comes up, and only because I can't think of anything else it could be, is that I went through an emotional breakdown two years ago and have since let go of a lot of psychic weight. I'm emotionally much stronger and more mature and am on meds which have enabled me to say, for the first time since childhood, that my baseline emotion is happiness. There may have been a shift in our relational dynamic because of that, as she is 10 years older than me and perhaps is not comfortable dealing with me not being the one who needs the help all the time. But I'm grasping at straws. It's all I can come up.

I miss my friend. But I gradually have come to accept that our friendship as I knew and cherished it may be gone forever.

I called her on her birthday two days ago. We'd always been good at talking things out when we had a problem. I'd love the chance to do that again. I'm still open, and will always have a place in my heart for her, but I realize now that maybe it's a sign to make new connections in the place I live now.

Oh, and Cary? I read something a while back – in fact it could well have come from one of your very own columns: Whatever it is that the critics don't like about your work is the thing you must do even more of. That's what makes you the artist you are, like no other. Or something like that. I enjoyed your sarcasm today. Rage on!

I think that the recommendation to block pointlessly insulting response letters is a good one. The line could be drawn quite easily – anything ad hominem is out. (And if you pathetic, inarticulate mouthbreathers don't know what that means, I just gave you an example.)

Debate and heated disagreement, great. Knee-jerk spewing of juvenile insults, not useful.

Salon, it's your bandwidth. The letters are part of your publication, too. Why leave in the stupid ones?

P.S. Free speech doesn't mean you get to piss all over someone else's venue. Pay for your own bandwidth and start an I Hate Cary Tennis blog if it's that important to you.

Can anyone explain to me exactly what Kathy Sierra has done to attract such a negative reaction? Technorati is not yielding any answers.

Whoever picked the letters for Editor's Choice did a great job. (Sorry you had to wade through all the sewage.) Plenty of disparate opinion and people using their thinking caps, without all the slimy, brown filler. Thanks!

Anyone who posts more than three times in one letters stream is required to start their own blog.

>>I really hate the your/you're mistake.

"I really hate the your/you're mistake."

It's not a mistake. It's a joke.

Quoting from the article:

"Castaneda, who disappeared from the public view in 1973, began in the last decade of his life to organize a secretive group of devoted followers. His tools were his books and Tensegrity, a movement technique he claimed had been passed down by 25 generations of Toltec shamans. A corporation, Cleargreen, was set up to promote Tensegrity; it held workshops attended by thousands."

When your guru starts a corporation, it's time to go.

You came to San Diego and found out what it's like. Lots of people love it and fit right in. Apparently you're not one of them. You haven't made a mistake. You simply tried something and it's not for you. Hooray! That's life, and you're living it!

You don't have a family yet. You're young enough to try a few more things before you take on responsibility for other people's lives. Make the most of it. (Check out L.A. I think you'll like it.) But please don't go back where you came from. Maybe in 20 or 30 years, after you've gotten some horizon-widening experience behind you. And of course, visit. But please give the greater world a try. Any place you're from, no matter it's charms and opportunities, can stunt the growth of one who's always lived there.

Once again, the wisdom of my choice of Salon as my home page is affirmed. My you all shine on for decades.