You can go light, and you can go heavy, and a combination of both makes for a well-rounded life, just like the one being lived on this week's Mercury Letters page.

—B looks at a story about the city considering tiny houses as a partial solution to homelessness and sees a nascent conversation about climate change. Yoshi, meanwhile, notes that "one should be skeptical of any housing plan for the homeless introduced by a mayor who has never once, that I've seen, been remotely involved in actually getting to know the homeless on these streets."

—We wrote about diversity in Portland's theater scene, but Stephen points out that, "Nowhere does the piece address gender or LGBT status. There is scant mention of socioeconomic diversity. And sadly, once more, artists and audiences with disabilities—such as the ones served by PHAME, Disability Art and Culture Project, Wobbly Dance, and many more organizations—are absolutely left out of the conversation."

—Ann Romano: "a buffoon" when it comes to politics. Ian Karmel: A hit with women born in 1928.

—And finally, who would have guessed that a soiled mattress down by the river would ever be so well loved?

Letters: Say your piece, man.