Letterboxing in the Northwest and Giving up Stardom to Build Violins

Megan Sukys
07/17/2008

When Amanda Arkebauer was a kid, she devoured Nancy Drew novels. Now, she collects clues from the Internet to uncover hidden boxes all over the Northwest. It's a pastime called letterboxing. We also ask a former vocalist from the band Velvet Underground why building violins in Ballard is more satisfying than being a rock star.

At 2:05 p.m. – Letterboxing

There are plenty of ways to solve fictional mysteries through books and films. When Seattleite Amanda Arkebauer was a kid, she got her fix through Nancy Drew novels. But as she got older, she was aching for some real mysteries to solve. So today she collects clues from the Internet and other places to uncover hidden boxes all over the Northwest. Inside those small, homemade boxes she finds all kinds of things from local history and lore to stories about the Seattle music scene. The pasttime is called letterboxing. Amanda's been a letterboxer since 2001, when she followed her first set of clues up Rattlesnake Ledge.

At 2:20 p.m. – Prime

After three decades of answering people's questions about their emotional, sexual, and romantic lives; after writing several books on sex and relationships; after 35 years as a sociology professor at the University of Washington, Pepper Schwartz has formed firm opinions about sex and relationships. However, when her own situation changes, when she becomes a single woman after 23 years of marriage, she has to reevaluate and discover how sex and dating can work for her at this unique time in her life. In an archive interview from 7/3/08, Dr. Schwartz joins Megan Sukys.

At 2:40 p.m. – Gary Faigin Visual Art Review

Art can be both a window and a mirror. The experience of visiting several current Seattle shows depicting the outdoors has our critic Gary Faigin thinking about what such art can tell us about our own attitudes towards the subject matter, beyond those of the artist.

At 2:50 p.m. – Doug Yule, From Rock Icon to Violin Craftsman

Legendary rock producer Brian Eno once said that only a thousand people bought The Velvet Underground's first record. But every one of them, he added, started their own band. That sense of the band's fervent influence has carried on for over four decades. And for a few years, one of The Velvet Underground's key members was Doug Yule. Doug now lives in Seattle, and he doesn't talk much about his Velvet Underground years. Today, what he's really passionate about is folk music. He rediscovered this love just a few years ago when he started building and repairing violins. Doug Yule speaks with Jeremy Richards.