Hello friends! This week’s newsletter is bursting with absurdity (and a bit of good music), thanks to a variety of things I’ve seen or friends have shared.
First up is this BONKERS doomsday compound on Whidbey Island - which can be yours for the tidy sum of $6,000,000! I might not have given the post a second glance, except it’s on Whidbey so of course I wanted to figure out exactly where it is. From the Seattle Times article:
There’s also plenty of what an anxious prepper may want more than anything: Secrecy. The property listing doesn’t include an address, and Hansen said he plans to “find a buyer for this place and then terminate its existence from the internet.” (This article, presumably, does not serve that mission.)
Nor does this newsletter. Less than two minutes on Google Maps and I was able to narrow it down. Some images from the video helped pinpoint the location, not far from the Greenbank Farm.
I highly recommend watching the 12-minute video in the article. You’ll not only learn about how many propane tanks are on the property (lots!), you’ll also discover the location of all of the hoarded toilet paper… and revel in the dramatic narration.
This is not quite as isolated as they make it out to be. The fairly nondescript main house and caretaker’s house are on the street with several other homes (one of them might be the red dot, close enough). The catch is the escape tunnel to the woods for dashing away from the rioting hoards. Because you just know that the uncouth residents of E Mitchell Drive are going to lose it at any time.
Do you suppose these people have drills?
🚨🚨🚨 sirens blare at 3:00 am 🚨🚨🚨
“EVERYBODY TO THE TUNNEL!!!”
The forest and gardens are impressive, and the recreational property on the waterfront is nice. They’re going to start losing the bluff to erosion, but THANK GOODNESS the toilet paper supply is safe.
You can view photos of the compound on Redfin, and chuckle to yourself that your helpful librarian friend who loves a map mystery couldn’t let this one go. You know exactly where this “top secret” compound is.
There’s another thing on my mind this week. There was a buzz on Twitter about an In-N-Out Burger opening in Colorado. People were apparently lining up for HOURS to get their first local taste of the iconic burgers.
In-N-Out in 14 HOURS! Burger chain opens its first two Colorado outlets leading to fights and epic lines as people joke it's quicker to drive to California (yes there is video of a scuffle)
In a pandemic? What is WRONG with people? Nothing is worth a 14-hour wait in the healthiest of times! I remember when Krispy Kreme Doughnuts opened up and people stood in long lines for those fresh from the oven sugar-glazed rings. People were driving almost 40 miles off the island to get them. The fad passed and a few years ago the shop closed and the building became a bank. There is probably some sort of metaphor there.
These things are just not that good, people. Certainly not good enough to sacrifice 14 hours of precious life surrounded by people who might be carrying a deadly virus. And let’s not talk about the wisdom of the giant corporation creating a situation that they had to know would cause things like this.
Instead, let’s talk about how awful their fries are. The Twitter posts brought back memories of my one and only dining experience at In-N-Out. A few years ago while traveling to the Internet Librarian conference in Monterey, our group stopped at the In-N-Out in Salinas. I think it was Salinas! I was a passenger in the car and not really paying attention to my exact location. I ordered a burger and fries, as one does.
The burger was okay, similar to Five Guys and a step or two up from Dick’s Drive-In, Seattle’s landmark burger chain. I didn’t form a strong opinion one way or the other. The fries on the other hand… YUCK! I may as well have been eating cardboard.
It turns out that hatred of their fries is a thing - I am not alone in being traumatized by them. The L.A. Times ranked all fast food fries from restaurants in California and the came in dead last.
And bringing up the rear is In-N-Out. Before you tell me there’s a way to “hack” these fries, or somehow make them better, either by loading them with American cheese and secret sauce, or by ordering them well-done, I will grant this: It certainly doesn’t make the fries any worse. Just as dumping the fries into a dirt pile on the shoulder of a highway access road and running over that pile with my car would also probably not make the fries any worse.
Now I’ve got a slight craving for some fast food burgers and fries, but not enough to send me out for some. Fortunately Michael makes a mean chip to go with the mean burgers or mean fish in his culinary repertoire.
Okay. I think I’ve worked through my outrage of the insult of those fries. *shudder*
It’s Thanksgiving this week in the U.S. No tradition is worth the risk of gathering with people from outside your household right now - no matter how careful they think they’ve been. Please stay home, stay safe, and maybe next year we’ll be able to have get-togethers again.
(currently taking bets on whether my neighbors will have folks over, or will leave the house for several hours to go elsewhere…)
Tidbits
Making: having a blast with some new watercolors from different sources. First is the National ParkColor Project, which is a monthly subscription that sends two small batch watercolors inspired by a National Park each month I can’t wait to build this palette of colors. I got another small set of AMAZING watercolors from Kuretake in the special Sketchbox holiday selection. I used both to make circles, then did some drawing on them based on the latest slow drawing exercise from Amy Maricle at Mindful Art Studio.
Reading: I am making progress! I finished The Lacuna and Nature Journaling, which means I can move on to new things! In the works right now: Adventures in Letterpress, American Housewife (short stories), The Only Good Indians, and Find Your Artistic Voice: The Essential Guide to Working Your Creative Magic. This iPad thing is brilliant, I tell you!
Art Zone
Today I’m sharing one of my Instagram follows, Janine Holter of Beanie’s Brush. Lately she’s been making humorous collages with vintage photos and hand-drawn accents. They always give me a good laugh.
I love her sense of humor!
Who doesn’t love snails?!! Enjoy.
Videos of the Week
Two very different musical performances today, both posted recently on the Dust to Digital Instagram page.
@losluzerosderioverde is a Houston-based family band featuring siblings Yaxeni and Ricardo Rivera. Here they are performing “40 Cartas” in 2017. (click to watch)
Ah - here’s another, with younger sister joining in.
Bass Tong performing recently in Nantes, France. He refers to his style of music as “acoustic techno,” which he produces using an instrument he named the Pipe Drum. It is made from PVC tubes and is played with flip-flops. His kit also includes a cajón, a hi-hat, and a small snare drum. @bass.tong (click to watch)
Current Temperature: 44.2F (6.8 C)
Current Humidity: 89%
Wind (max gust): 3.4 mph
Precipitation: 0.0 in
Air Quality Index: 76 (yellow)
Secret Squirrel is more like Fearless Leader.
The music videos this week rock! I am well and truly enamored of Los Luceros de Rioverde. I love their traditional norteño sound. Si Me Deportan should be on everyone's social justice playlist.
Nice one Anne - i love seeing the internet through your eyes.