Duke City Fix

Life, food, events, and community in Albuquerque, NM

Laura Female
Albuquerque

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dry cleaning cushions?
4 Replies

Started this discussion. Last reply by Kitson Harvey Aug 19.

 

Laura's Page

Profile Information

Where I Live:
used to live in the North Valley; I'm out of state now (sniff)
About Me:
I'm a writer who focuses mostly on the environment. I'm also a mom and someone who really likes to goof around outside.
Favorite Thing(s) About Albuquerque:
coyotes, green chile, The Daily Grind, the big muddy river, people who also love Abq
Relationship Status:
Single
My Website:
http://environmentalnewsfornewmexicans.blogspot.com/
What I'm Reading:
Nature and Madness by Paul Shephard
What I'm Listening To:
Josh Ritter, Wilco, JJ Cale, The Damnations, Emily Wells, Duffy.

Ed Abbey knew what he was talking about


"One final paragraph of advice: Do not burn yourself out. Be as I am-a reluctant enthusiast... a part time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it is still there. So get out there and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the grizz, climb the mountains. Run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to your body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much: I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those deskbound people with their hearts in a safe deposit box and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: you will outlive the bastards."

Laura's Blog

Laura

I'm coming home, baby!

So, I haven't been gone for long, but holy crap, I am so excited to be coming back to Albuquerque for ten days. (Yes, yes, I moved. Personal reasons, blah blah blah. I've spent the last 12 years trying to live in Abq and periodically getting booted out of the city for one reason or another.) But whatever, hell yeah, I can't wait to see the Rio Grande, eat some kick ass food, visit with friends, (go to my best girlfriend's engagement party!) and walk around downtown, Nob Hill, the University are… Continue

Posted on November 16, 2008 at 11:00pm — 3 Comments

Laura

confession time: I used to be a cocktail waitress at Brian O'Brien's

So, what's this about Brian O'Brien's burning down? I saw the raw footage on the Abq Journal's website, but can't find a dang news story about it. I guess it's confession time: I used to work at that bar. Yes, I worked at the bar with the freaking dumbest name ever. In 2002, I returned to Abq from Europe--where my impending marriage had just crumbled--and I needed to line up some work so I could save up enough money to move to Colorado and start an internship with High Country News. (I had left… Continue

Posted on September 30, 2008 at 4:03pm — 14 Comments

Laura

women and wilderness!

This makes me so unbelievably happy: The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance has launched a "Women Protecting Wilderness" campaign (and no, it's not just for Utah!) Check out the website here and learn how to submit your photo and wilderness testimonial for the group's wilderness quilt here. By the way, I heard about this through the… Continue

Posted on September 13, 2008 at 10:01am —

Laura

Oh, Albuquerque. It's not you. It's me. Really, it's me. (update: Actually, it's not me. It's some of our elected leaders)

So, I was house sitting for some friends in western Colorado. (That's the kind of thing you get to do when you're a freelance writer, and you can work from pretty much anywhere.) I was up there from July 7 through the end of last week. Whenever I'd check the news, weather, etc. I'd read all about flash flooding and rain and all sorts of wonderful things like that. When I returned, I saw that my tomato plans were outrageously humongous--one has even attached itself to the lower branches of a tre… Continue

Posted on July 29, 2008 at 3:00pm — 9 Comments

Laura

I just re-read this poem--which I love--and I'm posting it here so I'll know where to find it

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die. And you will have a window in your head. Not even your future will be a mystery any more. Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer. When they want you to buy something they will call you. When they want you to di… Continue

Posted on June 17, 2008 at 3:39pm — 2 Comments

Laura

blogging withdrawal or something like that, plus two upcoming events

So...for about a year I blogged about environmental issues in New Mexico. There are a number of reasons why I started doing that, and a number of others why I stopped. But really, none of those reasons are very important right now, when I'm trying to procrastinate work on a Sunday afternoon and when I have an Inbox full of emails from people who are writing to me about environmental issues in their communities or about events going on within their organizations. (And I'm not even going to get… Continue

Posted on June 8, 2008 at 4:00pm — 1 Comment

Laura

flowers, doves and things like that

I'm psyched about the plant growth these days -- the vegetable garden is in and everything is currently thriving. The flower seedlings (such as cosmos and nasturtium) are coming up nicely and there are even flowers already blooming around the yard, brightening things up after what s… Continue

Posted on May 30, 2008 at 2:30pm — 3 Comments

Laura

Are you doing something about climate change?

Will's post yesterday made me think that I should share this with DCFers, just in case anyone out there has some good ideas: Update: I just heard the deadline was extended to June 1. -------- Greetings and best wishes! I'm writing to let you know about a new anthology project I've recently started. Facing the Change: Grassroots Encounters with Global Warming will be a completely new kind of book ab… Continue

Posted on April 28, 2008 at 1:30pm — 1 Comment

Laura

Ode to the Trib in AJR

For those still mourning the Albuquerque Tribune, check out this story in the latest issue of American Journalism Review. It's titled, When Heart Isn't Enough. The writer, journalist Tony Davis, worked at the Trib from 1987-1996. (And in the interest of full disclosure, Tony is a friend of mine. He emailed me the story this morning, and I thought I'd share it with DCFers.)

Posted on April 27, 2008 at 11:30am —

Laura

Jack Loeffler coming to Abq on Tuesday

Just the other day, I saw an ad for R.Crumb-illustrated Monkey Wrench Gang tee shirts, (and also the R.Crumb-illustrated version of the Ed Abbey book), and then I got an email about this upcoming event. It can only be a sign. The birth of a movement: Jack Loeffler at Albuquerque Little Theatre April 18, 2008 Jack Loeffler will present “Adventures with Ed” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 29, at the Albuquerque Little Theatre. The program is… Continue

Posted on April 27, 2008 at 11:22am — 1 Comment

Comment Wall (22 comments)

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At 12:30pm on November 12, 2008, Self Serve said…
Thanks for your support! You rock :)
Please mail your December issue to our shop if you can... xo -Molly
At 9:51pm on August 28, 2008, JMG said…
I love how your page looks, Laura. How can I customize the top banner on my page like you did with leaves?
At 3:25pm on July 30, 2008, Barelas Babe said…
Hi Laura - I just sent you a friend request. I have a question for you that i didn't want to post on comments.
At 2:18pm on June 28, 2008, Uncle Jess said…
Hi Laura, thanks for the nice words about my soapbox rant on the labs. I used to work for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Still not sure whether I think there's a place for nuclear power, but if we are going to do it, we really need to do everything humanly possible to ensure safety. The labs and the military were so arrogant that they did some really reckless stuff. The whole trinity project was a shot in the dark and they really had no idea what they were doing. The whole idea of "fallout" didn't occur to anyone until a few years later the cows around Hanford were giving radioactive milk... I wish they would take the time to think about people and not just the science... Oh well, end of rant...

Hope you have a great day. Jess
At 10:09pm on June 18, 2008, Phil_0 said…
Will do...I'm actually meeting with her tomorrow morning. And I'll let you know if I feel any pontification coming on.
At 10:56am on June 9, 2008, Phil_0 said…
Heh, I work for SRI now...they've had an office here for a couple years now.
At 3:35pm on June 2, 2008, Juan said…
right on Laura, thanks for reading my blog. The Dream Reborn was a beautiful experience and tons of folks left inspired from that conference. The youth group I work with is currently working on a green jobs initiative and hope to have something going soon: http://www.newmexicoindependent.com/view/green-jobs-coming-to
At 9:03am on June 2, 2008, Phil_0 said…
In Tucson, huh? Who did you work for? I was out there for school from 1999-2005.
At 7:27pm on April 27, 2008, Will said…
Wow that was a great article. I know what you mean it's one thing to write a letter and then go back to your regular day not really too worried about what's happening to some river not in your back yard. I think if more people loved the outdoors in a strip down get with your lover kind of feeling it'd be a lot harder to just sit by as people build roads in houses through our mountains and dump lord knows what into our rivers. People might also think twice before filling their front lawn with grass that needs huge amounts of precious water to live and grow. I think if we felt that way we'd sit at home in despair wondering what we could possibly do to to make the situation better. We'd wake up in the middle of the night thinking we heard the call of our anguished lover and want to go out to see her. But the problem is is that our society is build in such a way that we don't have time any more. People work 40+ hours a week to scrape buy. Their energy is sapped from all the worry, bills, lack of sleep, tv, fast food, whatever and it makes it hard to think about something you hardly see or feel the effects of on a daily basis. It's sad but until we rearrange our priorities to something more in line with what's real. Anyways, it's a crappy situation but we gotta just do the best we can and hope other people catch on and who knows, maybe some day in the future we'll all strip down and enjoy the clear, beautiful, healthy water that was meant to flow down the Rio Grande. Thanks for the read!
At 2:43pm on April 27, 2008, Will said…
Thanks for the comment. I just recently saw Network and I had to really resist going to my window and yelling. I heard a really amazing thing on NPR the other month. They were just playing these excerpts of people talking over some sort of ambient music and one of them was this guy screaming "MY LIFE HAS MEANING! I WILL NOT GO TO WAR TO DIE FOR YOU! I LOVE LIFE! I WILL NOT DIE FOR YOUR RICHES!" And the guy just sounded so desperate it was amazing. Heart-breaking in a way. Anyways, I'm just about to read the two articles you left but I wanted to leave you one in return Living in a post-oil society. Really interesting article. Made me think about what it would be like to live in a world where everyone biked or used public transportation, rode trains, and sailed instead of driving and flying. Things to think about.
 
 

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