Laura's Page

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.)

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