New Mexico

I'm going to be traveling this summer and have a couple extra days planned around when I'll be passing through New Mexico. I'd like to spend a day or two in the state; where should I stay (city, not lodging) and what should I do while there? I've heard it's beautiful and I've always wanted to try the food.

Albuquerque or Santa Fe, depending on what's nearer your travel route.
Eat green chili stew, burgers with green chilis, chili rellenos, tamales, enchiladas etc.
Most of the "cool" touristy things are sort of out of the way, I think--I'm talkin' Roswell, Alamogordo, White Sanda...

I was born in NM but have only been back sporadically since I was very small. The food is the main draw.

Coming from Austin, would you recommend (in terms of scenery):

Taking I-10 West through El Paso and then Taking I-25 up through Las Cruces, Albuquerque, etc.

or

Taking I-35 to Forth Worth and then taking I-40 West to Santa Fe?

From Santa Fe, I'll be taking I-40 west to Sedona.

Take a (film) camera and lots of velvia.

Sedona is awesomely beautiful. Just avoid "downtown" as much as possible.

Las Cruces is pretty nice. There's a good used bookstore there.

Taking I-35 to Forth Worth and then taking I-40 West to Santa Fe?

^this

haha no i meant the other way. gotta stop at white sands if you do go up I25

Bobcat Bite outside of santa fe. Awesome Green Chile Cheeseburger. Prices went up recently but you can still get one w/homefries for about $8. Lots of lolbobcat pics on walls. Will never stop repping for this place.

want green chile cheeseburgers asap. my cultural heritage.

my cousin R is thinking abt moving to Sante Fe to go to school, if she is accepted.
It would give me a great excuse to go visit. Also my grandparents live out in Las Cruces half the year, and I'm often tempted to go stay in their condo when they aren't around.

Taking I-10 West through El Paso and then Taking I-25 up through Las Cruces, Albuquerque, etc.

I've made this drive myself and it's dope as hell imo

Eat green chili stew, burgers with green chilis, chili rellenos, tamales, enchiladas etc.

no posole, no sopaipillas, no cred

oh gimme a break, i stopped living in NM before i turned 2.

Straight up Sopapillas = no cred <br>
Sopapillas w/honey = cred

damn

line break tag is unnecessary, welcome to ILX!

Ahh the conveniences of the modern internet
a line break just like that!
my roots are showing

Btw ian if you are really joensing you can buy hatch brand canned green chile in most USA supermarkets. It has the Zia symbol on the can so you know its the real deal.

haha yeah, i know, they're great! not that any of the supermarkets in my hood are open right now, but maybe this week i'll do somethin.

I've become very anti-suggest-banning these days, but today with this thread, I'm glad the dude on the upper east side wasn't allowed to commentate.

Bed Sty will have to be the last word in NM matters then

i just got back from new mexico today! it is wonderful there, fuck minnesota :(

was supposed to go to the bobcat on the way back from the hot springs, but we forgot. still, i think i put green chile on pretty much everything. also: camping in the desert, a bar fight, skiing at taos w/fresh snow, couple day hikes, beerz, and homeys. i have literally spent the last hour or so scheming on how to live down there this summer

Guys, I recommend Socorro. Who'd have thought, right? I got stuck there for two days when my car died there this weekend and I still like it! Really chill town, wildlife preserve, a great brewery, all those classic '50s signs, no light pollution, etc etc.

I recommend Chope's outside Las Cruces for rellenos.

I am sad no one said, "Hey Abbott, resident of southern NM, plz to note a thing" here. </Eeyore>

omg sopapillas please -- still working up to trying to make these myself

two of the many things Ian is OTM about: Mercury Rev, New Mexican food

Do you want me to mail you some sopapilla mix, nabisco?

They aren't hard to make if you are not afraid of deep frying things.

guys i am not kidding i love new mexico so much right now

had a really interesting discussion with my friend (who used to teach elementary school in the traditional village of aqua fria, where the student pop is like 95% mexican) about new mexican history and racial tensions and so on. that is, there are those who will very pointedly inform you that they are not "mexican," they are "spanish," and their families have lived in new mexico since the 1600s. tho i guess this happens in mexico mexico, too, right? anyway, she is in law school and i gather that ancient spanish land grants make property law down there very complex and interesting

I would like to go back to NM one day. I've only been to Gallup and to some small towns on the Navajo res but I'd love to see more. p.s. Don't go to Gallup.

also, weirdly, there is a holiday celebrated (mostly by "native" new mexicans ie hispanics there for generations) that commemorates the like wholesale slaughter of native american pueblos and the reclamation of lands lost during a N.A. revolt years before. so, like columbus day but even more explicitly :-/

and then there's the water laws...
this guy i was hooping with the other day made me jealous by saying he's moving to NM in a few days. I asked what part of NM exactly, and he said T or C, and the jealousy melted away.
xp's

btw the statewide karaoke championships are in T or C

also, protip: do not EVER pick Golden Brown as a karaoke song

jesus what a mistake that was

Bahaha, lack of T or C jealousy OTM.

i wanna go backpacking in the pecos ASAP

I will trade you places for 6 mos, gbx.

that is, there are those who will very pointedly inform you that they are not "mexican," they are "spanish," and their families have lived in new mexico since the 1600s

Oh, geez, yeah -- plenty of this throughout the southwest. I had a high-school English teacher who'd get mega-pissy about reminding you that she was Iberian, which just created its own tensions, since the 40% of the class that was chicano/mestizo would pretty reasonably take mild offense to this.

Abbott, I didn't know there were mixes -- it's it a pretty simple combination? Just, like, flour and baking soda and something like lard?

aw, but i wanna be in No. New Mexico cuz that's where my pals are xps

I just have some sitting around that a friend gave me, is why, nabisco.

gbx I can dig.

statewide karaoke championships are in T or C

Wait, were you actually in said championships?!

oh wait, nm. I was confused.

omg btw the drive to taos is fucking mindblowingly beautiful

haha, no, but my friend maggie was trying to recruit ppl to go qualify for the state champs in some shitty town like 3 hours away (better chances), and mentioned it. we were at karaoke in Santa Fe, which was interrupted by my friend's roommate getting into a bar fight

wait, not actual roommate, but friend all the same.

I think 90% of drives in NM are mindblowingly beautiful, but I have child-nostalgia issues; lately I've been reduced to watching movies shot in Albuquerque just to look at the scenery. (I can't remember what happens in The Tao of Steve but it's full of that low wet dark-blue sky that comes leaking over the mountains, and I absolutely cannot get enough of that.)

oh dang

i was driving to taos as a storm brewed in the mountains and i came nearly to tears, esp looking out over the mesa. weirdly, CO and MT, though similarly spectacular, don't seem to evoke the same kind of reaction

and it's not just cuz i was ~emo~ at the time---there really is something about the landscape out there that's more.....human? like, MT/WY/CO are more BADASS and WILD and whatever, but the mountains in No. NM seem more accessible and shapely or something.

Parts of CO have the same thing happening, especially in the right seasons. But yeah, there's something rockier and chillier and different about a lot of it, and most of the actual towns you go through down in the south are out east into the prairie, farther from the mountains...

NB i would've used the word "painterly" but it seemed too obvious

Flying into Albuquerque was so so beautiful.

haha i've watched bits tao of steve when it's been on just for the scenery, too.
i was actually a bit disappointed by the high road to taos scenery, probably cause it was so hyped up and it came near the end of my trip and so I was a lil jaded. the drive from taos up through southern CO, skirting sand dunes nat'l park, was pretty spectacular tho.

fwiw the scenery going from the Fe up to Taos didn't get good until like ten miles north of Espanola

cue derisive Santa Fean Espanola jokes

ps honey is the best but chile'n'beans is pretty freakin' awesome too

how about a joke about getting a meth addiction just driving thru $SOMETOWN_THAT_ISN'T_SANTA_FE

perfect

Q: Why are there so many lowriders in espanola
A: Theres a speedbump at both ends of the town and THEY ARE TRAPPED!!
Etc. Etc.

Española is what it is. No apologies. It is the punch line of jokes and the bearer of some grim tales. It doesn't pretend to be anything that it isn't. Sprawled across the Rio Grande river, it isn't tidy or trendy. But it is very real and its location is perfect - surrounded by the Sangre de Cristo mountains on the east, the Jemez mountains on the west, Taos to the north 40 miles and Santa Fe 20 miles south! Española sits in the very heart of northern New Mexico!
So why do I think Española is special? Lots of reasons!

The travel guides call Española the "low rider capital of the world". Only here you can see Our Lady of Guadalupe painted beautifully on one side of a car and a rising Christ on the other. Circling continually between the two Sonic Burgers on Riverside Drive, low riders provide quite a show evenings and weekends.

also Red's is a dope bar imo

Bobcat bite history:

Many people ask how our name was derived. Years ago before I-25 was built, bobcats came down from the hills and were given treats at the back door at what was one of the few local dining spots that were friendly to bobcats at that time.

it's hard out there for a bobcat

Bobcat Bite fights for Bobcat rights!!

The Tao of Steve, Little Miss Sunshine, Wild Hogs, Employee of the Month, ?

no country for old men <------ mostly filmed in northern new mexico, apparently?

Terminator Salvation

Will Eisner's "the Spirit"

Some good old-fashioned government corruption here. If you're going to be a criminal, why not go all the way?

Former NM Secretary of State Indicted on 50 Counts

Rebecca Vigil-Giron, who oversaw New Mexico elections for ten years, was indicted last Wednesday on 50 counts including fraud or embezzlement, money laundering, tax fraud, tax evasion, illegal kickbacks, tampering with evidence, and conspiracy.

...

In "Prosecutors allege the theft of millions of dollars," Heath Haussamen writes that Vigil-Giron was indicted by a grand jury along with three others:

The others indicted are lobbyists Joseph Kupfer and Elizabeth Kupfer and Armando Gutierrez, who headed the company Vigil-Giron hired to help the state implement a federal voter education program.

Joseph Kupfer was a lobbyist for the secretary of state. Elizabeth Kupfer, his wife, was the administrative services director for the Attorney General’s Office at the time in question.

...

Vigil-Giron used federal funds to pay Gutierrez’s firm $6.3 million for advertising and voter education work leading up to the 2006 election. The federal audit found that the company can’t account for how more than $2 million of that money was spent.

Haussamen summarizes the indictment:
The 50 counts against each include:

• Four counts of fraud over $20,000 or, in the alternative, embezzlement over $20,000.
• 11 counts of money laundering over $100,000.
• Five counts of money laundering over $20,000.
• Eight counts of tax fraud.
• 13 counts of tax evasion.
• Four counts of making or permitting false public vouchers.
• One count of soliciting or receiving an illegal kickback.
• One count of offering or paying an illegal kickback.
• Two counts of tampering with evidence.
• One count of conspiracy.

Meanwhile Vigil-Giron continues working at the state Department of Workforce Solutions as a constituent liaison for the department’s labor and industrial division, because, according to Deputy Secretary Ken Ortiz, the indictment was for actions that are unrelated to her work with the department.

Dear abbs and other New Mexicans past and present:

I'm taking off for a rambly roadtrip with the southwest, probably mostly New Mexico, as my destination. Kindly tell me exactly what to do.

I have about $1500, a car, and all the time it takes to spend said money. (Meaning, if I'm proper cheap about it, I can make this a v. long trip)
Yr pal,

Nick

Seriously hoping to roadtrip out there this year, late summer/early fall.

Starting to get a little obsessed with this, googlemapping a route, searching for green chile cheeseburger recommendations.

I ate at Val Kilmer's favorite restaurant. It was good, I could see why the Iceman would like it.

http://www.menupix.com/newmexico/restaurants/3102741/La-Risa-Cafe-Ribera-NM

The Scientologists keep a super top-secret base 14 miles outside of town, near the village of Trujillo. They've hollowed out a mesa and filled it with L. Ron Hubbarb's original writings. Some say they even keep L. Ron's frozen head inside that mesa! Eeeeek!

^"town" being Las Vegas, NM

I basically want to find out what happens to my digestive system if I eat chili/chile every meal for a week.

I want to know what superpowers I'll get with exposure to massive doses of chile radiation.

pro tip: do not go to gallup - it is a shithole. other pro tip: do eat some fry bread. it is delicious.

final one: ask Abbott for recs!

She sent me one on FB! Chope's...

Gallup holds a special place in my heart because, when driving to Phoenix from Chicago, it was the 1st place where I really felt like I was in The Southwest, and there was a totally bitching thunderstorm going on at night lighting up the mesas and buttes, and the hotel had a big, mostly empty old school bar w/a pool table and good time we're had. Then woke up the next morning and realized holy shit is this town a shithole.

good time we're had? oh boy

good! time we're had by all

Las Vegas, NM, is where the state mental institution is, makes sense that all the scino stuff would be there.

good! time we're had by all

Brion Gysin to thread.

When I was desperately unemployed, late last summer, I applied for a library tech. position at the state psychiatric hospital (or whatever it is) in Las Vegas. Fortunately something else came through in time to save me from having to go through with interviewing for that.

I've never been there, but I've never heard anything good about the town.

The national forest west of town has some decent hiking and scenery, and in town there was a pretty good breakfast spot (think it was Charlie's Cafe. BUT I needed to pick up contact solution or something, and the route my GPS gave me took me through a residential area...drove past this methed out looking guy who maniacally screamed I'M GONNNNNNNA KILLLLLLLL YOUUUUUUUUUU. Then got to the Walgreens and had to fend of foul-smelling psychotic old man who wanted...something. I think it was flabbity gleebity slocumton.

They usually keep that next to the cotton balls.

I'm shooting part of my thesis film in Northern New Mexico later this month. Driving out from LA the southern route (AZ) and then back up through Utah and NV. What should I expect? Never been there before (except passing through on Amtrak).

That's where The Man Fell to Earth, iirc?

I love New Mexico! We used to road trip there from Houston when I was younger. Haven't been in a while. Roadtripping around Argentina is making me v. homesick for Texas/the Southwest scenery. And being able to drive myself instead of taking 20-hour bus rides.

If you come here right now, there is the potential for this sort of wind (which I actually find hilarious for some reason): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BJpJkXSlxw Though I'm in a part of Albuquerque that doesn't get tumbleweeds. (The video is shot in Rio Rancho anyway, but that's right next door.)

My cheapo apartment has essentially zero weather stripping & there's a huge gap between bottom of the kitchen door & the the floor. COnsequently, my kitchen looks like that video footage every day. I sweep up a couple dustpans full of sand every day.

Abbott I was in Las Cruces last November! Those mountains are something else. Pointy and jaggedy like british teeth. Anyway, I LOVE New Mexico and I seem to go back there a lot. Am going down to Santa Fe in May just to root around. Btw what the fuck are those howler things at Allsups?

Hell yes, I love the Organs!

http://sangres.com/dimages/newmexico/blm2/organ-mountains01.gif

If you want to see (or even hunt for) the non-native species of African antelope that was introduced to New Mexico in the 1960s, the oryx, you can hit up White Sands Monument

http://www.whitesandsproductionservices.com/db1/00058/whitesandsproductionservices.com/_uimages/MVC-012S.JPG

going in July, CANT WAIT

My parents never came to visit me here, but I think I could've convinced my dad to drive down if I'd have told him about oryx hunting a year or two ago. Too late now.

Where are you hitting up, gbx?

friends wedding somewhere in n new mexico. a ranch, we're all camping out and I'm doing the ceremony iirc

I am here now. It's great! Maybe I'll move here next. Friendliest state I've been to, I think.

I also went to Colorado the other day. I liked it too.

NM is crazy friendly. I love it here.

Where are you? What is it like? I am in Chama now, we had a storm.

What do people who live in New Mexico do from day to day?

Also - I just had sopapillas and green chili and a Navajo taco. And a cold beer. And I think I saw a chipmunk!

Is a chipmunk like a tiny tiny squirrel? Because then that was it

Pretty good chance you saw a golden-mantled ground squirrel, which looks about 98% like a chipmunk.

I WILL BE IN NEW MEXICO TOMORROW!
ADAM ARE YOU STILL IN CHAMA? I WILL BE DRIVING THROUGH THERE

LET'S MEET AT ALLSUPS FOR A HOWLER

Yes I'm still here. What's allsups? What's a howler?

i go to nm soon

I wanna come back!

Mandee, I sent you an email. I am in Chama for one more day. You can mostly find me in Carlatte's reading or down at the railyard covered in soot. But I think I'm one of the rare people here under 50, which is often where I find myself.

I'm in Las Cruces, land of no Allsups.

Adam, I didn't get your email! Dude, and what were you doing in Chama, that town was tiny!

Abbott, there is no Allsups in Las Cruces? Blasphemy! Anyway I totally heart Las Cruces. I wonder if there are any marketing jobs there. This is why I hate the field I am in, I am limited to living in bigger cities. I WANT MY DESERT DREAMS AND/OR YURT TIMES.

totally feeling you on that. i need just a modest inheritance so i can start a chile farm or some shit.

The cost of living here is like insanely low fwiw, you can rent a 2 bedroom apartment for $400.

Has anyone ever been in the ABQ airport? It is adorable, IMO.

No cause it's always way more expensive to fly into there, as opposed to flying into Denver and driving to NM.
You like it in Las Cruces? I liked it there, but at night it seemed to be filled with scary, trashy people. Maybe I was just in the wrong part of town?

I don't really like living in Las Cruces. Where were you at?

I think I would quite enjoy living in ABQ, tho.

I hope you weren't at Graham Central Station.

Plans are getting firmer and firmer in my mind to come out there later this year. Wondering whether we should drive, making a sort of southern swoop through Austin and BBQ country, or fly to ABQ and rent a car once we get there. Driving would be 2-3 days of stultifying drive time (incl. through the devil's asshole, West TX) in each direction, flying would be one day each way and the horror of dealing with the US airline system. Dilemma.

xpost, ah, I didn't know that about flying to Denver.

El Paso ("biggest city in NM") airport is pretty cheap to fly into. Cheaper than ABQ, anyway.

Last time I was there I stayed near Mesilla one night (ate at La Posta...do you know it? Just stumbled across it. Is it touristy or does it have a good rep among locals?) I think where I encountered the trashines was along Rt 70, south of the center of town.

La Posta has a rep for being a classy place...plenty of locals eat there. It's better than the other Mexican joints in Mesilla, imo, and also less touristy (I think) than the others, in spite of it having a toucan. If someone visits, I usually take them to dinner there bcz it is the most visually impressive place in town, and then get kind of sad when they order a couple Patron margaritas on my tab. I think I need to get some friends with better manners.

I am so glad you didn't accidentally eat at Andele's! That place is a cheese nightmare.

haha me too then! Yeah I really liked La Posta, the interior was so tranquil and cozy, plus the food was really good and a value for what I got at least (some sort of platter feast w/carne adovado as the main dish). Tequila selection was awesome!

A word of warning to anyone headed this way: we've been experiencing record-breaking highs. Even Santa Fe reached 100 degrees this past Saturday.

There's a big international flamenco festival going on in Albuquerque this week. I'm not going but only because I really need to save money.

http://www.nationalinstituteofflamenco.org/National_Institute_of_Flamenco/Welcome.html

I'm thinking about early September. Will it be any cooler then?

Hopefully, going by the average highs I've seen. I haven't been here long enough to know what recent patterns are like first-hand.

In my experience, I've never started really saying, "Wow, it's finally cooled down" until v late Sept./early Oct.

And yeah, I told a student I would meet with them Sunday at the library. Turns out the library was locked, and so was everywhere else on campus, leading me to have to help her outside in 104º F heat.

This was my worst teacher moment: cooking a student to death.

While a marquee read, in big neon pink letters, 104º not even 10 feet away from us.

it doesn't get very humid in New Mexico, though, or does it?!?

Only after it's rained, it feels kind of muggy. Otherwise it just feels like being in a convection oven.

http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/online/ccd/avgrh.html

I wonder, why of all the towns, they chose Roswell & Clayton.

Yeah, it's an odd selection of places overall.

Adam, I didn't get your email! Dude, and what were you doing in Chama, that town was tiny!

I just saw this! Oh I sent you through stupid ILX email thing. Oh well, another time. I was in Chama making a movie.

Who here can speak to living in Santa Fe or Albuquerque? What are rents like? What are places to live like? Are there jobs? Probably not huh

Otherwise it just feels like being in a convection oven.

I'd always say this about Southwest heat, trying to get across that it's not as bad as, say, Florida heat. But people just hear "oven" and think that means they'll be burnt like a pizza in 18-20 mins.

(obv you basically WOULD be w/o any sunblock, but the point is that at least you won't be in need of a shower every hour like in FL)

Who here can speak to living in Santa Fe or Albuquerque? What are rents like? What are places to live like? Are there jobs? Probably not huh

― admrl, Wednesday, June 16, 2010 5:01 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark

can't speak directly, but i could find out---like half of my closest friends live in the Fe

I'd like the report on my desk Friday

what kind of job are you looking for?

pro yoga man?

I'm not sure even 6% humidity (current condition in ABQ) could keep up with my ability pump buckets of sweat.

On the other hand, at my current location it's the same temp and 51% humidity, so I know where I'd rather be right now.

what kind of job are you looking for?

Don't really care! This is all hypothetical. I don't expect to make any money from what I actually do so I dunno. film/arts/education, I guess.

adamrl, the shins don't live in NM anymore iirc.

it is very nice there imo

I highly recommend living in NM.

I know!

And I've NEVER heard The Shins

There isn't a huge number of jobs here, but there are some. There are places actually hiring here and there.

Film: you realize there is a mini- film industry in Albuquerque, right? But whether that will continue and grow is hard to say. So many cities are trying to attract film-makers that there's a lot of competition.

Have you seen this: http://albuquerquetheunknown.blogspot.com/ (A bit Chamber of Commerce-ish, even if it was made independently and they don't have anything to do with it as far as I know.)

Arts: There's stuff going on but I guess there are more opportunities in Santa Fe. I don't think there's a lot of money for art here. I just don't know about it.

Education: what level are we talking about? I've heard it's actually somewhat difficult to get a job teaching elementary or secondary school.

General: You get a little more for your rent money than what you do in a large east coast city, or just a large city I guess. (Where do you live? I don't know.) I pay $550 a month for a 1-BR downtown. It's not great. The walls and floors are too thin (though no worse than what I've had in at least one apartment in which I played twice that rent). Also, there is an ongoing problem with the a/c, which doesn't seem to be capable of being permanently fixed (though it's doing okay this week). But I probably just got a bad place as far as the a/c goes. It's a bit run-down otherwise, but it's not bad. My landlord does a pretty good job of screening tenants, so while it's a low-rent sort of building, the people living here are mostly pretty considerate and it's surprisingly quiet.

You might find some ideas here, too: http://www.dukecityfix.com/

For the most part I like it here, but I'm not certain I'll stay. Some place that's still dry in the warm months but not quite as dry as here might suit my sinuses bettter. I think I underestimated just how much impact the dryness would have on them (for the worse), but then after realizing I had done that, I think I underestimated my capacity to adapt. I'm dealing with humidity levels well under 30% without a lot of problem. However, there may be some kind of limit. 6% is pretty extreme. Related considerations: I would prefer some place cooler, overall. And sometimes the intensity of the sun is tiresome. On the other hand, I think it's good for my mood, which has to count for something. I may simply need to adapt more: wear sunblock more often, start wearing hats, plan better to avoid being out when the sun is most intense, etc. Sometimes I look at the outlines of adobe architecture against the bright intensely blue sky and laugh to myself about living in such a picture postcard environment. If I can make certain improvements in my work situation (very possible), it would take a lot to get me to move from here. (I don't want to say specifically where I work, but it's definitely a good place to be working.)

I don't know too much about Santa Fe, except the usual (including it's more expensive.)

There are lots of yoga studios, or at least I see them up and down Central (well mostly on the east end of it, to be fair--I don't see them over on the west side, for sure).

New Mexico has its own gamelan: http://gamelanencantada.net/

Ugh, sorry to turn hater so quickly, but it is just way too hot and UV-intense here for getting around on foot, and that's tough for me because that's what I'm used to. Can't afford a car yet and don't have the patience to always seek out every bus or shuttle.

Yeah that sounds sucky

A friend who has lived in NM says it is great but "fucks with you after 6 months". I just want big skies and a little less craziness.

If I had a car my experience would be very very different. As long as things work out with my job, I should have a car eventually. I still like New Mexico, just not sure it's for me. I actually have my eyes on Spokane, which is far less interesting and appealing on most levels, but which might actually work better for me in terms of climate.

Whoa, all of the New Mexicans here are carless. That is wild.

What do you mean, all the New Mexicans on this thread or all the New Mexicans in Las Cruces? I can hardly believe the latter.

Here = ILX

My life would be a lot more pleasant if Las Cruces was car free, some or another asshole almost runs me over nearly every day.

Funny. The person I was working with most closely when I started my current job has lived here all his life and he didn't have a car or even a license. (He did get his license before moving to another state at the end of last year, though he's back in town now and I'm not sure what his transportation status is.)

FWIW, I actually found Albuquerque better for walking than I had expected, in terms of actually being able to get from one place to another on foot (minus considerations of sun exposure). A fair amount of ground can be covered in some parts of the city. Others are more suburbs-like and nearly impossible to negotiate as a pedestrian.

The New York Times seems to love this place:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/fashion/13veil.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/dining/16newmex.html

Incidentally, I stopped drinking alcohol at the beginning of the year, because it dries out my sinuses and I am not that into it anyway, but Gruet wine really is pretty good (based on a few samples I've had), for what my wine opinion is worth. Their inexpensive champagne seems to be well regarded by the experts.

I will rep for Gruet, good stuff

my bff lives in santa fe, rides her bike to the train, trains it in to abq, goes to school, and goes home. she owns a car, but rarely needs to use except to leave town and light out for the desert.

So me and my boo are headed back NM-way for 4th July weekend. We can't get enough! Just gonna drive out on I-40 and see where we end up. After being in the Chama River Valley, I could quite go for somewhere like that, somewhere really quiet. Any suggestions?

Also - am I alone in not really liking Arizona, the very little I've seen of it? Some great driving, but the towns seemed kind of blah.

pretty crowded, too

I miss sopapillas

also - skies

dried chiles

I hope you took some dried chiles home with you – cheap + lightweight items.

even though I have all those things here, I miss NM, too. Although I have found I enjoy the scruff of Southern NM more than up near them fauncy-pances in Santa Fe.

A good friend of mine is moving to Santa Fe, though, so I am sure I'll be back soon.

Southern NM is home to "gypsophilic plants." How could you not like that phrase?

gypsophily!

Been living in Albuquerque past 2 years and just took a nice trip to South NM. Totally not what I expected.
Few thoughts
-Roswell UFO museum is so beyond shitty it boggles the mind. It's literally a warehouse with word documents stapled to the walls. Highlight was meeting Travis Walton. He desperately tried to sell me "his account" of the events that inspired Fire in the Sky.
-It was surprisingly green and humid there. I felt like I was in west Texas. Also a distinct lack of Zia's covering everything.
-Ruidoso is beautiful and full of texans.
-White sands is really white (and crusty)

Anyone in the region who can explain the whole Paolo Soleri Ampitheater thing to me? It was a great venue, what's the situation that's leading to them tearing it down? Santa Fe has nothing now!

I'll be leaving in January once my lease is up. I've had a real mixed bag here. Work a great job, made great friends, have a beautiful cheap place and have gotten around no problem with nothing but a scooter and a bike but I've been the victim of so much crime I'm pretty much fed up; a stolen car, hit by a car, a stolen scooter, four broken out car windows (four separate occasions), mugged girlfriend, two stolen bikes, stolen ipod, and having just been jumped by some random teenagers in less than two years is just a little too much for me. I don't know what it is about Albuquerque that fosters such desperation in people but I feel this anger just welling up in me that's killing my enjoyment otherwise.

Will miss Gruet, green chile, the skies, and the great bike routes/trails.

I feel pretty lucky then. Nothing like that has happened. I think it helps that I live in an apartment that looks kind of ghetto but isn't in a ghetto neighborhood. Plus there are lots of elderly people informally on guard here for most of the day.

Do you mind saying where the mugging and jumping happened?

I think the answer to your question about desperation is mostly just poverty.

isn't there a large amount of meth users in ABQ?

It's fairly big here, I suppose, but I don't know how it really compares to the national average. Meth seems pretty big in lots of places. In some ways alcohol stands out the most as a problem here on a scale I haven't seen it before.

Not every restaurant outside of New Mexico offers green chiles on everything. I knew this was coming, but, it's still heartbreaking.

OTOH ppl don't laugh at you for liking mole poblano (maybe this was just a Las Cruces thing tho).

A friend who is a prof. at NMSU is visiting, found this the other day and was shaking her head about Las Cruces which she both loves and hates at times:

Naked man hospitalized after drinking game leads to prosthetic leg being set aflame

I picked and roasted four sheet pans of anaheims yesterday and was so happy...I wish I had a flame thrower so I could do this outside and not get the kitchen so hot.

Yeah I saw that story. I guess we've all been there, setting our friends on fire during drinking games.

You need one of these:

http://nmdaweb.nmsu.edu/marketing-and-economic-development/hidden-files/BenjieRoasterWeb.jpg/image_preview

I wish I could teleport myself to the Rio Grande Cafe in Española right now. Need one of their NM-style huevos rancheros.

Poor little Española. Such a beautiful natural setting, with so many problems.

One of my favorite threads! No work for mid-August, cannot tell you how tempting it is just to jump in the car and head out NM way again!!

Anyone have recommendations for a quiet, pretty place to stay in Northern NM? I liked all the scenery just south of Chama and in the general direction of Taos. Very woodsy and then more moon-landscapey near Tres Piedras/Ojo Caliente.

I was sad to read of Ryan's experiences in ABQ above. Where are you gonna move to, Ryan?

It's too hot for me at the moment. They just came and "fixed" the a/c here again, something they seem to do once or twice a week. It works adequately about half the time, probably less. I could afford move (from this apartment) but I am trying to save up a bunch of money. I am stuck working a graveyard shift (not for the summer though) and I need to have extra money on hand to in case I find a (day) job out of state (would mostly consider Boise or Spokane, maybe Pueblo). If I move now into the sort of apartment (casita, really, because I want the next place I want to be a free-standing house of some sort) I want, I will be paying too much rent to afford to save up to move out of state. That's why I remove in this hellishly hot apartment. In another half a year I should have just enough to feel that I can safely move to a new apartment.

What are rents like?

Say on a small 2-bedroom house

I'm seeing 2-bedroom houses in fairly desirable locations (more in terms of proximity to key areas than in terms of safety, but sometimes both) for $900-ish, sometimes more certainly, sometimes less (though there tend to be trade-offs in terms of location, at least, in that case). I've really only been looking on Craigslist. I'm sure that if someone were to drive around and look for "for rent" signs, there would be lots of good options.

Where are those neighborhoods? We talking near UNM? Nob Hill (which I've never been to)?

Yes, precisely. Maybe not so many in the most central part of Nob Hill, but certainly not too far away.

x-post

I guess I should say that $900ish is the maximum I've been willing to consider (with the "ish" going pretty far up), so I've mostly been ignoring the more expensive places. It's not like they aren't around.

But if you are willing to risk a somewhat iffier neighborhood (but not suicidally iffy) and have a house that is a bit more worn, you can also get something for less.

This place looks great. I think it might be in a high-crime area; and anyway, not super-convenient for the car-less (me):

http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/apa/1837456831.html

This, on the other hand, looked a little too hard-core when I walked by to look at the house and the block:

http://albuquerque.craigslist.org/apa/1815508191.html

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/04/05/most-dangerous-states-crime-rankings-for-2010/

(What the hell is going on in sleepy Delaware?)

@ Rudipherous. Mugging occurred on campus in a parking lot. Assault occurred on wellesley and silver.

@ breads of india. I am originally from the east coast and have recently applied for a job in Harrisburg PA. If that doesn't work out I've been talking with my cousin about finding someplace in the north Jersey or Philadelphia area.

Mugging occurred on campus in a parking lot. Assault occurred on wellesley and silver.

Damn. Wellesley & Silver is a prime Nob Hill location. In some ways I'm less surprised about the UNM parking lot mugging, though it's still upsetting.

The world sucks in general, imo.

Minor cultural differences: if I ask for oil and mayonnaise on my Subway sandwich, people here tend to say "Oil and mayonnaise?" like "really?" It's a standard hoagie dressing, people!

goin to nm in a weeeeeeek

Oil and mayo?

You sound like a New Mexican, WmC!

Just kidding, I have never heard of that, either. Though it is weird that the sandwich artisans are verbally disdainful.

I'd probably ask if they wanted mashed potatoes on that thing too, and wind up fired.

uh abbott "new mexican" could mean like three different things, ~god~

I guess I meant someone from New Mexico, more specifically a sandwich artisan in ABQ, but, I didn't ever encounter anyone in my 4 years of living there getting pedantic about that term. So...?

I mean, I know you are being silly!

But OTOH I don't get what point you are making.

i like how NM has some serious hippy-dippy restaurants for NN's such as myself. like juice bars and raw restaurants. YOU'D THINK WE'D HAVE SHIT IN COLORADO, BUT AS IT TURNS OUT, NO.

i am missing NM. I want to go down to Carlsbad and go to the drive in. That's the shittiest place I've ever been, but it made me unspeakably happy when I saw Star Trek there last summer at the FIESTA DRIVE-IN.

are these poppin off right now, abbott?

http://www.totacc.com/user/jgoucher/ocotillo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.totacc.com/user/jgoucher/ocotillo.htm&usg=__olLlAOUXlsiwG43G2vzyVzxJkCY

whoops. that was supposed to be an OCOTILLO CACTUS, MY FAVORITE PLANT

lol sorry---when i was in nm last (this has nothing to do with this thread at all) my friend who was a teacher there was like "'new mexican' is a fractious identity...there are 'new mexicans' who are old hispanics, descended from spanish colonials, and that have been around for a long-ass time; new mexicans that are whites that relocated; and new mexicans that are recent immigrants from mexico or central america." probably telling that every other minority got steamrolled there.

No, that's interesting! The history of New Mexico is really crazy.

i have a friend who is from taos and she said it was very fancy and considered pretty high brow to be AN ORIGINAL NEW MEXICAN, and her mother would insist that they were SPANISH, not mexican.

^^^that. "spanish" is def the word used (at least according to my friend)

btw Mandee you should make an ocotillo fence

i dont know if they'd survive here... do you think they would? I have BEGGED my parents to plant some since they have a yard

see i love southwestern decor and landscape. i am going to be one of those old bitches with a kokopelli ornament in her lawn and chili pepper lights hanging from her adobe house.

I know nothing about Colorado...I would call the local agricultural extension office and see what they think.

see i love southwestern decor and landscape. i am going to be one of those old bitches with a kokopelli ornament in her lawn and chili pepper lights hanging from her adobe house.

― homosexual II, Wednesday, July 21, 2010 9:12 PM (21 seconds ago) Bookmark

dont do it

Kokopelli now make me think of the gas station I went to once that had wallpaper of kokopelli holding hamburgers & hot dogs instead of horns.

actually fuck it i love those ladies

XD

i feel more and more resolved to move to the southwest. everyone is weird basically all the time.

Those ladies all dress like anthropology professors! Is that in the works, too? Giant turquoise necklaces & broomstick skirts?

I fully support that btw.

oh yah totally, all african masks on the wall, cooking authentic SE asian food, stories about sherpas, the works

moon ceremonies, ideas about wavelengths and laylines

Beat-up copies of Women who Run with the Wolves

edward abbey shrine

Did someone say New Mexico?

hot diggity dog

it is

the hottest of diggity doggs

You don't even write tortillas on your grocery list, you just buy them.

hey u guys want to go to a wedding

I am going to a wedding next week. In Indianapolis. Where is yours? Santa Fe?

north of, but basically

Espanola?

apparently i am doing "the honors"

also everyone is camping in the desert \m/

Santa Fe airport is so cute

honors=lapdance?

only by request

in this case it means "betrothaling"

i have a friend who is from taos and she said it was very fancy and considered pretty high brow to be AN ORIGINAL NEW MEXICAN, and her mother would insist that they were SPANISH, not mexican.

I've heard the same distinction (Spanish and not Mexican) emphasized up in the San Luis Valley too.

The only time I ever heard ppl talk about this distinction was a bunch of people in class once who said it was "something people in El Paso do so they can pretend they're not from Juarez."

This thread makes me wish that I still had my Aztec St. Cafe t-shirt (from Santa Fe. lost it in a move somewhere)

However I do still have the two blankets I bought from an Indian kitsch shop on the road to Taos.

I don't know enough to argue the "Spanish" vs. "Mexican" point, but it certainly seems to me that the "Spanish" who have lived in New Mexico for hundreds of years would have been re-shaped by ongoing trade and contact with Mexico, as well as Native American culture (to some extent anyway). I know some authors and intellectuals mock the whole "I'm Spanish" thing, Rudolofo Anaya, for one. I just wonder how many specifically Spanish things are left in the culture here.

Ethnic identity in NM is tough to figure out, you have such a deep history of conquest and contact between the Spanish, Mexicans, Natives, and settlers who came later. Just look at the matachines; local Hispanic dance troupes dressed as Natives retelling bible stories and the fall of Montezuma, it's a very syncrectic activity. On a tangent, I thought being called "anglo" was pretty strange, but I've gotten used to it.

i[d go to a wedding in NM - if it's north of Santa Fe that would mean it'd be like <5 hours away

yeah ok cool c u next weekend

CIRCLE A RANCH

CUBA, NM

C U SOON

New Mexico!

I'd like oil and mayonnaise on my chimichanga.

Let's talk about "menudo"

What's your take on it?

I tried so hard to be a good sport about tripe, but it's just not a food I'm ever going to fully appreciate. There are other good soups at Mexican restaurants (and that I make at home) w/out tripe in them, like posole.

Menudo has a reputation as an amazing hangover food....I never tried it to that end.

I love the Spanish word for hangover, "cruda"...kinda sounds like how it feels.

I had a deal with a girl I dated a few years back that if she would try Indian food, I would try menudo. We broke up shortly after I got her to try Indian but BEFORE I was forced to have menudo. Que suerte.

Mala suerte, amirite?

What about...that other dish? I'm blanking on it now. It's kind of a whole mess of stuff. I didn't try it yet

Hot Dish

No..

maybe

Posole! That's it

Posole is awesome! But I've always been a big fan of anything with hominy in it.

I find posole disappointing. My mom used to cook with hominy sometimes and I remember liking it as a kid, but then I vaguely remember her saying she had trouble finding it after a certain point (possibly after we had moved). I don't remember what it was she made, but I'm sure it wasn't anything close to posole, since we didn't eat anything that spicy. But anyway, posole seems like something it really would help you to love if you grew up with it (eating it on holidays and so forth).

Argh: 75% humidity here last time I checked. At least the temperature is only in the 70s, but still.

oh shiiiiiit leaving tomorrow morning oh SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIT

Not to be missed update on the story of the man allegedly lit on fire by his friends. Well, it turns out he lit his own leg on fire with a crack pipe, apparently:

Tip leads to arrest of man who burned prosthetic leg

Posted at: 07/28/2010 12:54 PM
Updated at: 07/28/2010 1:59 PM
By: The Associated Press

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - A Las Cruces man who investigators say set his prosthetic leg on fire with a pocketed crack pipe has been arrested.

Dona Ana County Sheriff's deputies arrested 47-year-old Randy Malone on Sunday at his home after the man's brothers tipped investigators. Malone was being sought on a warrant for making a false report.

Sheriff's deputies found Malone naked along U.S. 70 with his prosthetic right leg in flames on July 5. He was treated for burns to his right leg, back and buttocks.

A witness told authorities he agreed to give Malone a ride into Las Cruces, but dropped Malone off after the passenger lit a crack pipe inside the vehicle.

Is the Hatch Chile Festival worth going to if I'm not interested in eating contests or throwing horseshoes? Would it be worth it just for the food vendors and arts & crafts show/vendors? Like, would I be able to find things to eat that I wouldn't be able to find just roaming around New Mexico.

Fried rattlesnake with green chile, say.

would get into an ilx food poll under 'tacos' no doubt

I'm guessing if any ilxors have been to this, it would be Abbott/Viceroy...?

I never went to Hatch chile festival but everyone I know who's been made it sound like a county fair, as far as both attractions and food goes.

I was thinking the same thing about the Pie Town festival.

Took my first trip up to Taos last weekend. What a beautiful drive, especially with all the severe weather all over the state. Enjoyed myself quite a bit just wandering around the plaza, eating a great lunch, and hitting up Moby Dickens.

Hmm, so maybe I won't be missing much if I hold off on NM until the 2nd half of Sept? I just don't want to find out "ohhh, there's this oldtimer who makes the most amazing (chile-related whatever), but only emerges from hibernation at the Hatchfest!"

guys can i just say again how much i <3 new mexico

i totally <3 it more than you, sorry

Drunk Indians beating up a drunk Indian near a bus stop. So enchanting. I think I'm ready for some place like Boise.

Sorry, that was a bad day, and I did actually witness a weird assault along those lines at a bus stop I wait at regularly.

FWIW I saw some bus throwdowns when I lived in Boise, I think it just comes with the bus stop territory.

TOO MANY BEANERS IN THAT GADDAMN STATE

Ok

Rudipherous-was it over by winnings? Was inside and heard a bunch of people cheering as cops tased some blacked out native who apparently just beat up another blacked out native by the McDonalds.

Scooter got the lock bored out over the weekend, and here I am thinking I could make it a month without being the victim of a crime.

I don't know if that was supposed to be funny or serious, kelpolaris, but you've got a six-day ban.

Ah, I didn't know where Winnings was, but it was within a block of that, so maybe it spread over in that direction. And yeah, exactly, the guy who was getting beaten up seemed to be either passed out or very drunk/stoned/out of it. Allegedly it was because this guy either tried to rape a woman in the area (not necessarily at that time) or at least touched her inappropriately. If you're going to apply street just, at least do it out sight, folks.

Not too big on the APD tasing blacked out individuals either. I know they have a hard job, but don't trust those guys with tasers.

Maybe you should find out if kelpolaris was just mocking my own comment for its dubious racial tinge. Again, I feel a little bad about posting that (though there's no doubt that alcohol is a huge problem in the Native American community here--but then again, it's a really huge problem in general).

Also, Ryan, sorry you have had further bad luck here with crime.

I'm actually feeling pretty good about the place again at the moment, but I think it's time for me to refrain from further documenting the ups and downs of my attitude toward Albuquerque and New Mexico, and focus on more concrete discussion.

But what I saw definitely didn't happen at McDonald's. It happened on the UNM's campus within view of the bus stop there.

Interview with the head of the National Hispanic Cultural Center (and my pick for the best dressed man in Albuquerque--I've never seen a photo of him in which he did not look incredibly sharp). His background is certainly interesting and very New Mexican, I suppose:

http://alibi.com/index.php?scn=feature&di=

I like his glasses.

I'll be in ABQ middle of next month. Thinking about other stops as well -- Las Vegas and Austin come to mind. If anyone's interested in meeting up, let me know.

I was planning on getting in touch with you when the time came for you to be here, but things are going extremely poorly for me at the moment, so I probably won't be up for it. My immediate future is extremely unpredictable, but things are very dark at the moment.

Understood -- good luck.

Any specific things you are planning on doing while here?

(My world isn't falling apart after all.)

I'm getting to ABQ the afternoon of the 16th, Delta willing and the creek don't rise. The 17th and 18th I'm doing a touristy NM eating tour. The 19th and 20th, I have two specific things I want to do -- the Georgia O'Keeffe museum in Santa Fe and the Sandia Peak Tramway. Early flight home on the 21st.

I'm glad you are no longer talking about doing the O'Keeffe museum and the tramway in the same day. That might have been technically possible, but I don't think it would have been fun.

A couple of guys were doing an instrumental version of "Low Rider" in the seedy gathering place across from the 7/11 on Copper Avenue. It actually sounded fairly decent, but they kept playing it over and over again. I could hear it from the bus stop. I had to take the bus to Old Town to by salt because Central Market and the 7/11 were both out of it. Out of salt! Anyhow, I was reminded that I should pick up some War CDs if I'm going to stay here and at the moment things are starting to pick up and I expect to stay here indefinitely.

Unfortunately, the O'Keeffe is closed right now while they change out the exhibits. I'm in Taos tonight and I can tell you that the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is holy-shit awesome and terrifying.

Oh, too bad about the museum being closed, though there is plenty of other good stuff to see there. And yes, if that's the bridge I'm thinking of, I agree. I believe they have a problem with suicides from that bridge. (Incidentally, I've been out of town since the 16th, for a death in the family, which is why I'm just seeing this now.)

Shiina Ringo photo shoot (and rumored Tokyo Jihen video shoot) at White Sands NM (though everyone seems weirdly tentative about saying that's really where it was done):

http://www.tokyohive.com/2011/01/shiina-ringo-is-luminescent-for-maquillage-cosmetics/

!!!

White Sands brings out a secret weirdness in people. Have you been there, R? I found it very crazy and beautiful!

I personally find the state to be a bit boring and entirely devoid of any culture aside from the inherent (adobe shacks and all that pseudo-historical stuff)but it was particularly cool driving outside Albuquerque one time and hitting a THICK sand-storm on the interstate. Basically we put our brights on and sped thru it fast as we could, fingers crossed that we didn't hit anyone in the bumper. Our logic was p much that it was better to rush thru than slow down and risk getting hit in the behind, or maintaing a presence long enough that sand starts to interfere with your car's actual functioning. Kinda exhilarating... not sure if thats a common thing?

Abbbottt, Unfortunately, I haven't been there yet. I haven't been many places here. I have finally bought a car for the first time in my life, but until my allergies are under control (if that ever happens, which is starting to seem pretty doubtful) I'm probably not going to be into day-trips.

Also, let me use this as an excuse to recommend that you try some Shiina Ringo if you haven't already, though you'd be better off asking for recommendations rather than randomly finding things.

Our logic was p much that it was better to rush thru than slow down and risk getting hit in the behind

Unfortunately, given the way people driven here, this was probably a smart approach, kelpolaris.

How are things in NM these days?

I lived in AZ for years and always felt like I was passing into purgatory when entering NM.

Really?

I can only assume he got it backwards

Yeah, I wanted to say that what I saw of Arizona did not enthuse.

But I'm sure it's nice

somewhere

If NM has a city as awesome as Tucson, I did not encounter it on my dozens of crossing through the state.

That creeping toward Texas feeling probably didn't help.

http://www.nmchili.com/images/roastedhatchgreen.jpg

miss you boo!

driving through an area as rich in natural beauty and cultural history as NM, it'd take a million years before the thought "this place needs a nice city!" would occur to me.

I lived in AZ for years and always felt like I was passing into purgatory when entering NM.

― President Keyes, Sunday, June 26, 2011 8:18 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Really?

― Pompoussin (admrl), Sunday, June 26, 2011 8:18 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

The comment makes sense, if Arizona is considered hell.

But I was going to say. . . What a year.

http://www.sfreporter.com/santafe/blog-2859-las-conchas-fire-mandatory-evac-for-los-alamos.html

I hope they know what they're doing with all that radioactive material (and whatever else they have up there).

I want to take "The Man Who Fell to Earth" tour of N.M.: Fenton Lake, Artesia, White Sands, Albuquerque.

White Sands is so crazy!

I've got my goofy tumblr and this picture of the borderline between New Mexico and Oklahoma is my favorite.

http://closetotheborderline.tumblr.com/photo/1280/468239206/1/tumblr_kzqv1jGX9Z1qbsv4z

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mY65Ci2vYs

http://www.futuromediagroup.org/lusa/2012/10/05/planet-new-mexico/

In New Mexico right now! Got into ABQ Friday, went straight to Tito & Mary's for a green chile-smothered burrito, took a hot air balloon flight early Saturday morning, then drove to Santa Fe (via Tent Rocks), where I'm currently hanging. Plan is to hit up Taos in a bit.

Sweeeeet, enjoy! !st time?

Yup!

But Mary & Tito's is all about their red!

http://amarillo.com/blog-post/ricky-treon/2013-07-03/report-eastern-nm-town-gets-two-feet-hail

i am moving to new mexico

land of enchantment

congrats!

mildly concerned about being able to hack the heat of abq in the summer, but otoh minnesota gets ~almost~ as hot and is way more humid so there is that

currently looking forward to lots and lots of sunshine after years in new england, hoping that it doesn't actually drive me crazy

New Mexico! Excellent! It seems like one of those USA places, like Louisiana or Hawaii, where there is an older, deeper culture underlying the giddy superficiality of modern America. Great mountains, too! I'm pretty sure you can hack it, gbx.

hope u like chiles

congrats!

new mexico is an amazing place

love chiles, tbh

thx guys!

looking for abq recs as far as housing/food/doing stuff is concerned. will probably be sorta boring and look at living in nob hill because it's equidistant between my two work sites (UNM/VA hospitals) but i'm open to other suggestions if anyone's got em

New Mexico! Excellent! It seems like one of those USA places, like Louisiana or Hawaii, where there is an older, deeper culture underlying the giddy superficiality of modern America.

there is something kind of mythical about it, for me, at least. my uncle was a printmaker who lived in albuquerque for 30 years, created about 5,000 prints that are mostly new mexican landscapes. my house and my family's houses are filled w/ his work so i feel like i've been thinking about new mexico my whole life. my wife and i talk about retiring there.

i like it here

https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/19894703_10101072532063946_1634277802344738348_n.jpg?oh=d38784dae5f05366d8453b8e89c5e2b3&oe=59C49A71

yeah. if I could figure out how to make a living there I'd move in a heartbeat

the heat ain't so bad, right? As I typed that, monsoon thundered outside ahhhh; has cooled things off here, hopefully you get some of it in ABQ.

There are some really good breweries in ABQ! Been pleasantly surprised.

the heat is surprisingly tolerable! its a cliche but a dry heat really makes a difference, especially coming from the Midwest and New England

totally. plus it's high desert so the nights are still generally cool. plus monsoon season is awesome.

glad to hear you like living there gbx! permanently moving to new mexico is one of my longstanding vague plans that i think will actually someday

cool nights make all the difference -- camping up on the rio chama this past weekend it was shorts and a t-shirt all day, light pants and a hoody at night. perfect sleeping weather, too.

karl, come on down

https://scontent-lax3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/20429980_10101091931217886_2954291688776660035_n.jpg?oh=841f1386a33d45a2c3fc748316624895&oe=59F170AD

spiderland redux

Repeating this from an apartment thread: friend is helping her brother with an apartment move in New Mexico and as she said, "all the big apartment-finding sites barely have any listings not in major metro areas." Anyone have any suggestions?

I mean, there is only one major metro area in all of New Mexico, and there aren't that many apartments as such to list in e.g. Santa Fe or Taos

Noted — an apartment was found!

the heat is surprisingly tolerable! its a cliche but a dry heat really makes a difference, especially coming from the Midwest and New England

― gbx, Monday, July 10, 2017 2:28 PM (eight years ago) bookmarkflaglink

totally. plus it's high desert so the nights are still generally cool. plus monsoon season is awesome.

― Larry Elleison (rogermexico.), Monday, July 10, 2017 2:48 PM (eight years ago) bookmarkflaglink

glad to hear you like living there gbx! permanently moving to new mexico is one of my longstanding vague plans that i think will actually someday

― Karl Malone, Monday, July 10, 2017 3:08 PM (eight years ago) bookmarkflaglink

this is exactly why i've never understood people retiring to the humid swamp heap of florida.

today i learned that "ee i know huhh" is an idiomatic saying common in northern new mexico that means "i know, right?"