Laura Durnell profile picture

Laura Durnell

Creation never ends.

About Me

Professional: Writer. I earned my MFA in Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and my BA in Journalism from Eastern Illinois University. Right now I teach college writing at DePaul University to pay my bills.My fiction and non-fiction have appeared in Time, The Times of Northwest Indiana, Chicago Review, Book magazine, Chicago Artist’s News, Room of One’s Own, ACM (Another Chicago Magazine), Lake Shore Drive magazine, Chicago’s Subnation, and The Creative Woman.My fiction has also won awards and citations from Playboy magazine, the Mary Roberts Rinehart Fund, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Illinois Arts Council, Chicago Women in Publishing, and the Hobson Foundation. Currently, I am working on my first novel. In addition to my own literary art, I am interested in women's art overall.You can access samples of my writing at lauradurnell.com.Personal: Married to Bill Hincks, the sweetest and coolest guy ever, and living on the Southwest Side of Chicago with him and our Australian Shepherd-Sheltie mix, Teddy.
I Am An INFP
The Idealist
You are creative with a great imagination, living in your own inner world.
Open minded and accepting, you strive for harmony in your important relationships.
It takes a long time for people to get to know you. You are hesitant to let people get close.
But once you care for someone, you do everything you can to help them grow and develop.
You would make an excellent writer, psychologist, or artist. What's Your Personality Type?

My Interests

Writing, reading, swimming, Ashtanga Yoga, Pilates, religion, mysticism, music, studying the Kabbalah and the Italian language and Italian literature. (Much to my father's dismay, I am more Italian than Irish.) Which Muppet are You?
You are Kermit the Frog!! You are loyal to your friends and don't really know how to say No. No matter what you were doing, you would drop it in a second if a loved one was in trouble. You are also a born star. Everyone loves you!
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I'd like to meet:

Toni Morrison -- Her novel Beloved made me ashamed me to be a writer. It is so incredible. Harper Lee and JD Salinger--'nuff said. And finally, my guy, Keith Olbermann -- He's intelligent, witty, irreverent, and real. Plus he likes Family Guy!Myspace For Girls Only - MyGirlySpace.com

Music:

R.E.M., The Police, U2, Leave, John Lennon, Tori Amos, Patti Smith, Elvis Perkins, Laura Pausini, Dilana, Metallica, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Sarah McLaughlin, Liz Phair, Depeche Mode, Sam Saunders, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Columbia Monkey Knife Fight, Samantha Natalie, Roger Waters, Charlie Parker, Ministry, Sex Pistols, David Bowie, Concrete Blonde, Lenny Kravitz, Madonna, Bauhaus, Living Colour, Yaz (the band, not the birth control pill), Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Sonic Youth, Chet Baker, Pink Floyd, The Beatles, Velvet Underground, The Smiths, The Doors, Mozart, Saint-Saens, Beethoven, Saint Hildegard of Bingen.

Movies:

The Passion of Joan of Ark, Henry & June, The Bicycle Thief, Caddyshack, Stripes, Back to School, Borat, Amadeus, Hotel Rwanda, La Dolce Vita, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, The Producers, Blazing Sadles, Young Frankenstein, Rosewood, Play It As It Lays, Goodbye Again, Camille Claudel, High Art, Broken Flowers, Hustle & Flow, Basquiat, Ordinary People, Akeelah and the Bee, all the Harry Potter films. Which Harry Potter Character are You? (Female)
You are Hermione! Smart and feisty and very helpful. You can be a bit of an insufferable know-it-all though.
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Television:

Countdown with Keith Olbermann, The Daily Show, Family Guy, Sex & the City, South Park, Real Time with Bill Mahr, Charlie Rose, The Soup, All In the Family, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Da Ali G Show, Law & Order: SVU
You Are Expressionism
Moody, emotional, and even a bit angsty... you certainly know how to express your emotions.
At times, you tend to lack perspective on your life, probably as a result of looking inward too much.
This introspection does give you a flair for the dramatic. And it's even maybe made you cultivate some artistic talents!
You have a true artist's temperament... which is a blessing and a curse. What Art Movement Are You?

Books:

Fear of Flying and Fanny, Being the True Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones by Erica Jong; Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay, Sophie's Choice by William Styron; Anne Sexton's and Sylvia Plath's poetry; Play It as It Lays, The White Album, A Book of Common Prayer, Democracy, and The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion; Time Will Darken It by William Maxwell; Falconer and Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever; The Invisible Circus, Emerald City, and Look at Me by Jennifer Egan; The Bluest Eye and Beloved by Toni Morrison; Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger; Pigeon Feathers by John Updike; Exposure, Poison, and The Kiss by Kathryn Harrison; Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce; The Wheel of Love, Marriages and Infidelities, and Bellefleur by Joyce Carol Oates, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; Native Son by Richard Wright; Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky; Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy; Wise Blood and A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor, Art & Scholasticism by Jacques Maritain; Revelation of Divine Love by Julian of Norwich Which Classic Female Literary Character Are you?
You're Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibilty by Jane Austen!
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Heroes:

My husband; Elizabeth Edwards, Flannery O'Connor, Joan Didion, and Frida Kahlo

My Blog

Boycott ABC! Dennis Kucinich won the debate.

In yet another expample of how the United States is beoming a fascist state, ABC manipulated Dennis Kucinich's results of a question that asked, "Who won the debate?"  Last night Dennis pulled ov...
Posted by Laura Durnell on Tue, 21 Aug 2007 09:14:00 PST

Kucinich for President

Yesterday I watched on MSNBC the AFL-CIO Democratic debate here in Chicago.  Until now I didn't have a clear opinion of who to support.  Rep. Dennis Kucinich is the only candidate who reflec...
Posted by Laura Durnell on Wed, 08 Aug 2007 12:58:00 PST

Thank you.

Sorry I haven't been online much these days.  Busy and exhausted.  Hopefully everything will chill in the next few weeks.Thanks to everyone who wished me a happy birthday.  Bill and I w...
Posted by Laura Durnell on Mon, 06 Aug 2007 03:02:00 PST

I've Been Tagged - Here's My Ten

Thank you Joyce Akesson for tagging me.  Here we go: You play the game by describing 10 weird or different experiences in your blog, and then must tag 10 of your friends to do the same. These are...
Posted by Laura Durnell on Sat, 21 Jul 2007 04:07:00 PST

Oh my effing G-d!

This came from The Chicago Sun-Times's QT section --Flunking History 101The Case for Zero Tolerance of Modern School Administrators (cont'd):The new secondary history curriculum for British public sch...
Posted by Laura Durnell on Wed, 18 Jul 2007 11:34:00 PST

Check out my posting of Elvis Perkins's Letterman performance

I found Elvis Perkins's Letterman performance on You Tube and posted it to my profile.  He's immensely talented.  I can't stop listening to his album.  Doesn't hurt too that I have alwa...
Posted by Laura Durnell on Wed, 20 Jun 2007 09:56:00 PST

My new profile picture

In case anyone was wondering, Bill and I were driving down Cicero on Sunday and found this billboard at Quigley's Pub.  "Seeney" is Bill's nickname for me.  Of course we had to pull over and...
Posted by Laura Durnell on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 12:11:00 PST

Watch and Support Live Earth. Fight Global Warming.

Like Vice President Gore said, "It's not a political issue.  It's a moral one."See my post of Madonna's new video "Hey You."  She wrote the song for Live Earth on July 7.  At the end of...
Posted by Laura Durnell on Fri, 15 Jun 2007 02:18:00 PST

Elvis Perkins on David Letterman tomorrow night! A few words about his father too.

I am so excited.  Elvis Perkins, whose music I have fallen in love with, will perform on David Letterman (U.S.A. television) tomorrow night.  For those of you unfamiliar with him or his musi...
Posted by Laura Durnell on Tue, 12 Jun 2007 02:45:00 PST

Tired

I'm ready to sleep, and it's not even 4 p.m. Chicago-time.I finally got the chance to watch the film Bellyfruit that stars my friend Anthony.  His manager has been on his case to set up a MySpace...
Posted by Laura Durnell on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 01:29:00 PST