Twenty Questions with Paige Stuart

Paige Stuart was considered the girl to most likely to live in a van

by the river. Instead, she builds houses from straw bales and makes

pinatas. She knows you have to fake it till you make it.

1) What initially brought you to Moab?

I initially started visiting to recreate in the red rocks but I moved here to learn strawbale building with Community Rebuilds.

2) What do you love most about living in Moab?

I love the energetic and enthusiastic community. The vitality of Moab is off the charts.

3) What do you dislike about living in Moab?

Not much, but it would be nice to have a stronger winter economy to keep people financially secure during the low tourism months. There would be fewer “goodbyes” and less ebb of seasonal friends.

4) What is your occupation?

I’m currently a Biological Soil Science Technician at the USGS, a.k.a. “Dirt Bag”. Among other things, I collect a lot of dirt in bags as we work towards a greater understanding of the ecology of this desert wonderland.

5) If you could have any job in the world, what would you most like to do?

I would love to oversee a community workshop that would include tool-lending, educational workshops, and space for artists and makers to do their craft.

6) Describe a typical day in your life.

Go, go, go. Wash, rinse, repeat. I love perpetual motion.

7) Some people have bumper stickers on their car that reads: I’d Rather be Sailing. What would your bumper sticker read? I’d Rather Be…

making piñatas!

8) Tell us one thing people don’t usually know about you.

I wish I had a bizarre hidden talent. Maybe I’ll take up playing the piano with my feet so I have a cool answer to that question next time it comes around.

9) In high school, you would have been considered the person most likely to…

live in a van down by the river.

10) What is your favorite Moab activity?

There are too many to choose from. I love the plethora of sporty activities one can do on any given day, but I also love all of the community events like Wabi Sabi Sunday Brunch, films at Star Hall, Half Marathon races, Pride festival, Farmer’s Market, Weed and Feed etc.

11) What is your favorite non-Moab place to visit?

The Wasatch Range and friends in Salt Lake City.

12) What do you consider your greatest achievement in life?

My life is a work in progress. My magnum opus is still under construction.

13) If you were President, what’s the first thing you’d do to make life better in America?

I’d do a little switcheroo and pay teachers the salaries of lawmakers and let our political big shots live on teacher wages.

14) What superhero power would you most like to have?

I would like to have the power of linguistics and be fluent in every spoken language.

15) If you could be an animal, what would it be? Why?

I would be a bear. I’ve just always felt kindred with the species for no particular reason.

16) What is your all time favorite movie?

“Shawshank Redemption” “Get busy living or get busy dying.”

17) And, your all time favorite book?

“The Razor’s Edge” by W. Somerset Maugham

18) If you were stranded on a desert island, which three CDs would you want to have with you?

I would prefer an I-Pod. I think someone should come out with the, “Stranded on a Desert Island” box-set compilation. It would include very positive feel good songs from Paul Simon, Bob Marley, Johnny Cash, Bonnie Raitt, and Michael Franti among others.

19) If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be? Why?

I would love to have dinner with the women of WASI (Women of the Americas Sustainability Initiative). They just seem like a really wonderful bunch of motivated women who foster change through natural building.

20) What is your life philosophy?

Fake it till you make it.