Gimbling in the Wabe | The Words I Have Etched on My Body
In 2012, LitStack Editor-in-Chief Tee Tate asked me if I would be interested in writing a weekly feature for the...
Gimbling in the Wabe
Why Do People Read Bad Books?
Recently I've been reading What Makes This Book So Great, by Hugo and Nebula Award winning author Jo Walton. In...
Of Words and Dogs and Little Fishes*
I feel so blessed that I can "work" from home as a book reviewer, essayist and occasionally as a literary...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Inspiration in Transitions
Today at the dog park, one of the topics discussed by us "8:30 regulars" included high school graduations. It is,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Too Many Books
This week, I'm reposting one of my very favorite Gimblings - a little poem I wrote a few years ago...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Seeing the Story
In the first telling of the tale, I don't pick up the book at all. It is a very short...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Gimbling into the Sunset
Back in November 2012, I wrote my very first Gimbling in the Wabe. It was the brainchild of LitStack's Editor-in-Chief,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – What I Want for Mother’s Day
I was watching television the other day when an ad came on informing me that for this Mother's Day, "smart...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Beautiful Addiction
Hi, my name is Sharon. I'm a library request addict. It used to be I would only request a few...
Gimbling in the Wabe – “The Journey” by Mary Oliver
For the final Gimbling in the Wabe of this year's National Poetry Month, I am highlighting a poet who, to...
Gimbling in the Wabe – “Renascence” by Edna St. Vincent Millay
Edna St. Vincent Millay was already a published poet in her teen years, but it was at age nineteen when...
Gimbling in the Wabe – “Home” by Warsan Shire
Poet and activist Warsan Shire April is National Poetry Month, and in honor of that I am stepping a bit...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Allowables by Nikki Giovanni
It's April, which has been declared National Poetry Month; a celebration of poetry created in 1996 by the Academy of...
Gimbling in the Wabe: “What our Orgasm Type says About our Personality” (and other cheap ways to get attention)
Wait....what? Did I just read what I just read? An "article" in my Facebook feed that was titled "What our...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Be Nice to Josie Day 2017
Monday is "Be Nice to Josie Day." For me, it's not the first day of Spring, or the 20th of...
Gimbling in the Wabe – It’s On Us
Poor Emma Watson! She shows some skin in a fashion photo shoot - yes, decidedly evocative skin- and suddenly she's...
Gimbling in the Wabe – On Paul Virilio, Integral Accidents, the Internet, the Olympics, Doctor Who, Feral Kittens and Not Going to Sea Without a Life Jacket
Recently, I read Elan Mastai's novel All Our Wrong Todays, and in it he referenced cultural theorist Paul Virilio, who...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Say It Ain’t So
With all that's happening in the world today, with everything that deserves attention and activism, this diatribe of mine may...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Something New Every Second
The other day I was reading Michael Gibney's Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line, an engaging look at a...
Gimbling in the Wabe – From Point A to Point B
I've never been good at drawing connections between things. I'm perfectly fine with Point A and Point B being distinct...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Importance of the Nonsensical
It's been a rough week and I've been at a loss on what to write, so I decided to look...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Planting Flowers
This translated political cartoon by Spanish artist JM Nieto simply resonates with me. It originally appeared on January 1...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Twelfth Night
Christmas for me always ends on January 5. We leave our holiday lights on through the night of the 5th,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Favorite Books of 2016
The "Best Books of 2016"? Pul-eeze. Unless one has a universally agreed-upon metric that can be applied to every single...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Why the Bells Chimed
My father was a minister, and for many years, a highlight for me was the Christmas Eve services he held...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Gift of Reading
I tend to be one of those people who obsesses over gift giving. I don't get a chance to do...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Tis the Season (for me to give suggestions for the science fiction and fantasy readers on your gift list)
It's that time of year again, when thoughts turn towards warm and cozy, hearth and home, and the giving of...
Gimbling in the Wabe – About this Safety Pin Thing…
Recently I read an article where a man, who probably thought he was well meaning, attacked those who have started...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Making a Difference
A small boy lived by the ocean. He loved the creatures of the sea, especially the starfish, and spent much...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Tigers in This Picture
A Rant About Clickbait of All Shapes and Sizes on Facebook (and Other Social Media Platforms) * ~ * ~...
Gimbling in the Wabe – You Have to Hear It to Believe It
I don't normally do this for my Gimblings - linking to a site rather than writing my own essay. But...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Making Sausage
In last week's 2nd Annual NerdCon: Stories convention, held at the Minneapolis Convention Center, I attended a panel discussion entitled...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Own Wanderings Through M. T. Anderson’s “Symphony for the City of the Dead” (Pt 2)
... in which I jump right in from where I left off in my first installment of my thoughts on...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Own Wanderings Through M. T. Anderson’s “Symphony for the City of the Dead”
NOTE: This is written as if it were being told to an acquaintance, say, someone that I saw regularly at...
Gimbling in the Wabe – RIP, W. P. Kinsella
On Saturday, September 17, 2016, Canadian author W.P. (Bill) Kinsella died at age 81. The news didn't make a lot...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Wherein I Rant about Manipulative Advertising
Words are amazing. They give voice to the essence of being human, they are how we share who we are,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Glorious Failures
My daughter was looking over the syllabus from a college English class that she had just started, and she was...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Story Unto Themselves
Over the last few years I've been writing the "Literary Birthday" blurbs that appear Monday through Friday on the LitStack...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Own Genre of Postcards, My Own Genus of Photographs
"A book is not an isolated being: it is a relationship, an axis of innumerable relationships." - Jorge Luis Borges...
Gimbling in the Wabe – What Michael Phelps and I Have in Common
Well, the honest answer to "what Michael Phelps and I have in common" is, practically nothing. He's a young, strong,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Persistence
On summer nights - well, on many nights, really - I end the day out on my front porch, in...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Sometimes When I Read…
Sometimes when I read, it's like a lovely summer's day when the sun is shining but it's not too hot,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – It’s Too Danged Hot!
Dang, it's hot. Too hot. I know you folks in Southern climates may well be guffawing at us Northerners now,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – I Have a Son
I have a son. He's 26, works the late shift in the medical pharmacy at the University hospital. Sometimes at...
Gimbling in the Wabe – What is a Writer?
(Due to this nasty thing known as a "deadline", this Gimbling in the Wabe is a repeat of one first...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Clarity
Today, I plugged new headphones into my iPod and entered nirvana. That may seem somewhat dramatic, but trust me, it's...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Everything is Going to Be Okay
Late last Sunday night, in the wake of the shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, I held my...
Gimbling in the Wabe – An Interesting Little Experiment
Last week, I was trolling around on the internet (as I am wont to do), and I came across an...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Thoughts on June Bugs
I hate June bugs. Yes, I realize "hate" is a powerful, laden word. I realize that it should not be...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Words, Words, Words
Polonius: What do you read, my lord? Hamlet: Words, words, words. ~William Shakespeare Although it can certainly be argued to...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Peanuts and Crackerjacks
This is my favorite time of year. Baseball season. Early spring, and it's still cool out. We've yet to hit...
Gimbling in the Wabe – What I Want for Mother’s Day
This Sunday is Mother's Day, so here is the post I wrote a few years ago to share what I,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Flights of Angels Sing Thee to Thy Rest
I suppose it could be portrayed as being somewhat spurious - a pale, doughy woman on the far side of...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Our Shakespeare
Saturday is the 452nd anniversary of what we believe was the birth date of William Shakespeare, and the 400th anniversary...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Sometimes It Snows in April
Since my plans for an original Gimbling in the Wabe went a bit off the rails this week, I'm taking advantage...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Tangible Authors
I am an extremely lucky person. At times when I am feeling particularly magnanimous, I would even say that I...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Wherein Andy Weir Blows My Mind (well, kinda sorta)
I didn't know anything about Andy Weir until I read his novel, The Martian. It even took me a while...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Thousand Words
* This Gimbling was first published in 2013.* Anyone who has eaten a ripe, juicy peach knows how messy they...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Sneaking Into Comic Book Fandom by the Side Door
Every Wednesday is notable at my house, because it is the day that new releases hit the shelves of our...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Too Many Books
An oldie, but a goodie. Enjoy! Too Many Books I have books upon the windowsills and books piled up on...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Trash and Treasure
I will be the first to admit that I walk slowly. I don't even really walk - I stroll. It's...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Rather Petty But Nonetheless Tragic Tale of Woe (and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson)
This is a tragic tale of procrastination, of frustration, of yet another good intention ground into the paving stones of...
Gimbling in the Wabe – That Which Goes Crash in the Night
A few nights ago, I woke at 4:30 in the morning. This, unfortunately, is a fairly common occurrence, but given...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The View from Here
Recently, there was a bit of hullabaloo and a great deal of chortling when rapper B.o.B. "dueled" over Twitter with...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Winter and Reading
The bulk of this Gimbling in the Wabe came from one I had posted three years ago; it's also, I...
Gimbling in the Wabe – No Parking on Thursday
The signs are up in the street in front of my house: No Parking on Thursday - Tree Work from...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Endings and Beginnings, For Better or Worse
There are two conventions prevalent at the turn of the New Year of which I am highly skeptical: "Best Of"...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Gift to You
I've posted this before, but it bears repeating, especially at this time of year. My father was a minister, and...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Personal Literary Highlights of 2015
It's that time of year - when everyone comes out with an end-of-the-year "best of" list. Maybe I'm more...
Gimbling in the Wabe – In Praise of Difficult Genre Fiction
Recently, I was fortunate to read, in close succession, three masterful works in the science fiction/fantasy genre that I would...
Gimbling in the Wabe – May I Quote You on That?
Once again, I beg your indulgence in enjoying (hopefully) this encore viewing of a Gimbling that appeared back in 2013...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Remarkable Possibility
Due to my participation in NaNoWriMo, I again beg your indulgence in allowing me to revisit a Gimbling that first...
Gimbling in the Wabe – You Just Never Know
Because I've been busy participating in NaNoWriMo, and because there are only so many hours in the day, I've fallen...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Wherein I Talk to Lev Grossman About Something that You Might Not Expect
You know the saying, "don't judge a book by its cover"? Well, you shouldn't judge an author by his publicity...
Gimbling in the Wabe – That Which Passeth All Understanding
Someone was shot in the alley on my block last Sunday. He died of those gunshot wounds on Monday morning. ...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Having Fun With Stories
I had the good fortune last week of attending the first ever NerdCon: Stories, a two day convention dreamed up...
Gimbling in the Wabe – On Children and Censorship
Okay, so…. I know my memory isn’t what it should be. But I can’t remember ever – not once –...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Of Hobbits and Elves and Tales of Nostalgia
This being “Hobbit Week” (or rather, an extension of “Hobbit Day”, which is generally celebrated on September 22, believed to...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Of Dogs and Rainy Days and Eponymous Adjectives
It was a rainy day at the dog park today, and not many people (or canines) were romping around the...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Blinders
(In which there is profanity as a point of discussion and talk of partial nudity in the same vein; even...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Filters
In Linda Nagata’s excellent real world sci-fi thriller, The Red: First Light, the main characters struggle to grasp the concept...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Acknowledging Who We Are
On Wednesday, August 26, a television reporter and her photographer partner were gunned down while conducting a live interview during...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Miserable Fiction
This Gimbling first appeared in November 2013. I was reading a book the other day. It was a very good...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The View from My Soapbox
Every time I see one particular television commercial for the Hyundai Tucson CUV (which I learned is an acronym for...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Beautiful, Beautiful Words
There are quite a few memorable first sentences in literature: "Call me Ishmael." "It was the best of times, it...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Beer and a Brat
This week, a friend gifted me with tickets to the Twins game that happened to fall on the day I...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Daydream Believer
We humans are so divergent in who we are, how we react and respond, in how our minds work and...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Extra Innnings (or, How Do You Play the Game?)
In honor of the Major League Baseball Game, played earlier this week in Cincinnati, I am resurrecting a 2013 Gimbling...
Gimbling in the Wabe – That to Which We Cleave (and No, This is Not About Confederate Flags)
The topic for those of us gathered at the dog park this morning was chiefly the weather: how beautiful it...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Gift of Jacqueline Carey
The other day, one of my daughter's friends returned some books she had borrowed from us about a year ago: ...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Ode to Teddy
So, I had oral surgery earlier this week, and while I'm recovering nicely, it really threw me for a...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Of Role Playing and Story Telling
Recently, an interesting article came up on the Tor/Forge blog, or at least one that was very interesting to me...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Ten Books that Made Me Who I Am
So, there was yet another Facebook "game" going around where the person tagged was to list ten books that had...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Lifeline, Anchor, Deadweight
Today, I did something that was - honestly - repugnant to me. I returned a slew of books...
Gimbling in the Wabe: Those Perfect Moments
Please indulge me if I repost a Gimbling in Wabe from back in 2012, but today is so beautiful, and...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A “Wild” Week in the City
It's been a pretty "wild" week in the city. No, I'm not talking about civil unrest, political wrangling, professional sporting...
Gimbling in the Wabe – What I Want for Mother’s Day
This Gimbling in the Wabe was first published for Mother's Day 2014. I was watching television the other day when...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Of Things That Really Don’t Matter
It's going to be a pretty short Gimbling in the Wabe this week, not because I've suddenly lost my gift...
Gimbling in the Wabe – For the Love of Shakespeare
Although this will post the day after William Shakespeare's birthday, I'm writing it on the anniversary of the day that...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Beating the Ninja
I was playing Star Wars The Old Republic the other day. It's a video game, an MMORPG (MMO for short),...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Eat Them Juicy Peaches
(This week's Gimbling in the Wabe is a retooling of an essay I wrote in 2013, one that has been...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Things You Learn…
I am currently reading The Severed Streets, sequel to Paul Cornell's exemplary supernatural crime novel, London Falling, and the concept...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Sticks and Stones
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me. Back when I was a child, the old...
Gimbling in the Wabe – When the Cigarette Doesn’t Burn
The other day I was watching the latest episode of a dramatic television series that I had found surprisingly good:...
Gimbling in the Wabe – To Be a Rising Ape
I’d rather be a rising ape than a falling angel. ~ Terry Pratchett Terry Pratchett died on Thursday. A man...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Words, Words, Words
This is a repeat of a Gimbling in the Wabe from 2013. Polonius: What do you read, my lord? Hamlet: Words, words,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Transmedia, As I’ve Known It
My daughter, who is a cinema studies major in college, is currently taking a class that explores the fairly new...
Gimbling in the Wabe – In Which I Divulge a Secret
I have a secret I'm going to share with you. It's not that searing of a secret, just something I...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Doing the Unthinkable
I did the unthinkable this week. I culled my books. Some of you may remember the Gimbling in the Wabe...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Curling Up With a Good Book, Redoux
This is a reworking of a Gimbling in the Wabe I wrote in back in 2013, but it felt especially...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Top Ten Books of All Time
Writer and editor J. Peter Zane has done a most wonderful thing: he's come up with a list of the...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Better Than Winning
So now we have the brouhaha over how much punishment - if any - should be given to the New...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Karma in the Snow
The Mighty Belle and I got busted the other day. My fault. I know that letting your dog run free...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Je Suis Charlie
"...I'd rather die standing up than live on my knees." Those words, spoken in 2012 by Stéphane Charbonnier, lead editor...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Baker’s Dozen of My Favorite Books of 2014
If tasked with assembling a single shelf of books from 2014 that I most wanted to keep close by, these...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Gift to You
My father was a minister, and for many years he held Christmas Eve services for the churches in his...
Gimbling in the Wabe – That Which Surrounds Us
This is a Gimbling in the Wabe that first appeared in December of 2012 ("Have I really been writing this...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Baker’s Dozen from a Notable List and Whatnot
Recently, the New York Times came out with their list of 100 Most Notable Books for 2014, and the literary...
Gimbling in the Wabe – To Read or Not to Read: What Really is the Question?
We've all seen the adage, "So many books, so little time!" I myself find this to be so very true...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Words, Words, Words
This week, I'm under the gun. My slave-driving editor has me working on another project, so I haven't had...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Wherein I Confess to Yelling at a Delivery Truck Driver and Feeling Really Bad About It
I yelled at a truck driver the other day. Not just a "hey, buddy" sort of thing, but a get-out-of-my-car...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Tale of Dread and Caution
You want scary for Halloween? I'll give you scary. Not blood and guts scary, not monsters or zombies or axe...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Pebble in His Shoe
“The past is a pebble in my shoe.” ― Edgar Allan Poe Ah, life. It is fascinating. Life stories are...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Right Idea
From the Smitten Kitchen Sometimes, the hardest thing about writing a weekly column is coming up with a good idea.Often...
Gimbling in the Wabe – What We Choose
So I was tooling around on Facebook last night - something I do far too often - and I was...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Second Chances, Redux
This week, I was planning to write on the unhappy phenomenon of banned books. However, every time I sat down...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Library Request Addiction
Hi, my name is Sharon. I'm a library request addict. It used to be that I would only request a...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Any Ordinary Day
Forgive me a moment of reflection, if you will. This will not be a literary post, but it is one...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Frivolity of Flippant History
Last weekend I made my yearly trip to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival - one of the oldest and largest Renaissance...
Gimbling in the Wabe – I Can Live with That
DISCLAIMER: This column is full of my opinions and musings; it is in no way meant to disparage - or...
Gimbling in the Wabe – It Bears Repeating
This week, I'm copping out. It was a difficult week for many reasons, and as the deadline for getting something...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Something New Every Second
The other day I was reading Michael Gibney's Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line, an engaging look at a...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Giving Us the Stars
I think it's fairly obvious that I love reading. More often than not, I read books that have me delighting...
Gimbling in the Wabe – What’s In a Name?
Book titles tend to be one of two things: a verbatim description of the tale contained within, or else wildly...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Lament for the Grape Vines, Now Gone
I believe we all have touchstones in our lives; ordinary, simple objects and occurrences that resonant deeply in the individual...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Importance of the Nonsensical
In today's modern world, it's so very difficult to escape Things Being Important. Climate change, partisan politics, international tensions, terrorism. ...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Just for the Moment of It
I went to the Mall of America today, to take my daughter to return a pair of shoes to DSW. ...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Much Ado About Nothing
On June 6, 2014, freelance journalist Ruth Graham wrote an article for the online magazine Slate entitled "Against YA" that...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Short and the Shorter of It
I've come to know of an organization called Revolver. On its Facebook "About" page, it says "Revolver is an arts and...
Gimbling in the Wabe – In Honor of Maya Angelou
I consider myself to be fairly well read. At the very least, I read a lot, and I try to...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Transience as a Library Book
So, I'm reading Jodi Picoult's excellent novel The Storyteller (which I was finally able to pick up at the library)...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Springtime Rant in the City
Those of us who live in the northern climates glorify in the passing of winter into spring. Evencold weather enthusiasts...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Glorious Failures
My daughter was looking over the syllabus from a college English class that she had just started, and she was...
Gimbling in the Wabe – What I Want for Mother’s Day
I was watching television the other day when an ad came on informing me that for this Mother's Day, "smart...
Gimbling in the Wabe – What is a Writer?
So what is a "writer"? Common sense would tell us a writer is "one who writes", at least using the...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Why Do People Read Bad Books?
Recently I've been reading What Makes This Book So Great, a gathering of essays by Hugo and Nebula Award winning...
Gimbling in the Wabe – On Being Diligent
A friend of mine related a story of how he was talking to his young daughter the other day, and...
Gimbling in the Wabe – An Argument for “Conscious Uncoupling”
So for a few moments, the corner of cyberspace that I tend to hang out in was all abuzz with...
Gimbling in the Wabe – In Which I Make a Confession
I have a confession to make. I'm a wimp. Not in everything. I'm a competent person; some who know me...
Gimbling in the Wabe – It’s “Be Nice to Josie Day”
In this week's Gimbling in the Wabe, I'm unapologetically revisiting a piece I have posted here before (although I've updated...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Mini-Rants
I took last week off Gimbling in the Wabe; after writing three fairly epic works (for me), I was kind...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Of Dogs and Books that Bind
Of Dogs and Books that Bind It was pretty darned chilly at the off-leash dog park this morning. The sky...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Momentary Lapse in Reality
This is the third in a series of my reminisces of traveling to Soviet Russia in May - June 1989,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Best of Times, the Worst of Times
This, it turns out, is the second of three Gimblings that recount a trip I made to Moscow, Russia in...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Glimpse of Mother Russia
If I take one thing from the Winter Olympics currently taking place in Sochi, Russia, it won't be images of...
Gimbling in the Wabe – No Room at the Algonquin
I pretty much live in awe of folks who can, without aid, quote a great work, or a great speech,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Art of Going Slow
One of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from a horse master. He told me to go...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The God of Frolic
A few days ago, I took the Mighty Belle to a "new" off leash dog park. It wasn't new, truly,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Wherein Our Heroine Has a Bad Dream…
They've promised that dreams can come true - but forgot to mention that nightmares are dreams, too. - Oscar...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Adding Hominy to That
Yesterday, I had to do something that was quite sad - I had to call and cancel our subscription to...
Gimbling in the Wabe – In Homage to the Professor
Today is the anniversary of JRR Tolkien's birth; the Professor would have been 122 - a ripe old age, indeed,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – My Favorite Reviewed Books of 2013
Over this past year, I have reviewed 73 books for LitStack. Many of these books have been absolutely fantastic; a...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Too Many Books
The other day, a wordy site I follow on Facebook, "Word Porn" (meh on the name, but hey), gave me...
Gimbling in the Wabe – In Reflection After Thanksgiving
We have a pretty no frills Thanksgiving tradition in my household. Every year, the family (as many of us as...
Gimbling in the Wabe – the Crux of the Biscuit
Every time I hear someone keening about the threat that some new technology, gadget, application, movement or fad poses to...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Kurt Vonnegut and Other Little Streams of Consciousness
A poster has adorned a room in my house ever since it first served as a nursery for my newborn...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Miserable Fiction
I was reading a book the other day. It was a very good book, extremely well written, very imaginative. The...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Eleanor & Park, and Second Chances
I wanted to read Eleanor & Park to discover what all the fuss was about. I have to preface this...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Extra Innings: How Do You Play the Game?
It's not whether you win or lose It's how you play the game. From 2004 until 2010, Nick Punto played...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Late Innings: Beer and a Brat
It is my belief that in order to truly enjoy baseball, you need to have experienced baseball. That doesn't mean...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Early Innings:Peanuts and Crackerjacks
This is my favorite time of year. After the heat and humidity and through-the-wringer of summer, the year has morphed...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Thousand Words
If a picture paints a thousand words Then why can't I paint you? The words will never show the you...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Happy Birthday to George
Once upon a time (September 20, 1948, in fact) a baby boy was born to a longshoreman and his wife...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Story Unto Themselves
Recently, I've started helping out at LitStack with their new "Literary Birthday" feature, where Sara Teasdale from Monday - Friday,...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Letting Our Words Speak Volumes
(I am constantly marveling at the power our words have, beyond just ourselves. This is an updated version to an...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Nose Skin and the Age of Raccoons
The other day I was sending a correspondence to LitStack Editor-in-Chief Tee Tate, and I used the phrase, "it's no...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Clarity
Today, I plugged new headphones into my iPod and entered nirvana. That may seem somewhat dramatic, but trust me, it's...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Word’s the Thing…
Recently, I read an article on Slate about how they were no longer going to refer to Washington’s NFL team...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Ode to Teddy
Ode to Teddy (by guest writer, the Mighty Belle) As Teddy leaves the park today I won't see him again....
Gimbling in the Wabe – Will and Me
My kids owe their lives to William Shakespeare. No, really, they do. But let me back up a bit. I'm...
Gimbling in the Wabe – All That You Can’t Leave Behind
A few weeks ago, a dear friend of mine had to evacuate from his home near Idyllwild, CA, due to...
Gimbling in the Wabe – More Than Words Can Say
It was a Friday night, and the pizza was about ready to come out of the oven. The Twins game...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Simple Power of Words
Words are powerful. No doubt about that. Whole civilizations have risen and fallen on the power of words. Words can...
Gimbling in the Wabe: Where I Write (Not to Be Confused with ‘Wherein I Write’)
My local newspaper will sometimes run interviews with famous and/or emerging authors, and interestingly enough, one of the standard questions...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Reflections on My Daughter on Her Birthday
In this week's Gimbling in the Wabe, I beg for a mother's indulgence. Today, as I write this, it is...
Gimbling in the Wabe – On Being Average
I have a few Facebook friends who are really into fitness, specifically, into running. They often share results of their...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Remarkable Possibility
In ancient times, there were nine muses (or four, or three, depending on the source), divine creatures that served as...
Gimbling in the Wabe – And Now for Something Completely Different
This is what happens when a long winter, a grey spring and an idea that has lain dormant far too...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Peek Inside My Thoughts on Reviewing Books
I truly enjoy writing book reviews, but I enjoy reading them, too. My favorite part of the Sunday newspaper is...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Nameless Teacher I Never Forgot
This week, our editor Tee assigned a Staff Pick for us to write about our favorite teacher, or the one...
Gimbling in the Wabe – You Just Never Know
The other night I was watching BBC America (ah, Supernatural Saturdays!) when Joseph Gordon-Levitt was a guest on "The Nerdist". ...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Those Perfect Moments
It happened again this morning. I had taken the Mighty Belle out for our morning walk to the park, and...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Sometimes It Snows in April
Sometimes it snows in April Sometimes I feel so bad, so bad Sometimes I wish that life was never ending...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Love’s Labour’s Revisited
Last November, I reviewed an amazing book about an amazing occurrence in an amazing place. The name of the book...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Of Music and Spring and Damnable Hope
It seems like lately I simply cannot wash the dishes without first plugging into my iPod. (Yes, I still hand...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Impossibility of an Uninteresting Life
There was never yet an uninteresting life. Such a thing is an impossibility. Inside of the dullest exterior there is...
Gimbling in the Wabe – Hey, Batter, Batter!
I enjoy sports, but I love baseball. I mean, I Really Love Baseball. Mid-January through mid-March are barren for me,...
Gimbling in the Wabe: Au Revoir, Ma Belle Écriture!
When I was in grade school, we learned cursive writing. Everyone did. The three R's: reading, "w"riting and 'rithmatic. But...
Gimbling in the Wabe – A Book by Any Other Name
A Book by Any Other Name This past Christmas, I finally got an e-reader. Nothing fancy, just the basic...
Gimbling in the Wabe – As Much a Friend as Those Who Breathe
It doesn't happen very often, when a time in your life is evoked in a very powerful way; when the shadows of...
Gimbling in the Wabe – In Praise of Letters
I promise, I won’t make this a diatribe on the lack of personalization in society today, nor will I bemoan...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Great Dog Ear Debate
The Great Dog Ear Debate A while ago, I responded to a post on Facebook where I mentioned something to...
Gimbling in the Wabe – The Best and the “Worst” of Winter Reading
As promised, this Gimbling will take on two specific titles. They have to do with my recommendations on books for...
Gimbling In The Wabe – Curling Up With A Good Book
It’s January up here in Minnesota, which means that it’s cold. It’s almost always cold in Minnesota in January –...
Gimbling in the Wabe: The Best Of, In My Humble Opinion
It’s all the rage at this time to come out with massive amounts of “Best Of” or “Top” of the...
Gimbling in the Wabe: That Which Surrounds Us
I am surrounded by books. Even as I write this, there are two sitting on the arm rest of my...
Gimbling in the Wabe: A Gift of Literary Spice
Ok, so maybe you hate the idea that EL James is Publishing Weekly’s “Publishing Person of the Year” and are...
Gimbling in the Wabe: Sharing the Gift of Reading
Sharing the Gift of Reading I tend to be one of those people who obsess over gift giving. Not that...
Gimbling in the Wabe: Words of Power
When I was young, we were not allowed to swear. Nor to take the name of the Lord in vain. ...
Gimbling in the Wabe: Words, Words, Words
Polonius: What do you read, my lord? Hamlet: Words, words, words. ~William Shakespeare Although it can certainly be argued to...
Gimbling in the Wabe: Whence Cometh My Help
I would love to write a novel. Not (necessarily) the Next Great American Novel, but something substantial, something tangible, something...
