gwembel
gwembel.com
gwembel
@gwembel.com
Reader & puzzle game player. Interested in science, culture, math, music, art, education. Politically liberal work-within-system. Hobby-writer of Interactive Fiction IF text adventure (stories about time travel/magic/humor/mystery). Wife, mother, grandma.
‪🪐📚 💙

Recently enjoyed listening to the fantasy audiobook "Drumindor," which is an extension of The Riyria Chronicles by Michael J. Sullivan. I'm reminded of how much I like ALL of his books. For books connected to the Riyria stories, maybe start with "The Crown Tower" or "Age of Myth."
November 1, 2025 at 12:35 PM
WHY VOTE? (for President, Congress, & more)

Because there’s a chance to make things better. And a CERTAINTY that NOT voting will make things worse.

Empathy lights the path. Cooperation moves us forward.
#Vote
October 25, 2025 at 8:32 PM
IMHO: Yay for whatever encourages empathy and informed voting, like wearing yellow or frog-protesting. #nokings
October 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM
My daughter-in-law asked me /why/ these porcupines crossed the road. Perhaps the answer to that question is
a) 42
b) not 42
c) both 42 and not 42
d) neither 42 nor not 42
e) turtles all the way down
f) all of the above
g) none of the below
August 29, 2025 at 8:18 AM
📚💙🪐
I really like the Murderbot series of books/audiobooks. Funny, thoughtful, suspenseful, clever action, and sort of contrary to what one might expect after seeing "murderbot" in the series title. The Murderbot TV series on AppleTV also seems good so far.
June 15, 2025 at 8:10 PM
Not my photo, just my eyes seeing hope in youngsters who'll try to repair the world. May empathy guide them to resist the reflex of collective blame, to seek truth from evidence, to plan creatively, to cooperate w/o prejudice, and to persist in trying alternatives to simplistic cynical violence.
May 3, 2025 at 7:40 PM
"We've already tried everything else. Time for violins."
"Couldn't we try a crwth?"
"Too little, too late, too hard to spell."
"Maybe we could buy a vowel from Euan."
"Euan?!?# You can't trust him not to syncopate."
(1/4)
April 13, 2025 at 6:06 AM
If the world is in a handbasket with an ETA of (let's say June or so) and someone asks where are we going, and if you can't decide which of your inner wolves to feed (Hopeful-Fixer vs. Cynical-Quitter vs. Burn-Everything-Monster vs. Distraction-Survivor) but you would prefer that the wolves (1/2)
April 9, 2025 at 9:18 PM
March 23, 2025 at 10:57 PM
Seascape Storm 1 by Robyn Drake
2024 painting, oil on canvas, 40in x 60in

Painter Robyn Drake, after having been raised on an Iowa farm and educated in Chicago, is based in Moon Bay California.
February 25, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Jane Morris Pack
Olive Tree, 2023
Gold leaf, oil, and shellac on masonite panel, 8 x 11 inches

Jane Morris Pack is a contemporary American painter living in Greece.
February 23, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Timothy Barr (American Artist, born 1957)
"Evening Glow", 2024
Oil on Panel, 40.6 × 30.5 cm (16 × 12 in)
February 22, 2025 at 5:25 AM
Elon Musk sues Lego because of pulled advertising on X. Inside story: Musk pouted when his Lego minifigure was mocked. "Those curled fingers do a ridiculous Zieg Heil," fellow Nazi-philes scoffed. "Looks like a Roman soldier on Special K trying to grab Greenland."

#Musk #Lego #Greenland
February 2, 2025 at 3:21 PM
(2/3) ...their translucent feet. "Surprisingly, the blood rushing in before 'toe off' appears to help salamanders detach rather than attach. By slightly inflating the toe tip, the salamanders reduce the surface area in contact with the surface they are on, minimizing the energy required to let go."
February 2, 2025 at 1:18 PM
I'd love to hear about time-travel stories that you recommend or that influenced you (with or without pics, thumbnails, reviews): books, short-stories, films, tv, radio, interactive fiction, games. Yay cross-genre! 💙📚 #TimeTravel #BookSky #FilmSky #sff #sciencefiction #fantasy #sci-fi #romantasy
January 21, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Recommended: In Barbara Hambly's Sun-Cross series (2 books, "The Rainbow Abyss" & "Magicians of the Night"), wizards use a portal to connect to our own world. Sorcery-adventure-romance, good guys vs. the Third Reich.
💙📚 #fantasybooks #romantasy #bookrecs
January 19, 2025 at 11:56 PM
"City of Dark Magic" by Magnus Flyte: While working in a Prague castle, musicologist Sarah Weston meets a 400-yr-old dwarf, intriguing Prince Max, Ludwig van Beethoven himself, & a senator with CIA secrets. Mystery-conspiracy-spy-thriller-magic-realism-romcom.
💙📚 #fantasybooks #romantasy #bookrecs
January 19, 2025 at 11:27 PM
Claude Monet, The Boat Studio, 1876
January 4, 2025 at 5:40 PM
January 1, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Hugo Henneberg, The Blue Pond, 1904
#art #painting
January 1, 2025 at 3:37 AM
December 31, 2024 at 1:09 PM
Avocado timing problems are part of who they are. Being too late or too early for them is inevitable.
December 30, 2024 at 4:51 AM
Today, former President Jimmy Carter passed away at the age of 100. Serving as US President from 1977-81, he championed peace, most notably through the Camp David Accords. After his presidency, he dedicated his life to humanitarian efforts, earning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.
December 30, 2024 at 12:28 AM
Foil-wrapped chocolate coins are debating the issue of whether they want the plumbing at the Dreidels' house to run out of hot water before sunset on Wednesday.
December 24, 2024 at 8:04 PM
Mirror Lake by Franklin Carmichael (Canadian Group Of Seven)
December 24, 2024 at 2:53 AM