Liz Gumbinner

New York

Writer at I’m Walking Here

Writer at Freelance

Find me on Substack + Threads + Bluesky

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Articles

"He was the most rock-n-roll person we'd ever know"

1 week ago | lgumbinner.substack.com | Liz Gumbinner

Dee O’Brien was the teacher who made an eighth-grader fall in love with Shakespeare and Emily Brontë and Kate Bush. She taught with a voice bigger than her body, and a persona far bigger than her voice. She could recite sonnets from memory and wore purple as a rule. Sometimes, while reading a passage out loud in the wonderfully exuberant way that she did, her long black hair fell to the front and covered her chunky lucite 80s jewelry. She’d flip it back and I could stare at her earrings again.
7 things I love this week: Things that make me laugh, make me think, or make me wish I had a lot more money

2 weeks ago | lgumbinner.substack.com | Liz Gumbinner

Now that I’ve gotten yesterday’s emotion dump out of my system…welcome back to Things I Love. There are a lot of good things and small joys in the world and I really do love finding them and sharing them with other people. Today’s list includes a life-changing quote, a movie worth streaming, a movie worth paying for, a collection of hilarious Instagram videos, the bag I’m desperately coveting, the homes I’m desperately coveting, and what I’m drinking now that the weather is warmer.
I hate that I hate him.

2 weeks ago | lgumbinner.substack.com | Liz Gumbinner

A few weeks ago, I posted a simple statement on Threads. Just something I was feeling in the moment. You don’t even need to name him and we know exactly who you mean, said one commenter. The most relatable words I’ve read in a long time, said another. I keep trying to let it go, but every day there are new injustices and insults and outrages, wrote my friend Alexis.
I am officially a parent of adults. Plural.

3 weeks ago | lgumbinner.substack.com | Liz Gumbinner

I have often sent my children out the door yelling, “Have fun storming the castle!”Or sometimes I say, “Have a great time tonight! Be safe! Make good choices!”I’ve always thought of this as my core job: To keep my children happy and healthy and safe, of course — but also to grow them into adults who make good choices. Even and especially when I’m not around. This weekend, my youngest daughter turned 18. An adult. I am now officially aparent of adults. Plural. Which is a whole thing.
Maybe kids can own fewer dolls, says guy who could own fewer $100 million private jets

1 month ago | lgumbinner.substack.com | Liz Gumbinner

“Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of thirty dolls, you know, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally,” says the guy whose four-year-old son owned tens of dollars worth of stuffed animals and ride-on toys, when he was asked about the increasing impact of his fakakte tariffs. I’m Walking Here is entirely reader-supported and 100% broligarch-free. Subscribe to get new posts in your inbox.
My Family's Costco Go-Tos: Wrangling the Economic Chaos One 32 oz Jar of Kirkland Pesto at a Time

1 month ago | lgumbinner.substack.com | Liz Gumbinner

I became a Costco fan the day I realized that baby formula was so unconscionably expensive in my local pharmacy, they began locking it behind glass. Because the only thing a brand new mom likes more than overpaying for something that literally keeps her child alive, is the delightful uncertainty of waiting for a disaffected assistant manager with a key. Will he show? Will it be before or after the baby has a complete meltdown?
Change is coming.

1 month ago | lgumbinner.substack.com | Liz Gumbinner

Humans are not built to process change so quickly: The good and the bad. Our ears pop to protect us from the increase in altitude as our plane lifts its landing gear and soars. Scuba divers stop, hydrate, and rest to reacclimatize after a dive. We do not “blink” and our babies have become adults, although we like to say as much. Maybe that’s why spring feels so particularly needed this year: The slow progression from bare branches to sweet cherry blossoms.
7 Things I Love This Week

1 month ago | lgumbinner.substack.com | Liz Gumbinner

One thing I miss about my former job sharing cool stuff is, well, the sharing of cool stuff. It’s a habit for me to save the pitches that flood my inbox, and to bookmark (or Pin or Pocket or) them for later use. While I continue to keep my content free for everyone as much as possible, consider this a little added value for my generous paid subscribers. Plus, I’ll provide gift links to paywalled articles where I can. So…free gifts with purchase, I guess?
Less FAFO, more JOWO

1 month ago | lgumbinner.substack.com | Liz Gumbinner

There are some statements I see a lot online. They’re used in response to MAGA voters expressing varying degrees of remorse, or elected GOP officials, expressing varying degrees of concern or disagreement with the White House. Womp wompOh, lookie who’s just hit the FO phase of FAFO. Leopards/FacesHope you have the day you voted for!You know what I don’t see enough? Welcome! We’ve been waiting for you. So here’s a hastily coined acronym to consider:JOWO: The Joy of Welcoming Onboard.
Artists vs AI: The Starter Pack Smackdown

1 month ago | lgumbinner.substack.com | Liz Gumbinner

On LinkedIn, I’m privy to plenty of debates among the advertising, media, production, and creator crowd about AI. Can it be a useful tool? Yes. Can it create visuals that are a lot less impressive than what a talented artist or designer can create, while also compromising the life’s work, belief system, and even their livelihood? Also yes. With an exclamation point and in all caps. (YES!)And is it okay to pronounce AI A-One? I’ll just leave that there for now.