Category Archives: Casual Friday

[I said something to Teri this morning in email that made me want to kick this story back to the top. –GSS]  How to slay dragons A Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie story And now I am a man-killer. We live with the consequences of our choices, and we cannot fail to live with all the consequences […] Continue reading →

At a certain age, you come to feel you’ve got a pretty tight bead on things. Wife, home, kids, job — everything just seems to come together. But then you find out that you’ve built your life on solid quicksand. I’ll tell you my story. I don’t expect you to believe it, but it’s as […] Continue reading →

[Kicking this back up to the top. The citrus blossoms are opening, and their heavenly aroma always takes me back to this story. It’s Springtime in the desert, and all the world is green. –GSS]  Xavier’s destiny A Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie story “Madre de dios…!” Mrs. Marquez said that, and it seemed a fair estimate […] Continue reading →

[Kicking this back to the top from March of 2007. — GSS] I wrote this in 1996, I think. This was a fun story for me, a chance to play with two characters I like a lot. Brian Brady has wondered about locales in these stories. There always is one, a real place where the […] Continue reading →

This is an extract from a book I wrote in 1997 called The Unfallen. This amounts to me letting people I make up speak for me, too, but it’s apposite to the larger conversation, and it’s good, I think. I like art about adults, and this is fun for me because we get to watch […] Continue reading →

A canticle for Kathleen Sullivan A Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie story I got to the hospital after visiting hours, but the nurse led me to the room anyway. “There hasn’t been anyone,” she confided. I pursed my lips in grim acknowledgment. “That’s why I’m here.” Inside the room the patient looked like purple death. It was […] Continue reading →

A Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie story by Greg Swann Here’s what happened: I had to stop walking because I was sick. You may not know it, but on top of all the other scourges it entails, the state really has it in for itinerants. You may never have wanted to run off to Alabama with a […] Continue reading →

[I grew up in a grimy little industrial town called Danville, Illinois. It wasn’t until I was four years old that I stumbled onto an atlas and discovered why I had felt so much out of place from the day of my birth. I graduated from Danville High School two years early — and left […] Continue reading →

Once upon a time there were three little pigs, and, although they were brothers and looked a lot a like, they could not have been more different. The first little pig was hard-working and thrifty. He spent very little of his income, saving and investing as much money as he could. He lived with his […] Continue reading →

Courtney at the speed of life A Ramblin’ Gamblin’ Willie story “Lord-a-mercy!” I said in my thickest southern drawl. “Somebody tell god to take the rest of the week off. He has made perfection, and there ain’t no topping that!” The beautiful blonde woman scowled and blushed at the same time. It made her look […] Continue reading →