Tag Archives: writing

My Regan Hangover: Four Hurricanes, forty-six years, and a political headache that never quite went away.

Posted on October 31, 2026 by 34orion

If you’ve enjoyed this little excursion through my memories, politics, and questionable drinking habits, you might enjoy my new novel, The Green Flash. It’s a story about friendship, love, loss, and the people who never quite leave us. Unlike American politics, it features characters you might actually want to spend time with. Available on Amazon in paperback, hardcover, and Kindle. Click here to buy The Green Flash. You’ll be supporting an independent author, which is considerably more rewarding than supporting a billionaire. At least this one says thank you. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Eighty-Year-Old President and AI

Posted on October 3, 2026 by 34orion

An interview with Brazil’s Lula becomes an unexpected lesson in leadership, education, tariffs and artificial intelligence. Along the way, AirPods translate Portuguese, Trump provides the contrast, and AI’s promise collides with a familiar problem: trusting powerful industries to regulate themselves. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Shoot, Ready, Aim

Posted on September 30, 2026 by 34orion

Conspiracy theories no longer require particularly good conspiracies. They merely require a wisp of information—a text message, a photograph, a name, the word “Hawks”—plus enough ideological enthusiasm to spin the pieces together into conspiratorial cotton candy before anybody asks whether it is worth getting your hands sticky. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Not America’s Mayor

Posted on September 7, 2026 by 34orion

Rudy Giuliani was once called “America’s Mayor.”

It was a fine title. Grand, flattering, patriotic—and, as it turned out, issued before anyone bothered to read the fine print.

On September 11, 2001, he was my mayor, and in that terrible moment he gave New Yorkers something we desperately needed: steadiness, visibility and hope.

Twenty-five years later, history has had time to clear the smoke.

My latest: Not America’s Mayor. Continue reading →

Posted in opinion, personal essay, Politics and Society, Trump Opposition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

9/11 Plus 25

Posted on September 5, 2026 by 34orion

Twenty-five years ago, I watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center from my office window.

What I remember most is not only the horror, but the strange quiet that followed—the empty streets, the smoke over the city, and the way people instinctively looked out for one another.

A quarter-century later, I find myself thinking less about what happened that day than about what we learned from it—and how much of that lesson we seem to have forgotten.

I wrote about that morning, the days that followed, and why September 11 still matters. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dolly Would

Posted on August 29, 2026 by 34orion

A long layover, a Dolly Parton rabbit hole, Linda Ronstadt, Neil Young, and one uncomfortable question: how much of our happiness are we willing to hand over to politics?

Dolly had a pretty good answer Continue reading →

Posted in Humor / satire, opinion, personal essay, Politics and Society, Trump Opposition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Powerball Presidency

Posted on August 16, 2026 by 34orion

I didn’t win the Powerball, but somewhere around the twentieth virtual floor of the Empire State Building, I realized America may be running a different lottery. The prizes increasingly flow upward, the ladders below keep disappearing, and the biggest jackpot may now come with an oath of office in Washington. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Ted Lasso Way

Posted on August 9, 2026 by 34orion

Six years ago, when everything felt broken, a fictional football coach showed up with a yellow sign that said BELIEVE.

This week, watching Washington turn grievance into theater yet again, I found myself thinking about Ted Lasso, Anthony Fauci, optimism, and one line that feels especially useful right now:

“Don’t fight back. Fight forward.”

New piece: The Ted Lasso Way Continue reading →

Posted in covid, Humor / satire, opinion, personal essay, Politics and Society, Trump cuts, Trump Opposition | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What We Do In The Shadows: The White House Edition

Posted on August 2, 2026 by 34orion

I wasn’t looking for vampires. They found me—first while I was trapped in Staten Island traffic, then in Washington, where one especially needy specimen has turned the entire country into his emotional-support animal.

A little tale about What We Do in the Shadows, Truth Social, and the exhausting experience of being governed by a man who feeds on grievance, attention and whatever joy America still has left. Continue reading →

Posted in Humor / satire, personal essay, Social Media, Trump cuts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cheeto Dust

Posted on July 19, 2026 by 34orion

Went for a walk to clear my head. Came back with a eulogy for my cat, some inherited wisdom about fairy dust, and a working theory that Cheeto dust is its evil twin. New essay is up. 🧡🪄 Continue reading →

Posted in Humor / satire, personal essay, Trump Opposition | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment