better to reign in Hell

Lunch at the Lodge

Florida He was already at the table when Lanying and I sat down. Big guy, maybe sixty-five, seed cap, the kind of handshake that's trying to tell you something. His wife was small and quiet and spent most of lunch cutting her food into smaller pieces than it

The Fire

We Walked Away From On July 17, 1955, the people of Arco, Idaho went to bed not knowing what had just happened to their town. About 1,200 of them, most of them ranchers and their families, in a little city in the Snake River desert. Before the experiment, everyone

They Want the Power

They Don't Want to Share It Missed Tuesday. Sick, miserable, and horizontal for the last few days. Still not entirely upright but close enough to write again. Back to work now. More coming. The data centers, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, are consuming electricity that would stress a national

It's Still Tuesday

The Minnesotan at the bar is looking at me like I've just claimed to have grown up on the moon. "You grew up here? In Key West?" Yes. "Like, actually here? As a kid?" As a kid. As a teenager. On these streets, in