Michael Rene Zuzel
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michaelzuzel.com
Michael Rene Zuzel
@michaelzuzel.com
words | music | photos | voice
Author, “Sunday Specials: Classic and Contemporary Cocktails for Every Weekend of the Year” (forthcoming)
Narrator, “Hero Redefined: Profiles of Olympic Athletes Under the Radar”
michaelzuzel.com
cuisinestupide.com
How I’m walking out of 2025
December 30, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Reposted by Michael Rene Zuzel
What I always hear: “We can’t afford to pay our workers more than $15 an hour.”

What I never hear: “We can’t afford to pay our CEO millions of dollars a year.”

Funny how that works.
December 29, 2025 at 11:00 PM
This is what keeps me hopeful: the vision that one day, we will feel the euphoria and gratification of obliterating everything this walking turd has built. Bonus if he’s still alive and is forced to watch it happen.
Trump is increasingly worried about his own mortality, and he's trying to use government to create a physical legacy that will outlive him.

Which is why every bit of it must be torn down and smashed to bits.

My latest at Public Notice: www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-rena...
December 29, 2025 at 6:45 PM
“Good guy with a gun” strikes again
Man Charged in Fatal Shooting During Backyard Target Practice
www.nytimes.com
December 29, 2025 at 12:07 AM
This was the best Bond
December 28, 2025 at 5:31 AM
post a perfect album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam, or alice in chains.
December 28, 2025 at 5:27 AM
Reposted by Michael Rene Zuzel
Just a reminder that there’s not much you can do about the orange menace. But you can get involved locally and build. Maybe even take over your local Dems. Because fun fact, that’s what the far right did. Those guys participated consistently at every level for decades and that’s why are where we are
December 27, 2025 at 5:46 PM
I can’t buy Plymouth Gin anywhere within 50 miles of here, but this sewage is available in abundance.
Was at the liquor store earlier today, and... what
December 27, 2025 at 5:28 AM
‘Twas the night after Christmas

And all thru the house

Not a bartender was stirring

Because 10-Minute Martinis are neither shaken nor stirred

🍸
December 27, 2025 at 5:23 AM
The best way to find gold is to lick your pickaxe.
What was your takeaway from Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, when you watched it at a kid?
a stuffed reindeer with a red nose and a white tail
Alt: Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer
media.tenor.com
December 25, 2025 at 6:04 AM
True friends know that when you get a new instrument, you need a matching ornament.
December 25, 2025 at 5:59 AM
Reposted by Michael Rene Zuzel
December 24, 2025 at 7:42 PM
Reposted by Michael Rene Zuzel
This Christmas Eve, let us remember that it wasn’t the CEOs and billionaires who saved us during COVID-19. It was the janitors, nurses, cleaning crews, grocery and food workers with their hard, often invisible labor.
December 24, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Michael Rene Zuzel
I firmly believe we're going to survive this era -- broken, hobbled, with decades of rebuilding that will not be finished in my lifetime -- but we are going to survive and every asshole who collaborated in the effort to destroy this country will forever wear the stain of it.
December 23, 2025 at 12:38 AM
Reposted by Michael Rene Zuzel
I'm a journalist and I agree.
i say this with nothing but love for all of you to whom this applies, but the moral rot in elite journalism is because journalism is a trade and it should be done by tradespeople and instead it's been professionalized in a way that makes it cozy to capital instead
December 23, 2025 at 4:43 AM
Reposted by Michael Rene Zuzel
The holidays are an especially awful time of year. If you or someone you know is struggling with depression and/or thoughts of self harm or suicide, help is available.

Call or text 988

www.thetrevorproject.org
Support Homepage
The Trevor Project is a non-profit suicide prevention organization that provides 24/7 crisis support services, research, and advocacy for LGBTQ+ young people.
www.thetrevorproject.org
December 21, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Reposted by Michael Rene Zuzel
The Vanity Fair photographer from the Susie Wiles story.

Holy. Shit.

www.washingtonpost.com/style/power/...
December 17, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Time to post this again. Giving to others without expecting any recompense or even acknowledgment is the true spirit of the season. And that season should last all year round.
Tree Story Highlight of the Christmas Season
By Michael Zuzel The Columbian December 29, 1988
medium.com
December 14, 2025 at 5:32 PM
Reposted by Michael Rene Zuzel
omg. Kat Abughazaleh just posted that if she's elected, she'll swear in on a copy of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower.

If you were elected to public office (never mind whether you'd ever actually run), what book would you swear in on?
December 9, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by Michael Rene Zuzel
just get in, I ain't got time for all that explainin shit
(donuts)
December 5, 2025 at 11:37 PM
This place was invaluable to me as a young home brewer, not only for supplies and equipment but also knowledge and wisdom. I'll never forget the time the staff steered me away from my notions of creating lagers and pointed me instead toward steam-style beers. One of my creations later won awards.🍺
Portland’s oldest brewing supply store to close after 108 years
The store was a cornerstone of Portland’s expansive craft and home brew scene.
www.oregonlive.com
December 5, 2025 at 8:13 PM
Reposted by Michael Rene Zuzel
On the day that @opb.org CEO Rachel Smolkin posted this video, saying OPB’s funding gap of $5 million was closed, I was also told by the Chief Content Officer that Hush was canceled. Eighty percent of my income, and my health insurance - gone. I was given no reason for the cancellation. 1/x
opb.org OPB @opb.org · Nov 5
OPB has closed this year’s $5 million budget gap created when Congress ended federal funding. Our work is not done. A strong future for free and fair journalism requires your support.
https://www.opb.org/pressroom/presidents-update-funding-cut-update-building-trust/ 
December 3, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Today is the day! My friend Debbie has brought a great new mystery into the world. Check it out!
Yep, it’s happening. Mark your calendars! “Vineyard of Lies” is out Dec. 3.
December 3, 2025 at 8:05 PM
A bright yellow sweater purchased from a sporting goods store closeout rack in 1982 — 43 years ago. Shows absolutely no sign of wear, probably because it’s 100% synthetic fiber. The clothing equivalent of a nylon rope. Will certainly outlive me. May outlast the apocalypse.
What’s the oldest article of clothing you still wear? I just pulled out a 29-year-old puffy coat that is still plenty puffy.
December 3, 2025 at 6:10 PM