On my 72nd (and final) airplane flight of the year. A personal record I'd prefer never to beat.
My superlatives:
Best airport: Indianapolis, now and forever
Best lounge: Delta One Lounge at JFK
Worst airport: LAX
Most Improved: La Guardia
Best Speckled Floors: Miami, an otherwise awful airport, has fake fossils embedded in the floor. I like little reminders that we are always walking upon ancient life.
Most overrated enterprise: Chasing status at airlines that don't actually care about you even though you, in your humanness, can't help but anthropomorphize Delta.
Worst airline: Frontier and Spirit are in a terrible, terrible tie.
Best drink: The single biggest surprise of 2025 for me was an Old Fashioned I had at TGI Friday's in the Atlanta airport. I expected it to be oversweet and stuffed with fruit, but it was perfect--spirit-forward, slightly sweet, and a perfect orange peel.
Best chapel: All airport chapels are great, but I like the one in Minneapolis a lot.
Best bookstore: Barbara's in O'Hare, and I'm not just saying that because they stocked Everything Is Tuberculosis longer than most airport bookstores.
Worst plane snack: Mixed nuts but it's all goddamned almonds.
Best plane snack: Biscoff cookies remain undefeated.
