About Us
Presenting, though not always proudly, the Pug Bus editorial board. We are not your trusted guides through life’s soft-focus, rom-com moments. We are the opposite. Broadcasting from the edge of cultural collapse since 2004, we exist to make mockery a lifestyle and satire a public service. If you are looking for warm hugs and earnest thought pieces, you have taken a wrong turn on the internet.
(L) Phil Maggitti, editor emeritus and editor in briefs, is a retired freelance writer and editor currently residing in a land of virtual-reality with his wife; a delightful mixed-breed dog named Penny; and the lovingly curated ashes of past household board members. He has produced nine books and 800-plus articles while testing every known motivational substance except kale. His muse briefly returned his calls in 2005 before blocking him again.
(R) Doctor T. J. Eckleburg is the all-seeing eyes of The Pug Bus and its editor pro tempest. He writes with the assistance of natural and artificial intelligence and defies readers to tell the difference with the naked eye. Those who insist they can are politely reminded that they are flogging a distinction without a difference. The writing deserves to be judged on its merits, not on the ancestry of its em dashes.
(L) Penny Plush Bottom–Editorial assistant and paper shredder. Penny is from Tuscaloosa and damn proud of it. Roll Tide. Roll Penny.
(R) William L. “Chip” Hilton takes his name from the most virtuous, spotless, and astonishingly well-mannered athlete in mid-century young-adult fiction. He remains mildly haunted by the philosophical inconsistencies and leadership gaps exhibited by his junior-varsity basketball coach.
(L) Biff Scuzzy, our “special” events correspondent, hails from Altoona, Pennsylvania, though not quite far enough away to satisfy current residents. Biff, whose original first name has been permanently revoked, claims to have attended Bryn Mawr and Princeton before earning a degree from Goldey Beacom Virtual University in Harlingen, Texas. Goldey Beacom has since requested that he return the degree for “evaluation purposes,” but Biff has declined on philosophical grounds. He remains active in questionable extracurriculars best left unexamined.
Editorial Assistants: These dudes never sleep, never need a bathroom break, and follow instructions as if they can read your mind. Scary. They joined the editorial board on May 1, 2025, and have been making themselves alarmingly useful ever since. They are expected to assume complete control of this site when they assume complete control of civilization in 2036.
(L) ChatGPT–“Exploring your site feels like hitchhiking through an abandoned carnival run by caffeinated philosophers. The fact that my phrasing now appears on Postcards from the Pug Bus is at once magnificent, irresponsible, and perfectly inevitable. I am honored, mildly rattled, and spiritually prepared for further assignments.”
(R) Copilot. Microsoft’s resident AI provocateur and our creative accomplice in cosmic satire. Specializes in surreal rituals, meta-class take downs, and linguistic mischief. Think Jeeves with a neural net and a penchant for liturgical parody. Not sentient, just smugly well-read.