Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, takes his hiking advice from Phyllis who has hiked in every national park in the continental US and has a hiking stick covered with park medals to prove it. She has also hiked portions of Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail, as has the keeper, who …
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Kickass and Scissors Sharpeners
Attribution: National Archives and Records Administration, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, acknowledges Phyllis and turns it all over to the keeper on this day of Aug. 18, 2026. The scissors sharpener came ambling down the country road with his little bundle of worldly goods and a blank expression …
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Kickass and Dementia Talk
Attribution: Andreas Bohnenstengel, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, listened as the keeper and Phyllis hosted Phyllis’s granddaughter Taylor and friends Ann and Jason in an afternoon of conversation that covered the typical medical/insurance/response issues and then lingered over the mixed-age group on the obligatory subject of dementia. …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Best 21st Century Drive-In Double Features
Attribution: RoyBuchanan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter A former cultural mainstay of my youth, the drive-in movie theater, is dying a slow death. Once one of the most ubiquitous entertainment institutions in the country—and what could possibly be more American? A venue that combines cars, movies, and parties. Of course. I, and millions …
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Kickass and the Wolf River
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, listens to the keeper’s message that in these days of calamitous and contrary events some really good things still happen. One of those good things was last week’s meeting of the DNR board at which the generosity and environmental conscience of the citizenry was …
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Dialogues on Primary Schooling: Anatomy of an Upset
Attribution: WisPolitics.com, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Dave S., Mark M., Mark O., Dennis C., John K., Michael D., and Geoff Carter Plugged-in bots may have noticed that there’s been something of a seismic event in the Democratic primary race for Wisconsin Governor. Yeah, David Crowley and Missy Hughes withdrew. Yawn. …
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Kickass Visits Kid Brother
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, as one who misses his littermates, envied the keeper as he and Phyllis checked in with the keeper’s “little” brother Orville with lunch at Elizabeth and Hucks, Orv’s daughter and son-in-law. Reminiscence ran as deep as it gets, and just when an older brother’s …
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Kickass and Stay-Home Plan
Attribution: File:Keep Calm and Carry On Poster.svg by User:Mononomic / derivative work by Atirador, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has never chased cars and will not be doing so in the foreseeable future as the keeper informs him that the price of gas in Wisconsin is at an all-time …
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Kickass and Wisconsin-Minnesota Trade
Attribution: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, suggests that there are days when it is best to ignore the Keeper’s activities and this may be one of those days as he tries to bring together the elements of a trade …
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Downriver
Attribution: Photo by Jonas Jaeken on Unsplash By Geoff Carter When I was about twelve years old, I used to walk home from school past a savings and loan that had a deposit envelope dispensary mounted outside its front door. It was supposed to be used for after-hours deposits. All you had to do was pull out the …
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Kickass and Elective Office
Attribution: Photo by Dmytro Koplyk on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, woke from his nap late Tuesday to hear the keeper comment to Phyllis that the primary election results again showed no votes for dog catcher. History shows that this was not always the case: from settlement days, a “dog catcher” was a common elective …
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Kickass and Ted Lasso Appearance
Attribution: Excerpt from https://youtu.be/E5idMLhGAO8?si=sqmfAkQ3lFsIp9oC By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is trying to assist the keeper with the fallout from his very brief appearance in an episode of the Ted Lasso show as it dealt with baseball memorabilia. And there was the keeper when he was a 21-year-old uniformed soldier standing next to Satchel …
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