Attribution: Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper’s latest winter survival technique is to imagine that the Vista West building that he and Phyllis live in is actually a big cruise ship with an uncertain itinerary; and one of the daily entertainment opportunities is to try to guess …
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Month:January 2024
Kickass in The Deeryard Overnight
Attribution: USFWS Mountain-Prairie, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, comments that it is not as if the keeper runs so short on memories that he must constantly recycle them, it is that some of those memories seem to somehow gain status with the passage of time and demand repeated …
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Dialogues on 2024 Predictions: Meet the New Boss
Attribution: Photo by Colton Sturgeon on Unsplash Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Mark M., Dave S., Mark O., Dennis C., Paul C., and Geoff Carter Bots, It is often said (by me) that predictions are hard. Especially when they involve the future. But today, feeling introspective on this last day of the year, as beautiful snow flurries create a …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Anatomy of a Fall”
Artwork by Michael DiMilo ★★★★1/2 The Slippery Truth: Film Review of Anatomy of a Fall Truth, especially in today’s age of informational—and misinformational—excess, is an elusive beast. We are surrounded by conspiracy theorists, science skeptics, and straight-out liars. Politicians, pundits, and opportunists twist and bend the truth into weapons to further their—usually—personal and professional agendas. …
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Kickass Goes Bobsledding
Attribution: Father of JGKlein, used with permission, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in operating in that statistical area of life expectancy of men being less than for women, and also noting the risk involved in growing up with older male cousins and their friends. The …
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Kickass and Authentic Dumbness
Attribution: Dmitry Racer, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will do his best to assist the keeper in sorting through artificial intelligence—AI, and authentic dumbness—AD, based on the following circumstances: *The keeper turns the engine off and listens on the car radio while waiting for Phyllis at a medical …
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Kickass and Winter Escapees
Attribution: ECP from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, assists the keeper in sending an early winter notice to those who temporarily left Wisconsin some months ago to avoid hazardous ice, deep snow, bone-chilling cold and endless commercials for winter-related maladies: OFFICIAL WINTER ABSENTEE NOTICE Your …
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Kickass and Ice Runner
Attribution: Theodore Mitchell Hastings, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, assists the keeper in the following: Young man running. Across parking lot ice. Running to school On a morning so nice. Running to meet Another day of his life Maybe see that girl– A prospective wife. You never know, …
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The Joey’s Song Concert 2024: A Night to Remember
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I was recently invited to go to the recent Joey’s Song concert in Madison, Wisconsin, by my brother-in-law Michael DiMilo (also a gifted artistic contributor to the Pen in Hand). Michael had been asked to create some of his signature animations for the show, which is an annual …
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Kickass and Iowa Relatives
Attribution: kallerna, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, indulges the keeper as he reviews the system of immigration that stole the country from the Native Americans and got everyone where they are today, specifically how some of the keeper’s predecessors filtered through Iowa, and one—a favorite uncle, even went …
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Kickass and Big Pickups
Attribution: Elise240SX, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports on the good fortune of the keeper and Phyllis in escaping an intersection collision thanks to the interference run by the driver of a big black pickup. While the keeper was simultaneously making the turn with the pickup, a car …
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Kickass and the Big Globe
Attribution: Wuselig, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has no clear understanding of just how to juggle indifference and caring as he and Phyllis share the planetary ride with those who cause widespread death, starvation and limitless misery in the name of power, ethnicity, skin …
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