Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, assists the keeper and Phyllis in stepping into 2023 as if they owned it. The daily miracle of their being together at this juncture in their lives is not taken for granted, nor is their plain old presence on this flat earth. The first day …
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Category:Books
Kickass and Wisconsin Weather Adjustment
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries to stay out of the way as the keeper and Phyllis–well, mostly Phyllis, do the final adjusting necessary to get their book “Treeson” into the hands of clamoring readers–at least the keeper claims that there is clamoring. What he hears may be friends …
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Kickass and Phyllis are Having a Book
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis are having a book and are at the stage where labor pains indicate it is either going to happen soon or they are going to be kicked out of the delivery room. Having a book at the keeper’s …
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Kickass and Treeson
Photo by TJ Watt, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, shares good vibes with the keeper regarding trees, and notes that he–the keeper is in a final draft of his book “Treeson” which is an apology to all the trees that went into making the paper to print his …
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Kickass as an Optimist
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper was invited by neighbor Jim Beck to speak at a breakfast meeting of the Optimist Club over across the street at a public-school facility. It went well, even to the point of nothing lethal being thrown at the keeper as …
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Kickass and Feeling Sorry for Self
David Marranis; LBJ Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Kickass, the doorstop dog, cannot control the keeper’s inclination to feel sorry for himself which was on prominent display recently when he was prevented by health circumstances from attending the Madison Library event that offered three of the major “must-attend” ingredients: Something free—a book, invigorating discussion, …
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Kickass and Phyllis Reading
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper appreciates the advantage of a reading wife as Phyllis shares with him snatches of whatever book she is currently into. Part of the enjoyment of this for the keeper is in noting the depth of pleasure and stimulation that writers bring …
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Kickass and Spoon River Anthology
Gravesite marked with Silhouette of Edgar Lee MastersKenrossalex, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that buried deep in the keeper’s memory landfill is a layer that includes “Spoon River Anthology,” in which Edgar Lee Masters writes free verse epitaphs of those “sleeping on the hill” in his imaginary …
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Kickass and Kyle’s Movie
Photo by Lê Minh from Pexels By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis got a fascinating exposure to the complexity and difficult of movie making from nephew Kyle Hauseman-Stokes when Kyle and the keeper’s brother Orville visited; and Kyle showed a preliminary version of his movie about the heart-rending relationship between two …
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Burning Down the House
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Teachers are losing control of their classrooms, and it’s not because students have gone wild. No, the kids are not taking over the schools. They’re just fine. In fact, a student revolution wouldn’t be nearly as disturbing as what’s really going on. It’s the Republicans that are attacking …
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Kickass and Banning Books
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is trying to assist the keeper in getting his novel—Margaret’s War banned; and has only succeeded in getting Phyllis to toss it out of the kitchen when the keeper carelessly leaves his ever-present promotional copy too close to a stove burner. Nothing is …
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Kickass Does Book Promo
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper will be talking about his novel “Margaret’s War,” today before the residents of Vista West where he and Phyllis live. It promises to be a tough crowd, including such luminaries as Ted Tibbits who guided the UW project of growing potatoes …
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