Kickass and the Spoon Player

Attribution: Wolfgang H. Wögerer, Wien, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis were hosted by neighbors Marsha and Jack to sit in on a zoom session with their friends, one of whom did a six-song performance of playing the spoons. It was a remarkable show, …
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Kickass and Dog Shelter

Attribution: Photo by Hermes Rivera on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, in an effort to help the keeper and Phyllis understand what contrary things are occurring in their world encourages them to think of themselves as being stray mutts in a corporate-owned animal shelter that has a contract to provide dog meat to North Korea …
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Kickass and Going to the Moon

Attribution: NASA / USGS (see PIA04304 catalog page), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, stayed home as the keeper and Phyllis went across the street to the Memorial High School Planetarium for a great “heart”-themed show that refreshed their perspectives that as tiny heaps of casually arranged cells, they …
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Kickass and Grandpa TJ

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper’s clan today as it celebrates the birthday of patriarch T. J. Stokes who, if he were still with us, would be 141 years old. Party arrangements and appropriate photo are provided by cousin Pat Turgeson , with fragmentary memories of Grandpa …
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Kickass and Stupid Cupid

Attribution: Photo by Volodymyr Tokar on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has his application in to replace Cupid with “Stupid” as the Valentines Day symbol in keeping with the current trend for utterly unqualified candidates assuming positions of great responsibility.  As the keeper becomes widely known as Valentines Day “Stupid” and …
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Kickass Stays Inside

Attribution: U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Justin Weaver, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, cautions the keeper to restrain his inclination to smugness over the fact that when winter comes roaring back from its AWOL status with ice and snow and cold wind, the keeper’s “Independent Living” lifestyle at …
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Kickass and Dog Show

Attribution: Photograph: Bohemianroots, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be relaxing now that a giant Schnauzer named Monty has taken best-in-show honors at the 2025 Westminster dog show.  Adapting the keeper’s philosophy about that kind of thing, which holds that if he had been there he would have …
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Kickass and Driver Numbers

Attribution: Tokumeigakarinoaoshima, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is not involved in the keeper’s project of more publicly identifying drivers as is done in Japan where drivers over 70 are encouraged to display an identifying symbol to get them “more consideration” from other drivers. The keeper is suggesting that …
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Kickass and Super Bore Fans

Attribution: Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper staying in contrary character on this Super Bore Sunday by passing along a portion of the lead from a cover story he did for the Chicago Tribune Sunday Magazine issue of Apr. 4, …
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Kickass and Old Cousin Photo

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in appreciating cousins, the keeper being motivated by a wonderful old family photo sent along from Barron, WI. by his cousin Pat Turgeson. The photo, taken at Vermillion Lake where the clan frequently gathered for Sunday picnics, produced such …
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Kickass and Talking Plant

Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in appreciating recent research reports having to do with the seemingly limitless communication capabilities of plants, particularly since it could explain the mysterious relationship between the keeper and the frozen geranium out on the keeper and Phyllis’s balcony deck.             *Keeper steps …
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