Illustration by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper is more or less being called out for expressing a political view at a Vista West “Happy Hour” gathering. In a letter to management, with a copy to the keeper, a “concerned resident” reported the keeper having said, “despicable things about …
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Category:Humor
Kickass and Republican Party
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis in Ripon for a Phyllis family reunion that went off without a hitch—no fistfights or political shouting. Following enjoyable family affairs, the keeper and Phyllis struggled with tech navigation in trying to find the historic Ripon “Little Red Schoolhouse” …
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Kickass and Great-Grandchildren
Attribution: Popular Graphic Arts, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is unable to give the keeper and Phyllis any meaningful assistance with keeping their great grandchildren in an orderly file in their obviously overloaded mental storage systems. One of the differences between grandchildren and great grandchildren is often proximity. …
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Kickass and Hair
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis as they discuss “hair,” the occasion being Phyllis’s “perm” that makes her look like a high school girl. Hair is one of those life-long issues that leans heavily on a genetic base and the vagaries of “dumb luck.” The keeper’s …
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Kickass September 18, 2025
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in noting that yesterday was “Constitution Day” marking the 250the anniversary of the framers signing the Constitution which more or less informed the king of England to pick up his trinkets and get the hell back to his little …
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Kickass and Meat Diet
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper burdened with the caveman residual survival sense that a life without meat—even one meal, is hardly worth living, while Phyllis promotes a diet of green plants and other things from “Mr. MacGregor’s” garden. The keeper does little to promote his case, …
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Kickass Goes to High School
Attribution: Nipponeselover, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper taking morning pleasure in watching the students stride across the parking lot on their way to Memorial High school over across Gammon Road. Tall, long-legged all with backpacks, the students of all shapes take the keeper back to …
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Kickass and Gutter Balls
Attribution: Photo courtesy of Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes how the keeper spends undue amounts of time reviewing the past to try to figure out if he missed anything. In a recent look at Madison in the 1960’s he discovered that among the many things he missed was the campaign …
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Kickass and Migrating to Paoli
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is at a loss to help the keeper with his current dilemma in which he has this inexplicable urge to go to Paoli, a small crossroads community just south of Madison. It was only through his keen ability to think analytically that the keeper was …
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Kickass and Birthday Thanks
Attribution: James Petts from London, England, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s deep appreciation to all of those who, with gifts and best wishes, encouraged him to get on with his 95th year after enough posturing and partying to launch a ship. Thank you. Thank you. …
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Kickass and 94th Birthday
Attribution: Nicolas Cianca, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is the first to remind the keeper that there is a lot of sheer luck involved in his being around for his 94th birthday as the most tragic day in US history is noted. On this day in 2001, the keeper …
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Kickass and Baby Book
Attribution: Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper as a first grandchild on his mother’s side relished all the perks that go with “first-grandchild” identity which included, back in the dark ages when he was born, a young mother keeping a detailed personal record of her newborn …
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