Kickass and 73-Year-Old Notes

Attribution: Photo by Olya P on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper suffering through the unexpected discovery of notes he wrote 73 years ago as he was waiting for his Army discharge and enrollment at the UW “J” School. He will not be sharing the notes with Phyllis as they would demand excessive …
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Kickass and Gut Punch Memories

Attribution: Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, turns it over to the keeper on the cool, rainy morning of 9/20/26 with advice on dealing with the gut punches of memory that sometimes knock the wind out of innocent reminiscing. Nobody goes through life without unpleasant experiences of their own making and …
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Kickass and the Profane Monarch Butterfly

Attribution: Photo By/CreditMeg Hedeen/USFWS By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper claims to have overheard a Monarch butterfly use profanity as it was grabbed by UW scientists who burdened it with a navigation reporting device just as the Monarch was about to head south for the winter. The exact wording is …
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Kickass and Fixing the Toaster

Attribution: Photo by Oktomi Jaya on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has known the keeper forever as a “fixer.” Raised in an era when if something stopped working you “fixed” it and life went on. Add to that the fact that the keeper grew up in a family of talented “fixers” undaunted by any broken …
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Kickass and Campfire Companions

Attribution: Photo by Honza Reznik on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, poses the keeper’s question of the day: Why DON’T people eat dogs and cats, as has been hinted at by our outrageous demented leaders. It began with the keeper wondering how the dogs and cats came to make such self-serving evolutionary deals as they cozied …
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Kickass and Old Age Demonstrations

Attribution: NASA/Carla Thomas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be attending the family gathering today to mark the keeper’s 95th birthday, and suggests that maybe too much is being made of one number in a series that the keeper plans to keep going until decency returns to the White …
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Kickass Shares the 9/11 Date

Attribution: Yolanl, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has not received a personal invitation to sit at the Legacy Table with the keeper and Phyllis today as Vista West celebrates its 5th birthday, but he might show up anyway.  This upcoming weekend of marking special dates is a bit overwhelming …
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