Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper using his chest cold to excuse his not participating in the “polar plunge” that has become part of the Winter Solstice celebration in his former Mazomanie neighborhood. As the big bonfire blazes, it has been the custom for celebrants to jump …
Read
Category:Kickass
Kickass and Shortest Day
Attribution: Photo by Kacper Szczechla on Unsplash Kickass, the doorstop dog, suggests to the keeper that on this shortest day of the year, even though he has lived for some 33,680 days of varying lengths and loved every one of them, he might follow suit and post one of the shortest Kickass messages of the year: MERRY CHRISTMAS to …
Read
Kickass and a Gift of a Cold
Attribution: NIAID, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, cannot help but admire the way the keeper and Phyllis dealt with the Christmas gift exchange issue by sharing a common cold. It was apparently Phyllis’s idea as she shopped around until she found a cold that suited her and after …
Read
Kickass and Santa Assignments
Attribution: John Malmin, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Kickass, the doorstop dog, indulges the keeper on this pre-Christmas day as he–the keeper, speculates on just what crazy assignment the late State Journal city editor Glenn Miller might have hatched up were holiday things in place as they were back in Madison in the 1960’s. Once …
Read
Kickass and Willie’s Birthday
Attribution: Robbiework, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joined the keeper and Phyllis in watching the parade of old country music stars celebrate Willie Nelson’s 90th birthday on Sunday night TV, and proclaimed the time well spent considering the age group involved and alternative entertainment options. As a symbol of …
Read
Kickass and Roger’s Dream
Attribution: Robert William Buss , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in asking, what are friends for if not to admire and envy, and such was the case with him and Phyllis in a post dinner conversation with Sandra and Roger about dreams and dreaming in which …
Read
Kickass and Sister’s Birthday
Picture by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in wishing the keeper’s younger—by only 15 months, sister Norma a very happy birthday as she greets this day and every day with typical independence, alone in her Cherry Valley house with family nearby ready to celebrate with a …
Read
Kickass and Lovesick Elk
Attribution: Photo by David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in drawing useful lessons from the love-sick Wisconsin elk that left its comfortable Black River Forest home, stopped briefly in McFarland and then crossed over into Illinois only to be struck and …
Read
Kickass and Iditarod Dogs
Attribution: Frank Kovalchek from USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, allows the keeper to revisit good memories under the heading of why not? It is mid-December 1987 and southern Wis is getting a 17-inch snowfall. But the keeper, on the Chicago Tribune payroll at the time, is not …
Read
Kickass and New Watch Band
Attribution: hypo.physe, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s experience of applying his peasant mentality to shopping for a band for the wristwatch somebody gave him years ago. First he was conditioned by ads in the NYT that neighbor Jim hands off on a daily basis, …
Read
Kickass says, “No, Virginia”
Attribution: Virginia O’Hanlon , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper is aware of the discomfort that bad news brings, but in the interest of truth and honesty must pass along the results of extensive traditional journalistic research and announce: “No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus!” …
Read
Kickass Ships a Book
Attribution: © Nevit Dilmen, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, admires the keeper’s inclination to confess incompetence bordering on stupidity, his thinking being that such reports are found comforting by those who can say to themselves, “Well, I’ve never done anything that dumb!” It was the keeper’s simple task …
Read