Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the Covid isolation for the keeper and Phyllis is going as well as that sort of thing can go: the keeper defines it as waiting for “green” at one of life’s arbitrary traffic lights; Phyllis fills the waiting time with soup-making and …
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Category:Pandemic
Get Boosted!!
Animation by Michael DiMilo
Cold Hands, Warm Hearts
Artwork by Micheal DiMilo By Geoff Carter We found a charming handmade invitation in our mailbox last Saturday morning inviting us to a Weenie Roast at one of our neighbor’s homes that evening. Despite the forecast for temperatures in the teens, we were excited to get out and do some socializing—any socializing. So, we bundled up, walked …
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Kickass and Colorado Fire
(Photograph used by permission of the USDA Forest Service.), CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, like everyone else with family or loved ones in Colorado, made a phone call—to his son Rick and wife Becky who live in a Denver suburb, to be reassured that …
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Living the Lie
Artwork by Michael Dimilo By Geoff Carter Sometimes the quality of competition in a contest is so evenly matched that picking a single winner would seem to be nearly impossible. For example, the 1975 Academy Award nominees for Best Picture included some fantastic movies, including Jaws, Barry Lyndon, Dog Day Afternoon, Nashville, and—the winner—One Flew Over …
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Stupid is as Stupid Does
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Last week, State Representative Jonathon Carroll introduced a bill in the Illinois State Legislature that would require residents who have refused the Covid-19 vaccination—and who subsequently contract the virus—to cover the expenses of treating the disease on their own, even if they have health insurance. Rep. Carroll has …
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Kickass and Santa Christmas Story
Durova, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in ignoring incredibly serious subject matter, and offering a little Christmas story: On a frosty morning in early December, Santa burst into the reindeer barn and after a hearty “Ho, Ho, Ho,” he announced, “Okay, all you antlered ruminants …
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Kickass and the TP Christmas Tree
Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis recognize the importance of surprise and novelty in maintaining a relationship, but as Phyllis got ready to trim her Christmas tree over in the corner of the living-room, she posted someone’s version of a toilet-paper trimmed tree, and for …
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Resignation Spring
Artwork by Michael DiMilo During the height of the COVID quarantine, over 9.6 million Americans lost their jobs (Pew Research Center). Restaurants, theaters, and other public venues were forced to close immediately, but every sector of the economy was eventually affected—and still is. After schools closed, many working parents had to stay home to care …
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Kickass and Dumb Rodgers
All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as the keeper endures a sore arm from a Covid booster shot, he cannot resist pointing out that in an Oct. 29 Kickass rant, he detailed his divorce from NFL football and all that goes with it, including the …
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Murder by Numbers
Artwork by Michael DiMilo We’ve watched statistics spill off television screens and scroll across newsfeeds each and every day—for months. Milestones have been acknowledged, marked, and noted. One hundred thousand Americans dead in May. One hundred and fifty thousand in July. Four hundred and five hundred thousand, then six hundred thousand. And yet we still …
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Sick and Tired
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter People are tired. Exhausted. They’re tired of COVID-19. They’re tired of masks and distancing and washing hands and being careful. They’re tired of other people not wearing masks—and screaming about it. They’re tired of schools closing and having their kids home all the time. They’re tired of not …
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