Attribution: Photo by Matheus Protzen on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in sorting through the constant flow of advice on how to live–and die, and they are currently hung up on the issue of how the need for challenges in this age of comfort and safety is essential, especially with …
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Category:Social Commentary
Kickass and Ultimate Fighting
Attribution: Bad intentionz, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis barely able to contain their excitement over the POTUS plans to spend millions celebrating his birthday with people beating the living hell out of each other on the White House lawn. Great stretches of that …
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Kickass and Vacuum Cleaner Sales
Attribution: Photo by rc.xyz NFT gallery on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that 70-plus years may not be enough time for the keeper to recall some of the details of his very brief career as a vacuum cleaner salesman. It was to be a “lucrative” parttime job while he was a UW journalism student, …
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Full Measure
Artwork by Michael DiMilo (Originally posted on May 31, 2019 in Honor of our Veterans. Addendum posted on May 25, 2026.) By Geoff Carter Ah, Memorial Day: the harbinger of summer, the first family picnic, and the grill master’s opening day. Memorial Day also happens to be the holiday recognizing and honoring those who have …
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Kickass and Window Gazing
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, shares his between-naps job with the keeper in observing the daily flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic as it plays out around the busy intersection of Gammon Road and Tree Lane in the neighborhood mix of schools, businesses and housing. Unable to resist frequent …
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Kickass and Reporter Dressing Style
Attribution: U. A. Saarinen, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, has now lived for a day with the photo discovered by granddaughter Jessy showing him at a sanity hearing for Ed Gein at which Ed was the best dressed of all those in the courtroom, …
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Lost Soul
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.” –Roy Batty (Blade Runner) You may …
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Kickass and Hair
Attribution: Mostafameraji, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, having adjusted long ago to his hairless condition, notes that both the keeper and Phyllis lucked out in the hair department, the keeper having dodged genes from his bald father that brother Orv picked up. Phyllis is equally fortunate with her lush …
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Kickass and Helping the Old
Attribution: Photo by Jem Sahagun on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, agrees with the keeper’s assessment that you are never too old to learn how to graciously handle the challenges that come your way. Most recently, and with seeming increased frequency, there is the challenge of accepting the kindly proffered assistance of young people when …
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Pants on Fire
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Last week’s Pen in Hand Blog column dealt with President Trump’s use—and abuse—of the English language, how he has dumbed down presidential rhetoric to a fourth-grade level, weaponized our political discourse, and created the most divisive atmosphere since the Civil War. We have fallen incredibly far incredibly quickly. …
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Like Nobody’s Ever Seen Before
Attribution: DonkeyHotey, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Linguists and educational theorists have argued for centuries over the question of whether thought gives rise to language or whether the reverse, that language affects and determines thought, is true. The once widely-accepted Sapir-Whorf hypothesis postulates that language determines thought, while Fodor’s theory maintains the …
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Kickass and Natural Dinner
Attribution: Photo by James Wainscoat on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as the keeper promotes the verity that humans are as much a part of the natural world as the birds and the bees, he points to the many natural parallels to the interrupted community feeding at the Correspondents dinner last night. When …
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