Attribution: USDAgov, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, rarely needs to see a veterinarian but is interested in the keeper’s news that the UW Vet School is working on a program to ease the looming big-animal veterinarian shortage across the rural environs. With the inflated economics of the vet school …
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Category:Wisconsin
Kickass and Grandma’s Sewing Maching
Attribution: Panjigally, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, sympathizes with the keeper’s family as it struggles with the problem of what to do with grandma’s old sewing machine. The dilemma is as common as weeds, and has generated multiple businesses to help with recycling “junk.” There are, of course, …
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Kickass and Laila’s Bobcat
Attribution: Photo by Omar Ramadan on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis were invited by Bonnie and Ed to visit with one of their granddaughters–Laila, who had expressed an interest in writing. Ever willing to talk about himself, the keeper told his story of how Ed Gein, the Plainfield grave-robbing …
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Kickass Runs for Dogcatcher
Attribution: Morning Oregonian, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, napped as the keeper and Phyllis listened to the televised debate among the five candidates competing to represent the Democrats in the coming gubernatorial election. As he napped, Kickass dreamed that he was a candidate for dog catcher and was …
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Kickass and Surviving the Tornado
Attribution: Quincy Gordon, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kickass Rock and Roll Music
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, protected the couch as the keeper and Phyllis boarded the Vista West bus as activities director Caitlin drove it to Fort Atkinson for an afternoon show at the Fireside Dinner Theater. The feat of ticketing, feeding, seating and presenting a bang-bang rock and roll …
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Kickass and the Honeymoon Trees
Attribution: usfs_Eastern_Region, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, accepts the following from the keeper and Phyllis: It is the honeymoon of the trees–these torrid days of early summer. Lush in their new green-leaf finery, the trees sway against each other in a biological passion that dominates all other such …
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Kickass Goes to the Fair
Attribution:Rhode Island Collection, Providence Public Library, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper honors the season of summer fairs by recalling the Barron County Fair in Rice Lake, Wisconsin, when he and his cousin Rob watched a young woman catch a bullet in her teeth. He …
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Kickass and Haircut Memories
Attribution: F. Holland Day, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has been patronizing the school across the parking lot for his haircuts, enjoying the attention of a young ambitious student who snips at him gently under an instructor’s instructions. Like all things in the keeper’s …
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Kickass and Polluted Water
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis being warned to stay away from most natural bodies of water as they are polluted with human and animal waste and will make you sicker than a duck in the DC reflecting swamp. In responding to the urge to return …
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Kickass and the Like-Me Element
Attribution: Wikideas1, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, confident in the knowledge that he is “liked” to the extent that the keeper and Phyllis tolerate his presence and would probably feed him if he had a stomach. All of which goes to make the point that all people and dogs …
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Kickass Gets Storm Ready
Attribution: Mathias Krumbholz, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, gets in extra napping this morning of June 10, 2026 as the keeper and Phyllis batten down the hatches in preparation for the violent weather predicted over the next two days. “Preparation” for them has limited application in their multi-storied …
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