Attribution: Cbaile19, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, acknowledges the keeper noting that for most of his long column-writing life he has been burdened with coming up with subject matter for a message to readers. There were many close calls when failure seemed inevitable, and then something would occur to …
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Category:Writing
Kickass and Sleeping Fish
Attribution: Pos, Robert H, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog reports that on one of his “past patrols” the keeper recalled the days when newspaper make-up was done by hand, by linotype operators who used innocuous filler items to lock in a page for …
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Kickass Visits Jerry and Mary Davis
Attribution: Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that in the tradition of “country copy” reporting whereby visits and personal events are duly noted and commented on, “The keeper and Phyllis were drop-in guests at the magnificent prairie and natural gardens of Jerry and Mary Davis near Barneveld where a …
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Kickass and Blind Sunset Viewer
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, agrees with the keeper and all those who raved about the incredibly colorful sunset of 7/9/24; and in keeping with the feeding of his out-of-control writer’s ego, the keeper remembers a fan letter from a Milwaukee Journal reader after the keeper wrote a column …
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Kickass and The “Wombers”
Photo by Thom Milkovic on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, announces that the keeper appreciates Phyllis’s enthusiasm in joining him in celebrating the completion of a first draft of his 78,000 word novel—working title “The Wombers” which is plotted around the take-over of everything by women fed up with how it has been under male …
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Kickass and Newspaper Columnist Appreciation Day
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper’ appreciation to George Hesselberg for the reminder that yesterday—Apr. 18 was the anniversary of Ernie Pyle’s death—1945 by enemy sniper, and was thus chosen to be an annual newspaper columnist appreciation day. Pyle, of course, was the premier WWII newspaper columnist, …
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The Pen in Hand Blog Presents The Writer’s Corner
Artwork by Michael DiMilo Featuring the Latest Publications, News, and Commentary for Authors and Readers Manuals of Style By Geoff Carter New books are flooding the market like never before. Since self-publishing has become a viable alternative to traditional publishing, it seems everyone is writing that novel lurking inside of them—or learning how. The teaching …
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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 …
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Kickass and Tribune Tower Space
Attribution: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, unable to do much about the keeper’s thought process, is helpless now as the keeper considers the makeover of Chicago’s Tribune Tower into apartments and wonders who is now sleeping and living in his old office …
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Kickass and Phyllis as Publisher
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in singing the praises of Phyllis who has become the in-house publisher of “KICKASS the DOORSTOP DOG (almost daily 2022).” In compiling a year’s worth of Kickass, Phyllis demonstrates many things, not the least of which is her willingness to tolerate …
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Kickass and Newspaper Columnists
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, asks what could be more dominating at a lunch table than a former Wis. State Journal columnist? And the answer is two of them! So it was as Susan Lambert Smith joined the keeper and Phyllis and Ian and Karen Smith at a Vista …
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Kickass and the Bobcat
gailhampshire from Cradley, Malvern, U.K, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, having indulged the keeper as he wallowed through his past with publication of his book “Treeson: an APOLOGIA to Trees,” understands his tenuous emotional state upon hearing the news of the bobcat stuck in a car grill up …
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