Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper, ever anxious to demonstrate that he is just another of the varied life forms cluttering up the planet, joined a thousand seagulls in Sauk City to “feed.” The gulls gathered up and down the Wisconsin River in sandbar reunions to …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Zone of Interest”
Artwork by Michael DiMilo No Man’s Land: Film Review of The Zone of Interest By Geoff Carter The horrors of the Holocaust have been exhaustively documented and dramatized—and rightly so. That shameful and disgusting display of premeditated cruelty, inhumanity, and assembly-line slaughter should be forever on display as an example of exactly what human beings …
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Kickass Salutes Caregivers
Attribution: WaveLength Charity, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in a heartfelt salute to the caregivers on this day of Mar. 3, 2024. Caregivers, of course, are those who are called upon to go far beyond the bounds of being a considerate companion to …
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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 Grandchildren
Attribution: Nikhil More, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis have documented that almost all age-related infirmities are vastly ameliorated by visits from grandchildren. Their irrefutable evidence has moved them to develop something they call the Generational Glue Treatment (GGT) based on the fact …
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Kickass and Migration
Attribution: U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as the keeper absorbs all the constant hoopla about immigration and the borders, he and Phyllis look back a very few generations when their predecessors were getting off the ships in New York and heading …
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Kickass and Leap Day
Attribution: Sanu N, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has cooperated with the keeper but has not consulted with Phyllis to update this 2024 Leap Day with the following provisions: 1. Not only are women allowed to propose marriage on leap year, but they are also encouraged to throw the …
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Sanctuary
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter We live in an age of dazzling and astoundingly rapid advances in technology. Personal computers emerged only forty years ago, and smart phones only became widely available to consumers in the 2000s and early 2010s, yet these electronics have become indispensable for modern-day life. We depend on them …
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Kickass and Phyllis in the Parks
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper had a very impressive personal guide as he enjoyed the special Ken Burns PBS show about the magnificent national parks with Phyllis who has hiked in every one of the national parks and has a unique hiking stick adorned with …
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Kickass in the Brooder House
Attribution: Photo by Zoe Schaeffer on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper is unable to resist the word play that has him “brooding about chicks” on this t-shirt February day. (Read on, Phyllis!) He is, of course, making the long trip back to the days when at this time of the year …
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Kickass and Old Men with iPhones
Attribution: Japanexperterna.se, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is supporting the keeper in his move to make it illegal for old men—and maybe some elderly women, to possess iPhones, after overwhelming anecdotal evidence shows that the phones do more harm than good in the shaky hands of those old …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “The Color Purple”
Artwork by Michael DiMilo Less than the Sum of Its Parts: Review of The Color Purple The last time I was in New York City, in 2006, we were lucky enough to score tickets to see The Color Purple. Being the curmudgeon I am, I am typically skeptical of Broadway revivals of movies, television shows, or …
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