Gebrüder Thonet, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper’s involvement in one of those incidents that demonstrates why women live longer than men. The keeper is in the Vista West woodworking shop varnishing shelving that he cannot reach the top of so he lines up three folding chairs …
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Kickass Winter Survival
NOAA Photo Library, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is working with the keeper in revising the system for not only surviving yet one more gray, middle-of-the-winter day, but actually deriving some pleasure from it. Heretofore, the keeper’s plan recommended prolonged napping, staying inside the house, warm soup, an …
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Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The boomer generation has hung onto the remnants of their youth like a terrier shaking a rat. They just won’t let go, unlike members of the Greatest Generation who accepted aging with dignity and aplomb. They didn’t mind sporting beer bellies or fret if their hair was thinning. …
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Kickass and High School Students
Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper each weekday morning in watching the kids stroll across the parking lot on their way over to Memorial High School. They seem taller and more purposeful than the high school crowd the keeper remembers being a part …
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Kickass and Tying Shoes With Mom
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has been of little help to the keeper in explaining the mental quirk whereby he–the keeper, thinks of his mother every morning when he ties his shoes, obviously because she is the one who taught him how to do it many decades ago. His …
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Kickass Watches The Sting
Attribution: English: Illustrator unknown; presumably a work-for-hire for distributor Universal Pictures., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joined the keeper and Phyllis in watching the old movie “The Sting,” and shared their conclusion that it was a good thing to do: great acting by old favorites, remembering Paul Newman …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Film Review of Elvis
Photo by Justin Campbell on Unsplash Soul Man: Film Review of Elvis by Geoff Carter Years ago, I went to an Elvis impersonator contest—yes, Virginia, there is such a thing—and was fascinated, although not surprised, that there were two categories for the performers: young Elvis and Vegas Elvis. Of course, to nearly every American, these categories speak for …
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Kickass and Noisy Winter Guys
Jeroen Kransen, Netherlands, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in a salute to: “The Noisy Guys of Winter” Into the snowy white silence Come the noisy guys of winter. Blinking yellow trucks scraping loud, Parking lot tractors pinging in reverse. Recycle rigs banging bins and doors. …
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Kickass and Phyllis’ New Desk
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in congratulating Phyllis on the occasion of her “new” desk, which compliments her promotion to Supreme Commander of all matters having to do with the keeper’s life, including the current book project of “Treeson: an APOLOGIA to trees,” that looks at the …
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Kickass and the Nothing Post
darwin Bell from San Francisco, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has nothing to say this morning, and so having said it, he ends this post and goes out for breakfast with Phyllis. Later they plan to drop over to the Cider Farm Eatery …
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Kickass and Use of Gravity
English: Staff Sgt. Clinton Firstbrook, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, aids the keeper in spreading the word that, contrary to the cliché that gravity is not a friend to the keeper’s age group, the opposite is true: it is very friendly if used properly. Now with the return …
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A Road Less Traveled
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter On Friday nights, my wife and I will typically open a bottle of wine and settle in to watch some streaming TV, usually a movie or a limited series, but this last weekend, after supper, I went into the family room and started sorting out some of our …
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