Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis joining the flood of life forms spending time along the Wisconsin River as Spring dominates like green paint spilled everywhere. The river, with its dark cold water running swift and steady has attracted life ranging from pelicans to people, …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “We Live in Time”
Illustration by Michael DiMilo Measured by the Heart: Review of We Live in Time ★★★1/2 By Geoff Carter The tragic love story has been with us forever. From the star-crossed lovers in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet(and West Side Story) to Love Story to The Notebook to Titanic to Brokeback Mountain—and many, many more—these tales of love and loss and regret draw audiences like flies …
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Kickass and Correspondents’ Dinner
Attribution: The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Having been permanently identified by the current POTUS as “enemy of the people”, the White House Press Corps did away with the traditional appearance of a comedian at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, previously saying it was an effort to …
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Kickass and Joan and Bill
Attribution: Photo by Derek Otway on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in welcoming Phyllis’s sister Joan and her husband Bill as they visit from their home near Saskatoon, Canada. In speaking of their border crossing into the US, Joan and Bill said it was necessary to delete from their phones …
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Kickass and Migration
Attribution: A starling murmuration over Baurch Farm by Walter Baxter, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis comfortable with the knowledge that as they slept last night some 301.1 million birds migrated through the night skies on their way to pleasant propagation places. It is one …
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Kickass and Trickle Down
Attribution: Photo: Graeme Main/MOD, OGL v1.0OGL v1.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that as they become more familiar with the orange POTUS’s “trickle down” economic plan patterned after the dogs’ system of marking territory, the keeper and Phyllis try to live less like a fire hydrant or a tree …
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Wellness Check
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I spent last Saturday night in the emergency room, sitting with a family member who wasn’t in dire shape but still needed immediate treatment. Because it was a Saturday night, things were busy. There were probably about twenty people in various stages of distress waiting for care. A …
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Kickass and the Delaware
Attribution: Emanuel Leutze, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper stuck in a patriotic mode as he climbs down from the North Church tower and pauses at the George Washington Crossing Park on the Delaware River as part of his bicentennial series for the Milwaukee Journal. As he …
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Happy Earth Day from The Pen in Hand
Attribution: Bill Anders, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Be Kind to Our Planet…
Kickass and Earth Day 2025
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper acknowledging this Earth Day with a salute to Phyllis who lives in harmony, helpfulness and respect for the besieged Earth far in excess of the keeper’s slovenly ways. Once on an early Earth Day, the keeper canoed down the Namakagon River …
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Pope Francis: 1936-2025
Attribution: Photo by Ashwin Vaswani on Unsplash Farewell to a great humanitarian and man of the people…
Kickass and Listening
Attribution: Quirinale.it, Attribution, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, lives with the burden of the keeper’s inclination to talk when he should be listening, and notes that this is one morning for everyone to listen: “We have created new idols. The worship of the ancient golden calf has returned in a …
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