Attribution: Photo by Luke Jones on Unsplash Featuring the Fabulous Dadbots: Dave S., Mark M., Mark O., Dennis C., John K., Michael D., and Geoff Carter Sundry sharing. My love/hate with ai took a step in the hate direction after getting taken for a ride. Once bitten twice shy…, fool me once… Both leap to mind. So first that …
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Kickass and Being Average
Attribution: Mario Purisic mariopurisic, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is with the keeper in sensing that dwelling on the downside of getting old is a boring subject and tends to be overdone by anyone over the age of 60. In the extreme upper levels of aging, dwelling on it …
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Kickass and the Book Promo
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, having chewed the covers off several copies of the keeper’s recent novel Ah, the Women! finds the book palatable in that it made the point that if a woman instead of a man is on the other end of your leash you are one lucky …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Normal”
The New Normal: Film Review of Normal ★★☆☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter It’s a familiar story; a stalwart lawman comes to a wild town and tames it. We’ve seen John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart, and many other Hollywood sheriffs do it. It’s a time-honored and somewhat worn cinematic trope, as are …
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Kickass and THE Birthday Party
Photo courtesy of Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper surviving the assembly of his clan to mark his 95th birthday. By all measures it was a rousing success and the keeper thanks all those who had a role in it. And that is it for Kickass today as he tiptoes …
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Kickass and Old Age Demonstrations
Attribution: NASA/Carla Thomas, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be attending the family gathering today to mark the keeper’s 95th birthday, and suggests that maybe too much is being made of one number in a series that the keeper plans to keep going until decency returns to the White …
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Kickass and the Keeper’s Birthday
Photo courtesy of Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, accepts the fact that 95 years ago the keeper weighed 8 ½ pounds and had a very limited vocabulary. Seventy years later on 9/11 2001 he had gained a lot of weight and his vocabulary had grown to the point that he could …
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Kickass Watches the Sunrise
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, watched from his napping position as the keeper crept out of bed sometime before 6:33 am with the inexplicable uneasy feeling that the sun may not rise as usual. As he watched the dark eastern horizon there was the gradual emergence of a red …
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The Longest Day
Attribution: UA_Flight_175_hits_WTC_south_tower_9-11.jpeg: Flickr user TheMachineStops (Robert J. Fisch) derivative work: upstateNYer, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter We all remember where we were that day twenty-five years ago. I was just getting to work. It was a normal day, a beautiful day. The school year was just beginning, and an air of optimism …
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Kickass Shares the 9/11 Date
Attribution: Yolanl, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has not received a personal invitation to sit at the Legacy Table with the keeper and Phyllis today as Vista West celebrates its 5th birthday, but he might show up anyway. This upcoming weekend of marking special dates is a bit overwhelming …
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Kickass and Student Jobs
Attribution: Hmcarreiro, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, allows the keeper yet one more opportunity to use a personal experience to make a Labor Day related point: the occasion was when the keeper quit his student dish-washing job after the proprietor of a small Madison eatery chased the chef …
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Happy Labor Day from the Pen in Hand Blog
Attribution: Richard Hurd from Green Bay, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Support Our Unions!! King Harvest Has Surely Come by The Band “I work for the Union/’Cause She’s So Good to Me/ –Robbie Robertson