Kendall Defoe
Bio
Teacher, reader, writer, dreamer... I am a college instructor who cannot stop letting his thoughts end up on the page. No AI. No Fake Work. It's all me...
And I did this:
Stories (823)
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And what do you think, Mr. Robbins?. Top Story - September 2025.
No, I had no idea what the title meant when I picked up this book from the local library. And no, I was not a long time fan of the author when I heard of his death and found that I had two of his paperbacks ready to go: “Another Roadside Attraction” (his first novel), and “Jitterbug Perfume” (catchy titles, I think). But I knew his name. I had seen the books and I knew that someone was actually insane enough to make a film out of his “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” a film starring Uma Thurman as a hitchhiker with a very generous length of thumb (no, it was not a hit). And I stayed away from them all. My feeling was that Mr. Tom Robbins belonged to that interesting clique of writers from the late sixties that once had the ear of the zeitgeist, but soon lost it when people realized that they had nothing else to say (reviewing the remainder pile of the local bookstores has become an unmerciful duty). There was no place in my life for books on hippies, the counterculture that failed, and the false promise of psychedelics.
By Kendall Defoe 4 months ago in BookClub
The Queen of Canada
It can be very hard to be a Canadian. September has arrived, and I can feel a change in the air. The weather is still sunny and bright, but cool air now circulates around my legs and I can feel it on my runs and trips to local markets, cafés and parks. I have begun a few classes, ended others, considered how to pay my bills while waiting for money to come in, and thought about what the next few months will bring.
By Kendall Defoe 4 months ago in Criminal
Sympathy and Cake. Top Story - September 2025.
Only she remembered what happened on the wedding day. But she was just a cat. It was their wedding, but they allowed her to be a part of it. Humiliating in its own way, but to have the ceremony so near the home was quite charming and peaceful. And it was a beautiful day…at first.
By Kendall Defoe 4 months ago in Fiction
Spider and Fly
It all started before lunch. Usually, when we had lunch at Cicero’s, our table would be waiting for us, our menus set on the table, and a little peace of mind for an hour and half would be available. From our office, the walk would be about ten minutes, even if I had to walk with her and take into consideration her slower gait.
By Kendall Defoe 5 months ago in Fiction
School Assembly
Attention teachers and students! Welcome back to Our Lady of Our Perpetual Wanting! I hope that your summer break was restful, comfortable and wonderful, and that you can forget about the unfortunate incidents of the previous semester. Over the summer, the gym was restored to its previous condition, along with warnings about the number of people allowed to use the ropes, handle the pummel horses, and do the hokey-pokey during Daylight Saving Hours. That's what it's all about... Ha, ha. Apologies. I am sure that the AV club would have enjoyed that joke if they were still with us. Amen.
By Kendall Defoe 5 months ago in Fiction
Cash Back
It began at the local variety store. Overnight, someone or some company installed a portable ATM on the front stoop of Michael’s Convenience Store. Old Man Michael, who only opened the store on weekdays, did not see what happened on the previous weekend. He did not remember placing a call to have it put there, and he knew that there was still a local bank that had their machines “well up and robbing us” (as he said to any of the familiar customers who asked about it). There was no phone or serial number on it (he looked around it twice), but he could see that it was connected to the main power grid – not taking power from his store and raising his bills, he thought – and he left it there, untouched and he was unimpressed. Let them charge whatever they want if people are that dumb. He opened his store and waited to see if he would have to explain what was going on outside.
By Kendall Defoe 5 months ago in Fiction
The Lady in the Square
There was not a lot of joy in my hometown that day. I was a student, and I had to use the downtown core in order to earn some extra money for my studies. And it was a beautiful day in the city. The sun had hit us with more heat than we deserved, but I still had to dress fairly conservatively for my work (I was a runner at the library and would be brought to different floors to return and restack books, handle damaged material, and generally assure others that the library had no disturbances that did not require the security guards I never saw). That must have been the reason why there were so many conferences and meetings in our city. I knew vaguely of the gatherings at the convention centre and could see the people who huddled in the lobby of the hotel that was attached to the mall. But it had nothing to do with me or my work…or so I thought.
By Kendall Defoe 5 months ago in Confessions
