Photo by Tessa Rampersad on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be spending the day with the keeper playing out in the snow and so the post for the day will be the Xmas card as shared with Phyllis. Happy Holly! Phyllis and Bill wish the very best for everyone, except, oh, you know who …
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Month:December 2022
Kickass and the Walk to School
Photo by Sara Codair on Unsplash Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper braves the risk of ridicule in bringing up the FACT that he and his sister and brother walked a mile and a half on a country road to a one-room country school, even on mornings like this one when they were wrapped in coats …
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The Pen in Hand Presents a Michael DiMilo Production…
Babs and Knuckles in their Holiday Special Deck the Halls Artwork by Michael DiMilo Video and Story by Michael DiMilo In memory of Dave Bolyard The holiday season is all about family tradition. Whether it’s about going to Midnight Mass, carving the Christmas ham, avoiding the mother-in-law’s homemade eggnog, or sampling Grandma’s oyster stew, traditions …
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Birds-Eye View
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter I received a somewhat surprising gift for my birthday recently. My wife gave me a bird feeder fitted with a digital camera that streams images of our backyard friends directly onto our handheld devices. The pictures are brilliant, sharp, and completely engaging. It’s as if the birds are …
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Kickass and Shortest Day
Herb Roe, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the shortest day of the year produced for the keeper, the longest appreciation for being around to be a part of it–in a warm, safe place in the company of his love, Phyllis. In the interests of science, the …
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Kickass and Wisconsin Weather Adjustment
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, tries to stay out of the way as the keeper and Phyllis–well, mostly Phyllis, do the final adjusting necessary to get their book “Treeson” into the hands of clamoring readers–at least the keeper claims that there is clamoring. What he hears may be friends …
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The Pen in Hand’s Guide to a Vintage TV Christmas
“Oscar the Elf” Photo by Geoff Carter
Kickass and Believing in Santa
Virginia O’Hanlon , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in responding to a mysterious letter from someone named Virginia that was apparently misdirected by the USPS due to the keeper’s column-writing notoriety. “Dear Editors: “If I were still alive I would be 133 years old, and I would still be …
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Kickass and Moe’s Compliments
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in appreciating Doug Moe’s Channel 3000 treatment of the keeper’s publishing of “Treeson: an Apologia to the Trees” used to print his drivel. In keeping with the off-the-wall nature of the publishing venture “Treeson” is missing most of the …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: An Embarrassment of Scrooges
MGM, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter It’s only about a week until Christmas, and we’re into the full swing of the holiday season. Shopping, decorating, traveling, baking, wrapping, entertaining, and all the other painfully joyous activities are part of the annual hustle and bustle of the holidays, but another huge part of …
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Kickass and Methane Control
Photo by Scott Bauer (US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service)., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is helpless to avoid the keeper’s mind swing that takes him from the current news of feeding seaweed to cows to decrease their methane production, to his farm boy days of harnessing …
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Blue Christmas
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter (Originally posted December 2020) As we were trimming the tree last weekend, my wife asked me to bring in the laptop so we could listen to Christmas music. I complied—as any trained husband will—and set up the sound system in our dining room. And so we trimmed the …
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