Attribution: Fabrice Florin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, indulges the keeper with a very old memory—70 years or so, of a day matching this one—last day of the deer season and people headed for home from traditional family hunting grounds. The station wagon full of five kids, an …
Read
Month:November 2025
Kickass and Snow Sounds
Attribution: Breaking ground in deep snow by Trevor Littlewood, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in listening to the sounds of a snowy day coming out of the muting gloom: *The scrape of a passing snowplow. *The buzz of the neighbors premature snowblower. *Command signals …
Read
Kickass and Snow Angels
Attribution: Photo by Andrey Lear on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, will be following the keeper’s example and napping through the big snow predicted for the weekend. Fortified by one of Mike’s extravagant Thanksgiving feasts, the keeper and Phyllis will abandon their concerns and complaints about getting old. They will instead fixate on the fact …
Read
Happy Thanksgiving from The Pen in Hand Blog
Have a safe and happy holiday.
Kickass and Fresh Dear Track
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that for many of his past Thanksgivings the keeper combined family feasting with the Wisconsin deer season. It was an emotional pairing that the keeper loved, and so he was delighted when a fresh dear track showed up on his 5th floor balcony deck. …
Read
Revolution Redux
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter There have been instances when the sometimes all-too-thin lines between art and reality have intersected, crossed, and become blurred. The China Syndrome, a film about safety violations at a nuclear power plant, was released only twelve days before the partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant. Wag the …
Read
Kickass and Pardoning Ceremony
Attribution: The White House, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the following: TWO TURKEYS TALKING: 1ST turkey, “So you were at the White House pardoning ceremony then?” 2nd turkey, “Yes, and it was even more of a fiasco than usual.” 1st turkey, “How so?” 2nd turkey, “The POTUS got confused and announced …
Read
Hospitality 2025
The Pen in Hand Blog featuring Geoff Carter
Attribution: Jean Leon Gerome Ferris , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_First_Thanksgiving_Jean_Louis_Gerome_Ferris.png
Kickass and Mothers-in-Law
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in this season of pointing out special people to honor by suggesting that on top of the heroes’ list should be the mother-in-law. Being a successful mother-in-law has to be the most demanding role imposed on any of the tribal members, …
Read
Kickass and Others’ Misery
Attribution: Javier Vieras, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the sensations to be had by the keeper and Phyllis’s crowd in learning of the misery of others—some sympathy of course, but more feelings that “they” probably deserve it followed by an overall smugness that it is better them …
Read
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “Bugonia”
You Can’t Handle the Truth: Film Review of Bugonia ★★★☆ Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter The truth—as much as it’s ever discernible—is becoming more and more difficult to cull from the swarm of half-truths, misrepresentations, conspiracy theories and downright lies that have been flooding our media. Any semblance of objective truth has been …
Read
Kickass and Revolutionary War
Attribution: William Barnes Wollen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis saturated with war–the current absurd cruelties at a number of global locations and the amazing Ken Burns “The American Revolution” shown last week in a five-part series on PBS. Now as the US endures …
Read