Joseph Morewood Staniforth, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, indulges the keeper as he—the keeper, remembers Uncle Alvin and a host of others who once were essential to a complete Christmas Day. They may be gone but they will never be forgotten, and the memories of them come back with …
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Category:Holidays
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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Kickass and Believing
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper has inside information that Santa accidentally touched the screen on his sleigh’s dashboard when it was in navigation mode, and the reindeer are now doing a U-turn over Butternut, Wisconsin, a small community that—like the rest of the state–believes. Earlier, …
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The Couch Potato’s Guide to Spinning Classic Christmas Vinyl
Photo by The Retro Store on Unsplash By Geoff Carter (Originally posted in December 2019) While the Couch Potato will always be slavishly devoted to his TV home entertainment center, this week he will be putting down the universal remote in order to turn his focus solely on another entertainment form—music. Part of the reason for this departure …
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Kickass on Giving and Receiving
State Library of New South Wales collection, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, is trying to communicate to the keeper just how to deal with giving and receiving in this season when the claim is promoted that “giving” produces greater satisfaction than “receiving.” That is hogwash, of course. Take …
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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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Oh, Christmas Tree
Artwork by Michael Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter (Originally posted in December, 2019) Each year, in the family holiday tradition, my wife and I venture out to buy our Christmas tree. We’re lucky enough to live across the street from a big tree lot so we don’t have very far to go—we can walk right …
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Kickass and the Christmas Letter
Maasaak, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, has finally sent his letter off to Santa, and includes a copy here for the benefit of Phyllis and other Christmas elves: “Dear Santa: As you know, I have not been a ‘good little boy,’ but you have always managed to work …
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Kickass and Santa Christmas Story
Durova, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in ignoring incredibly serious subject matter, and offering a little Christmas story: On a frosty morning in early December, Santa burst into the reindeer barn and after a hearty “Ho, Ho, Ho,” he announced, “Okay, all you antlered ruminants …
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Kickass and the Slivery Christmas Stage
Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper’s overwrought reminiscence machinery was fired up by his sister Norma’s recent mention of the “slivery oak planks,” that went to make up the stage for the country school Christmas program of their childhood. Placed across two equally slivery, long …
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“Just Like the Ones I Used to Know”: The Couch Potato’s Guide to Vintage Christmas Movies
Photo by Geoffrey Carter By Geoff Carter Well, the Christmas season is upon us in full force. The commercials are everywhere. We’ve seen that ad for the car—or Energizer Bunny, wrapped in a bow and sitting in the driveway on Christmas morning at least one hundred times. Getting ready for this holiday season, however, is going to be …
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Kickass and Santa Belief
Jon Sullivan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper wonders if there is some way to use the universal belief in Santa Claus to at least slow down the global collapse of democracy due to dissemination of misinformation to the gullible? Perhaps in the mode of …
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