Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis did not participate in the Winter solstice activities on the banks of Black Earth Creek in Mazomanie and therefore missed the opportunity to dive into the creek following the great bonfire. Many of the keeper’s family members, however, did …
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Category:Holidays
The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: “Fairytale of New York”
Attribution: John Tenniel , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Katzenjammer and Ben Caplan 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 are what makes our holidays special. But some people are hurting. Many are …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: The Christmas Truce
Attribution: Frederic Villiers (1851–1922), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons The Christmas Truce By Geoff Carter 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 are what makes our holidays special. But some people are …
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Kickass and Crooked Trees
Photo by Phyllis Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in this season of special trees by recalling their visit to the “Crooked Bush” in Saskatchewan some years ago near Phyllis birthplace. The Crooked Bush is a three-acre patch of trembling aspen with unique twisted growth patterns that have …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: “Ice Dance”
Artwork by Michael DiMilo Ice Dance from “Edward Scissorshands” By Geoff Carter 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 are what makes our holidays special. But some people are hurting. Many are …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis” by Tom Waits
Happy Holidays from The Pen in Hand Blog
Attribution: Archives Branch, USMC History Division, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christmas_Card,_1_December_1941,_page_2_of_3.jpg
The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: An Embarrassment of Scrooges
Attribution: 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 …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: Review of “A Disturbance in the Force”
(The Worst TV Christmas Special Ever) Photo by Jake Hills on Unsplash When Worlds Collide: A Review of A Disturbance in the Force By Geoff Carter Own work based on unknown original creator, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons Sitting in a crowded theater watching a movie is in many ways a solitary act. Viewers don’t—they’re not supposed to, …
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The Pen in Hand’s Guide to an Unconventional Christmas: 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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Blue Christmas
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter 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 tree and drank some …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to Spinning Classic Christmas Vinyl
Photo by The Retro Store on Unsplash By Geoff Carter While those of us at The Pen in Hand 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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The Possibilities Book
Photo by Geoff Carter By Geoff Carter Christmas is a time that, for most of us, evokes fond childhood memories. Who doesn’t sit around the tree on Christmas morning, watching their adorable children tear violent swaths through reams of wrapping paper, and remember their own visions of sugarplums, bikes, road race sets, Barbie dolls, board …
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