The Pen in Hand’s Guide to the Movies: Ringing in the New Year

Photo by Artem Kniaz on Unsplash (Originally posted in December, 2020) By Geoff Carter We’re almost there. We only have one more day of 2023 to endure. It’s been a year of firsts. Some we would like to celebrate, others not so much. But New Year’s Eve is a time to look forward to fresh starts and renewed …
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Kickass and Coughing Again

Attribution: Photo by Elisha Terada on Unsplash By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog joins the keeper and Phyllis in barking/coughing nonstop as if they were chasing cars down on Mineral Point Road. They have been so dedicated to their barking/coughing that they have not had time to come up with any New Year’s resolutions, which is not …
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Kickass Endorses Dumbness

Attribution: Shakib khan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in suggesting that those days between Christmas and New Years take on the official designation of “Dumb days” when dumbness is celebrated collectively and personally as befits its global prominence. An exchange of dumbness as in the …
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Kickass Goes North

Attribution: Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper and Phyllis have returned from their attempt to travel to the North Pole, after getting only as far as Wisconsin Rapids and Marshfield where they were hosted by Phyllis’s family members, four dogs and several cats. Two small boys—Maverick …
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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 Goes Shopping

Attribution: Musyajackson, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper will be doing his Christmas shopping today, since everyone else obviously did theirs yesterday.           In what can only be defined as a total lack of judgement, the keeper planned a brief shopping stop yesterday afternoon and was …
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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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