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. …
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Category:Holidays
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 …
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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, …
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Yesterday is Here: Celebrating Dia de Los Muertos
Photo by Geoff Carter By Geoff Carter We visited the beautiful resort town of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, not so long ago. Our trip happened to coincide with Dia de Los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. This holiday, celebrated on the evening of November 1st and the day of the 2nd,, is an offshoot of (but …
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Kickass and Halloween Witches
Attribution: Photo provided by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports that the keeper favors Halloween as his favorite holiday for its encouragement to do totally stupid things. It can’t get any stupider than to tip over the outhouse, which was a feature of the keeper’s youthful Halloweens. The advent of modern …
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Whistling In the Graveyard
Photo by Geoff Carter Por Dia de Los Muertos and Halloween (Originally posted on October 31, 2019) Photos by Geoff Carter By Geoff Carter While driving around running errands this last Sunday, my wife and I found ourselves in the somewhat unusual position of having some time to kill, a strange situation for us. It …
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Kickass and Native Peoples
Attribution: Grand Canyon National Park, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper remarking that celebrating the indigenous people and Columbus on the same day is such a fox-in-the-henhouse situation as to be beyond insulting. During his long journalistic meandering the keeper had many occasions of contact with …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to the Movies: The Legacy of Vincent Price
Attribution: Allied Artists, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter Well, it’s that time of year again. Halloween, Dia de Las Muertas, All Hallows Eve—no matter how you slice it—that night of bewitching and trick or treat is nearly here. (Although since we’ve been seeing ads for it since Labor Day, it might seem …
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Happy Labor Day from the Pen in Hand Blog
Attribution: Richard Hurd from Green Bay, USA, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Support Our Unions!! King Harvest Has Surely Come by The Band “I work for the Union/’Cause She’s So Good to Me/ –Robbie Robertson
Kickass and InDepends
Photo by Geoff Carter By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper and Phyllis survived Independence Day 2025 curious as to whether or not “INDEPENDence Day” had anything to do with the origin of the “Depends,” brand name, a not unheard-of word in their crowd. See more at… The Bill Stokes Author Page
A Fourth of July Memorial
Attribution: Photo by Alex Martinez on Unsplash By Geoff Carter Every Fourth of July, we celebrate and honor an idea, a hope, and a dream which has survived more than two hundred and forty years. It seemed to be an impossible dream, that a nation could function as a free democracy, with lawmakers elected by the people to …
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