Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper and Phyllis joining part of the clan at Becky and Beau’s in Mazomanie for a bonfire celebration put together by Sarah to ironically mark her imminent return to fiery California. The event featured a big pot of Mike’s chili, grilled cheese …
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Category:Social Commentary
The Fog of Truth
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter Mark Zuckerberg, the kingpin of Facebook, joined the other subservient members of the royal court last week, bowing down to the new American despot, Donald Trump, while proclaiming that Facebook will no longer fact-check content on the popular social media page, opening the door (even wider) for any …
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Kickass and Lost Drive
Attribution: CAL FIRE_Official, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper and Phyllis in assigning significance to various things as savage wars rage around the globe, the planet begins to burn up, narcissism dominates governments everywhere and it snows in Alabama. With all of this happening, the incident …
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Kickass and Fresh Snow
Attribution: –Stöhrfall (talk) 11:31, 6 May 2010 (UTC), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog notes the keeper’s evolving lifetime reaction of waking up to a fresh snow cover: *Oh Boy! Let’s get out there and make snow angels and a snowman! *There will be a skating party somewhere tonight. …
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Oh, Christmas Tree
Artwork by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter 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 over. It’s very convenient. It’s also …
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Eating Our Young
Illustration by Michael DiMilo By Geoff Carter America has always been full contradictions (the more cynical among us might say hypocrisies). It is a place where anyone with enough spunk, luck, and wherewithal can become rich and powerful, but it is also a country where abject poverty runs rampant. It is a place where people …
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Happy New Year’s Day from The Pen in Hand Blog
Geoff Carter and Company wish you a very Happy, Prosperous, and Safe 2025!! Attribution: HitomiAkane, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons Auld Lang Syne by The Choral Scholars of University College Dublin
Kickass and Dead Butt
Attribution: Missouri State Archives, No restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s delight in finally getting a diagnosis for the troublesome malady that has obviously plagued him throughout his life–“The dead butt syndrome,” or “gluteal amnesia” to the physical therapists. The dead butt syndrome is brought on …
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Fear of Flying
Attribution: Suikotei, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Geoff Carter The Christmas holidays are here. Millions of people will be taking to the air, the roads, and even the rail to get home for Christmas, and they will be dealing with all the frustrations, vagaries, and disappointments of travel. Things are changing at the airport—and …
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Kickass and Christmas Memories
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, pauses on this Christmas Day to paw through a few memories with the keeper. The keeper goes first: A cold backseat ride in a rattling old Model A Ford through a brittle, star-lite night from Grandma and Grandma Helgeland’s farmhouse, after lutefisk and lefse …
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Kickass and Santa’s Note
Attribution: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, reports the keeper finding the following note in the chimney ashes: “Dear Bill and Phyllis: As you already know I will not be coming down your chimney this year as I have put my name on the transfer portal and …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: “Christmas on the Border, 1929”
Attribution: YIRO5005, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Christmas on the Border, 1929 by Alberto Rios 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 …
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