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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Kickass and Polar Plunge
Photo by Bill Stokes By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, notes the keeper using his chest cold to excuse his not participating in the “polar plunge” that has become part of the Winter Solstice celebration in his former Mazomanie neighborhood. As the big bonfire blazes, it has been the custom for celebrants to jump …
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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 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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Kickass and Shortest Day
Attribution: Photo by Kacper Szczechla on Unsplash Kickass, the doorstop dog, suggests to the keeper that on this shortest day of the year, even though he has lived for some 33,680 days of varying lengths and loved every one of them, he might follow suit and post one of the shortest Kickass messages of the year: MERRY CHRISTMAS to …
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The Pen in Hand Guide to Defining the Holiday Genre: The “Die Hard” Question
Photo by Justin Campbell on Unsplash; By Geoff Carter At this festive time of year, many of us observe the holiday traditions of Christmas like trimming the tree, singing carols, buying the presents, visiting Santa, and on and on and on. Part of our celebration of the holiday includes seeing the myriads of Christmas movies and television specials, …
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Smart Cookies
Photo by Geoff Carter By Geoff Carter Tis the time of year for holiday traditions. We hang the lights, trim the tree, sing the carols, buy the presents, drink the eggnog, and bake the cookies. We watch our holiday favorites on TV. Some of us still send Christmas cards. Like most of us, I have …
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Kickass and a Gift of a Cold
Attribution: NIAID, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons By Bill Stokes Kickass, the doorstop dog, cannot help but admire the way the keeper and Phyllis dealt with the Christmas gift exchange issue by sharing a common cold. It was apparently Phyllis’s idea as she shopped around until she found a cold that suited her and after …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments: “Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis” by Tom Waits
Attribution: Archives Branch, USMC History Division, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons 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. …
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The Pen in Hand’s Collection of Unconventional Christmas Moments
Attribution: Marek Slusarczyk, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Auggie Wren’s Christmas Story 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. We are lucky to be able to …
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Kickass and Santa Assignments
Attribution: John Malmin, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons Kickass, the doorstop dog, indulges the keeper on this pre-Christmas day as he–the keeper, speculates on just what crazy assignment the late State Journal city editor Glenn Miller might have hatched up were holiday things in place as they were back in Madison in the 1960’s. Once …
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“Just Like the Ones I Used to Know”: The Pen in Hand’s Guide to Vintage Christmas Movies
Photo by Geoffrey Carter (Originally published, December 10, 2021) 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. Sometimes it’s hard to find the …
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