Author Archives: stripfix

Friday, February 6, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Around this time, we did have a ceiling redone, and I marvelled at the artistry our man of the plaster was capable of. He had been doing this for over 30 years, and it was wonderful to watch him work. I have often admired the ease by which people pour cement, for example, or frame a window: cutting the wood to perfect lengths and fitting it into place with precision. So often we dismiss talent like this, but just try to do it yourself! It won't take long before you're wishing you'd made the right decision and called the guy with the skill!

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Aaron once actually climbed into a suitcase and asked my mom to take him to Vancouver with her. It was funny, and became a kind of game. Old suitcases, destined for the "nuisance grounds," were perfect to play with. He and his friends would slug each other around in a suitcase until the handles broke. This was before the advent of wheels--an excellent addition to unwieldy bags. Another example of obvious inventions--Why didn't I think of that?!

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I once saw my mother-in-law flapping her apron at the top of the basement stairs. I asked her what in the world she was doing, and she explained that the menfolk were in the middle of a project down there and she wanted them to come up for dinner. She was wafting the smell of roast beef, mash, and gravy down into the basement. It worked!

Monday, February 2, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I've just been talking to a friend about guilt. Seems it hangs on long after the deed has been atoned for and forgotten by everyone else. I will remember a stupid thing I said at a party or something I did during an interview, and I'll clench my teeth--willing the memory to fade. It never goes away. Maybe this is a good thing. Maybe it keeps me from doing other stupid things--I wish.

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I am someone who procrastinates until stuff HAS to be done. In order to force myself to do ironing, say, I give myself a deadline--I have learned from the strip that deadlines provide the pressure I need to produce. I'll invite friends for dinner at 6:00 on Saturday, for example, so I'll definitely have the kitchen clean by the time they get here. I'll promise someone an article of clothing, and then I HAVE to go through my closet. I'll have a garden party to force myself to weed my garden, and on it goes. This strip was done when I was in a panic. I had procrastinated for so long that I was late; my editor expected to get this strip several days beforehand, and if I didn't get it done ASAP, I'd be fined for missing my deadline. I wondered what in the world I would do for this Sunday page--and it hit me! Why not write about procrastination!

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Lynn's Comments: This part of the story was entirely made up. This is what's fun about a comic strip storyline--the possibilities are endless. This is where the ability to fantasize comes in: a fantasy could take me completely away from reality--to places I didn't even know I could go!

Monday, January 26, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I think I gave Larry and Marilyn the original strips for this story. It was something I liked to do when I embarrassed a friend in public!

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Lynn's Comments: One day, I got tired of seeing the pile of single socks and mittens that had accumulated next to the dryer, and I threw them all out. A while later, I was cleaning out the storage room, going through camping gear, old toys, and outdoor clothing, and I found a collection of single socks and mittens--mates to the ones I had thrown out. I wished I had looked through the camping gear first--but I might have tossed out all the single things only to discover their mates in the laundry.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Lynn's Comments: This story was told to me by our good friend Larry Boland. We were sitting in his living room. His wife, Marilyn, was bringing in the tea, when I looked up and admired their lovely ceiling. Marilyn smiled and said that thanks to Larry, it had just been redone. Larry described putting his foot through the plaster with such detail that I had to put the story in the strip. Things people WANTED me to include rarely made the grade. I preferred the embarrassing stuff!

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Lynn's Comments: One of the things I love to do is sound effects. Trying to come up with the phonetic spelling for the sound a head makes as it hits a pillow, for example, is so much fun. ("FWUMPP" would do it). I think the sound effect I am most proud of is the sound of a toilet plunger. It goes: "Ka_FLOOMP-a-GUSH." Sometimes you have to decide whether to repeat a letter as in "FWAPPPP!" One "P" just won't do it. A smack with a wet towel, for example has to sting. This requires several P's.

If you are a fan of Mad magazine, you'll remember the wonderful comic art of Don Martin. His sound effects were fabulous. I think he coined "Fwoooommmm!," and "Ka-chingggg!" One of the weirdest letters I ever received was from Don Martin's wife accusing me of stealing her husband's sound effects. I didn't think I had. The sounds I wrote all came from my head. Then again, can you really lay claim to a cartoon sound? WHHHHOOOOO!!! I sure hope not!

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Here again was potential for some really fun story telling. I wanted to show Ted and his secretary, I wanted to delve into this new relationship, but the restricted space I had to work in held me back. The thing about a daily comic strip is I had to focus on the central characters as much as possible, or I would lose them to other characters who might take the spotlight. There are a number of sit-coms which resulted in separate stories: "Frasier" comes to mind, a spinoff from "Cheers." (Such great writing in these!)

In television, they have the freedom to write for a number of characters; to delve into their lives and personalities, but with static lines and panels, we are limited to showing small glimpses of the lives of the secondary characters around them.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

Lynn's Comments: When my paternal grandmother came to stay with us for 6 months, I was 16 and very independent. My parents both worked, so it was my job to get the dinner on and Gram's appearance in the kitchen was "one too many cooks!" She had just lost her husband, was lonely and depressed, and my dad had invited her to stay. Having spent her adult lifetime looking after others, she naturally put herself to work--on my turf! From the day we set eyes on each other, we were rivals. Gram had my bedroom. I was sleeping in the basement in a "room" made of plywood boards and a curtain. I resented this terribly. I resented her teeth in a glass on my dresser and her clothes in my closet. I also resented being told what to do by someone other than my parents, and her criticism irritated me beyond belief.

One day I saw her fidgeting with the oven. It was a gas oven, and she wasn't familiar with the way the oven worked. When I tried to tell her how to do it, she barked at me to mind my own business, that she knew how to operate an oven, and to get out of her way. Figuring this would be a great opportunity to see what would actually happen if you lit the oven the wrong way, I crossed my arms, leaned against the doorway, and watched. First she turned on the gas. The oven door was closed. Interesting. Then she looked for a match. She found the matchbox on the wall and took out a match. She went to the stove, struck the match on one of the elements and opened the oven door. Well--Ka-BOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!! The explosion blew Granny across the room. She wound up on the opposite side--sitting on the floor with her back against the cupboard doors. Her eyebrows were gone, and all the hairs on her chin were frizzled black. The best thing of all was the look on her face. Her mouth had formed a little "o." I was thinking, "Wow! So THAT's what happens!" It took a few seconds before I reached out to help her up, and a few more for us both to realize that she could have been very seriously hurt! With grateful relief, we hugged each other, and for the rest of her stay, we held a truce.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Lynn's Comments: One thing I have tried to do as a doting Gram is to be in sync with the parents: to adhere to the same discipline, to provide the same healthy treats, and to not say anything critical of the parents in front of the children. I think I've scored an "A" on everything--but the treats.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I never went shopping with my husband; having a man wait patiently, or impatiently, while I peruse a dress shop would be horrible! I would have to rush, which would take away from the true shopping experience. Whenever I see some sad chap sitting uncomfortably outside the change room in some frou-frou boutique, my heart goes out to him. I want to say, "Get off your duff, go do something YOU want to do, and meet her somewhere else!" This strip was done in solidarity with those who shop and those who wait.

Saturday, January 10, 2015

Lynn's Comments: This is a true story. The freezer didn't break down, but it did have to be moved and therefore defrosted. I pulled out an archive of forgotten leftovers, summer fruit and fishing acquisitions, dry pie crusts, soup stock, and more. Some of this was still recognizable, so a mess of reconstituted fodder graced our plates for a week or two. People actually ate what I served--and the freezer was then refilled with the leftovers from the leftovers. We recycle.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Sometimes the strip was confining. I had four panels, maybe 15 seconds a day to tell what became a pretty complicated story. I would have loved to explore Connie's blossoming relationship with Greg. I wanted to show more, write more, but I didn't have the time or the space. This meant that readers had to fill in some blanks for themselves! Maybe, with comic strips going to the internet, creators won't be confined by the "one window a day" method of storytelling that we had in the newspapers.