It Must Be Nice to Be Little: Browse The Strips

Monday, May 23, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I had been doing the strip long enough by now to let a punch line go in favour of a "cliff hanger". I hoped the readers would be sufficiently tuned in to the characters and their relationships to look for a continuation the next day.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The line "dumper-dumpee" occurred to me when I was a single mom. I was commiserating with my friend, Adrienne, who was in the same boat. Our husbands had "dumped" us both and we wondered if WE'D ever be the ones to say "goodbye".

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Lynn's Comments: In Lynn Lake, there were only a few meters before you hit pay dirt on the road in front of the house. Aaron carried a constant dusting of grime wherever he went and this was a good line. I wish it had been his - but it was mine!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I've said before that my brother's idea of a week's worth of groceries was several cases of beer. Well, he still comes to visit me with "groceries" but now he brings a more expensive brand!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This one was a regular scenario. My studio was in the house and the kids knew when I was so into my work that I was "gone". They were pretty good about it, but now and then, they let me know - in a way kids do - that it was time to come out of the zone and be Mom again!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This is one of the "put-down" punchlines that so often got me into trouble. Readers would ask why John was so unsupportive; why I made him look so mean. My husband wouldn't say something like this...but, for some reason, I did these things without really thinking about it. Some day, maybe I'll figure it all out.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Lynn's Comments: When I did this strip I hadn't written an exam in years, but the memory of the challenge, the anxiety, and the thrill of getting it over with will never be forgotten. Having finished a difficult exam I would panic and wish I could go over it just once more. Turns out that your first answer is almost always the right one and there's danger in having time to "fix" what you thought was an error!

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Being at home when your spouse is with friends is usually a time to relax and enjoy the solitude. During my first marriage I was left at home too often, however, and the feeling of unrest is easy to recall. I remember wondering where he was, what he was doing and with whom he was doing it. In this strip, I turned the scenario around. Here it's the GUY who's left out and wondering if "something" is going on!

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The good thing about having two characters together in a situation like this is that the dialogue can be much more fun. You can be more creative when there are two takes on a subject. A glowering last statement is much more effective if it's delivered to an individual and not to an empty space.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Lynn's Comments: During my first marriage, I spent a lot of time at night listening for our car to come down the driveway. I knew instinctively the sound of the engine and the pattern the headlights made on the walls. I'd feel guilty for being mistrustful, but then again, my husband was doing things I'd never do to him and his excuses never seemed to resolve things. This scene was easy to do and it felt good to write about it.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Before the onset of menopause, my feet were always cold. I wore long cotton nightgowns and slept with my socks on (still do!) I don't think I pulled this trick too many times, but the idea was funny and the drawing was fun! Any opportunity to show a character hollering with a mouth wide open like this made my day!

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I so enjoyed my children's innocent years. The way they look at you - as if you ruled the world; as if everything you said was genius and true - makes you feel larger than life and I guess in a way, you are. Too bad it take so little time for them to discover the truth!

Monday, June 6, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This was a "game" my brother Alan and I invented. It was a subtle kind of teasing which involved eye contact - or the lack thereof. We'd stare at each other - glaring, menacing, then calmly look away when a parent came by. We would enrage each other - and it's awfully hard to plead your case when there's no evidence of wrongdoing. I'm glad my kids didn't read my stuff, because I would have had to explain what this was about and they would have done it, too!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Again, this is all from memory. This is my brother and me doing nasty, irritating things to each other, just to cause a rift. Perhaps it's because we were easily bored. Perhaps it's because it rained a lot and we always seemed to be indoors. For some reason, we couldn't pass up an opportunity to upset one another and this lasted until we were in our teens. No wonder our folks were so pleased when we moved out!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I don't think my brother ever wished I'd been a brother and my wanting a sister was set aside when I saw friends fighting with their sisters over clothes and dolls and hairpins. Aaron never said that a brother would have been preferable to Kate... so, this idea came from somewhere other than "us". Still, from listening to conversations over the years, I knew that for somebody somewhere, this thought rang true.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My folks had a jewelry store. They carried china, glassware and other gift items as well. This meant they were often asked to provide gifts for our teacher and they would ask me to help them decide what to give to whom. It was difficult to choose something for a teacher I wasn't fond of and the first thing that came to mind was to select something DUMB! I found myself, instead, choosing something beautiful, and in so doing I would rethink my feelings for the person it was for. Gift giving is such an important gesture, and for many more reasons than you'd think!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Lynn's Comments: We rarely knew our teachers' first names and never knew where they lived. They just sort of showed up at the school and disappeared when classes were over. I once saw a teacher coming out of the washroom in a restaurant and it was hard to imagine he had been doing something we all had to do! By the same token, it was tough to make eye contact with a teacher who was pregnant, knowing she had done what had to be done to get that way. I think teachers are allowed to be human, now, and it must be a good thing.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Lynn's Comments: These children were part of a group of friends including Deanna Sobinski who were always in the background and never part of the story. It wasn't until the kids became teenagers that their friends took on personalities and played a role. This was a good thing, because the story was already becoming complicated with the introduction of relatives and the developing relationships with the adults' friends.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This is a small glimpse into a day in my life. My grade three teacher kept me after school on the last day to tell me that after all the conflict we had endured together during the year, she thought I was basically a good kid. This was the attitude that most of my teachers had....and when Aaron's teachers gave him "the talk" I knew exactly where they were coming from.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I have had a number of readers contact me to say they too had been students of Mrs. Hardacre. Isn't it amazing how well we remember these people! Then again, our teachers were as influential to many of as our parents were.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Lynn's Comments: We didn't have lockers until grade six, but the comic value of the leftover sandwiches, fetid gym clothes and unidentifiable crud couldn't be denied. Our lockers were both a repository for school supplies and a place to stash everything else. It was a tiny, private storage unit; our first "home away from home".

Friday, June 17, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Our childhood home on Fifth and Lonsdale in North Vancouver was where all the neighborhood kids seemed to congregate. When our sprinkler was on, it meant food, fun and a bathroom if you remembered to use it! My folks were tolerant and welcoming and everyone took their generosity for granted. They rarely complained, however - they wanted to be able to look out the window and know where we were!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Mud puddles provided endless entertainment for my brother and me. Dad showed us how to make boats out of matchbooks, toothpicks, Kleenex and glue. We stomped in them, dammed them up, and crunched through the ice when they were frozen. When I think of all the toys we had to stimulate our imaginations I smile...'cause, the puddles in the laneway were the most fun of all!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Aaron was a baby when Farley roamed the house. Because he was my dog and I was used to him, I didn't panic when he'd sidle to the jolly jumper and remove Aaron's lunch from his face with his big, wet tongue. When I see a dog licking a baby's face today, I cringe. Perhaps that's because I no longer have either one!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The real Farley rarely left the property, but if he did decide to go AWOL, he'd be gone for the day. It was hard to find him in our housing complex and there was a ravine to get into as well. It was the highway close by that really worried me. He was big and cuddly, but a pretty dim bulb; as canines go, he was no "Lassie"!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Whenever someone or something goes missing, we are programmed to think the worst. Maybe it's the news or the stuff we see on television that makes us panic, but we find ourselves preparing for the most awful of outcomes - just in case! When Farley disappeared I wondered if he had been stolen - but someone loading his dirty, hairy, odiferous butt into their vehicle was pretty hard to imagine!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This was based on a scenario which once kept my neighbours, Marg and Kenny, up all night. Their small dog "Pixie" took off for parts unknown and Marg was so upset, she had to be sedated. Meanwhile, police, firemen, neighbors and family combed the area without success. Pixie later appeared on her own. She had been under the porch, too afraid to come out with all the crying and commotion going on.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My brother was not living with me at the same time Farley did. This was all part of the creative process. Having the dog, the brother, two kids and a husband all under one roof appealed to me as a cartoonist. Had I really shared my space with this lot, I think I would have been the one to run away from home!

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This is a situation where a really bad and insensitive "joke" can be nicely covered up by putting it within the strip, not completing the sentence and using a friendlier punch line!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Farley the dog was a lot of work. Not only did he bring every manner of grime into the house, he was a constant source of hair. There was hair everywhere; soft, fine, fly-away hair. Even though I vacuumed the house several times a week, balls of grey tangled fluff would blow across the room if you opened a window or a door. He was lovely to look at, but owning him was a full time job!

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Here it is; the truth about Farley and the family car. When I did travel with canine, I put a metal barrier between the hatch back compartment and the rest of the vehicle. This meant that baby and I could inhabit the space safely and without dander. The one time I left Farley in the car sans restrictions, he not only covered the windows with spittle, he jumped on the doorframe and locked himself inside.