Just One More Hug: Browse The Strips

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Lynn's Comments: My friend Loretta Clarke has four beautiful daughters who were wonderful babysitters. Lynn Lake was so small that we were always within walking distance from home. If there was an emergency we could return in a flash, but Loretta would often be called before we were and would solve the problem first! The character "Paula" was a mix of all four of Loretta's girls: Sandra, Lorraine, Terri and Catherine. I love you all!

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Lynn's Comments: This is from my own recollection as a teenaged babysitter; I'd have to be a disciplinarian, but I was too young to be taken seriously, so I had to play two roles: the friendly big kid, and the tough cop who'd turn the kid in to the authorities if they didn't shape up. It wasn't an easy job sometimes and I earned every cent I made.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I always thought the word "babysitter" was funny. As a teenager, I actually sat on one of my charges once in order to make a point ... and then bribed the little runt not to tell his parents!

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Lynn's Comments: The number of times we were faced with the daunting task of selling chocolate bars door-to-door was absurd. This subject brought in a lot of mail. Some folks sold them at work, but for us a dental clinic was not the place to fundraise with candy!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Lynn's Comments: After Aaron was "taken" by big kids on the school bus who promised to pay him later, we ended up buying all of the chocolate bars ourselves. I put them in the freezer, I gave them away and I ate them. The next time there was a drive, I asked if we could just contribute directly to the school.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Moms are always looking to other moms for advice and moral support. I don't know what I would have done without my "mom-friends". We shared everything from our personal meltdowns and ensuing guilt to comparisons of our kids' behaviour and development. Without judgement or criticism, we helped each other survive! Looking back, all the angst seems so "over the top". It's just that when you're standing there on the edge of the canyon, it's sure nice to have a friend to coax you back into the car!!!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I was happy with this punchline. In cartooning, a phrase like "turning over a new leaf" usually leads to a smart reply. You can also change the words: "A nerd in the hand is worth two in the bush". I always caution new cartoonists against using a familiar quote unless they are planning to use it in a zinger in the last panel.

Friday, April 27, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Parents who stay at home today are fortunate to be considered part of the working class! There was a time when you would almost apologize for staying home to raise your family. I was lucky to be able to work from home and be there when my kids were toddlers and later when came home from school. I still think it's the best and most important job I've ever had.

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Lynn's Comments: In my own small way, I took every opportunity to chastise the media for incorporating so much bad language into everything we see. Movies and television shows are filled with trashy material--this destroys our children's respect for our language and for us as well!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Lynn's Comments: My dad built a go-kart for my brother and me out of roller skates, a long board, and a butter box. It was more like a scooter, but it went fast and we were the envy of the neighbourhood.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Lynn's Comments: We had one bathroom in our house and my dad loved to sit there, read, and smoke. Sometimes he would sit for so long, his legs would fall asleep and he'd stumble out into the hall. This was the only room in the house with a locking door, which is why he chose to relax there. He called it his refuge--we called it a huge inconvenience!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Lynn's Comments: When dad had a mind to build something, he made great stuff. Trouble was, he under-built everything, and what looked like a sturdy vehicle, would last for perhaps two good runs. St. Andrews and St. George's Streets bordered our block of East Fifth and were two of the steepest hills in North Vancouver. Our "Dad-made" go-karts disintegrated instantly--but they had potential. Each one he built lasted a bit longer than the last one, and we always hoped for a kart that would make it through the summer.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Our dad was a big kid at heart. He enjoyed riding the hills as much as we did. I always wondered why he was so eager to join us in our games and our fantasies. I later read in his sister's (my aunt Bessie's) diary, that he had always held a part time job, and after his dad was injured in the shipyards, he was sent to work full-time at the age of seventeen to help support his family. He never really had a childhood--and loved to share in ours.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Lynn's Comments: After watching Dad build yet another dud, Alan decided to build a more conventional go-kart. He took apart our old baby carriage and used the wheels. This looked good, but the axles and the wheels were too flimsy to withstand our abuse. Mom was angered by the destruction of the carriage, so Al removed the carriage wheels and took apart our wagon instead!

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Lynn's Comments: This is what life was like when I was focused on my work. Time disappeared when I went into the world of For Better or For Worse. Aaron and Kate were used to waiting for me to come back to earth. In the meantime, they learned to be self-sufficient.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Living on my own and working freelance meant that I was always very short of cash. One of the things I hated most was asking my clients for the money they owed me. I did all the right stuff; I had a proper billing system and a business license. All I needed was to be paid on time. It amazed me when people who could well afford to pay, made me wait for weeks--sometimes months...or didn't pay at all. I had to become more assertive, but it was hard!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I was once hired to do an illustration for a magazine in Nova Scotia. It was a rush job. I had to get the art there by courier--for which I paid. When I didn't receive a cheque in ninety days, I called to complain. I was told they had used another artist's work, and since they "paid on publication" and my work had not been published, I was out of luck. I was also out the courier charges!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Situations like this are not uncommon for freelance artists, writers, and musicians. The philosophy seems to be; "The skill comes FREE to you, so it should come free to me, too!" This same freeloader wouldn't think of not paying their dry-waller or mechanic, but artists are used and abused! It's all part of the education you need in order to survive. You soon learn to value your own work, and to defend your right to make a living by it!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I once did a series of illustrations for a publisher who produced a quarterly children's annual. He didn't pay me and wouldn't answer my calls. I came up with a plan. The next time he needed a small piece of art, I agreed to do it, but rather than mail it to him, he had to come to my home and pick it up. When he arrived, I refused to give him the art until he paid his bill. He said he was broke and would do anything to even things up. I asked him to mow my lawns, which he did. I still savour that image!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Going back to the story of the Nova Scotia magazine and the unpaid bill: We artists are a clan. We stand up for each other. A large, aggressive illustrator I knew was heading home to the east coast to visit his family. I told him about the magazine, which had commissioned an illustration from me and refused to pay because they had used another artist's work. He happened to know the editor of this magazine and promised to see what he could do. A few weeks later, he came to my home with a cheque for fifty dollars--the amount I was owed. I was thrilled. I asked what he had done to convince the editor to pay my bill. He said, "Well, after I reached over, grabbed his shirt, and pulled him across his desk, he thought it might be a good idea to pay up."

Saturday, May 12, 2012

Lynn's Comments: My parents said this to us and I said it to my kids. When I did this strip, I had a mental image of thousands of parents nodding their heads and thinking, "I've said that, too!"

Monday, May 14, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Alan would often call my kids "short one," which I thought was charming. One day on a business trip, I got into an elevator with a woman and her young son. I looked down at him and said, "Hiya, short one!" His mom immediately berated me for saying cruel things to a child who had an illness and was abnormally small for his age. AAAUGH!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Lynn's Comments: The comment "What you need is a wife," never used to bother me. I didn't think of it as sexist. For the most part, we are more organized; we like to keep things clean and tidy. Today, however, I'm more likely to take the side of the independent woman and say, "What you need is discipline, pride, and self control!" After his marriage, by the way, my brother became extremely tidy!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Parents of young children can easily carry on two conversations at once. While showing a toddler that you are there and paying attention to them, you can also listen to and process adult communication. This is not something a non-parent can tolerate and now that I'm well past coddling a toddler, I can't stand it either!

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I did have this conversation with my brother. He had been a musician for much of his life and was beginning to rethink the itinerant nature of his career. He wanted stability and a permanent home. It wasn't long after this that he went back to university and got a teaching degree. He was an excellent teacher.