Making Ends Meet: Browse The Strips

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Considering all the "health watch" infomercials and self-help columns, I've never read stats on the germ-spreading tradition of blowing out candles. Perhaps heat from the flame sears the bacteria! Anyone know if a study has been done?

Friday, April 19, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This strip was the catalyst for several letters from post-birthday party moms who wanted to say, "Thanks for telling it like it is." Being able to throw a well-planned kids' party is something moms take pride in, and only WE know how much work it is!

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Lynn's Comments: My brother is quite a good cook. He did like to use a wok. Most of the meals he made were in my kitchen, and I still have the wok to prove it!

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Lynn's Comments: My grandfather had the only car in the family, so if we went anywhere the bus didn't go, we went with him. He always exacted a price. In order to make a trip profitable for him, we had to stop off at one of his clients' homes first. Gramps was a stamp dealer, so en route to a family picnic, we had the horrible task of having to sit in some old fart's dreary home and behave ourselves until he had ended his talking, his tea, and our patience. As Alan and I sat fidgeting and contemplated his demise, I looked to the future. I thought about having my own home and I vowed that I would always have toys for kids to play with, even if I had no kids myself. One of the first things I bought when I had my first apartment was a teddy bear. Toys have always been essential in my life... to the extent that I still buy them, still find joy in the innovation of new ideas, and still play with them whenever I have a child around to encourage me. My grandfather was a grouchy old miser... but thanks to him, the kids who visit my house enjoy their time!

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Lynn's Comments: My first husband was seven years my senior, so quite few of our married friends were older than I and had young families. One young mother was taking an early childhood education class. We'd agreed to meet for coffee afterwards, but she invited me to attend. The speaker was child psychologist. I didn't think he knew what he was talking about. I thought I could teach the class better than he could--and I was the only one in the class without children! Later, my kids made me humble.

Friday, April 26, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Alan did encourage Aaron to play the trumpet. He gave him a few private lessons. The trumpet we had belonged to the school and had to be kept in pristine condition. This was one of the many reasons Aaron gave for not wanting to practice.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Lynn's Comments: A little artistic license here. I don't think I ever showed a fish tank in the house before this sketch, and I didn't show one later--unless it was in the clinic. It simply appeared for this gag. Later on, I paid more attention to such details, but at this time, I just drew whatever came to mind!

Friday, May 3, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Aaron did learn to play a few pieces on the trumpet. Through perseverance and some threatening, his junior high school music teacher succeeded in placing him in the school band, where he suffered along with the rest of the uncommitted until summer came.

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Aaron balked at learning to read music and practicing, but he did love his rented trumpet. With my brother's guidance, he polished the bell, oiled the valves, and cleaned out the tube--which would otherwise fill with fungus, mould, and other odious flotsam (nourished by the moisture and foodstuff propelled by vigorous breath). The instrument itself was a beautiful possession, but it came with the guilt of not practicing.

Monday, May 6, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I had fun drawing this character. I had meant her to be very sexy and very nice--someone who would possibly come between Elly and John. She would make Elly jealous, in any case. As the library job continued, Susan became less and less visible. I couldn't quite resolve her relationship to the rest of the characters...and, perhaps, I was afraid that life might imitate art!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Sometimes my readers made some very astute but troublesome observations. When this strip appeared, a woman from Maryland wrote to say that the punch line didn't work because Elizabeth was not actually looking at the caterpillar. I explained that I needed to draw her face and also her dad's face, so I'd taken a bit of artistic license. Had I positioned her the way she should have been, the audience would just see the back of her head.

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The first panel in this strip was (and is) what I live for: Goofy expressions, exaggerated poses, and lettering that looks the way it sounds.

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I have always been interested in bugs and snakes and creepy-crawly things. The only thing I don't like to catch and examine in my hands are spiders, but they fascinate me just the same. When I was a kid, some of my insect "pets" succumbed to my examinations, and I would create small but elaborate burial ceremonies for them. When one of my garter snakes died, I buried him in a long, flat tie box, and gift wrapped him before I put him into the ground. It was the least I could do.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This reminds me of a story. My friend Christa decided she wanted to learn the saxophone. So as not to disturb her husband one morning, she decided to practice on the back porch. We live in the country, so there were no neighbours to offend. She had just started to honk out some scales when her husband appeared in the doorway excited and out of breath. "Christa!" he cried. "Did you hear that? I think a moose has been hit on the highway!"

Saturday, May 11, 2013

Lynn's Comments: An expression like "play by ear" automatically becomes the basis for a play on words or a gag of some kind. When a punchline like this came to mind, I was elated. A line like this would make a whole week of strips worth drawing.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Ladies...is this not our best form of therapy?...We need each other more than we need Lycra, hair dye, and creams!

Monday, May 13, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Whenever I left my family on their own for dinner, I made sure there was a really good meal just waiting to be heated up. It was my way of showing how much I cared (and how guilty I felt as well). I kind of knew they'd take off to a fast food joint in my absence, which didn't hurt too much--it meant I didn't have to prepare a meal the next day!

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This series of strips was done as we led up to our exodus from the north by going through everything we had accumulated in the six years we had lived there.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Lynn's Comments: A yard sale gives you the incentive you need to dig out all the forgotten junk that the kids will want as soon as they see it. Kids don't get into the swing of a great purge until they see money coming in. Then they'll sell anything!

Friday, May 17, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The big treasure trove was in my mother-in-law's attic. She had meticulously saved everything. There were ancient skis and snowshoes, lampshades and blinds. There were picture frames, bottles, quilt frames, and toys. There was a trunk filled with clothing--some of it her mother's. We found corsets, dresses, feathered hats, and knee-length knickers--some was moth-eaten, but most was like new.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Lynn's Comments: It took days to sort through everything. Behind every stack of familiar flotsam was stuff we never knew she had. Parting with some of it was going to be hard. We had several family meetings to determine the fate of Ruth and Tom's collection.