Elly: Browse The Strips

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The other day I watched a young mother guiding her son around the grocery store. She was letting him do all the shopping. She asked him what ingredients he would buy if he was going to make chili and what would make a nice salad. The child was about four years old and right into the project. This was a shopping trip just for him. He had to think about what he was buying and why. He was told about the cost, how one kind of bathroom tissue might be a better value for the family than another. He made decisions about desserts and treats and whether one kind of bread would be more nutritious than another. I was so impressed with this young woman's insight, patience, and ingenuity that I had to compliment her. She just said, "He was interested, so I thought it was time." As I watched her continue to the checkout counter, I wished I'd had her good sense when I was shepherding my little ones!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Lynn's Comments: When I read that saying "I don't do mornings," I see someone who doesn't have kids. If you have a family, you do mornings until everyone is grown and gone. You do mornings in your pajamas and housecoat, and if you're lucky, you can swill down a coffee while you dress. The only family member with the luxury of NOT doing mornings is the family pet, who simply wonders why everything has to be so complicated.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Lynn's Comments: There were times when housework depressed me terribly. The fact that it had to be done over and over again made the effort beyond unsatisfying. Being a mom and managing my other job meant that I was working (I figured) 10-12 hours a day. Eventually, my mom-in-law suggested I ask one of her friends to help me once a week, so I happily made arrangements to hire "Mavis." This hard working and thorough housekeeper indeed lightened the load, but she wanted to have her lunch prepared and she scoffed if I gave her a store-bought dessert! This meant that the time I saved was spent in the kitchen...but it was a CLEAN kitchen!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I have always needed a career. I needed to express myself creatively. I needed to earn my own living, and I needed the companionship of other adults. Even though I felt guilty for putting Aaron in daycare, I was a better parent because I was working. I was also able to pay the bills! The alternative at the time was to go on welfare, and I wanted so badly to avoid this.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Like Michael, I wanted my room to remain in a constant state of upheaval when I was a kid. The mess was a sign of independence, a statement that marked my room as mine. Commands to clean it up were greeted with indifference. Even if I was forced to comply, the state of "tidy" might have only lasted a day. I could never see the reason why a room had to be kept in order if nobody saw it but me. A kid needs solid reasons, and the threat of punishment wasn't reason enough!

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This strip makes me laugh, now. When I drew it, I was YOUNG. At this stage of my life, I have earned the right (and the wrinkles) to complain!

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Lynn's Comments: While the character, Uncle Phil, was starting to get serious about the character, Georgia, my brother had met Joan in real life. Since the quitting smoking story and the move in the strip closely and coincidentally paralleled his own life, Alan had me promise not to have Phil and Georgia announce their wedding plans until he had proposed to Joan!

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Allowing Aaron to stay home while I went shopping was a privilege for both of us. He was a responsible kid, and his grandparents lived next door. As far as I know, he didn't get into any mischief, but I was always on my guard. All I had to do was remember what my brother and I did when given the run of the house.

For years Mom and Dad worked in our small jewellery shop on upper Lonsdale in North Vancouver. It took twenty minutes for them to walk home, so we could gauge almost to the minute when the front door handle would turn. It was my job to get dinner on and Al's job to stay out of my way. Sometimes, dinner was a snap, and I'd take off on my bike until the folks arrived. During these times of freedom, Al (aged 13 or 14 at the time) emptied Dad's gin, substituting the missing booze with water. He ate whatever candy was hidden and smoked Dad's cigarettes. I thought he'd be in for it, but he never got caught.

I explored every drawer and every crevice in our house looking for treasure or secrets or hidden birthday gifts. I tried on my mother's underwear and used her perfume. I made crank phone calls and listened in to the party line. (This was a forbidden indiscretion, but I saw Mom do it as well.) I ate stuff and danced on the sofa and felt the freedom I longed for. Freedom then was having the house to myself.

It was with these memories in mind that I looked for evidence of similar lawlessness when Aaron was left alone. I never saw a thing. Obviously, he was as good at covering his tracks as we were!

Monday, October 7, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Curlers had gone out of style along with the housedress, but Elly occasionally sported them. Curlers and gobs of face cream were a cartoon cliche. Television sit-coms and comic strips often used these props to make a woman look her most unattractive. Today, comedy has to rely on other props...and fortunately, the shapeless housecoat is still first choice in comfortable morning garb. The good thing is that husbands look bad in them too!

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Lynn's Comments: As a kid, I had a talent for making insults. This "gift" could be quite a threat. Woe to the child who had a name that rhymed with something funny or initials that spelled a word. If I was suffering at the hands of a bully, I'd go into my repertoire of insults and "win." When I began to change from kid to teenager, however, I became a butterball, and if somebody called me "fatso," I'd crumble. What goes 'round, comes 'round!

Saturday, October 12, 2013

Lynn's Comments: My brother and I fought like crazy until we were both safely out of the house and on our own. Now, in our sixties, we are the best of friends. We've talked about our childhood and tried to figure out why we were so hard on each other. The old Smothers Brothers line "Mom always liked you best" was part of it but, we were also creative, competitive, and bored. Yes, it's a family fact: boredom is nicely relieved by a good dust-up!

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Again, a Sunday strip that didn't have to be invented. Word for word, this was real dialogue, and I wrote it down on a paper towel in the kitchen. I never seemed to have a notebook available. There was one in my bedside table for ideas that came in the night, but during the day, I had to grab whatever scrap of paper I could find. I learned quickly to capture an idea as soon as I could. My chequebook, which was always in my purse (before credit cards), was filled with punch lines, fast sketches, and ideas for future strips. Trying to remember these things later was impossible, and if I let a good one get away, I'd be miserable! This exchange made for a cathartic cartoon and saved my son, once again, from the wrath of Mom.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I have a wonderful costume trunk. Over the years, I have amassed a huge variety of dress-up clothes, masks, wigs, props and makeup. We never lacked for materials when Halloween, plays, and local ice shows came along. I was never too protective of the supplies, which have been lent to family and friends, and now, passed from generation to generation.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Lynn's Comments: One of my favourite props was a punk-rocker "wig" which I gave to the accordionist, Ray Johnson, of the Newfoundland comedy team, "Buddy Whatsis Name and the Other Fellas." After attending a show, I realized that one skit needed a punk-wig, so I offered it as a gift. It was a gift that keeps on giving. I got to know these talented and fabulously funny guys--just a bit. I get a card from Wayne Chalk (guitarist) every Christmas, and some day, I've promised myself that I'll go to see them live on stage in St. Johns.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I thought that in time there would be a return to uplifting family friendly films--stories that left you feeling hopeful, the music rich with cadence and meaning; music that would repeat in your mind for hours afterwards. "The Lion King" has been a recent one, but to my mind there just aren't enough.