Elly: Browse The Strips

Friday, April 24, 2015

Lynn's Comments: One thing that was not abundantly clear to my audience was that when Elly was working, Michael was in the care of Annie, who lived next door. This was the way it was with us. Aaron, at the age of ten, was under the watchful eye of wonderful Marian, who lived across the street. She cared for my daughter (five years younger than Aaron) as well. Aaron had a key to our house, and was trusted to be there with Marian's supervision, so it didn't seem out of line for me to show Michael at home, into the cookies, and on his own. People complained--and rightly so. This was not a good idea. I would have said so, too, but I was living in a community where everything was within walking distance, and I was looking at things from a different point of view.

What's interesting about living in a very small, closely knit community is that everyone looks after everyone else--perhaps too closely, and that scenarios like this are common. Aaron was safe in Lynn Lake, Manitoba, but might not have been in another, larger community like the one in which the "Pattersons" lived. I was constantly mixing the reality of our personal lives with the imaginary lives of the people in For Better or For Worse. Sometimes, I just didn't consider the different living conditions of the two families and think things through!

Monday, April 27, 2015

Lynn's Comments: The day I received a call from my first publisher to say he was interested in publishing my book, I was in shock. It was something I desperately wanted to hear but couldn't believe I was actually hearing it!

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I was equally pleased to have my single panel cartoons accepted by our small local newspaper, "The Dundas Valley Journal." I was in my late 20s, a single mom, and at the time, working at a job I didn't enjoy. Seeing my cartoons published in a real paper with a real audience validated what I was doing and told me there was hope. I could see the possibility of making a living doing what I did best! In the FBorFW comic strips you see here, I substituted writing for drawing, but Elly is me--overwhelmed to see an open door in front of her--just waiting for her to go through.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I think what I was trying to say here is that a lot of published poetry is without rhyme. The poetry I like best is that which incorporates rhythm and rhyme--much like the lyrics of a song. I was also trying to say that when you do see your work in print, out there for an audience to read and remark on, it looks entirely different. It has significance, it means more than it did when you first read it to yourself and decided it was good enough to share. The combination of fear, pride and exhilaration compels you to do more, and to do it better. That's how success begins.

Friday, May 1, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Looking back I wonder how I managed to concentrate on such a solo job with life going on all around me. I had to divide my time carefully. I kept to a routine--depending on my daycare provider across the street and the time Aaron would be in school. My most productive hours were between 9:00 am and noon. I wouldn't be able to go back to the studio until both kids were fed and ready for bed. I often worked until midnight, then I was up by 6:00 am the next day to get breakfast prepared, lunches ready, and set out the kids' clothes for the day. It's no wonder that the drawings done in my early years were so simple!

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Lynn's Comments: After this strip ran, I received dozens of letters from readers who wanted to know what the heck was Michael doing with a bag of milk! Everyone knows that milk comes in waxed paper cartons or in plastic jugs, so what was this all about anyway?!

All an artist has to draw from is what she sees around her, and in my place of residence, milk comes in cartons, but also in strong plastic bags with a set of three bags of milk inside. Each smaller bag contains a litre of milk and we use special plastic or pottery jugs to keep them upright in the fridge. This way of packaging milk is as familiar in Canada as Coke in a can, so I assumed my readers everywhere would get the gag! Not so. The thing that struck me about the questioning letters was that some of them were as cruel and derisive as the trolls on the internet are today. They spoke with indignant authority, demanding to know what the **** I was talking about! Didn't I KNOW that milk doesn't come in bags?

Fortunately, this was when mean messages came with return addresses and we had a lot of fun sending photos and copies of milk advertisements to those who needed to see it for themselves. The impression I got from this was that not enough people travel, and they should!--Especially to Canada.

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Lynn's Comments: This was done at a time when letters from readers were coming in such volume that I had to ask a friend to help me answer them. It was the simple, every day things people related to. Things like never-ending laundry, phones ringing in the middle of dinner, and the fact that it would be nice to hear the word "thanks" once in awhile.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Raising kids is a career. It's the most important one there is. It's unpaid and often unappreciated, but it sets the rules and the temperament for the next generation. Whenever I heard a woman say, "I'm just a homemaker" or "just a housewife," I grit my teeth. Like all women who must take time to earn a living, I relied on good daycare to help me raise my children, but I was a hands--on parent. I earned the "mom" in "working mom."

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I toyed with the idea of making the punch line something like: "But, Mom, you don't PAY me!" But then, I thought back to the times in my own childhood when I hated doing menial tasks at home but would help a neighbour just for the fun of it. I didn't actually enjoy doing things for my parents until I was well into my teens! When it comes to understanding kids, it's a good thing we have our memories to rely on. We just have to admit that we did the exact same things.

Sunday, May 24, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Counting to three is a joke. Really. When kids hear you count to three, they, naturally, watch to see what comes afterwards. DUHHHH--We bozo adults are then left to find some nebulous consequence. This is such a dumb thing to instigate. So, why is it that we all do it? --All of us! All the time!!!

Monday, May 25, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I always enjoyed the opportunity to pop a bit of rhyme into the text of FBFW. I love to read and write poetry, and am partial to poetry that rhymes. A comic strip, like the dialogue in a play, has to have a cadence: a rhythm so as to move the audience smoothly along. Excessive commentary, even a single word out of place, can take you out of the moment and weaken the punch line. ie:

"What do you call a dog with no legs? --. It doesn't matter. He won't come anyway."
(This works.)

"What would you call a dog if it didn't have any legs" --It doesn't matter because he wouldn't come if you called him anyway!"
(This one you stumble over.)

It takes time to learn how to write with an economy of words; to be able to engage your audience thoroughly and not waste precious seconds on "roadblocks." More after dinner speeches should be written this way!

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Any time I have done a presentation and felt that I had screwed up terribly, I think about the times when I have had to cover for someone else. After I leave the stage, my head spinning with "Why did I say that?" or "How could I have forgotten such an important point?," I simply say to myself, "Well, at least I showed up!"

Thursday, May 28, 2015

Lynn's Comments: When I first started to do public speaking I was so scared, I was physically ill. But I wanted to learn, so I accepted all kinds of invitations and I did my talks for free. I got to feel confident and decided to ask for an honorarium but I had no idea how much to ask for. I did talks for charity and talks for the price of the airfare and a hotel. Eventually, when I was happy with my presentations, well compensated, and able to enjoy the sight of a huge audience--I didn't want to do it anymore!

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Lynn's Comments: The punch line in this strip isn't original. "Jocks vs Smocks" was a kvetch invented when I was in high school. All the grant money seemed to go towards sports with the arts left sadly behind. Sports always seemed to be highlighted and I don't think anything's changed! I'm as supportive as anyone when it comes to seeing our young people exercise, learn to work with a team, and enjoy competition, but what about the artists and actors, dancers, writers, and musicians out there? If you don't believe these essential skills and creative abilities are as important as sports, you're not thinking. Come on, Jocks! Look at it this way: you're leaving the people who create the arenas, the lighting, the seating, the music, and the half time entertainment behind!

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Lynn's Comments: This was a scenario from home. My daughter, Katie, had, at the age of four, learned how to use a screwdriver, and had gone about my mother-in-law's house unscrewing things. Ruth tried to open a kitchen cupboard door and it came off in her hands along with the handle. We were both perplexed. How in the world had all the screws come loose? We looked about for Katie and found her outside in the driveway trying to take the license plates off my car!

Monday, June 1, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Every time I moved to a new town, I got involved in projects which would improve things: flowers and signs to welcome visitors, painting an eyesore building on a main street corner, fixing up a church, cleaning up the cenotaph. Some of these things were successful and some were not, but along with other like-minded volunteers, I worked hard. After a few years, I stopped trying to improve things and became as complacent as everyone else. It seems to me that it's the newcomers to town who see the flaws around their city and try to fix them. Long time residents just accept things the way they are and don't seem to care any more. Hooray for the newcomers!

Friday, June 5, 2015

Lynn's Comments: The first time I ever gave a presentation, it was to a group of doctors who had just come from a meeting that had not gone well. Many of the delegates had gone away angry leaving a few disgruntled people hoping for a talk that would lift their spirits. At the time, I was being shadowed by the National Film Board of Canada, which was doing a documentary on For Better or For Worse. The director asked the "crowd" (assembled in the auditorium of the Winnipeg Art Gallery) to move up to the front and fill the empty seats so it would look like there was a bigger crowd. Nobody moved. I was so nervous I was almost sick. The cameraman, who always had a flask in his jacket, offered me a stiff drink, which I took thinking--it would calm my nerves. I rarely drink, so the effect was horrible. I stammered, apologized, forgot what I was going to say, and made a fool of myself. Later, I was found sitting on the floor beside a table of half finished sandwiches singing to myself. It was a good lesson: booze and public speaking don't mix. It also helps to have no distractions, and a friendly audience!

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Around this time in my career, I was doing a lot of media. Aside from book tours and speaking engagements, I was often asked to comment on something I had put in the strip, and I was always keen to do so.