Michael: Browse The Strips

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.

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I remember being so distraught that I could break stuff. At the end of my rope, I'd scream and cry and flop down on the floor exhausted and empty and defeated. This was last week! Seriously, when you're too young to understand and too inexperienced to deal with life's situations, collapsing in tears is the only way to respond. We've all been there and despite the fact that you look like someone to avoid...this is usually the time when you need love and understanding more than anything else in the world!

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!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Father's Day has always been one of the more challenging Sunday comics to produce. We never really made too much of it when I was a kid and later, when my two were small, it was a day when the best "present" was to let Dad spend the day in his workshop! Still, it's a day that puts the spotlight on dads and children, no matter what the marital dynamics are - which is a good thing. We need more Father's Days and Mother's Days, if you ask me. Heaven knows- there's nothing more rewarding than being recognized and appreciated for doing a difficult job well!

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.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I loved slapstick movies. Good animated cartoons kept me glued to the screen at the Odeon Theatre every Saturday afternoon. One of the most overrated gag ideas has always been the "slip on a banana peel". This pratfall was something my brother and I tried unsuccessfully to recreate many times. You need: a ripe peel, a slippery linoleum floor and a bozo who doesn't look where he's going. All three are hard to put in the same place at the same time without deliberate and calculated effort. Unsuccessful with the surprise attack, we tried the stunt on each other, our buddies and our dad. (Mom would have whacked the both of us for doing something so stupid, so she was out of the scene altogether.) We never did recreate the wonderful slip, slide and landing that was so funny in the theatre. It was therefore important, once I had the freedom of a comic strip at hand, to complete this elusive gag in the newspapers and fulfil a lifelong quest.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Lynn's Comments: We tried tying him up, but he howled pitifully and we didn't want to annoy the neighbours. We took him to obedience school, but he was really hard to train. Farley never seemed to get the concept of being lead by a leash and in the end... I was at the end of my rope.

Friday, July 1, 2011

Lynn's Comments: It was fun to connect a pet, which was not allowed to go free, to my husband at the time, who complained about the same thing! I was called a "keeper" and my lack of understanding for "pub night" (which was pretty well every night) made me both judge and jailer . Husband and dog even looked alike! Not long after the man left (for a larger bosom and fewer responsibilities) the dog went too!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Even now I lose my temper like this, but I recognize the feeling. I holler, fume, storm about the house and ...then I need to talk to someone! I remember being in such a state when I was about 10, that I stabbed the desk in my room repeatedly with a pair of scissors. Sounds drastic, but that's what I did. We all know how it feels to be beyond angry, to have no control and to do something that is spontaneous, outrageous and really out of character. In remembering how I felt when I destroyed my desk, I tried to love my kids just a bit more, hug them just a little tighter when they were at their (and my) wits' end. This calmed us both down enough to be able to talk about what was wrong. Sometimes the most unlikely response to bad behaviour is the one that works.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This was my dad, trying to assemble one of those wicked mind traps we used to buy from Woolworths - with the hope it would turn into a tent. The metal poles bent, the fabric wouldn't stretch and when you finally did get a shelter to come out of it, you were too mad to enjoy it!

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Alan and I would sleep outside in the backyard every summer. We'd look forward to the adventure of being outdoors - forgetting the mosquitoes, which instantly filled the floorless space as soon as the thing was rigged. With blankets, food, transistor radio, toys and bedrolls, we more than filled the enclosure. We were lucky, as the bugs bit and we bickered, if we could last two nights.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Lynn's Comments: We didn't have a bonfire in the backyard, but we did have deck chairs, flashlights and food. Dad played the guitar. He knew every camp and military ditty by heart and at this tender age, my brother and I thought he was absolutely wonderful. He was!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Our tent was pitched just a few feet from the basement door, but still, we cringed if we heard anything suspicious or creepy or wild. I remember Mr. Arbuckle, our neighbor, coming home with a snootfull, creeping along his garden path, bumping into fences, trying not to alert his wife - who could yell like a banshee. We'd crawl far enough out of the door flap to watch him, and seeing us, he'd wave - knowing we could keep a secret. We liked him and figured he was doing stuff he had to do.

Friday, July 15, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This was a series I had so much fun with. Not only did I get to pretend I was a small boy with a wild imagination, I got to draw some funny images and include the dog as well. Strips like these were a pleasure to do and then seeing it on the comics page, knowing others were reading it too, was an absolute thrill.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Lynn's Comments: The thing that brought us indoors long before morning wasn't the wildlife but the bugs. Even now, the sound of mosquitoes whining around my head at night makes me crazy. When Mom finally allowed us to camp in the living room (the basement had spiders), camping became much more enjoyable. I don't think my mother could say the same!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Cartoonists are discouraged from using comic strips as a platform for preaching reform - but every now and then, something really gets under your skin and you simply have to write about it. For me, littering is a red flag. If I ruled the world all convicted litterists would receive a stiff fine, a broom and a dustpan. They would be sentenced to cleaning the community streets, parks and beaches for as long as it took to reform them - and even then, they would be on parole. When Katie cut her foot on a broken beer bottle at the beach one weekend, I penned this Sunday page - and the response was immediate. I received a lot of mail from folks who feel the same way I do - and it occurred to me: with so many people angry, frustrated and disgusted by littering, why do we still have so darned much of it??!!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Lynn's Comments: When Alan came to visit us in Lynn Lake, he brought his trumpet. He travels with it everywhere and it was great for my kids to be able to hear him practice and to talk about his career. He and I grew up in a house full of music; something I have missed for a long time. I played 6 and 12 string guitar. Dad also taught me the button accordion! Alan played mandolin and trumpet and, to some extent, Dad played them all. To hear a melody come from an instrument played by someone you know is both healing and inspiring. Healing because no matter what we did to upset each other, the music we played put us into a space where we forgot our differences and became one. Inspiring because the competition between us to play better and to try new things kept both Alan and I close to our instruments and to our dad as well.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Having Uncle Phil stay in the house while the Pattersons left for Vancouver meant that I didn't have to find a kennel for Farley (even cartoon dogs have to be taken care of) and I could place Phil and Connie in a much more compromising space. My readers smelled a rat. They were onto me; there was methane in the madness.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Lynn's Comments: In reality, we left our house in the care of neighbours and family and took off for what we hoped would be an easy and enjoyable two weeks away from home. Planning and packing should have been the most difficult part of the exodus; add the excitement of children and you've got a busy day ahead of you. Like a canoe in the rapids with nowhere to go but the flow, our trip had begun .

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I never did leave my brother alone in the house with Farley, but if I had, he would likely have talked to him like this. As kids, we'd never had a dog. We had budgie birds, turtles and a chameleon, but nothing big and fun and responsive. It took us awhile before either of us was comfortable with a dog. Where do they like to be scratched? How do you handle one? We tended to talk to them as if they were other adults - and come to think of it, other dog owners talk to their dogs like this, too!

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Lynn's Comments: It amazes me how resilient and stoic some dogs are with young children. They put up with being sat on, pulled at and strangled. Their patience and good humour is remarkable. They seem to instinctively know that babies don't know any better and just have to learn. On the other hand, some dogs can't tolerate young children at all. Some bark and snarl, some just ignore kids and walk away. Amazing, isn't it... to see how often dogs behave like people!