Michael: Browse The Strips

Thursday April 6, 2017

Lynn's Comments: I recently discovered a "contract" written by my father-in-law and signed by my son; an agreement to do yard work for a fee. It stated that the signee had to be on time and responsible, that the work had to be well done, and the tools had to be put away afterwards. As I recall, the yard work was done once acceptably. Sadly, some contracts are just made to be broken!

Saturday April 8, 2017

Lynn's Comments: I didn't get a lot of laughs out of this one. Gardeners take their plants (and their croci) very seriously.

Sunday April 9, 2017

Lynn's Comments: I did this for Aaron…to let him know that I put stuff off, too. What surprised me was the kids really did read my work, and sometimes they knew it was personal.

Tuesday April 11, 2017

Lynn's Comments: Since my days with McMaster U. medical school, I’d wanted to see a band named "The Emetix" — the word "borborygmus" was just too long!

Wednesday April 12, 2017

Lynn's Comments: At a book fair, I once saw a famous guy sign a banana. I guess the moral of the story is, "nothing lasts forever." Bananas, by the way, are nice to draw on with a ballpoint pen…Check it out…The next day, the art is even better!

Sunday April 16, 2017

Lynn's Comments: Sometimes it’s hard to find something to say about these strips! This one is interesting only in that my colourist, Francie, and I had a discussion about the colour of the chocolate bunnies in panels 8 and 9. She wanted to make them brown chocolate. I said brown wouldn't show up in the packages, so to make them white. Well, as usual, readers sent their own thoughts, and Francie was right. I was surprised by the number of folks who had never heard of white chocolate, and those who had said it wasn't really chocolate at all. This was before the internet, so these were actual letters! Sometimes the simplest of subjects brought in the most mail.

Wednesday April 19, 2017

Lynn's Comments: I remember making mud pies–and eating them. I was so into the fantasy, it was hard to believe that my cooking tasted like dirt!

Wednesday April 26, 2017

Lynn's Comments: The first year it was my turn to host kids from the out of town hockey team, I prepared for mayhem. I bought kid-friendly food items, borrowed strong camping gear and restocked my first aid kit. I was going to hold up under pressure…after all, other moms did!

Friday April 28, 2017

Lynn's Comments: Six 10-12 year olds fit themselves into our basement with one more sharing the bunks in Aaron’s room. I was surprised by how many brought their own pillow. Each pillow was a treasured object not to be trifled with!

Saturday April 29, 2017

Lynn's Comments: We all hear complaints about young people; how disrespectful and inconsiderate, how noisy and unruly they can be. The kids who stayed with us for the hockey tournaments, however, were the easiest kids I'd ever had the pleasure to deal with! So the story running here was more about creating an interesting cartoon than it was about telling the truth!

Tuesday May 2, 2017

Lynn's Comments: Every mom has heard this line…and every mom responds the same way. I got a lot of satisfaction out of drawing the expression on Elly’s face here, knowing it would be felt by so many!

Friday May 5, 2017

Lynn's Comments: I remember this stage of my life so clearly. My friends and I would secretly compare our progress, wondering why we seemed to be slower to change than others. The funny thing is, from the age of 60 onward, my friends and I have been doing the same thing!

Saturday May 6, 2017

Lynn's Comments: At the age of 70, my friends and I have been asking each other questions like: Do you have cataracts yet? Are you done with menopause? Have you got high blood pressure? Diverticulitis? Acid reflux? …All the things seniors start to grumble about.

Sunday May 7, 2017

Lynn's Comments: This little scenario was performed by yours truly to an unappreciative audience, several times. Yet, the concept of replacing the roll seemed to elude an otherwise capable crew. I took to putting the roll on the seat in full view with the hope that it would be correctly reinserted in the aperture created for it. Eventually, I gave up. You have to pick your battles, I guess, and in the scope of large family concerns, this was not on the radar. It pleases me no end now to see my kids in their own homes replacing their rolls with skill and dexterity. I guess you can teach by example after all.

Monday May 8, 2017

Lynn's Comments: The difference now is seniors don't want to change! At 13, we all were desperate to be adults. Every little physical sign was a step towards freedom, or so we thought. At 13, we were all aware of each other’s physical changes, and were constantly asking about them. Seniors do the same. We just don't get any joy out of the answers!

Thursday May 25, 2017

Lynn's Comments: My elder friends and I are now looking at our belongings and wondering who should get what when we go. It’s funny to note that some things I thought my kids would both want are not of interest to either!

Sunday June 4, 2017

Lynn's Comments: I had a lot of fun making up ads and slogans. Perhaps I would have done that for real had I remained in commercial art and advertising. Names of cereals, beauty products and cleaning agents were fun to dream up, and now and then I'd laugh out loud when I inked the drawings. Interestingly, some of the real ads for real products today, often sound like satire. Maybe there are too many products and not enough names to go around!

Monday June 19, 2017

Lynn's Comments: At the time of our kitchen renovation, we managed to dine in the hallway with the use of a borrowed hot plate and a microwave. This was fun…for a while.