Phil: Browse The Strips

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I did have this conversation with my brother. He had been a musician for much of his life and was beginning to rethink the itinerant nature of his career. He wanted stability and a permanent home. It wasn't long after this that he went back to university and got a teaching degree. He was an excellent teacher.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Lynn's Comments: One of the many things I enjoy about my brother is his storytelling. When he was living in Hamilton, Ontario (I lived twenty minutes down the road in Dundas) his adventures with roommates, neighbours, and friends would liven up an evening. He could take amazingly uncomfortable situations and make them sound hilarious. It was stand up comedy at its best; one person's method of coping is another's entertainment.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Alan was a good catch--but a slippery one. I met a few of the girls he went out with; nice people, easy to have around. None scared him like Joan did, however, because she was "the one." I remember him talking about her with the kind of angst that comes when you are at a crossroads and have to make a serious decision. Did he really want to get married? Was he doing the right thing? In the end, they both made the right choice. Al and Joan have just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Coincidentally, "Georgia" and Alan's future wife, Joan, looked a lot alike. I had even decided to call Georgia "Geo" for short!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Before he bit the bullet and proposed to Joan, Alan did ask us a lot of questions about things like cohabitation, home ownership, the right to go fishing if he wanted to. One really good thing was that we had come from a very solid home. Sure, our folks had their ups and downs. They both came from very different backgrounds and were often at odds with each other, but they lived in an era when you saw it through to the end. Marriage was more than a contestable contract--it was, "'til death do you part."

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Lynn's Comments: When I read this strip, I wonder how much truth there was to this statement. Did we really think it through before we got married? I think we did. Our marriage lasted for thirty-three years. It's amazing how we all change in time.

Friday, May 25, 2012

Lynn's Comments: There is only one downside to having a dishwasher: it has killed kitchen conversation. Great moments can occur when people, after a good meal, enter the sanctity of the kitchen to clean up. Those who choose to do the task are at liberty to discuss anything--knowing they will be uninterrupted. I got to know my father really well because he washed and I dried. Confidences, opinions, admissions, and jokes are all part of the cleansing process now killed by the dishwasher. But, I'm still keeping mine!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Because of the similarities between Joan and "Georgia", Al begged me to have Phil and Georgia wait to get married until he married Joan!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Lynn's Comments: All of this rant is absolutely true! My mom would have disinherited me if I had moved in with a boyfriend before marriage. She had a double standard when it came to Alan...he was, after all, a boy!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Lynn's Comments: This dialogue between my brother and me really happened. My brother's wonderful wit often came out like a crafted punch line.

Friday, August 31, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Alan broke my walking doll by holding both legs and making her walk as fast as possible. She wasn't meant for BOYS to play with!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Lynn's Comments: When I was having marriage problems (the first time), I went home to stay with my parents for a while to clear my head and see things from a different point of view. I said to my mother that I wished I had lived with my partner before we had married. In reply, she said she would have disinherited me. "You wouldn't disinherit Alan (my brother) if he lived with someone before marriage!" I said. "That's different." she huffed, "He's a boy."

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Once in a while, I would put a bit of religion into Christmas and Easter strips to prove that I DID know the reason for the celebration and to assuage the readers who thought I was far too focused on the commercial aspects. I could guarantee three kinds of mail when a strip like this was released: One came from the Christian right, who asked that much more focus be put on ecclesiastical issues; one from the atheists, who felt that I was pushing religion down their throats; and finally the moderates, who appreciated the occasional reminder that festivals like this deserve a nod to the deity for whom the chocolate was fashioned and the bells were tolled. Again, I tried to answer every letter I received. Even if I disagreed with someone's philosophy, I certainly appreciated the time they took to write to me.

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!

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.

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Lynn's Comments: We didn't have a garage, so my brother's bands practiced in our basement. For as long as I can remember, the sound of their practicing was ambient noise, and when he wasn't rehearsing with his buddies, Al practiced his horn for hours. The scales, the trills and the tricks of the tongue had to be repeated endlessly, and there were times I just had to escape from it. No amount of teasing or pleading kept him from practicing--which is why he was, in later years, such an excellent musician!

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, July 5, 2013

Lynn's Comments: After about the age of 7, Aaron never admitted to being attached to his teddy bear. At the age of 18, however, when he left home for Vancouver in search of work, he called from his small, sparse apartment and said in a small voice... "Uh, Mom? Could you, um send me my...teddy?" I didn't say anything. I didn't laugh. I sent him the teddy his grandmother had lovingly made, knowing it was something he loved and needed. It sits on his dresser to this day. Aaron turned 40 this year!

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Alan might kill me for this, but as a little kid, he DID carry around a blanket. Actually, it was my blue chenille bedspread, which he inherited when the corners became twisted and grey. When it started to rot, Mom cut it up into smaller pieces so he'd have even more corners to chew on. By the time these pieces deteriorated, he was old enough to go to Beaver camp (junior Scouts in Canada), and Dad suggested he have a ceremonial blankie burning in the fireplace. Alan stuffed his remaining blankies into a shoebox. Dad put lighter fluid over the contents, made a hole in the lid, pulled out a wick of blankie, and the solemn ceremony took place. Al, with sadness and stoicism, sat and watched the box burn to ashes as Dad sat beside him with his arm around his shoulder. It was a coming of age for my brother and a time when Dad proved, beyond a doubt, that he understood kids better than anybody we knew!

Monday, August 26, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The quote "my lungs sound like a barn full of owls" came from my dad. He was a pack-a-day smoker whose health was steadily deteriorating. Cigarettes were a staple for many musicians, but Dad's declining health and Alan's growing maturity made him see that he had to quit before he couldn't play the trumpet any more.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The quote "my lungs sound like a barn full of owls" came from my dad. He was a pack-a-day smoker whose health was steadily deteriorating. Cigarettes were a staple for many musicians, but Dad's declining health and Alan's growing maturity made him see that he had to quit before he couldn't play the trumpet any more.