cup of coffee: Browse The Strips

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Feeling soft and out of shape, a few of us decided to create an exercise group. We found a capable leader who, for a modest sum, agreed to make us sweat a couple of afternoons a week. She turned out to be a drill sergeant. After a few serious workouts, we were all stiff and sore. I remember lying on the couch in pain, feeling muscles I didn't know existed. I thought that running after, picking up, and carrying kids would have put us all ahead of the game.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Lynn's Comments: It's so easy to criticize someone else for doing something stupid. In fact it feels great to point out shortcomings in others! Feeling smug and full of myself, I really did burn a whole pot of soup one day while gossiping to a friend. I was criticizing another mother for the way she managed her household!

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Eddy King, our local barber, was a neighbour and friend. Our cabins on Berge Lake were side by side. Whenever Rod had a chance to talk to Eddie, it was usually a long conversation. When it came to giving a haircut, Eddie would cut for as long as the conversation lasted. Occasionally, Rod would come home with almost no hair left --I hated it! I kept hoping that next time he had his hair cut, they would have much less to say!

Friday, March 30, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I expected my first spouse to change after I married him. I hoped that he would have more confidence and more self-control. In retrospect, I'd now advise people to accept their prospective partners the way they are. "If your partners' quirks irritate you before you marry, I guarantee they will drive you stark raving mad afterwards!"

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Moms are always looking to other moms for advice and moral support. I don't know what I would have done without my "mom-friends". We shared everything from our personal meltdowns and ensuing guilt to comparisons of our kids' behaviour and development. Without judgement or criticism, we helped each other survive! Looking back, all the angst seems so "over the top". It's just that when you're standing there on the edge of the canyon, it's sure nice to have a friend to coax you back into the car!!!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I was once hired to do an illustration for a magazine in Nova Scotia. It was a rush job. I had to get the art there by courier--for which I paid. When I didn't receive a cheque in ninety days, I called to complain. I was told they had used another artist's work, and since they "paid on publication" and my work had not been published, I was out of luck. I was also out the courier charges!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I once did a series of illustrations for a publisher who produced a quarterly children's annual. He didn't pay me and wouldn't answer my calls. I came up with a plan. The next time he needed a small piece of art, I agreed to do it, but rather than mail it to him, he had to come to my home and pick it up. When he arrived, I refused to give him the art until he paid his bill. He said he was broke and would do anything to even things up. I asked him to mow my lawns, which he did. I still savour that image!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

Lynn's Comments: It was hard to imagine my parents as children. To me, they had been born old and were just getting older. When they talked about days gone by, the photographs they turned to were black and white. Our world was in colour. What they talked about was hard to relate to. It was more like hearing a story than a real event.

Maybe it's because they had too much to do to enjoy the kind of childhood we had--they both grew up during the depression and had to work in order to help their families survive. Neither of my parents had the luxury of going to college or university. They learned from books and through experience, and were intellectuals in their own right.

I hoped that my kids would relate to my stories, but life changes so much between generations that Aaron and Katie probably listened with an attitude much like mine had been: "If you really were a kid at one time...why don't you understand kids NOW?"

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Lynn's Comments: When we lived in northern Manitoba, mechanical problems had to be fixed by US. There were no technicians to call, no company to complain to. My husband just figured out how to get things going again. A dental clinic is a really complicated place. There are water lines, air hoses, suction devices, and all kinds of appliances. When we set up the practice, he put in all of this stuff himself. The clinic was in an apartment above Walter Perepeluk's grocery store. Rod and a friend worked for days to attach all the pipes, and this had to be done between the tiles on the ceiling of the store below. After a great deal of hard labour, it was announced that the pipes and the wiring were complete. We celebrated with a good dinner and a glass of wine. The next morning, however, when Rod went into the grocery store to check on his handiwork, Walter met him at the door with a strained look on his face. The entire ceiling, a network of plywood, panels, and tiles had fallen to the floor. The store was a mess of tiles, dust, and dirty produce. With more than a little fanfare, the new dentist had arrived!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Lynn's Comments: Aaron had one excuse after another for not going to bed. It seemed as though he never slept. I would hear him late at night doing stuff in his room and I wondered when he'd get into a "normal" routine. Well, he's almost 40 now and he's still a night owl. It's not unusual for him to be up and working at 3:00 am!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Lynn's Comments: When a kid is hungry, no explanation for why one should wait will curb the appetite. A kid wants to eat NOW. Dinner time for us was always at 6 o'clock when Dad came home. Nothing was allowed beforehand because it would spoil our appetite. Many a dinner was already "spoiled" because I had to wait so long to eat it!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Lynn's Comments: I loved making up names. When I thought up the word Grubberware, it immediately conjured up the idea of a party where toilet brushes, rubber gloves, plungers, and other unattractive bathroom cleaning stuff would be displayed and sold. This meant I could draw toilet-related stuff (which was rather discouraged) and possibly get away with it. I guess there's a part of me that will always want to bug the guy in charge.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Lynn's Comments: One year, a group of us young Lynn Lake moms decided we needed a fitness class. With encouragement from an athletic girl who offered to lead the pack, eight of us met once a week at the curling club and our workouts began. Thinking this would quickly deteriorate into a social club, I went with coffee and cake in mind--but this was not to be. Our instructor took the job seriously, and under her military rule, we worked our buns off!

Friday, January 11, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Looking back at these strips, I can see exactly when they were done by the kinds of things I slotted into the background. In this scene, John and Ted are having a chat over lunch, and rather than draw two talking heads, I put them in a bar. In an effort to be up to date, I showed them playing one of the latest table-top video games. Strange... I recently found one of these covered in dust in an "antique" shop!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I can't add anything to this punch line--other than to say that nothing has changed: the day I decide to get dressed late and to wear no makeup, is the day that all the delivery guys show up! This is something I hope a good iPhone application will someday eradicate.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Working at home meant that I could wear anything. I was usually in jeans and a sweater when my day began. After a few years of this kind of garb, I began to envy the ladies who actually dressed up for work: whose wardrobe was current and whose appearance was groomed. When I told them I wished I had an excuse like they did to get gussied up and look professional, they did say they envied me the freedom I had. I still got them to admit, however, that it does lift one's mood to be dressed up and looking GOOD once in awhile!

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Lynn's Comments: The changes in my studio space and the hiring of new staff made work-related gags easier to do. Now, I was dealing with a group of people, my job had become a real business, and we had an established routine. In the strip it would not have made sense to have Elly suddenly confronting a situation like this herself, so I gave her a part-time, more believable job. The only thing about this strip that was true was--we really were all mothers!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Lynn's Comments: I have to admit, when I had a crush on a boy in school, it lasted through rejection, embarrassment, and blatant teasing. When it eventually wore off, it was gone for good. I don't see a lot of difference in the way I handle my relationships now!

Monday, April 1, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This statement led to several daily strips. Women rarely get to hear this kind of stuff, and I thought it was a nifty insight.

Friday, May 10, 2013

Lynn's Comments: This reminds me of a story. My friend Christa decided she wanted to learn the saxophone. So as not to disturb her husband one morning, she decided to practice on the back porch. We live in the country, so there were no neighbours to offend. She had just started to honk out some scales when her husband appeared in the doorway excited and out of breath. "Christa!" he cried. "Did you hear that? I think a moose has been hit on the highway!"

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Ladies...is this not our best form of therapy?...We need each other more than we need Lycra, hair dye, and creams!

Friday, June 14, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Because I worked from home, there were moms in town who felt they could drop in for coffee any time. One of these ladies was very offended when I asked her to come when I wasn't working and to please call first. Both of her kids were in school; I was paying a sitter to watch Kate. Every hour at the drafting board meant time I could spend with my family later. It was a hard concept for some--who thought that doodling on paper couldn't possibly be work!