pot: Browse The Strips

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Lynn's Comments: When the dust cleared we did discover a few things gone that we wanted to keep--and one item had been stolen. Not bad for a day of chaos!

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Lynn's Comments: Like Michael, I wanted my room to remain in a constant state of upheaval when I was a kid. The mess was a sign of independence, a statement that marked my room as mine. Commands to clean it up were greeted with indifference. Even if I was forced to comply, the state of "tidy" might have only lasted a day. I could never see the reason why a room had to be kept in order if nobody saw it but me. A kid needs solid reasons, and the threat of punishment wasn't reason enough!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My mom worked with her father doing the hand lettering in and around the stamps in his priceless albums. He was an expert on forgeries, and this fine work required them both to use of a variety of magnifying glasses. We kids were not allowed to touch them, but this made them all the more fascinating.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Lynn's Comments: When I got together with other young moms, we talked a lot about coping. We reasoned that the nine month gestation plus the difficulty in delivering a baby made the kid that much more "valuable," and therefore worth the added suffering afterwards. Frustrations were all forgotten, of course, when we looked at the faces of our clean, healthy, and sleeping offspring.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Lynn's Comments: One of the things I love to do is sound effects. Trying to come up with the phonetic spelling for the sound a head makes as it hits a pillow, for example, is so much fun. ("FWUMPP" would do it). I think the sound effect I am most proud of is the sound of a toilet plunger. It goes: "Ka_FLOOMP-a-GUSH." Sometimes you have to decide whether to repeat a letter as in "FWAPPPP!" One "P" just won't do it. A smack with a wet towel, for example has to sting. This requires several P's.

If you are a fan of Mad magazine, you'll remember the wonderful comic art of Don Martin. His sound effects were fabulous. I think he coined "Fwoooommmm!," and "Ka-chingggg!" One of the weirdest letters I ever received was from Don Martin's wife accusing me of stealing her husband's sound effects. I didn't think I had. The sounds I wrote all came from my head. Then again, can you really lay claim to a cartoon sound? WHHHHOOOOO!!! I sure hope not!

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I am someone who procrastinates until stuff HAS to be done. In order to force myself to do ironing, say, I give myself a deadline--I have learned from the strip that deadlines provide the pressure I need to produce. I'll invite friends for dinner at 6:00 on Saturday, for example, so I'll definitely have the kitchen clean by the time they get here. I'll promise someone an article of clothing, and then I HAVE to go through my closet. I'll have a garden party to force myself to weed my garden, and on it goes. This strip was done when I was in a panic. I had procrastinated for so long that I was late; my editor expected to get this strip several days beforehand, and if I didn't get it done ASAP, I'd be fined for missing my deadline. I wondered what in the world I would do for this Sunday page--and it hit me! Why not write about procrastination!

Thursday, February 12, 2015

Lynn's Comments: When we first arrived in Lynn Lake, we had no front desk person for the clinic and no chair-side assistant. With Aaron in kindergarten and my mom-in-law willing to look after Katie, I thought I might be able to work with Rod part-time while he trained someone else.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I wanted my son, who really had a good ear for music, to take piano lessons. In an effort to encourage him (and to learn myself) I arranged to take lessons with him. We went to a particularly strict and humourless lady who treated us exactly the same way. Admonishments like, "Keep those wrists up! Do you want to play "McDonald's Farm" for another week?!" were doled out to us both. I earnestly wanted to learn how to play the piano, but I fully understood my son's reluctance to practice because I hated to practice, too! Neither of us looked forward to the lessons, so neither of us worked hard to learn. This is a sad admission. I wish we had focused on our talent and not on our teacher!

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.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Lynn's Comments: My brother and my husband never did go on a canoe trip together, but this series of strips was based on a true and nearly fatal story.

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Lynn's Comments: I think there's a play out there somewhere called, "I Love You, You're Perfect. Now Change." Does anyone know anything about this? Is it still running somewhere? I thought it was the best title, but never got to see the play!

Wednesday July 5, 2017

Lynn's Comments: This is another true story. Considering the "one-comment-a-day" nature of comic strip story telling, you can imagine the response I got from the SPCI (Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Insects) supporters when they read this panel. There was outrage!

Monday March 19, 2018

Lynn's Comments: My mom was a stickler when it came to good manners. "Please," "thank you" and "pardon me" were drilled into us. We had eating lessons. She made us sit with a Golden Book under each arm so we could learn to eat without raising our elbows. There was a litany of rules: "Chew with your mouth shut! Don't pick your teeth in public! Don't blow your nose on the napkins! When you're finished, put your knife and fork together (like a clock’s hands) at seven thirty five!" Use of the knife and fork was carefully monitored. If we slouched at the table, mom would put a yardstick down our backs. This was strict and somewhat crazy, but my brother and I learned how to eat with good manners and it’s been a valuable skill, which has lasted us all our lives!

Sunday February 17, 2019

Lynn's Comments: The TV tray was invented, of course, as soon as the television became a household necessity. Like an indoor commode, every home HAD to have one. My mother, who ruled the roost, hated the thought of us sitting in front of the TV to eat, so we missed all kinds of good shows. They all seemed to come on at 6:00. One afternoon, my dad was late coming home from work. He was always home by 5:30 but this time he was not only late, but had arrived in a delivery van straight from Sears. My brother and I watched through the window as he unloaded a thin rectangular box, waved his thanks to the driver and headed into the house. Inside the box was a set of aluminum TV trays; a wonderful sight to behold. My mother conceded her fight and (depending on the show) allowed us all to eat dinner in front of the television. This was one of the very few times my father defied her. I thank Gunsmoke and Walt Disney for that one significant victory.

Monday June 17, 2019

Lynn's Comments: I never wear shorts and rarely wear skirts. I have never liked my legs…even though I know they are average looking and hold me up just fine. Funny what a negative "body image" can do to us.