home: Browse The Strips

Monday, February 10, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Here I used Letrafilm, the now archaic method of adding black and white texture to cartoons destined for the newspaper. This is a wood grain pattern, and after it came out in the paper, I realized just how badly it reproduced! Sometimes this way of adding depth to a strip looked fine on the original art, but when reduced to the printed format, it became blotchy, muddy, and rough. I was constantly learning about what worked and what didn't!

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I don't think schools go for the "give everyone in the class a valentine" any more--and I think it's for the best. Some kids in my elementary classes never got or gave valentines because their folks couldn't afford the bags of pre-cut cards. We couldn't either, but my folks always bought them because they wanted to spare us the humiliation of having nothing to give.

Friday, February 14, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My mom made the best cookies in the world. Her decorated sugar cookies could have won prizes for flavour and design. I haven't mastered her wonderful skill--because I just don't have the patience. Or, maybe it's just hard to see a work of art chewed up and swallowed!

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Our folks could never sneak up on us because there were so many squeaky floorboards in the hall. We, on the other hand, knew where each one was.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Lynn's Comments: When you work with the public all day you save your rants for the folks at home. I worked at home and ranted elsewhere. Perhaps this was a good thing!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Here's a story for you: The province of Manitoba had just decreed that people trained as dental nurses would be licensed to do check-ups, cleanings, small fillings, and extractions on children. Rod's dental practice had expanded to include three First Nations villages, and he needed someone to offset the load. I was on my way to Winnipeg with Aaron (who had a doctor's appointment) when an interesting application came in. Debbie had very good references and was willing to move up to Lynn Lake. Rod asked me to interview her in Winnipeg, so Debbie and I arranged to meet in the hospital cafeteria while Aaron had his appointment. I sat at a table with a coffee and waited for Debbie to arrive.

Right on time, a stunningly beautiful girl with a long blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and a voluptuous figure came into the room, wearing a black low-cut cocktail dress. She put out her hand and introduced herself. I got her a coffee, and the interview began. Debbie was wonderful. I immediately liked her and knew she would work well with our team. I asked her if she could move up north as soon as possible. "You mean I've got the job?" she asked in amazement. "Absolutely," I said, "you are exactly the kind of person we're looking for." I watched Debbie as she adjusted herself in her seat. She was blushing. "There's just one thing I want to know," I continued, "why on earth did you wear a cocktail dress to this interview?" "Well," she smiled, "when I told my friends I was being interviewed by the dentist's wife, they told me I'd never be hired. So I decided to blow off the interview by dressing up!" I laughed. We both did. Debbie was not only beautiful, she had a wicked sense of humour. She worked for us for four years and was one of the best staff members we ever had.

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Lynn's Comments: One of the things interviewers will often ask a cartoonist is, "Of all the punch lines you've written, which is your favourite?" and the cartoonist will typically say, "Well. I haven't written it yet." Or something like that. This is my favourite punch line!

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My mom used to put my hair into what she called "bunches." She would pull my hair so tight, my eyes watered and the elastics made my head ache. When I had a daughter, I decided I wouldn't force anything like this on her, but I did want to learn how to do French braids. Kate wouldn't let me practice. No matter how I approached the subject, she was uninterested, until I offered to PAY her to let me braid her hair. Eventually this didn't work, and I gave up. I figured that I'd never see my girl with her thick, dark tresses in a hairstyle I loved. Until one day, she appeared with a perfect set of French braids, neatly tied together with a white bow. She had done them herself!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I was complaining to a friend once about the number of times a week I had to drive my son to hockey. She reminded me that where I lived the arena was just a few minutes away, and where she lived, the drive was over an hour. She also had two sons and a daughter busily involved in competitive hockey. Her three practiced at all hours--morning and evening, and regularly travelled to neighbouring communities to play. I caved and gave her points for the best grumble. In comparison, my efforts regarding Canada's national sport were negligible.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Another Daily strip that resonated. Mothers spend so much time and energy battling feelings of guilt and often about things that are entirely reasonable.

Sunday, March 2, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Our small wartime house on Fifth Street had a wood and coal furnace. Warm air was forced through grates in the floor, and these grates were used for everything from drying socks to warming up Plasticine. Plasticine was (and still is) a superb modelling material with which we played endlessly. Heating the house was costly, so our home was often quite cold. We would play on the floor near one of the floor grates, and the smell of warming Plasticine is something I can still recall. I also remember scraping the melted stuff off the floors and the grates when we'd forgotten to remove it.

In our elementary school, we had those large water-filled metal heaters, shaped like a row of packaged hot dogs. Having used the heating system at home for melting stuff, I was intrigued by the possibilities presented by these heaters! At one end, there was an L-shaped valve, which had a small indentation on the top. This tiny valve was very hot, and interestingly, a wax crayon fit into the indentation perfectly. Within a few days, the classroom heaters had a rainbow of melted wax on one end, and an APB was put out for the guilty party. Due to my already colourful reputation, I was detained posthaste and sent to the principal's office. Another memory I have is of scraping melted crayon off the heaters at school, a punishment to fit the crime!

Monday, March 3, 2014

Lynn's Comments: At the time these strips were done, I was travelling a great deal. I went on book tours, I did speaking engagements, and I attended various fairs and comic art related events. Sometimes, we went as a family, but more often, I went alone. The library convention was to allow me to use some of my experiences in the strip.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Lynn's Comments: One time when I was packing to leave for a speaking engagement, Aaron looked at me and said, "Are you turning into Lynn Johnston AGAIN?!"

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Lynn's Comments: For a while I was under the impression that clothing for speaking engagements and other business attire was considered a business expense, and therefore, tax deductible. It wasn't. I should have asked my accountant for advice before having so much fun at my favorite clothing shops!

Sunday, March 9, 2014

Lynn's Comments: The breakfast in bed scenario is always shown in cartoons as a parent in bed and the kids delivering a messy meal. I wanted to turn it around and have the kids messing up their own space. I thought this was more often the case.

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Another real incident--but I was the one who made the hole in the track pants and my mother was the one who couldn't imagine how it had happened!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Lynn's Comments: The real story behind this strip was quite different from what you see here. It began with a dream. I was on a dock on Bowen Island waiting for the ferry to arrive. It came in with a rush of water and a hiss from the engines, and when it pulled in, the hull hit the wooden pilings and the waves pushed it up and down against them, making an awful, rhythmic scraping sound. This became so loud, it woke me up. There I was in bed, with my arm around my husband, and he was snoring --with the same rhythmic, grating sound!

Sunday, March 30, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I was taught to sew at a very early age. As soon as I could manage a needle and thread, I was darning socks and patching trousers. One of the first "grown-up" gifts I received was a sewing box of my own--into which my mother had put all of the things I would need, including a thimble, which was just my size. I kept the sewing case until it fell apart, and up until a few years ago, I still had the tiny scissors my grandmother used for cutting thread. Sewing has always been something I've enjoyed--as long as I didn't have to follow a pattern or make something fit!

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This comes from a remark Aaron's grade two teacher made: "Kids always know their friends are coming back if their coats are still on the hallway hanger." One of the children had been ill, but the class was sure he'd be back--simply because something of his was still there for them to see. I thought this was a significant observation!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My brother and I fought over trivia; my kids fought over stupid things, too. Whether it’s caused by boredom or the need to establish territory, fighting between siblings seems to be unavoidable. My mother would say, “You two are LOOKING for an excuse to fight!” And we were.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I think moms should go away once in awhile, just so the family left at home can discover for themselves what we REALLY do all day!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This is another gift from the horse’s mouth. Any time I got my husband into a clothing store, it was a special occasion. He hated to think about his attire. As long as he was comfortable, he didn’t much care about his image! He’d buy a year’s worth of clothing in one shot. The salesman would make sure that ties went with shirts, socks matched trousers, and that everything fit accordingly. Dressing him for a special occasion was much easier when there was a plan of attack. Still there were lapses, and this exact exchange took place before a dinner we had to attend.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My mom was a talented gardener. You might think it takes little know-how to plant something and watch it grow, but coaxing a seed or a bulb to its full potential takes knowledge, experience and skill. My mother had the ability to create a productive garden--and the patience and foresight to pass it on.