street: Browse The Strips

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Lynn's Comments: In our house, it was of utmost importance to maintain good table manners. My mother went so far as to give us eating lessons. My brother and I learned to sit straight with a yardstick down our backs and a "Golden Book" under each arm. We learned how to use our fork and knife in the English style, cutting with wrists up, dabbing the edibles onto the back of the fork. (Rarely should one "stab" at one's food.) We were never to talk with our mouths full; never to reveal the mastication going on inside. Eating was often an ordeal. The benefits of the lessons, however, came to the fore at summer camp when we were the only kids who could eat comfortably while crushed onto a wooden bench with a line of other campers. If mom saw us chewing with our mouths open, there was instant objection. This, of course made it mandatory that we eat as rudely as possible when the moment was ripe. This strip was done in memory of these unfettered times.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Lynn's Comments: If Katie had a tricycle, I don't remember it. The town was so small, there were few sidewalks and I wouldn't have let her go too far on her own. This is really an image from my own childhood. My brother had a tricycle to which he was welded. He was on it constantly and because we didn't own a car, mom trundled us to the corner store - she and I on foot with Alan on his trike. I remember having to wait for him as he sat and watched bugs on the sidewalk or stopped to check out a parked car. It was maddening. Likewise, he would pedal like crazy down the hills and we'd have to run after him. Balancing groceries and hollering at the top of her lungs, Mom would fly at breakneck speed down to the stop sign where she'd put herself between Alan and the busy intersection ahead. It wasn't until I had kids of my own that I realized how many times we'd put Mom's life in danger as she tried to protect ours!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Word for word this is a true exchange. Aaron and his friend Roy were allowed to go down to "Fergy's", the local corner store, pool hall and hang-out - and Fergy's motto "buy or bye-bye" meant that they wouldn't be there long. Fergy made his money on pop and penny candy and despite the difficulty in getting fresh produce into the north, the licorice was always fresh. Licorice, ginger and chocolate are my favorite diet-breakers and the kids knew I'd shell out a few bucks if I they'd be sure to return with "the goods". It's funny, this thing about licorice. It was my grandfather's favorite, my mother's favorite and Charles Schulz liked it too. I took him a bag of licorice allsorts when he was in the hospital and he lit up with a smile. This is what we munched on as we spoke for the last time. He died not long afterwards and every time I see licorice allsorts, I think of him.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Our childhood home on Fifth and Lonsdale in North Vancouver was where all the neighborhood kids seemed to congregate. When our sprinkler was on, it meant food, fun and a bathroom if you remembered to use it! My folks were tolerant and welcoming and everyone took their generosity for granted. They rarely complained, however - they wanted to be able to look out the window and know where we were!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Mud puddles provided endless entertainment for my brother and me. Dad showed us how to make boats out of matchbooks, toothpicks, Kleenex and glue. We stomped in them, dammed them up, and crunched through the ice when they were frozen. When I think of all the toys we had to stimulate our imaginations I smile...'cause, the puddles in the laneway were the most fun of all!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Whenever someone or something goes missing, we are programmed to think the worst. Maybe it's the news or the stuff we see on television that makes us panic, but we find ourselves preparing for the most awful of outcomes - just in case! When Farley disappeared I wondered if he had been stolen - but someone loading his dirty, hairy, odiferous butt into their vehicle was pretty hard to imagine!

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I think I got a dollar a week. If I did extra stuff, I got a more. I remember saving my earnings to pay for a new bicycle seat and when I did, I was so proud I told all my friends that I'd bought it myself. Giving us an allowance was such a good way for the folks to teach us about saving and being responsible. It was augmented and reduced according to grades and behaviour and when times were tough, we could even chip in. Even though values and circumstances have changed, I hope parents continue to make an allowance pay off!

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Lynn's Comments: This has to be one of my favorite Sunday pages. Aaron often came into my room early in the morning and talked to me while I was half asleep. Katie had no reservations about running outside in the buff. Combine these two elements and I had a good gag. I had fun with the illustration- most of all I loved doing the expressions on the faces of the characters. Facial expressions and body language are as important as the punch line and I erased Michael's sly smile several times before it was right on! Sunday comics like this one were fun to read when they came out in the paper. I would read this strip as if I were a stranger who'd never seen it before. If it made me laugh again then, I knew I had a good one!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Lynn's Comments: I never learned this until my kids were grown: never tell them something is "fun" if they don't want to do it. Say it will be "satisfying" perhaps. Say it will be a "relief" when it's over- these things make sense. The things that made me get down to work (when I was not in the mood) were threats, bribes and coercion. Then, when I had no choice but to do whatever it was I had to do...I sometimes actually enjoyed it.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Lynn's Comments: Dundas is a small suburb of Hamilton, Ontario where I lived for about 4 years. I would go to the Dundas Valley Journal and see if they needed any cartoons and, eventually, they bought a weekly panel from me for $10.00 apiece. Elly and her quest for a column in her local paper was based on this.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Lynn's Comments: My friend, Audrey, was as nonchalant as could be when it came to delivering her baby. It was her husband who panicked! When she said she thought it might be time to leave for the hospital, Mack ran out to the car with her overnight bag and almost forgot her. Then he backed into a post on the way out of the driveway. Audrey ended up driving to the hospital and checking herself in. We laughed when she said she'd told the orderly to put Mack in the wheelchair for the ride to the room!