daily: Browse The Strips

Saturday, June 7, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My two and a half year old granddaughter views the potty as a torture device. Just the suggestion that she give it a try can bring on a fit. Thanks to friends' recycled mini-biffs, and cool scores at the second hand shop, we have been able to offer her a variety of receptacles: pretty colours with transparent glitter-filled seats, ones that play musical ditties, and others which display the grinning gums of familiar animated characters all thrilled to have done the job where it's supposed to be done--but no deal.

We have determined, since she no longer fits on the change table, that it's time. Very soon we will all take part in the process of elimination--which suggests that we (her mom, dad and I) will give up until one is left to watch for widdle and divine for dumps. With this in mind, I read the above comic strip and thought; "At least he USES the darned thing!!!"

Monday, June 9, 2014

Lynn's Comments: In real life, this didn't happen; the story grew around the idea of Elly babysitting, and I kept saying to myself, "what if?" It's the sort of thing you do when you're lying in bed and wondering where your teenaged kids are. You come up with all kinds of "what ifs"! When you look after little ones, the troubles encountered are often bathroom related, so this was my imagination running wild!

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Lynn's Comments: I have to tell you a story, here.

Years ago, I was in Santa Rosa visiting Charles and Jeannie Schulz (Peanuts). They had invited me to stay at their home before we all attended a comic art event in San Francisco. They had recently put a very sophisticated alarm system into their house--and were just getting used to how it worked.

I had not stayed before in their guest room and was pretty nervous about, well, everything: Did I talk too much? Did I keep the room neat? Did I use too much water--you know, that kind of stuff. Anyway, after dinner we hit the sack, and the wind started to blow hard against the windows. Soon the trees were whipping wildly against the house, and all of a sudden, this massive, deafening alarm went off: WAAAA! WAAAAAA! WAAAAA! WAAAA!!!! All the lights in the house turned on, and so did all the lights in their yard. It was as if giant searchlights were trained on the windows. In a blind panic, I ran up the stairs into their kitchen, and there were Sparky and Jeannie in their pyjamas saying, "Wha? Wha's happening? Wha???." It was great. Here we all were hopping about in our pyjamas, ready for the end of the world.

Well, the next day S&J decided to rework the sensitivity on some of the outdoor sensors, and maybe cut the lights down a bit. We went to the comic art event, and I returned home, no longer shy of Charles Schulz. Having seen the great man running around in his pyjamas, I could say we were now well acquainted.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Lynn's Comments: One of the things I remember my husband saying is that the line, "I hate dentists," actually hurt a lot! We went to a large dinner party shortly after he graduated, and when a woman came up to us and said, "You're a dentist? I HATE you!" He was speechless. She said it as a joke, but the statement had hooks and claws--and it put a damper on our evening. Later, Rod said, "What about the folks who are happy to be out of pain? What about kids with a front tooth missing? I give people back their smiles!" True enough, and going to the dentist is no longer painful--but still, the comment comes. Guess it's a lame gag we make out of habit!

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This idea came from a situation in which a friend's house was broken into, and she was upset that the police had seen her unwashed dishes and her unmade bed. I remember thinking: Like wearing good underwear in case of an emergency, you should keep your house tidy in case it's robbed!

Thursday, June 19, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My dad had the gift of the gab and he made friends everywhere. Mom was much more reserved, and never wanted to attract attention to herself. One night, guess it was about 11:00 pm, we had all gone to bed when a loud police siren was heard outside our house. Right outside. Dad got up, put on his dressing gown, and looked out the window. Two police officers were standing on our front porch--hammering on the door. "Ridgway? Ridgway! Open up!" We were all up by then, and watched as Dad tentatively opened the door. Standing there were two guys he had been chatting up that day. "You got the coffee on?" one said. "We just got off work!" Dad laughed out loud, went to the kitchen and put on the coffee. He had a great time talking to these funny, easy-going guys, and figured it was one of the best nights he'd had in ages. Mom didn't speak to him for a week.

Friday, June 20, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My philosophy was, "I don't care if you sleep or not, just go to bed and be quiet." A light on was okay, books and toys were okay. It seemed to me that an hour was all it took for the offspring to weary and crash!

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This strip was reprinted many, many times for moms and kids wanting to give it to Dad for Father's Day--but now and then we printed it for dads who just wanted to be reminded how good those baby hugs feel.

Monday, June 23, 2014

Lynn's Comments: My friend, Carol, and I set up a lemonade stand in front of my house, and of course, my mom did all the work. We thought it would take all day to sell our wares, but were surprised to have many customers--one right after the other. It took awhile, years actually, before my dad admitted to calling everyone on the block--asking them to buy.

Monday, June 30, 2014

Lynn's Comments: "Train of blank" was not mine. Somebody said it somewhere years ago and it stuck in my head. What a great line!--Isn't it strange that you can remember some insignificant little line like this, but forget your licence plate, your passwords and your PIN?

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Lynn's Comments: After I sent this strip to the syndicate, I felt badly for having used Cathy Guisewite's exclamation. I think this is the only time I ever used the word "Gakkk!" Years later, after many crazy thought-up sounds: bork, flubble, snooof, snerkk, and so on, I received a letter from someone saying I had stolen Don Martin's words. Don did a fabulous spread for Mad Magazine, and his use of funny sound effects was legendary. I wrote back to say that I knew Don's work, and although my sound effects might be similar, I tried hard not to copy anything of Don's. I mean, how many ways can you depict a scream? In deference to Cathy, I have always spelled "AAAAAUGH!" that way--so that she could have "AAAAKKKK!" all to herself.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This strip was done well before the advent of electronic readers and iPads. It's interesting to see that we continue to wonder how the printed page will survive, and if books as we know them will still be the pleasure they once were--and the best gift ever.

Friday, July 4, 2014

Lynn's Comments: One of the most effective advertising gimmicks ever was the "jingle." My chums and I memorized all of them, and today, I can still sing the bluesy torch song that extolled the goodness of Du Maurier cigarettes. I'm trying to think of a modern equivalent--anyone heard a really good jingle lately?

Saturday, July 5, 2014

Lynn's Comments: This scenario was actually from a childhood memory. My brother and I did make a television out of a cardboard box, and we did try to put on a show for our friends. What happened was, our dad, who was a born entertainer, took over the box and put on the show for us. He should have been in vaudeville--but, was born a few years too late.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Lynn's Comments: In the Canadian north, you learn to live with flies. Legends, stories, and songs have been written about them, and no amount of spray will protect you when the season is nigh. I used to complain about the mosquitoes on the west coast, but the black flies, deer flies, and mosquitoes in northern Ontario make wimps out of them. On the GOOD side, the country here is beautiful!

Friday, July 11, 2014

Lynn's Comments: Badminton was one of the games our family really enjoyed. The net would go up in the back yard as soon as spring arrived, and by the end of summer, the grass around it was worn to the ground. Our house was built on a hill, so the front looked like a bungalow, but the back was a two-storey affair, and the roof towered high above the makeshift court. Even so, we managed to whack birdies onto the roof, and Dad, ever mindful of the cost of new ones, risked his life annually to get them down.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Lynn's Comments: The Canadian spelling of racquet was always in question. Since the majority of readers were American, my editors suggested I use the American spelling. I refused. When I signed the contract with the syndicate, it was with the understanding that I could keep everything Canadian, including the spelling of words like racquet, cheque, colour, and neighbour. I said I'd be happy to let individual editors change the spelling if it bothered them--and a few did. Most, however, kept the spelling exactly as written, and I even got letters from readers who loved the fact that they were reading work done by a Canadian!