I noticed that you'd ended Season 2 of the Podcasts the other day. Does this mean they're done with or is Season 3 ready to go?

Paul Jones, Saint John, New Brunswick

Hi Paul! This is the end of the podcasts for now. We do have plans for future podcasts, but we have decided to take a break for a little while. I think I have only played a video game once and found the experience to be highly unproductive. I remember telling my kids, "Look, when you are finished playing hours and hours of those games, you will have a big, fat nothing!" One of my sons, on the other hand, loved those games and anything that had to do with computers. He just graduated with a degree in computer science/math! He turned a 'big, fat nothing' into a really big something.

Diane Siracusa

I burst out laughing yesterday after noticing multiple cat nose smudges on the window where our cat likes to sit on the sill to look out. Before reading of the lip and ear window smudges here, I'd never paid attention enough to realize how the little smudges got there. :)

Beverly F.

Whoever said necessity is the mother of invention had to be a woman. I've heard of milk baths but never potato baths (must try that)...it had to be a woman who said that and it is so true. One time I gave one of the kids thick socks to use as mittens when theirs were soaked with snow...it worked!

Geri C New York City USA

You're gonna hear it for this one!!! Many USA fans won't realize that Cuba wasn't closed to Canada. For most of that time US citizens who wanted to visit Cuba went a round about way, starting with Canada. Our (US) trade embargo hurt the ordinary person in Cuba mostly. People in power can always get what they want. Things do change and people do learn. Telling it like it really is does help a lot. Thanks Lynn. Your papa tapa hopefully will pull the plug on some misconceptions!

Hometown, Il. CJ

Dear Lynn Johnston, I noticed your Lynn's Notes comment to the Sunday, January 29, 2012 comic strip were word-for-word the same as the comment for the same comic strip in "In the Beginning, There Was Chaos: For Better Or For Worse 2nd Treasury" p. 293. However, the punctuation of the comment in the Treasury was different from the punctuation of your comment in Lynn's Notes. Which came first -- the Lynn's Notes or the Treasury comment? Which one has the correct punctuation?

Paul S. Oro Valley, Arizona

Hi Paul! The notes for this book came first - we completed "In the Beginning, There was Chaos" last spring so that it could be printed and on book shelves for the fall of 2011. You will see some overlap between the Lynn's Notes on our site and the comments in the new treasuries - Lynn wouldn't be able to be "semi-retired" if she had to write and re-write every comment for every strip. The slight variations in punctuation are due to changes from the editors at the book publisher - so, the book punctuation is likely more formally correct. ~ Katie Hi...My husband and I moved my son and his family into their first home yesterday and we gave them your book "Home Sweat Home" as a housewarming gift. Your funny strip and the great reader's comments brought back happy memories of window smudges and video games. Our favourite game in the 1980's was Astro Warrior by Sega. Thanks to everyone!

Lu Fraser, Sidney, BC

Lynn's cartoon strips were drawn at an earlier, more innocent, less politically correct time and in-the-style-of the way cartoons of times even earlier were drawn. For example, the cup being thrown, the child outdoors seemingly without supervision. My friends, siblings and I always played outdoors singly or with others and adults were just not very aware in the same way that they are today of possible predators. Cartoons, even onscreen, showed characters, (usually cartoon animals) being flattened by steamrollers, falling off cliffs and being hit by objects. Even kids knew it was fake and should never be done in real life. It would be impossible, or at least a herculean task for Lynn to redo all of the cartoon strips she's done in the past just to please a few readers. We need to cut her some slack. After all, how sad it would be NOT to have her awesome cartoon strip still available.

Beverly F.

Ah, face and finger marks on windows and doors. Yes those were the days with 4 kids; now it's nose prints of the cats. Kids were alot more fun!

Linda M, Lancaster PA

Lu Fraser and Mylene S: Well said. Mylene is right; this is exactly why this strip is so very popular. It's a mirror to us every day and we get to laugh at ourselves and, too, correct ourselves when we see ourselves and our true feelings and motives acted out if, sometimes, even in a balloon. Linda

Linda, FL

This is in response to the recent criticism of my not liking to see Elly hurl things at people like a child throwing a tantrum. I know it's a comic strip but it's supposed to be a slice-of-life thing, not the Three Stooges. In the real world, the only way Elly would throw things at John is in a thought-bubble so that's what we should have seen. That or a thought-bubble filled with mixed-up punctuation marks.

Paul Jones, Saint John, New Brunswick

I find that I disagree with Lu Fraser and Mylene S. over the “measuring cup to the head” comic strip from January 22. With other characters, if they got angry, Lynn Johnston would draw a black storm cloud over their heads (which you knew was not an actual weather condition), or she would have them imagine a violent situation, like when Shannon Lake imagined Becky McGuire tied to a rocket in a thought balloon. All the times Elly threw things at John's head, Lynn Johnston never drew it in a thought balloon. I think the reason it was never drawn as imaginary is because it never was intended to be imaginary. Old style humor used to feature women hurling real things like plates, dishes and cups at men's heads, while the hapless man cowered behind tables and ducked. I think it's OK to get that Lynn Johnston's style of humor was lifted from the TV shows and movies she saw during her youth.

Paul S. Oro Valley, Arizona

Oh Lynn... You can't win! If the characters in your comic strip were perfect, if they never fought, got angry, gossipped, held grudges... If they were never judgmental, if they never lost their patience or never did anything they weren't proud of... They would not be believable, and we wouldn't identify with them. I strongly believe that one of the reasons why the strip became so popular was because people were able to identify with the characters, and recognized part of themselves in them. We laugh at these situations because we've lived them. We sympathise with the characters because we know how they "feel". No, we're not perfect... But we all live and learn. You'll always have people who love to say negative things about your work, but I hope you know you have a fair amount of supporters, too!

Mylene S, ON, Canada

Hi, I love your strip! I have a beef with some of the comments! In my view, a comic strip is like a cartoon; it's not real. Does the cup being thrown in the air at John need to have a 'cloud balloon' drawn around it so readers will understand it's imaginary? Does the complete strip need a 'cloud balloon' around it so readers understand it's imaginary? Sheesh, it's all in fun, it's all good, like it or lump it!

Lu Fraser

The January 22 strip, in which Elly hurls a coffee mug at John, once again demonstrates the unfair double standard to which men are subjected. If a man engaged in such conduct to a woman, the police would be called, and off to jail he would go. When a woman does it, it is supposed to be funny. I am not amused.

John, Scottsdale AZ

Here's something that troubles me about today's strip....what is Elly's problem with Phil dating someone a few years younger than he is? Does she have some sort of mental block that makes her think that only people who attended school at the same time should marry?

Paul Jones, Saint John, New Brunswick

About the measuring cup thrown at John...lighten up, people!! A sense of humor is so essential to getting through life. Don't take every single thing so seriously, much less a comic strip! I'm sure I never do!

Lauren - Pleasantville, NY

Because of my January birthday, I started kindergarten at age four. Even then, I loved to draw and in my mind the only way to truly show that a person was male or female was to include their gender parts boys were drawn with a facsimile between their pant legs and girls had something at the bottom of their skirts. While my mother probably thought this was hilarious, my teacher did not. She sent my mother a note regarding my art work and I do remember Mother explaining to me that people would be able to tell boys apart from girls by their clothing and hair styles without the added body parts. I never drew them again.

diane siracusa - Hollister, MO

A comment on art gallery staff. I took my son, age 10, to the Art Gallery of Ontario. The staff were fabulous. Very welcoming to kids and they had cards (like trading cards) with pictures of different paintings in the gallery. The idea was for kids to ask each docent for a card, collect them all and find the paintings. Very kid friendly and fun. Conclusion....come to the AGO to introduce your kids to art!

Philippa, Sudbury,Ontario

Ironing? I'm not so good at doing, but I like to wash dishes...mindless, yes, but a chance to reflect on the day and warm my hands. When my husband does them, it's by loading the dishwasher!

Dawn A

The "objects flying toward heads" trope is not funny. Thousands of Canadians and approximately 1.7 million Americans suffer head injuries annually; a considerable portion of these originate from acts of violence. I'm glad Lynn did not actually throw a measuring cup at her husband's head but the effect of a measuring cup hurtling toward John's brain stem was a chilling way to begin my morning.

Monica, Bakersfield, CA

Did you have anything in mind when Mike built the snow sculpture. It looks like Snoopy's head to me.

summerdog

You're right! The snow sculpture seen in the January 20th strip does look like a Snoopy head! This was not intended, however, it was purely coincidental. I saw something I didn't like to see yesterday and it's not the hurled heavy object: it's the childishness in Elly that makes her want to do stupid stuff like that. It amazes me that their marriage lasted as long as it did because she's just so damned hard to live with. Granted, John is no prize either but he doesn't throw nearly as many tantrums as the clod who wastes time she should be using to see that her kids aren't drinking bleach so she can do something 'important' like shrieking about non-events.

Paul Jones, Saint John, New Brunswick

I was surprised to see Ellie throwing a mug at Jon. Here in Menahga, we're more likely to throw lutefisk. It's messier but less likely to cause damage.

Urho K, Menahga, MN, USA

I have to comment on the anatomically correct snowmen!! As an art teacher in elementary, you have to maintain a certain level of modesty to the art you show your students, but occasionally an accidental body part will get by the censor (meaning me). When this happens I usually don't respond with shock, because that's what my students want, they want ME to be embarrassed.I don't think my grade levels are the place to introduce the anatomy to students in such great detail, but on the other hand, I hate it that Diane S never drew like that again. The human body is beautiful, and to be able to draw the nude form and capture the graceful movement and positions is a true artistic talent. I loved the figure drawing class I took in College (Marshall University) and I am so glad it was done tastefully as to not create an environment of fear and embarrassment! Draw on Diane!!

Dawn A

I've been scouring the archives, but can't find one of my favorite winter strips. It's of Elly taking one of the dogs outside in her bathrobe and the dog taking their sweet time. So, she yells at them. I think it was on the website because I seem to remember a backlash on Coffee Talk about being mean to the dog. I have been thinking about it lately while taking my own dog out in the VERY cold and having him search so long for the perfect spot to leave his mark. Can you help?

Karla

Here you are. The strip's right here.