arloandjanis.com

Another antique: the wind-up metronome. I was glad to learn most of you aren’t seriously bothered that my comic strips here aren’t categorized. I have enough to do as it is. Someone mentioned categorizing by date. They are, sort of. Lest we forget, the usual “blog” stuff is at the bottom of the main page, including the past content arranged by month and year. Going back to January, 2008, you can see what’s appeared at arloandjanis.com. The bottom of the page also is where to go to search for things on the site.

24 Comments » Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

Already a day late this week, and June is gone. Where does the time go? Wherever it goes, it doesn’t come back.

The blog-savvy among you may have noticed by now that all my posts are filed under the category ”vintage A&J.” I know this is severe underutilization of the archiving potential of the blogging format, but I don’t know much else to do. All the cartoons are about Arlo and Janis, or maybe Gene or Ludwig. They’re all about marriage, in some way. They are, I’ll be the first to admit, all the same! Perhaps you have some suggestions for breaking down my work into categories.

35 Comments » Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

As you may have deduced by now, I’ve had a busy week away from the keyboard. Since it’s already Friday, and we’ve been talking of the beach then and now, I thought this cartoon would be particularly appropriate. Pay close attention. You won’t see Jimmy Johnson drawing many high-rise condominium complexes.

Since I’m wrapping up the loose ends of a light week here at arloandjanis.com, let me address “moderation” once more. I’ve done so several times, but it remains a hot topic. Most comments are unmoderated. First-time posters’ comments are held for my approval; this, I’m told, is to discourage spam. As some of you know, other comments are held seemingly at random. I don’t know why myself. When I get around to it, I check and approve all comments being held. No individual has ever been black-balled, and very few posts have been edited because of the content. If your post is held for moderation, please try to be patient, and don’t take it personally. And please keep posting! Have a good weekend.

15 Comments » Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

We were speaking of vacation memories. I told you my father would take us to visit my uncle’s family in Mobile, near the Gulf of Mexico. One year, I think I was seven years old, (My Aunt Bonnie may have had a hand in this plan!) my father and my uncle decided to pitch in and actually rent a cottage at Gulf Shores for a week.

“Cottage” is a generous term. It was a small, cinderblock structure with a tiny screen porch. I don’t remember much about the floor plan, but I think I slept on a cot in the kitchen. I can’t tell you where the four adults and other three children slept. The sandy grounds sloped down to a lagoon. Across the water was another strip of sand and beyond that the open gulf. There was not much around us back then, and the spit was just an empty bar of sand on the other side of the water. Today, it is chock-a-block with high-rise condominiums. However, I am delighted and amazed to report that, as of a few years ago anyway, the little cinderblock cabins still exist. I doubt if anyone in those beachfront condos has as much fun as we did that week.

41 Comments » Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

Many of you know, I have never been comfortable participating in direct discussion of my work: explaining a cartoon or participating in speculation about what the author (me!) and the characters think or intend. I figure I have said all I have to say in the comic strip. However, like many of my principles, this on is eroding. Someone already has written today to say they fear for Arlo’s safety as he goes to “check out” Gus’ sailboat. Fear not. Arlo is just going to unlock the boat and look around. Now see? I’ve gone and spoiled several possible scenarios in your mind, even if those scenarios turn out to be dead ends. That’s what comes of playing fast and lose with principles.

40 Comments » Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

My fascination with the seashore began early, because the coast meant “vacation” to the family when I was a boy. My father was a machinist in a textile mill, and “vacation week” always was the week of July 4th, then the entire mill would close. Since my father had a brother in Mobile, we’d often barge in for a few days of low-country living. The years we stayed home, all family members would be pressed into much-needed work on our big old house. You can understand why I came to prize salt air.

47 Comments » Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

We don’t all like the same things fortunately, and, although you’ve been very attentive, we’re in that portion of the process where some readers inevitably begin to grumble, “I’m tired of this Mary Lou business.” Well, I am, too, a bit, but let all know that the entire series (Let’s call it “Gene’s Summer Job.”) is in the can, and the end will come.

I have in the past drawn a lot more serial strips than I have the last few years, as evidenced by the occasionaly wobbly pacing in the current story, but I have enjoyed getting back to it. I expect I’ll do more.

71 Comments » Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

26 Comments » Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

So, you noticed the sailboat. I couldn’t resist. I haven’t drawn a sailboat for a long time. The bow of the schooner in the strip is called a “spoon bow,” characteristic of the old Grand Banks fishing boats such as the famous Bluenose. Remember the great sailing footage in the old movie Captain’s Courageous? My own limited exposure to schooners, however, has been to the shallow-draft, clipper-bowed variety that shrimped and oystered along the Gulf Coast in the 19th and early 20th century. There are replicas, but reportedly only one original survives, the Governor Stone.

36 Comments » Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

It’s Friday. Let’s get away from the Mary Lou saga a bit, and you can’t get much further than a Ludwig limerick.

I know I’ve been slow moderating the comments of new-comers. What passes for my system requires that comments from first-time posters be approved by the moderator. That’s me. I’m not sure what this is supposed to accomplish, but that’s the way things are set up. The regulars here will tell you it was a lot worse until recently, when I ceased to moderate all comments. Anyway, I’m very busy with other things these days, but I’ll moderate as soon as I can. The good news is, there are a lot of first-time posts!

49 Comments » Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J