A pithy comic strip about life, love, lust and puthy cats.

Est. 1985

Extra, Extra!

No Present Like the Time

By Jimmy Johnson


Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"
You’ll remember this recent A&J episode. I hope you will! It appeared last month in newspapers. No, I’m not quite that hard-up for classic strips yet, but I want to illustrate something. This is why I can’t get ahead of deadlines, no matter how much I’d like to or how hard I try. The work expands to fill the time allotted! I first drew this yawner at a leisurely pace, well ahead of my weekly deadline, except I wasn’t quite satisfied with it. I didn’t like the last panel, which originally was this:

Janis’ body language was off slightly, and body language, to a comic, is almost as important as the written language. Oh, it was close. Under the pressure of deadline, I would have let it pass, but given the time, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I drew a fifth panel, to replace the above. So, I spent an arguably inordinate amount of time fretting about this one strip, and the next thing you know I’m racing to finish the others. Business as usual. By now, you’re thinking the same thing I’m thinking: I’d be a better cartoonist if I’d only take more time with my work. Well, that’s another topic, albeit related.

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74 responses to “No Present Like the Time”

  1. TruckerRon Avatar

    Old Faithful is due to erupt in 15 minutes (±10 minutes). Nice little crowd waiting for the geyser or sunset (or both).

  2. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Debbe 😉 Hippie Chick music, hon. 🙂

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OUCpKzMAbQ

  3. Old Bear Avatar
    Old Bear

    GR6
    The comparing of Luxembourg to Alaska brings up SO many questions.
    Not the least is Size,Population density, per capita output ….
    I don’t think there are many oil fields in Luxembourg.

  4. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Think of TR, Bear. Apparently he’s in American Bangladesh. 🙂

  5. TruckerRon Avatar

    There’s a limit to how productive a small population can be (just under 3 million in Utah as of 2014 vs 156,594,962 in Bangladesh in 2013 according to Wiki)… so we’re 52 times as productive?

  6. Debbe Avatar
    Debbe

    Good morning Villagers….

    Sitting here looking at the full moon peeking thru the trees…well, it was full yesterday according to my cat calendar 🙂

    JJ…you did good, like the ‘redux’ better. (Like that $50 word there GR 😉 ?) It shows you care about your readers/fans….thanks.

    Mark, that egg eating snake puts a new meaning to “don’t bite off more than you can chew”.

    Loon, saw close ups of the Queen’s coronation gown…in color, it is beautiful…curious, wonder how much that dress weighs, no wonder she sat down thru the three hour event.

    GR 😉 Hippie Chick approves 🙂

    Jerry, why did they put roosters on top of the cabinets in your home? Does your new kitchen have a theme? Hey, I could provide them with real ones. My boys survived and are doing well.

    Hey, ya’ll have a blessed day

    =^..^=

  7. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    Debbe, I give up. Why did they put roosters on top of the cabinets?

  8. Denise in Michigan Avatar
    Denise in Michigan

    I’m cheering those tough roosters, Debbe! God bless their pin feathers!

    Now we know a little more about Robin: at least one other being lives with her. The third panel in today’s real-time was amazing, Jimmy! I look forward to the Robin strips, and those with Gene and his family’s doings, too. We joke about Jimmy peeking in our windows, but he allows us to peek into other windows.

  9. Denise in Michigan Avatar
    Denise in Michigan

    Oooo, oooooo!!! (Hand waving wildly in air) Jerry and Debbe, I know why they put roosters on top of the cabinets. Because the elephants were too big!

  10. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    I didn’t think I had misremembered Robin’s reference to her marital status.

    http://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2015/02/19

  11. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor

    “““““““““““`
    Yes, emb was in London during the coronation. Authorities had built gates on the side streets along the planned route from St. Paul’s Cathedral [I think] to Westminster Abbey. They believed gates might be needed to protect the route and public from surging crowds. But there was a boom in tellies, mostly b&w, the weeks before, so street crowds were manageable. 1st Lt. emb [in civvies] had climbed atop one of the gates [actually the non-moving part across the sidewalk], I believe on Beak St., which tees into Regent St.: https://www.google.com/maps/@51.5113854,-0.1361825,17z I was pretty concerned about the approx. 40 year old Brit. next to me, who likely stopped at a pub en route to the procession. Maybe he had a flask in his pocket, but didn’t partake while we were up there. I have a Kodachrome of him. [Granddad, what’s a Kodachrome?]

    Procession was heading approx. S. on Regent toward Piccadilly Circus. Emb saw most of it, waved at the Queen [a couple of years older than emb] and she waved back at all of us [most others, I assume, were native Brits], + other dignitaries that followed, including the massive Queen of Tonga, who had become a favorite in the “birdseed press.”

    Can’t remember how emb and other USAF officers rendezvoused, but we drove to a known movie theatre where the coronation itself would be aired. Unfortunately, a TV glitch occurred and all we got was the sound. So I am grateful for the photos posted in the blog. Still working on my laptop’s inability to write in the A&J comments section, or even copy comments. Will say ‘hi’ when I can.

    The above was copied/pasted from an email to me from eMb.

    Peace, emb

  12. Charlotte in NH Avatar
    Charlotte in NH

    Very glad to hear from emb via c x-p. Great memories you have shared with us! Thanks very much. Sorry about the computer problems.

  13. Denise in Michigan Avatar
    Denise in Michigan

    Ghost, I had misremembered!

  14. SusiQ Avatar
    SusiQ

    This is why we love you. The one you chose I can feel. 😉

  15. Jerry in Fl Avatar
    Jerry in Fl

    Denise is in the lead, but we have to give Debbe a chance to answer.

  16. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    Jerry in FL, to keep them out of the water when global warming raises the sea level!

  17. Steve from Royal Oak, Mi Avatar

    Some church steeples are topped with a rooster, instead of a cross.

    One theory (NOT proven)
    “The rooster is a symbol for the Apostle Peter, the first Pope. The symbol refers to the cock (rooster) crowing during the Passion narrative, the incident that causes Peter to realise his betrayal of Christ. Christ told Peter during the Last Supper that He would be denied three times before ‘the cock crows’, Peter denied that he would ever [forsake] His Lord, yet out of fear, he did.”

    Interesting explanation, if not proven. I remember when Pope Francis was elected, a dove perched on the chimney where the smoke indicating a Pope would appear. Some saw it as a sign as Francis loved animals and because the dove is a sign of peace as well as the Holy Spirit.

  18. Mindy from Indy Avatar

    Today was awful. You guys helped. Thank you.

  19. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    God love you, Lady Mindy.

  20. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    A recent booking photo from our local gaol showed a detainee wearing a tank top, the narrow straps of which failed to cover the straps of her pink bra. (That’s a fashion statement which seems to be popular among other female scofflaws; three of her sisters-in-crime were rocking the same look that same day).

    I mention it because I noted she was charged with a form of domestic abuse and, me being me, I couldn’t help but wonder if, in the name of gender equality, tank tops for women should now be known as “husband beaters”.

  21. Mindy from Indy Avatar

    Work was thirteen and a half hours of headache, that I could take. However, my aunt informed me that her youngest sister passed away this afternoon. It was expected (stage four cancer), but still sad. What has me furious, heartbroken, and spiteful is her sister’s NO GOOD, ROTTEN, SOUL-LESS, *!@~$#¡* husband (and their children) would NOT let my aunt NOR their 94 year old mother be with her because “they weren’t family.” !!!!!!!

  22. sandcastler™ Avatar
    sandcastler™

    Should you happen to be a fan of the New Yorker cartoons, http://www.newyorker.com/cartoons/random/

  23. Mindy from Indy Avatar

    Sorry, wasn’t going to vent, but I needed to yell somewhere. Thanks for listening.