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

Est. 1985

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Rearranged Marriage

By Jimmy Johnson



Buy the new book, "Beaucoup Arlo & Janis!"Today's "Arlo & Janis!"
Today I’m posting a two-fer from 10 years ago. I’ve been doing a lot of this sort of thing myself lately, thinking of ways to expand my studio, which is a small downstairs room in my house that is overflowing with, well… I’m not sure what all this crap is, but suffice to say it’s “overflowing.” In 30 years of drawing Arlo & Janis I have had only one perfect studio space, the entire upstairs of a small Tudor-style house I lived in briefly in the 90s. Of course, this situation is my own doing. My lack of organizational skills and my relative indifference to clutter have turned many an adequate room into a dysfunctional fire trap. Well, if I say so myself, this year’s resolutions are holding strong, and I’m determined to transform my current workspace, albeit small. Maybe I’ll post pictures as I go!

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141 responses to “Rearranged Marriage”

  1. Llee Avatar

    pictures are good šŸ™‚

    I knew you’d say that. šŸ™ — JJ

  2. emeritus mn. biologist Avatar
    emeritus mn. biologist

    OF due 1031-1051 CST. Right now I have a different URL that I need to hang onto, one that you may find interesting. To find my favorite open cluster, take binocs [(%&&#@ speelczech] somewhere with no/little light pollution, find Jupiter high in the S. It’s in the dim constellation Cancer [the Crab], a ‘sign’ of the zodiac with no bright stars, but with a ‘smudge’ just a bit NW of Jupiter in the direction of the two bright stars, Castor and Pollux [%%*##$*] in the next ‘sign’, Gemini. Binocs resolve the smudge into a jewel box of stars, M44, the ‘Beehive’ cluster. The Wiki site is pretty good.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beehive_Cluster

    You can find the OF URL in one of my posts yesterday. Peace, emb

  3. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    I have a hall closet I’m going to dejunkify, rearrange and organize, just as soon as I can get a round tuit. For some reason, every time I’ve walked by it in the past year, the name “Fibber McGee” has come to mind.

  4. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Everyone needs to live in a series of small rooms with low ceilings and crooked walls. You get a new prospective on scale. This house rambles but it is all small spaces.

  5. sandcastlerā„¢ Avatar
    sandcastlerā„¢

    If you should have a small slice of real estate, we could all show up for a “Studio for Jimmy” build session. A great reason for a gathering, plenty of home cooking, and a great new studio built by A&J fans. If we do this, does it mean we have become an Amish Village?

  6. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Actually a good idea, Sand. like Habitat houses. You and I would fit in, that’s for sure I think. It might be like those 200 bearded men in my back yard and the porta potty guy asking if it was an Amish family reunion?

  7. Old Bear Avatar
    Old Bear

    Jimmy’s studio should have no closets and no horizontal flat surfaces. Experience tells me so.

    That’s going to make drawing difficult. — JJ

  8. sandcastlerā„¢ Avatar
    sandcastlerā„¢

    Large open area. Lots of natural light. North facing windows with a garden – wildlife area outside. Interior separated into drawing space, business space, and storage areas. Small outdoor patio with two chairs and a small table to support contemplation and idea fermentation.

    We have a winner. — JJ

  9. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    sand, the only problem with that plan of the Village-sourced studio is that the Amish actually know how to build things. šŸ™‚

  10. domaucan1 Avatar
    domaucan1

    Wow! Can I relate to that, Jimmy. I am a keeper and saver. My Auburn Room was presentable about 5 years ago but I have cluttered it up so much that Wifey keeps the door shut most of the time for fear someone will look in on it and be horrified. I make the same New Year’s resolution every year, but can’t seem to find that round tuit either. Maybe this year for Lent or something. A blessed Ash Wednesday to everyone.

  11. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Has anyone lost a cat in the clutter? I have a round tuit Mardi Gras coin somewhere I think.

  12. Llee Avatar

    pictures are nice, Jimmy….but not required. šŸ™‚ Word pictures work just fine and you are great with those!

  13. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    Or work it into the strip, since Arlo goes through this periodically. Just look at it as research for some really good humor.

  14. sandcastlerā„¢ Avatar
    sandcastlerā„¢

    GR6, me thinketh ye under estimate the talent represented in the Village.

    Eh, thanks domaucan. As me ole friend Will Shakespeare was fond of saying, “Tis Ash Wednesday, eat like an acting seeking employment.”

  15. Steve from Royal Oak, Mi Avatar

    After the dumping of snow that we got a couple of weeks ago (not as bad as New England) all the clutter near my shed magically disappeared…. That is truly the only positive thing that I have said all month.

  16. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    “If you’ve ever mowed the grass in your front yard and found a car…you may be a redneck.”

  17. Jackie Monies Avatar
    Jackie Monies

    Ghost, speak for yourself on building. While I would not frame a building, I can actually mix and pour concrete, put up siding, sheet rock and plaster, paint, install tile and wallpaper rooms.Decked porches. I have put in drop ceilings and insulation, do I want to do this again for myself. We will find out!I have a lot of repairs pending. I lost the electrician, plumber and builder.

  18. sideburns Avatar

    Ghost, this one’s for you: http://www.zeff.us/rgeek.html Several of them have fit me at various times and two of them fit my hardware geek. Now, try to figure out which ones.

  19. sandcastlerā„¢ Avatar
    sandcastlerā„¢

    sideburns, now I am scared, someone other than JJ has been peeking on our house.

  20. Ghost Rider 6 Avatar
    Ghost Rider 6

    Number 2 is sandcastlerā„¢! Number 2 is sandcastlerā„¢!

  21. sandcastlerā„¢ Avatar
    sandcastlerā„¢

    LOL @ GR6, Leroy Jethro Gibbs Rule #9. And guilty of number 9 too.

  22. Ursen Avatar
    Ursen

    JJ your studio sounds like my computer room. We have a 900 sq foot house with 2 bedrooms, one which has been turned into a computer room. I have to have my better half move her chair for me to get to and from my computer. I got the good spot I sit over the heater duct, she sits next to the litter box.

  23. Ruth Anne in Winter Park Avatar
    Ruth Anne in Winter Park

    About rooms that require that the door be kept shut – reminds me of a college friend who claimed her dad would look into her room, shake his head, and ask, “Was anybody hurt?”

  24. emeritus mn. biologist Avatar
    emeritus mn. biologist

    OF: Last prediction above is still posted at the OF site above. emb