For those of you who are a glutton for punishment, today’s old strip takes us back to 2008, when Gene was in college. Unbeknown to Arlo and Janis, he also has connected with his childhood friend from the beach, Mary Lou, and nature is taking its course. This is the beginning of the modern era of Gus, Mary Lou and Meg. Things have changed since then. The restaurant became simply “The Dock.” Meg was four years old; she seems to have a birthday about every two years. Both Arlo and Janis are at that difficult stage where you just have to let the kid go, because, well, you don’t have any choice. If you’re interested, click on the link, and you can follow the thread on GoComics. It’s a long one!
Sunrise, Sunset
By Jimmy Johnson
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61 responses to “Sunrise, Sunset”
JJ- great idea to go and view the thread of Gene & Mary Lou. It brought back a lor of good laughs.
JJ, how far in advance do you plan your story arcs/threads? How detailed are those before you begin drawing? And how on earth do you fit in a good joke, gag, or thought-provoking final panel each and every day?
Can’t believe it’s been 13 years! And those early “loves” do sometimes come back around – my wife and I were married in our 30s after having dated in high school and then not seeing each other for about a decade.
My oldest broke up with his high-school girlfriend for a semester while they were in college, and dated another girl. Went back & married the HSGF, who he’d been dating since they were 15.
Divorced 18 months later.
Connected with the girl from college (who was a widow by then) on Facebook; hadn’t seen each other, or communicated, for 10 years. The next weekend he went to see her, came home (7 states away), packed up, and moved in with her.
Just had their 10th anniversary, and have a 3-y-o boy & 2-y-o twin girls (who are all, it is my completely objective assessment, thoroughly adorable!)
Seven states away is a lot more when you live on the West Coast or the Mountain States than when you live in New England.
True that – we’re in IL, they’re in CA.
8/23/08 – a passing mention of ML’s stepmom. Is that the only time she’s mentioned, Jimmy? I would have (and, in fact, a week or two ago did, over on GC) sworn that she had none.
That was a fun distraction! Thanks for the trip down memory lane- Gene and Mary-Lou’s budding romance.
Today’s (8/17/2021) A&J puzzled me. Why wasn’t Arlo playing along and flirting with the pretty waitress?
Thank you, Ghost, for 2 great salad options. The Chinese Chopped Salad has similarities to a Crunchy Cole Slaw recipe I’ve had from years back. It starts with about half a head of cabbage, run through a Cuisinart food processor shredder with a bunch of carrots and about 1/4 to 1/2 of an onion. The dressing is a standard cole slaw dressing of oil and vinegar, mixed with the seasoning packet from Ramen noodles. Mix everything together with about 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds or chopped nuts (I like pecans). Right before serving, top with the broken up noodles from the package of Ramen noodles. Leftovers can be refrigerated and still taste good the next day but the noodles will no longer be crunchy. The Italian Salad sounds very good too. I will try them out on my husband and I am sure that one of them will be going to the luncheon with me.
My wife does a similar salad, but she uses almonds because our daughters aren’t allergic to them as they are pecans or walnuts. And she sometimes adds cold slices of chicken breast to make it a meal.
A friend carried about a quart of the Italian Salad to a small meeting this evening. She said it was inhaled.
Re 8-17-21 real-time cartoon: “Piping Hot Waitress: Let the Role Playing Games Begin”
Concerning Janis’ comment:
There are known unknowns and unknown unknowns.
The black swans can be killers.
So, Meg was blonde in early strips but lately has dark hair.
I love these trips back in time though.
A woman’s hair color often changes throughout her life, both from natural causes (genetics, exposure to the sun, and age) as well as chemical. “Only her hairdresser knows for sure!”
“Only the strip’s colorist knows for sure!” I was a very light blonde as a child, turned light brown as I aged.
Mmmm…I was in Houston in 2008 and I think the Chronically Bad newspaper must have not been carrying A&J, because I sure don’t remember this series.
Re 8-18-21 real-time cartoon: Working at the bistro seems to have gotten someone’s juices flowing. Must have been the attention. And turning all those big tips probably didn’t hurt. 🙂
Mark
.
I was a toe head when young then got darker – lately it is almost toe head again.
Well sort of – I claim it is feed dust. {^¿^}
I believe you meant towhead, a whitish blond color.
I think my folks used the expression cottontop for me, same difference where towhead is concerned.
Ron You are correct – and I know better – can I claim my finger slipped to next character?
.
I believe – with out looking it up “Towhead” is from flax tow which is fine light white fibers. At one time was used to
make cigarette paper.
2 generations ago I worked stacking flax bales while in college – the peak of the stack was 40 – 45 feet tall 50feet wide
and 200 feet long as I recall.
I think it was $1.75/hr +15¢ for working nights. The bales were 100#+ because they were in boxcars that
had been used to keep bridges from floating away in the ’65 Spring floods in ND.
Also makes Linen Cloth – Fascinating and involved how fibers are separated – How did
some person/group come up with the process?
Ret (rot) the outer stem in running water, Scutchered & Hackled? ( I am playing lose with nouns here)
I have particularly enjoyed the old arcs and strips. Jimmy has been ahead of other strips with real life for a long time.
The Ludwig strips were really good as well. I have to say I miss cat jokes more than children. The cartoons on Janis’ parents were unexpected, I didn’t realize they were in strip.
Are Arlo’s parents ever mentioned?
Arlo’s father was given a week-long arc at least once. At least, I think it lasted a week; it might’ve been two.
Arlo’s dad has had a couple of week long runs. One or two about his WWII experiences, and one about the aluminum Christmas tree. And there have been some single strip appearances of him, too.
Jackie, I’m sorry you aren’t on Facebook anymore. I have kept up posting a few of the old strips in the Arlo and Janis Fans site there. I’m finding ones I don’t remember and some old favorites, too. I asked Jimmy if it was ok, and he told me it was bringing lots more views to Go Comics, which helps him, and that I had his blessings.
Thank you, Jimmy.
Jackie: https://www.gocomics.com/arloandjanis/2000/07/08?fbclid=IwAR1-Mkxbt4iC5rN6fu0bKw-tOmPymOmJMm1Dh5CDU_wrp4ll9FvrNUjjgHM
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