Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for December 03, 2019

Daydreaming?

“The leftover roast beef is calling my name.”

WRONG answer !

Hmm, the look on Janis’ face says “My husband is listening to imaginary voices instead of listening to me.” She probably doesn’t know whether to be freaked out, or jealous.

crickets

She doesn’t look mad, she looks nervous cause what is he listening to.. The little voice in his head?

Voices in my head isn’t a problem, well, unless they’re SCREAMING !

As a husband of nearly 47 years, I can say, “Being there, doing that.”

I’d say from the look he was giving her in yesterdays strip he was probably listening to the call of the wild

Another difference between man and woman is the ease in which one can hear nothing and the other cannot. Love Mark Gungor’s discussion of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29JPnJSmDs0&feature=youtu.be

And he doesn’t even have a hat like Dill!

Hopefully he was listening to his inner child. Or better yet his inner teenager (whenever Janis is around)

It would be a strange world indeed if the most important things were whatever is happening right now.

Did Arlo get hearing aids with Bluetooth? He could be listening to music on his phone. I would be.

I, all too often, miss the first word of my wife’s sentences. It’s a source of confusion.

And now Janis is listening to some inner conversation!

Arlo and I have developed Husband Ear, an evolved feature that helps the man tune out of most of what his wife says in successful, long time marriages. His is malfunctioning because he missed his cue when it was his turn to say “interesting”, “really?”, “hmmm….”, or “what do YOU think?”

“Your lips are moving, but all I hear is ‘blah, blah, blah’.”

OR Arlo is being sarcastic, as Janis is the only voice he IS hearing.

I have music going on in my head all day long. and no headphones.

Arlos looks like a cat just staring at nothing

When your home planet calls, you have to listen.

No snuggles for you tonight, Arlo.

Jazz on a Parisian Station :-)

Yeah, well you were sounding a lot like Charlie Brown’s parents and teacher. Nope, better not say that.

Time to go paint the bedroom or whatever else she asked him to do a while ago…

Voices in his head? That would explain her worried look.

Wrong on so many levels!

Sometimes THE VOICES drown out those around.

1.) Hope the dog house has heat. 2.) Conjugal are suspended until Janis deems necessary.

Maybe Arlo has severe tinnitus. I have THAT screaming in my head non stop. And if you combine tinnitus with times I have a song running in my head…the outside world is less in focus.

I have no problem with the voices in my head. They usually come up with some really cool ideas.

Even though I have been known to go into my own imagination at times like Arlo…. and often it has an auditory component as well…. my favorite variation on what we see today is related to my uncle:

My (sadly now deceased for 25 years) uncle had older style hearing aids that had a little wheel on them that you could rotate with your fingertip to adjust the volume. He and his wife (my aunt, of course) were both a bit “feisty” in communication….. meaning they would often have an argument or two nearly every day about something usually minor. It did not mean they did not love each other…. it was just their “dynamic”.

Well, after my uncle started to wear his hearing aides, he began to, when his wife was yelling at him…. often make a pointed display of looking at her and bringing his fingers to his ears, visibly turn the volume on the hearing aids to “off” and then turn away with a grin. As you can imagine, this made my aunt even more irate. Again, the arguments typically lasted only a couple of minutes and then things were fine again. But… I have to admit, it was humorous to watch him purposefully turn off his hearing aides.