Dreams Of Success

February 14, 2023

Poor Bryan is stuck in a padded cell wearing a strait jacket. Drawn by artist Bryan Skinnell.

Mark my words dear readers…. one of these days I’m going to be a successful artist. I will be so dadgum successful that I will actually be able to buy some land and build my very own dream home that’s so humongous it can be seen from space and will have its very own zip code. I will be so loaded that my new hobby will be swinging by random dealerships and buying their best car right on the spot just for kicks. Then I’ll spend my afternoons cruising the highways in one of my high-powered hot rods where my next goal is to pick up a Playboy bunny and woo her heart. And together we will book a round the world cruise and sail off into the rosy sunset where I will make her my wife.

But that’s tiddly-winks.

For in these wild days of bling and hot babes there is something I would love to buy that is even more precious than prime real estate or an all American mcmansion or a fleet of sports cars or a Playboy bunny hauling a wheelbarrow’s worth of wrinkle cream. I want to be so damn successful that I can actually afford to buy some eggs whenever I want! A hot plate of fried eggs and sausage for breakfast dear Lord is all I ask. For then I will know that my days of worrying and struggles are finally over. And I can bask in the comfort of knowing that the only thing I will ever have to worry about ever again is getting sick from salmonella all because my Playboy bunny of a wife doesn’t have a clue about how to properly fry an egg.

Funny cartoon of some rabbits goofing off in the garden. Drawn by artist Bryan Skinnell.

Why hello there! My name is Bryan Skinnell and I am a middle-aged (50-ish) artist and neighborhood kook who is living the artistic and creative life out in the boonies of Bedford, Virginia. Bedford is one of the largest counties in the commonwealth of Virginia and, for the most part, it’s still a mostly rural one that bridges the gap between Roanoke and Lynchburg. You could say, in more ways than one, that Bedford is the heart of Virginia. I can’t argue with that although I usually think of Bedford more as Virginia’s belly button myself.

I grew up right here in Bedford and have lived and toiled most of my life on our infamous red clay. The sort of clay that makes the stickiest mud known to man after a rain and which clings like super glue from God to anything and everything it touches. If you are so foolish as to get it on yourself you’ll wind up tracking and leaving a trail of red goop everywhere you go for days afterwards to the delight of your family and friends. But I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else and Lord knows I tried as I’ve wandered from one end of the country to the other. But Bedford has my heart and that’s where I’ve chosen to live my life today. In my free time when I’m not stuck in my studio making art I do love being outside gardening or hiking or just pestering the neighbors.

Every day I try to write something that’s original, entertaining, and half-way thoughtful here on my blog while sharing my happy-go-lucky attitude and zest for life. Quite often I don’t have the foggiest notion of what I’ll end up saying in a post. But, whatever I end up writing about, I do hope you enjoy it!

I do keep a mailing list for interested readers and fans. If you would like to get in on the action and follow my musings and rabble-babble, that can be easily arranged. Just give me an email address that you would like for me to send my blog posts to and I’ll see that you get it.

Thanks for stopping by!
Bryan Skinnell