I Always Wanted My Own Dump

A funny black and white cartoon of Bryan and a girl together in the dump of his home. Drawn by cartoonist Bryan Skinnell.

Not to air my dirty laundry for everyone to see but I REALLY need to clean up my basement and studio. And when I make a public statement like that you can tell things are getting pretty bad. Maybe I’ll tackle it this weekend because I think it’s safe to say that this basement isn’t going to clean itself. I’ve eagerly been waiting all year long for my basement to get inspired and clean itself. But, sadly, that simply hasn’t happened. And I don’t think it’s going to either. Dang that’s a pisser to blow a whole year just to discover that! I could’ve brought a hot date or two over in all that time. But I can’t because my studio and living space is a dump. Women, God bless ’em, do have quite a knack for straightening things up. Much more so than guys do. But I’m old school and would never, ever bring a new date over just to have them clean up my pad. No sir. The real gentleman would save that sort of thing for a second date when you know you really do like her.

But since those hotties aren’t lining up to take a shot at cleaning my crib up I guess I’d better do it all myself. Lordy knows I don’t really want to. And just thinking about it gets me all depressed. I can sure think of more pleasant things to do with my time than cleaning house. And I’m sure you can too. Like running a hundred mile supermarathon. Or eating raw thistles. Or peeing on an electric fence. But, love it or hate it, cleaning house has gotta be done at some point. So might as well roll up my sleeves and get busy on it. I’ve procrastinated as long as I could. So says the fine people from the county health department. And I don’t think they came by just to help me clean up either.

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

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