What To Do This Weekend?

March 15, 2024
My funny black and white cartoon of Bryan staring at a giant pile of clothes in his room. Drawn by artist Bryan Skinnell.

Another glorious weekend is about to arrive like a cherished love letter in the mail.

Unfortunately I can’t remember the last time I got a love letter. Nobody even sends me any love letters anymore. Just bills and magazine subscriptions. But at least I can enjoy another weekend and Lordy knows I’ve sure got plenty to do to keep me busy. My plants need tending to, my basement studio needs a good straightening out. I’ve got a pile of books that’s about to reach critical mass if I don’t start reading something soon. The dirty laundry pile is looking pretty critical too.

Ok, ok….. Now we all know why I don’t get any love letters because I am the all-American bachelor aka slob who cultivates messes with same care and devotion that an avid gardener cultivates their prize roses. Maybe I should write a book about that because there isn’t anything in the book market that caters to us slobs! How could the book publishing industry allow such a thing?! That’s a major injustice because an entire demographic is being ignored and neglected because how are we supposed to be proper slobs without proper encouragement and instruction? I know a good idea when one hits me and this one is way too good to pass up. I’m going to give it a think this weekend. That should keep me preoccupied enough that I won’t waste my precious weekend doing boring stuff like cleaning house or doing laundry or tilling the garden. Perish the thought my boy. I’ll wind up a best selling author and a soon-to-be celebrity slob I’m sure. My new found fame will cut into my chore time no doubt but it’s a sacrifice I am willing to live with. I now realize more than I ever did before that a slob’s work is never done. Mostly because we never seem to get started.

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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