What’s His Darn Name??

My funny black and white cartoon of Bryan shaking hands with some friendly stranger. Drawn by artist Bryan Skinnell.

I like to think I can remember faces. I like to think I’m pretty good at it too.

But maybe I’m not as good as I think I am?!

Case in point: I had a random encounter with some random fellow at Tractor Supply recently who must’ve known me from somewhere because he made eye contact and started talking with me as if he did know me. I had no clue who he was!

We jabbered back and forth across the checkout counter while I was trying my best to place him. The conversation was the usual banter that you would expect from two blokes who hadn’t seen each other in a lengthy spell which regrettably didn’t provide me with nary a clue on how he knew me. I paid for my purchase and wished him well which felt less than genuine for how can you really wish someone well when you have no friggin’ idea who they were?

Whoever he was at least he liked me!

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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