About

Brian was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma on a cold January day in 1965.

Clearly, the odds were already against him.

But he persevered, slugging through this and that, and he quickly learned at a very young age that some people can achieve greatness with dedication and hard work, some people are destined to awe the world with their ineptness and lack of admirable qualities, and most people are quite happy to simply plod along in the middle, leading pleasant but mundane lives where they occasionally find a stash of misplaced quarters under a sofa cushion and everybody gets to go out for ice cream.

Brian was not impressed with any of these options. He looked up from his paperwork at the Life Goals Development Center, and studied the applicants around him. Everyone else was quickly selecting one of the three avenues, shoving their completed forms at one of the bored administrative people, and then rushing out the door, because “Charlie’s Angels” was on TV in a few minutes and you couldn’t really miss THAT.

In frustration, Brian turned over his application, intent on writing a scathing missive to Whoever Was In Charge that he really didn’t appreciate the skimpy menu of opportunities, and he noticed a fourth career path, hastily scribbled in by someone with vision: “Some people feel compelled to study the world and people around them, and then stay up all night writing down their thoughts on the matter.”

Brian smiled, checked the box, and added his signature with a flourish. And so it began.

 

 

 

120 replies »

  1. Now I have the biography of The Life of Brian, and I’m looking on the bright side of life. Wonderful blog Brian. I’m transfixed. I wanted to thank you for finding my attic, but I want to thank you for showing me the way home, I mean here. :O)

    Liked by 7 people

    Reply

    • And thank YOU for following me. I actually really like your blog, your prose is very lyrical and I’m looking forward to your book. By the way, I can’t seem to find an “About” page on your blog where I can post a glowing comment. Is that just me hitting the failblog or do you not have one?

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
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  12. Thanks to my sister for pointing me in your direction – I love a good read with a sense of humour – I’ll be following you ( not in a stalking sense I hasten to add!)

    Liked by 4 people

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  13. Pingback: Resist the Liebster – Innoculation Works! – to search and to find

    • Oh my. I haven’t heard of this one so I’m rushing off to your blog to see exactly what this social engagement involves. I hope I don’t have to wear anything fancy, as I haven’t done laundry in a bit and I’m down to some seriously questionable attire… 😉

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  16. I could have sworn that I wrote a comment to this About page but I don’t see it here. Was it not approved? Did I not get the Oklahoma accent right? I’d try again but I haven’t been that drunk since 1995..

    Well, anyway, nice About page format and I hope you got out of Tulsa okay.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • I thought you had made a comment over here as well. Hmmm. All comments are automatically approved on this site, so I’m not sure who to blame for what may or may not have happened, which is a paradox for me because I’m really good at blaming people. Oh well, life goes on. I did make it out of Tulsa, but I ended up in Dallas, so basically it’s a hotter climate but I’m still surrounded by… well, people that I probably wouldn’t put at the top of the guest list…

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      • Yes, yes, it’s all coming back to me now. We had this conversation. You mentioned something about fleeing to Dallas, I made a snarky comeback about that not being much better, and we leveled out into a mutual disrespect for urban hillbillies. If I didn’t invite you to Portland, Oregon, I’ll do it now. We still got hillbillies but they stay out of town. You can’t shoot things there unless it says Polaroid on it.

        Liked by 2 people

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        • I DO remember our conversation. I just don’t remember where we had it. Twenty years from now, at the nursing home, I’ll be flipping through my dusty digital scrapbook and run across some mundane piece about Brazilian Waxing and go “Oh, THERE’S that damn comment thread”. But then I’ll immediately forget it again because, old age and decay. (Note to self: Try to make it to Portland before confinement to the Beaver Valley Retirement Home for the Untrustworthy and Bitchy. Check flights on Expedia.”

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  29. This is a message to the admin. I discovered your About – Bonnywood Manor page by searching on Google but it was hard to find as you were not on the first page of search results. I know you could have more visitors to your site. I have found a company which offers to dramatically improve your rankings and traffic to your website: http://re2l.in/1fe I managed to get close to 500 visitors/day using their services, you could also get a lot more targeted traffic from search engines than you have now. Their service brought significantly more traffic to my website. I hope this helps!

    Liked by 3 people

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  31. A quality page, Brian befitting your awesome blog. Such is my addiction to past imperfect I’ve still much to explore but such is the consistency of your posts I can imagine the treats will fill every room 🙂

    Liked by 4 people

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    • You are so kind, Phil. I can assure you that there are some definite clunkers in the mix, especially if you ever stumble across some of my older blog sites (if memory serves, this particular blog is number 11 out of 13 varied attempts to find that just-right formula). But seriously, it’s folks like you who strengthen my conviction to keep trying…

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  37. Hi Brian. I’ve just discovered your blog, and I look forward to exploring it. I’m a classic film blogger who often hosts blogathons. I’m hosting one later in the year, and I’m cordially inviting fellow film bloggers to participate. I would love to have you a part of it. Here is the link below with more details.

    https://crystalkalyana.wordpress.com/2017/07/20/announcing-the-spencer-tracy-katharine-hepburn-blogathon/

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply

    • Hey, Crystal! I’d be happy to participate. Just give me a nudge closer to the date and I’ll figure out something to post, after everyone else has made their choices. (I love a challenge!)

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  45. Brian…how had I not read your About page before?
    I’m a little list and yet found these days.
    So….
    Hmmmm…let’s see, although in a different incarnation,I have been following your blog for almost a year and I think your fab. So just letting you know.
    Okay, lots of 💙

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply
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    • I heartily welcome you to Bonnywood Manor. And I assure you that I fully embrace silly commentary and emojis. Run wild and free! But be sure to keep an eye on your clothing, should you discard it during your wild freedom. No one at Bonnywood cares about libertine natures, of course, but we do occasionally get raided by local authorities, so it’s best that you have a clever frock on standby… 😉

      Liked by 1 person

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  53. Dear Mr. Brian,

    First of all, thanks for your kind message. The former is the truth — I deliberately disabled some web tools which were getting into my nerves. The thing is: Portugal gave me a literature prize last year, and since then I’ve been receiving some unsettling demands/messages/private/and-not-only (such as: sir, would you read my novel about dwarf pigs?, or would you kindly sign my pants for a change?, and how about we make the like for likes thing? [I mean, gee, what the hell?!]). And then I thought: oh, lord, is this thing going to work at all? You know… I’m really trying to cope with this whole situation. Cutting some nods here and there, as they say.

    P.S.: I’ll keep on reading your blog, as usual. I must remind you that your work makes me forget that the Internet (with capital «I») is not only a jungle full of sharks*.

    *Actually I was playing one of those trivia games with my nine years old goddaughter and she gently picked up this card labeled as WEIRD QUESTION ABOUT ANIMALS which asked «how can sharks end up in the middle of a tropical jungle?». Hurricanes… Yeah, the answer is hurricanes. The goddamn wind flew dead sharks to the middle of the woods. That’s quite remarkable, I think. And I’m sure you already knew all that jazz — being such an amazing human encyclopedia etc.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • First, thanks for the explanation about the “like” situation. I always hesitate before mentioning to another blogger that something might be amiss with their blog format, as the reactions run the gamut from “oh, I did have a wrong setting, thanks bunches” to “Who died and made you the boss of me? I spit on the thought of your existence!” (Okay, maybe not to THAT extreme, but some folks get a bit testy. I’m just trying to be helpful and decent, but decency often ricochets in the wrong direction these days.

      Second, I will continue reading your blog as well. Your posts are satisfyingly interesting regardless of the topic or theme. That is increasingly rare these days.

      Third, and obviously the most embarrassing, I did not know about the sharks in the jungle. I have failed in some mystical way. I must now sit in the corner and think about my sins…

      Cheers.

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  57. Oh I like that option about studying people, maybe replace the staying up all night writing with “& drinking coffee while crocheting” (as that’s where I’m at right now), and I’ll check that box too 😉🤣

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    • I really do enjoy people-watching. It’s not always pleasant (there are some truly not-right folks out there), but it’s still fascinating and I get some great blog material out of the experiences. Thanks for checking the box!

      Liked by 2 people

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  58. Hey Brian,
    Thank you for visiting my blog post of yesterday and hope you are enjoying this time of year.
    Heard about the severe inclement weather conditions in parts of U.S.A. I hope you are not affected.
    I can’t believe that it is only now that I am commenting on your About section.
    I ‘tuned in’ now to write a new post and as often happens with me I got sidetracked when I saw the little yellow mark on my bell. Hey, I quite like that statement ‘the little yellow mark on my bell’.
    I loved reading the account of your introduction into the world of writing.
    Wishing you a happy, peaceful and healthy new year to you and yours.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Hey, Margaret. It’s always good to hear from you. (I’m also rather fond of “the little yellow mark on my bell” phrase.)

      As for the recent nasty weather, we got the extreme cold but, luckily, none of the snow. It was definitely a challenge, mainly in trying to keep all the feral cats who live on our property relatively warm and comfortable. I tarped off a section of our back patio and I had electric blankets and a space heater arranged out there, in a wing-it manner that I’m sure would not have pleased a code inspector, had one happened to drop by.

      I’m glad you liked my “biography” on this page. It’s whimsical, sure, but it really says a lot of truth about me and my writing style.

      Best wishes to you and yours, as well. This next year is going to be great for us, right? We’ll make it happen… 😉

      Liked by 1 person

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