April 26, 2016

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the present.

I know it's super early, but I wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to my mom. You know, my mom is a Super Mom. Did you know that? I'll explain why...

My mom wears many hats. She basically takes care of me. I have a traumatic brain injury, and she looks after me. We do get help time and again, but my mom does the majority of the work. This is what she does:

1. Her first hat is, she's an alarm clock.
2. A health aide
3. A mechanical technician
4. A nurse
5. A cook
6. And then a health aide again
7. A physical therapist
8. Then a cook again
9. Physical therapist again
10. A chauffeur
11. A healthcare advocate
12. A trainer
13. A chauffeur again
14. A cook again
15. A physical therapist again
16. A nurse again
17. Then, an alarm clock again
18. A physical therapist again
19. Oh yeah, forgot to throw in that she's also a stylist. She dresses me like an old Yugoslavian Used Car Salesman
20. Then she is a physical therapist again
21. A psychologist
22. A referee
23. A photo assistant
24. A fine arts assistant
25. A cook again
26. A nutritional assistant
27. A dental hygeinist
28. A physical therapist again
29. A tucker inner
30. A good nighter

Basically, a Super Mom. The above is my outline of the day. It's a lot of work being a mom. A Super Mom, that is. She even puts up with my bad jokes.

Anyway, my friend comes over here once a week, and I wanted to make sure I got this out there. Anyway, make sure you get your mom something for Mother's Day. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, our film, Offset - Seeing Beauty Through a Brain Injury, comes out this weekend at The Depot Theatre. Here's the link for tickets. There's limited seating, so get your ticket as soon as you can. And if you miss the movie, come over to the exhibit of my photographs across the street. I'll greet you there with a glass of wine. Have a good week. Love, B. Nice

April 19, 2016

Hi you guys. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the present.

OK, so check this out. I was sitting in the car waiting for my mom to get a sandwich at the local deli. A guy and a woman start arguing right outside my window. Then, the woman slams her hand on the car. The guy reaches into the car and pulls out a big bag of ice and nails the woman right in the face with the bag of ice. She just drops to the ground. The police showed up. An ambulance showed up. It was crazy. And all in a few feet of me. The sandwich was good though. That was the start of my morning. It was a crazy day. We moved on to a fair where they had exhibits to help handicapped people. You know, I can't decide if it was a real bummer or a real upper. You see, there were a lot of people like me, all messed up. But there were also a lot of people I call "Angels," people who want to help other people. So I guess it was a cool thing to see. Then, I moved on to finding a restaurant and we ended up in a real bad area of town. there were like crack dealers on every corner. We got totally lost. I decided we should just go home and we did.

Oh yeah, I forgot. I wanted to dedicated this blog to a very very good gallery owner. He knows who he is, if he reads this. The reason why I want to dedicate this to him is because he put a huge smile on my father's face, and my sister's face. I won't go into details, but it was pretty cool. He's gonna have a big show for my father. Pretty cool.

The last thing I wanted to talk about was a good friend of mine is moving to LA. What's going on? Everyone's moving to California! At least, all of my friends. Pretty crazy. Anyway, it's a good move for my friend.

That's about it for this week. My social worker came and I worked out a few things with her. Oh yeah, my movie is coming up on the 29th of April. You know, the documentary I did with Adam and Erin Hall, as well as family and friends. Here's a link to get tickets. If you're gonna come, I recommend you get tickets now. It's limited seating. It's an easy train ride up from the city. No need for a car. I'm gonna show some work as well, right across the street. It would be cool to bring some food up, have a picnic by the river. See the documentary, then the show. My friend here told me there would be wine and cheese at the show. Bonus!

Have a good week and maybe I'll see you there. Love, B. Nice

April 5, 2016

Hi everybody. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the present. You know, stuff going on in my life right now.

So if there's anybody out there that knows my daughter, perhaps you could read this following letter to her. I don't see her much. She lives in Texas, and I live in New York.

To my beautiful daughter,

You're amazing, smart, kind, generous, always helpful. A real do-er. You know, as you go through life, people will give you different names and labels. For example, amongst other names, I have a name and label of a disabled or handicapped person. But, you know what? It's kind of cool. I mix my talent as a photographer with my so called "disability." I'm able to show the world how I see. It's kind of like a super power. There's no one else that sees the way I do. I'm unique. Different.

You know what? Everyone's different, unique and special in their own way. Don't be scared of people that are different. Although, I know you're not scared. You're just curious. Curiosity is like a super power. Basically, you're amazing. Lots of people love you. And I love you.

Love,

Dad

P.S. Don't forget to brush your teeth.

~~~~~~

OK, so it's been a crazy week. It's almost like my state of consciousness has reached another level. It's hard to describe, but I'm more aware of my situation. And my situation sucks. But, you know what? You gotta keep working. It's almost like being an athlete. The more you train, the better you get. So basically, don't give up. It's kind of a cliche, but it's true. I'll talk to you guys next week. This is B. Nice signing off.

Oh yeah, here's the link to my other blog, and here's a link to our film we did that's showing on April 29th. Check it out.

March 29, 2016

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the present. Oh, by the way, Happy Easter to all you guys. I know it came and went, but it was a fun day.

You know what I've been doing lately? It's good for my memory. I've been cooking with my health assistant. We pick out a recipe and he does all the prep work, like cutting… Actually, he does most of everything while I have a martini. Just kidding about the martini, but he is a good sous-chef. I've been working with a lot of curries. Hey! That might be a job I could do! You could hire me out. I show up with my assistant and some food and I'll cook for you. Just feed me some water.

OK, so I gotta get this off of my chest. I'm a little annoyed with something. You see, when you have a brain injury and you're on medicare, you can get help from various agencies. Well, the help you get is … well … how can I say this? You get what you pay for. These helpers get paid nothing.. It's crazy! You make more money flipping burgers. Then on top of it, they're trying to take away housing subsidies from everyone. In other words, if it weren't for my parents or a nursing home, I'd be out on the street. And let me tell you, you don't want to be in a nursing home. Bottom line is, never get old and never get sick. And for god's sake, don't get old and sick. Then you're truly screwed. There is something out there called, "Consumer Direct," meaning, you're the consumer and you directly look for someone to be a helper. That's something I didn't know about. You'd have to look into it further, but it's something I just discovered. Good luck.

I'm gonna end it here. My friend here said, "You're gonna end it all?!" I said, no. I'm just having a pity party. You know, "Pity - Party of ONE." I'm gonna go back to looking at the fire. That's the highlight of my day. I think I've become a little zen. Have a good week and don't forget to come to the movie we all did. The movie when I went across the country. Filmmaker Adam Hall made it and Erin Hall did the production. I did the film also with my friends and family. Check it out. It's kind of cool and it brings awareness to brain injury. It's April Fool's Day coming up. Should I tell everyone I'm just bullshitting. I don't have a brain injury? Stay tuned.

Love, B. Nice

P.S. You guys, it's super easy to get to the movie. The movie is at the Depot in Garrison, NY. You just go to Grand Central Station, take metro north to Garrison. It's only about an hour trip. It's like going to the outer bronx. I's a nice ride up the Hudson River. You might want to make a date of it and bring a picnic. No need for a car.

March 15, 2016

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the present. I'm presently recovering from my little one's visit. She's a smart kid, but Oh Man! Talk about energy. When you have a traumatic brain injury, any stimulus out of the norm is gonna send you over the top. She just left and I feel like hell. But it was worth it. What a great visit.

You know, when you have a traumatic brain injury all sorts of weird things happen. For example, I've been having a strange feeling on the right side of my body. The whole right side is cold. Imagine drawing a line from the top of your head right down to your belly button. Now imagine the whole right side being cold. It's really bizarre. Circulation? Who knows? Just another wonderful bonus you get from a traumatic brain injury.

The other thing I'v been doing is going through my old material. You know, the stuff I did when I was shooting fashion photography. I've been going through my old tear sheets and filing them. Man! I worked a lot. I think I told you this before, but between 1984 and up until 2008, I worked a lot. I guess I never really realized it before. No wonder why my head exploded. But it is fun to go through all the old stuff. Some was really great. Some was terrible. Like my friend here says, I always had a good time and I guess that's what counts. Going back to the right side of my body feeling cold, when I exercise, it starts to feel normal. Overall, I feel better when I do a bit of stretching or exercising. It helps a lot.

I'll tell you, when you have a traumatic brain injury, you really have to rely on other people. It's a drag, but you can't do a lot of stuff on your own. No way. It does get tiring though, relying on other people. You just want to be independent. I'm getting a bit sick of it right now, but I guess after six years, you would get a bit tired of not being independent. I do see an overall improvement though. Like my eyesight, strength in the core. Stuff like that. I'll tell you though, it's very very slow. Not much else to tell you. I got a new Ducati motorcycle. Just kidding. That was a dream I had. I'll tell you about that later. That's all for this week. Here's my link to my other blog. Miss you guys. Talk to you soon, and oh, yeah, don't forget to go to my movie that I made with my friends at Team Hall along with my family. It's about a road trip across America. It was basically done to call attention to brain injury. Here's the link, and if you want to go, buy tickets because it might be sold out the day of the show.