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.

March 8, 2016

This is pretty funny. I gotta tell you guys something. Someone I used to know said to me, "Get a job." And then I started thinking about it. I said, "Let's see, what could I do?" I have a girlfriend on a police drama TV show. I could get my SAG card and be the dead body. Or, I could be a human doorstop. Or , let's see, I could be Your Wingman at a bar. For example, if you wanted to meet some girl, I could just take off my breaks and drift into them. It's a good conversation starter. Or I could start a service where you could hire me to cruise down the street with a puppy in my lap. I mean, come one, who can resist a guy in a wheelchair with a puppy? Now, I have to warn you, I'm a little rude sometimes. For example, if some girl came up and said, "Could I pet your puppy?" I might say something like, "Sure, that'd be great! Let me move the dog." You get the idea. The point is, I can't really do much of anything right now. I can take pictures. It's pretty far out cause I try to photograph how I see. It's pretty wild. There aren't many options for a person with Traumatic Brain Injury. You basically do the best you can.

The cool thing is, my daughter is here. It's exhausting having a 9 1/2 year old, but it's amazing. My mother went all the way to Texas to get her. We went ice skating the minute she got here. Pretty cool to come all the way from Texas to go ice skating.

Not much else to really talk about right now. Just the same old stuff with therapy. It's slow, but you gotta keep moving forward. I'll leave you guys with a photo. And, oh yeah, let me tell you, I'm having a screening of a documentary I did with the filmmakers Adam and Erin Hall. I did a documentary with them and my friends and family. It's on April 29th, in Garrison, NY. At the Depot Theatre. After the screening which will be at 7:30, we can all walk across the street to the Garrison Art Center to see some work I did on the trip. It should be a lot of fun, and call attention to people with Traumatic Brain Injury. Do you know what this month is? It's the month of Traumatic Brain Injury. How Ironic is that. You know what today is? National Pancake Day. I didn't have pancakes this morning, but I did go to a maple syrup farm with my daughter. Pretty cool, but talk about a sugar high… Talk to you guys next week, and here's my other blog.

Love, B. Nice

And here's a link for tickets for the documentary. Hope to see you there. http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2518366

February 16, 2016

Hi you guys. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the present. You know, I do this blog because it's good for my memory. And it's fun! And I get to see my good friend here.

Man, I've been locked up in this house for like four days! I feel like they should issue me an ankle bracelet. I feel like I'm under house arrest. The weather here's been super super cold. But, I continue on with my routine. You know, you gotta keep working no matter what. I've been doing a lot of painting lately. It's pretty cool. It's fun to hang out with my dad and paint.

If this isn't abstract expressionism, I don't know what is. I've been doing a lot of cooking. You know, recipes I've committed to memory. I give the instructions and my health assistant does the cooking. That, and I stand every hour. You know, you develop a routine.

Well, I'm off to water therapy, so I'm gonna leave it at that. Hope you guys had a great Valentine's day. My friend here brought me some chocolates so I'm gonna find them and eat them all. Don't tell my mom. Have a great week. Love, B. Nice

Here's the link to my blog about the past and about the lens I dropped from a helicopter. (Actually, I'll never tell that story…)

February 12, 2016

Hi everybody. Welcome to the blog where i talk about the present. I'm presently sitting here on my exercise machine, my NuStep, and I'm blogging to you. So, check it out: it's valentine's day on Sunday. All I want to do is say Happy Valentine's day to my daughter. https://vimeo.com/86992667 I did the video with Team Hall who also did the documentary of my trip in 2013. Check it out!

Check out my other website, the blog about the past.

Have a good weekend. Love, B. Nice

(Man it's cold!)