Valentine's Day 2017

You know, my dad always said, "There's a big difference between saying something, and doing something." I agree, but I'd also say, "You should always reach your goal even though you're limited in what you can do." And by the way, there are no limits.

 

Every day, just about every day, at 5 o'clock, I draw a heart for my daughter. I've been doing this for a few years. I always wanted to see the hearts up and all together in one place. So, on February 14, 2017, we packed all my hearts, all 600 of them, into two suitcases, drove into the city, went to the loft where I had my first brain bleed, put up all 600 hearts, looked at them, took photographs, watched the sunset as all my friends arrived. Then, had a good chat. Then, took down all the hearts, packed them up and went home. We had a classic pop-up art show. We all talked about doing it, and then did it.

 

Going back to the scene of the crime was kind of like giving the finger to my brain bleeds. It was kind of a big FU to my brain bleeds, my brain surgeries, my seizures, etc. It didn't bother me going back there. It was kind of a challenge, but it felt good.

 

You know, I just wanted to say thank you to my family and all of my good friends. They were really helpful. I couldn't have done this alone. No way. So, thank you to all my angels. The only regret I have is I wish Sam, my daughter, was here to see this all. So, if you see her, please show this to her. She lives in Texas. I hope you get to check out all the photos. It was pretty cool. Not a bad Valentine's Day present. Right?

 

This is B. Nice signing off. Love, B. Nice

December 14, 2016

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

I am writing a letter to a friend who has a relative who has a traumatic brain injury, so here's the letter, basically. Feel free to share it with anyone that may have a traumatic brain injury.

It's been about seven years now, since I first had my brain accident. I faced some real physical and mental challenges in my past. For example, on the physical side, I was an NCAA runner. That was a physical challenge. I ran across America with eleven other guys. We were in the Guinness Book of World Records. That was a real physical challenge. Mental challenges were things like big accidents. Being under attack. Being hunted. Getting married and divorced twice (ha ha ha, just kidding). Getting married is actually pretty cool. The point is, all that stuff I went through was a piece of cake compared to what I'm going through now. Having a traumatic brain injury and recovering is tough. It's the toughest thing I've ever faced. I compare recovery to running and competing in a long distance race. You go out strong. There's lots of people around to cheer you along, but in the middle of the race, you're hurting, oh man, and you're all on your own. There's someone there once in a while, to cheer you up, but you're basically on your own and you gotta suck it up. Imagine the wind is always at your back. Keep your head down and keep charging forward. And then, all of a sudden, you'll discover, there are more and more people to cheer you on. You can either do that or buy a Lazy Boy chair, move to Colorado, get a big bag of weed and watch videos. It's up to you.

I'm gonna go order a Lazy Boy chair right now, so I'm gonna go.

This is B. Nice signing off. Love, B. Nice

P.S. Just kidding about the chair. Kind of. Sounds good, doesn't it?

December 7, 2016

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about present. Speaking of present, I went out shopping for Christmas presents. Oh man, I'm still wiped out. I think I told you, but points of light mixed in with soft lighting really gets to me. That and all of the holiday music, people, general stimuli really gets to me. So if you're like me and you have traumatic brain injury, watch out for the holidays -- and take it easy on the egg nog too!

You know what's pretty wild, I went out with my new assistants shooting. I shoot out my car window, that's cameras, not guns. Anyway, it's an extension of the trip I did a few years ago. Felt great to get behind the camera again. You know, when you're like this and you have a traumatic brain injury, you have to continue to do what you love. Don't sit around and feel sorry for yourself. I'm at the stage where I want to get off my ass (no pun intended) and do something like take more photos, or start up a web studio. I'm just jonesing to do something creative. You can only talk to the dog for so long.

I guess this mixes in the present with the past, but last night I had a dream about when I was in hospital. You see, the only thing that really worked on me was my heart and my hearing. When I finally opened my eyes, I realized the heart monitor was in beat with the music I listened to. You see, I always listened to reggae music. It has the same pulse as a human heart. Pretty wild.

I'm gonna go back to cooking now. Hope you guys have a good week. Check out my other blog.

Love, B. Nice

November 29, 2016

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

I went from Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous to being a hermit who lives in exile with his parents, and the world's smelliest dog. My life is like a bad country song. But, you know what? We had Thanksgiving the other weekend. It was amazing. My cousin came out from California with his family. My daughter was here. We had a great time. I'm still recovering. We did stuff like had bon fires. Went ice skating. Rode bikes. You know, at home stuff. It was great. Although, I'm still recovering. You know, it was Thanksgiving weekend, but every day is Thanksgiving for me. You see, no matter how bad off you are, there will always be someone worse off. So be thankful where you are. That's my motto for the day.

The only bummer is, I caught a cold. Whenever you get something like the common cold, it's 100 fold worse when you have a brain injury. You learn how to adapt. The cool thing is, tomorrow I walk at a gym I found. It's pretty cool. Who would think someone would be so excited to walk the length of a basketball court. I look forward to it each week. It's amazing how winded I get just walking the length of the court. I have to stop like four times. At least I'm walking, right?

I'm gonna cut this short cause I feel like just hanging out with my friend here, and the smelly dog at my feet. Hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving. Check out my other blog. Have a good week. Love, B. Nice

November 1, 2016

Hi you guys. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the present. At the present, it's a day after Halloween. I had a weird dream last night on Halloween that involves my friends' dog named Boo. On Halloween. Here's what I wrote to my friends:

I had a weird dream about Boo. I guess it was because it was Halloween and the word, Boo, came up. I dreamt I wanted to put Boo up on my blog, but I needed a headshot of Boo. Well, I got Boo to our house and tried to do a headshot. He was very apprehensive and very nervous. Remember, we're talking about a dog, right. Anyway, I said, "Listen Boo, let's step aside for a second.. I want to talk to you." He agreed and I said, "Listen, Boo, imagine you're on a sheepskin bed filled with down. It's on a square tray of solid gold. There are dog toys and treats all around you. You're feeling very regal and happy. OK? Oh! Look! coming across the horizon over there. Is that a Squirrel? Squirrel? No, it's your dream mate! She's running towards you. You're so happy. She's running through the tall grass and flowers in slow motion. The sky is a crayola crayon blue with white puffy clouds. you're so happy. And then," my voice softens. I say, "Boo, she ran right past you. The sky turned ink black and the fields of green turned to a cold gray. You're sad. So cold. So sad. The bed of sheepskin you thought you were sitting on turned to an itchy burlap sack with cold wet leaves inside. The sack is sitting on a tray of oxidized tin. It's so cold. You lie down. Your only friends are your two paws. Yet they're cold shivering and wet. You lie down and give off a sigh of sadness. OK now boo, work the eyebrows as you look around. You think to yourself, 'Boy, wish I had a blanket to stay warm…' Then you close your eyes. Your point of view is black. And then I yell, "OK Boo! I got you! Good shots! Good boy. Let's have a treat as i shoot off some casual snapshots of happiness." I get a coffee.

 So, it's come to this. I'm now talking to dogs in my dreams. And directing them.