September 26, 2023

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about my past.

Above is a drawing I did when I could draw. I love it. My friend here goes to one of my many suitcases and picks one of my many journals and opens it to a page and we blog about the page.

You see, every painting needs a chair. That’s what Van Gogh said. Actually, he said every good painting needs a chair. Now, in this drawing, I’m sans chair. So, therefore, I’m sitting in front of a bad painting. That’s my blog for this week.

You know what? I just thought of something. I’m in a wheelchair. Does that mean that every painting I look at is good? Something to think about, if you’re bored.

Love, B. Nice

September 19, 2023

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about my past.

Above is a drawing I did. I traveled a lot and this was just a record of one trip I did. But probably the biggest hiccup I ever encountered was the following story.

I used to fly first class for the price of economy. Now, it wasn’t illegal, but in the back of the New York Times, there was an advertisement for cheap first class tickets. Well I bought them all the time. Now this was when people started selling their miles. The airlines didn’t like it and didn’t honor any transfer of names or sale of miles. It wasn’t illegal, but it was frowned upon. Well, I bought the first class tickets for the price of economy for $4000 for two people. I was going to Sydney, from New York. Well, when I got to check in, the woman in first class said, “Oh, Mr. Nice, we’ve been waiting for you.” I thought, oh, great, champagne? And then, some woman who looked like she worked for the FBI came out and said, “Mr. Nice, may I see your tickets please?” I handed her my tickets and she ripped them up and threw them in the garbage. She said, “These tickets are void, but you’re welcome to buy some economy tickets. Just get in line.” Well, after checking my shorts, I ran to the closest payphone. I called the company where I bought my tickets. They told me that the girlfriend of the man who owned the miles forged his name and took off with my 4 Grand. They said there was nothing they could do about it. Well, I kind of bent the truth and said, I worked for Australian Consolidated Press (which I technically did) and this all would make for a good story. Next thing you know, the guy told me there were two economy tickets waiting for me at the counter. I got them from the FBI woman. She didn’t really smile, but gave me the tickets. Now, we were late getting to the plane, Everyone was staring at us when we went to take our seats. Then all of a sudden, we heard over the intercom, “Mr. Nice, would you stand up please?” I thought, Oh man, what now? Well, I stood up and the fight attendant said, “You have your father’s car keys and he needs them back.” Man, did I drink a lot on that flight!

You know what’s really cool? My friend here goes through my suitcase full of my diaries and we go to a page randomly. It’s fun, and it’s fun to remember the past.

Love and miss you guys. Love, B. Nice

September 12, 2023

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

Avalanche Area. That was the name of the run, I guess. You see, my friend and I used to go skiing in an area called Courchevel. And by the way, the ski run wasn’t called “Avalanche Area.” It was an actual avalanche area! My friend was crazy, but I followed him blindly everywhere. I was like the little brother. We used to windsurf into open ocean, ski down avalanche areas. It was crazy, but it was fun. I used to go with my friend and his family to Courchevel every winter. We had a great time. I’ll give you an idea of what my friend was like:

One time we were windsurfing in the ocean. We were out pretty far. He did a high speed turn and headed back to the beach. As he went past me, mind you, I was following him, he yelled, “Watch out! There’s a school of sharks!” Well, of course I freaked out. Every peak and every wave I looked at I thought I saw a fin. I did the most careful turn I could and headed back to the beach. Now, getting back to the beach was tough. I had to go upwind in one run. Plus, the waves were huge, so my timing had to be precise. Of course, the last minute of my approach to the beach was not precise. I got rolled pretty bad by a big wave. I got washed up on shore with all my gear, coughing up water. My friend walked over to me and said, “Did you see the sharks?” I replied “No.” He said, “That’s because there were none.” He was getting me back for a trick I played on him with a big spider. We were always playing jokes on each other.

Last I heard, my friend moved to an area called Byron Bay in Australia. That’s a great place. Great surfing and windsurfing. There’s giant sea turtles, sharks, dolphins. It’s a paradise. Nice place to move to. I should give my friend a call. Next time I’ll tell you about the big spider. It was about the size of my hand. It was a real one actually. Not fake. I never heard a grown man scream like a ten year old girl.

Love and miss you guys.

Love, B. Nice

P.S. The kid behind us in the drawing is my friend’s son. One of the funniest things I ever saw was my friend towing his son on a boogie board while he was on a windsurfer. They were going about twenty knots, which is fast for somebody on the water. I never heard a small ten year old kid scream like an adult.

P.P.S. The image of the guy in the snow drift is another friend of ours who couldn’t ski or snowboard very well.

September 5, 2023

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

It’s fun. My friend here goes through my collection of journals and just pulls one out at random. Above is the following story:

I used to love wind surfing. You might say I was a bit obsessed with it. Well, my friend was leaving town and he said would you look after my dog, King. I said, sure, no problem. I loved King. He was a cool dog. Anyway, I borrowed my friend’s pick up truck and took King to where I used to go wind surfing. King would just stand in the water and bark and bark and bark and bark. All day long. Hey, he was a good reference marker to jibe around. Kind of like a buoy in competition windsurfing. Anyway, I guess King drank a lot of water. Well, after a day of windsurfing, we all went out to lunch at a local clam bar. All the tables were outside. It was a beautiful evening. King was restless in the truck so I tied him up to our table. Well…King started shaking. His back arched like the Sydney harbor bridge and his tail went straight up in the air. I thought, this can’t be good. And, sure enough, as if on cue, he released a day’s worth of saltwater and waste onto the table next to me. The table was full of kids having a birthday. The father at that table was not impressed. He was downright angry. Now, I love this part because I’ve always wanted to say this. The guy yelled at me. He said, “Your dog just shit all over my children.” I replied, “That’s not my dog.”

Love, B. Nice

August 29, 2023

Hi everybody, welcome to my blog where I talk about my past.

My friend here goes to my suitcase full of diaries and just picks out a book, opens it and here we go. I’m gonna talk to you about Mexico.

Mexico was one of my favorite places to do a photoshoot. I have many many stories. One of my favorites is this: I was shooting on a street in an obscure village. I looked to my left and I saw the most amazing painting hanging on the wall. Well, I stopped the photoshoot and knocked on the front door. An old lady answered. I asked her if she spoke English. She said, “Yes.” I asked her about that amazing painting. She said, “Oh, my husband made it.” It turns out the guy was from New Mexico and was from Taos. The Taos modernists were amazing painters. Anyway, I ended up buying the painting for next to nothing. The guy said he had to make his rent. What an artist. 80 years old and he had to make the rent. Crazy. Anyway, the painting hangs in my house now.

Just one of many stories from Mexico.

Love, B. Nice