June 7, 2017

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

I told you before, but my life is like a bad country song. It's made up of rolling frustration, cubist vision and ataxia, followed by moments of bliss.  In other words, my daughter's gonna be here next week for father's day. I'm pretty psyched. She's real cool and we get to hang out for a while. I don't get to see her much, but when I do, it's great. She reminds me of why I stick around.

It's been pretty cool. I continue to photograph. Mind you, it's all still life, but it's great shooting again. Remember, even when you have TBI, you have to do what you love, and I love photography.

I've just been practicing what I preach and work and work every day. You know, I've got no core strength, so I'm learning how to sit up again. It sounds basic, but man, it's tough. The first thing I do in the morning is practice my sit ups. Then, after that, you push yourself against the wall and learn how to put on your socks and pants and shoes. Real exciting, right? I could tell you some other things that have gone on here, but I value my life, so I won't tell you guys now.

And by the way, I just want to say one other thing. You know, I don't get involved in politics at all, but I'd like to say to our fearless orange leader that global warming is not a hoax. I've been to northern Greenland several times and I've talked to the indigenous people there. The glaciers there are working overtime making more and more ice bergs. In other words, the ice is melting like crazy. The indigenous people have reverted to farming and fishing. No more dog sleds. No more ice. Anyway, just thought I'd mention that. I'll get off my soap box now. Iv'e got to go back to therapy.

Check out my other blog where I talk about my past.

Love, B. Nice

June 1, 2017

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

Let's call this blog: Forever Grateful.

When I was in hospital at Helen Hayes, I was there for a long time. One of my roommates, one time, had a procession of people helping him out. They said they were going to cook for him, clean up for him, give him rides, you know, look after him. They were all from his community and church. I thought it was really cool. Well, now that it's happening to my family, everyone's helping out and its' really cool. It's like everyone's looking after each other. I'm forever grateful to them all. I look forward to getting better so I can return the favor one day.

I was talking to a friend the other day. We were talking about how tough this is for me right now. It's really tough. Let me tell ya. It would be a lot easier if my daughter was around. I'll tell you that. She's probably the reason why I stick around. I really do miss her. But, like I said before, you have to be like a horse running in blinders. You keep your head down and move forward. When I used to run races, you would just think about your goal. Nothing else. That's kind of like what this is right now. But I'll tell you. I am amazed at how grown up my daughter is. You know I've been like this for 6 years, and she's grown up a lot. Amazing.

I think I mentioned it before, but I've started shooting again. It's different. I shoot still lifes and it's great because still lifes don't complain about catering. It's been fun. It's a totally different way of working. It suits my condition right now. I enjoy it. Another change.

I'm gonna cut it short right there cause it's a beautiful sunny, warm day. My friend's here. It's a nice day, so I'm gonna enjoy it.

Have a good week, and check out my other blog where I talk about my past. It's a little out of date. I should update it, but check it out. Love, B. Nice

May 26, 2017

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

Don't knock it til you've tried it. That's what we'll call this blog. I'll explain.

A friend of mine was really bummed out because he had put his father in a nursing home. He said all his father does is sit on his bed and stare at the wall. I assured him, it's not such a bad thing. I've been there myself. A blank wall gives you a canvas, a blank canvas, so you can think. The mind is an amazing thing. I used to sit there and remember things I've done in the past. It was like I was there. Pretty wild.

The other day, someone I won't mention, told me I will never get better. This is how I am. I've plateau'd. I take people like this and put them in a special section of my mind. In other words, don't let people get you down, and don't let them set limits on you. It's amazing what you can achieve when you put your mind to it. Just don't give up.

I'll share one more thing with you guys. I am a little nervous about the healthcare changes. They said there's gonna be a change to medicaid. Medicaid supplies me with a health assistant. I'm a bit concerned about this. Anyone know about that? One other thing I'd like to share with you is this. I want a damn apology from our fearless orange leader. I told you before, but I was at a party and the guy pushed me off my chair (see previous blog). And I also want an apology for mocking disabled people like me. Go ahead, walk a mile in my shoes and see what a tough guy you are. I'm gonna end it there and put away my soapbox.

Have a good week. Love, B. Nice

P.S. Here's the link to my other blog.

May 19, 2017

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

Brutal. I'll explain more. I wanted to do a photoshoot where I specifically shoot an item as if I was specifically shooting for someone. My friend is an art director and she came up with some flowers for me to photograph. I set everything up, reflectors, my scrims, you know, everything for a photoshoot. The first thing I noticed was I set everything up to my height, 5'11". You know, I'm in a wheelchair now and everything is about 4' so I had to lower everything. Pretty crazy right. My friend here says I was on auto-pilot, and I guess I was. The shoot went great, but man, was I wiped out! I can see I only last a couple of hours. I had to concentrate on setting up all the equipment, picking out the music, talking to people, etc. Bottom line is, I'm not ready, no way. But, it's a step. Remember, everything is baby steps after you have a brain injury, and I took my first baby step. That lazy boy chair with a beer cooler looks like a better and better idea. Other than that, it's therapy as usual, every day. I keep plugging away. Not much else to tell you. It's freaking hot, and the humidity is real high. Not a good combo for me.

Here's the other link to my blog where I talk about my past. See you next week. Love, B. Nice

May 1, 2017

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

Let's call this blog fugly. I'll explain. I have a therapist. We'll call him Jack. I see him Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Every time I see him, we're like two brothers always telling jokes and picking on each other. Well, this past Friday, I saw my therapist Jack. He was wearing an orange t-shirt. I said, "Man, you look like an ugly pumpkin." Then we proceeded to insult each other. Anyway, I got back to work on my arm bike. Remember, I can't see too good. All of a sudden, in my peripheral vision, I see a flash of orange. I say to Jack, "Man, you're fugly." Then I realize, it's not Jack. It was another patient. I didn't bother to explain, but I got a lot of strange looks for the rest of the session. Oh well, just blame it on a traumatic brain injury.

Hey, speaking of traumatic brain injury, I just found out New York State is the leading state in the United States for traumatic brain injury waiver. All the other states look up to New York State as an example. So I guess, by default, I picked a good place to live. If you have a traumatic brain injury, you might want to consider moving to New York State. You'll get more services.

I'm gonna leave you with a profound thought I had. You see, I always wake up around 4 am, and can't get back to sleep. The thought I had right before I woke up was this: Life is like water over a long fall. Think about it. Pretty profound, huh?

I'll talk to you guys next week. Here's my link to my other blog. Love, B. Nice