January 17, 2015

Hi you guys. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the present. You know, next week, next Wednesday is my birthday. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. Either way, it should be fun.

I'm gonna keep this short because my internet went down and I had to hardwire my laptop to the cable. I don't want to drive my friend here crazy.

Not much to report. Still working away. It's been you know, like five years. I don't know, I lose track of time. It all seems to blend together. I just keep plugging away. I got a book from the library. It's pretty cool. It's called Chicken Soup for the Soul. It's all about brain injury stories. I highly recommend it. It's good to have someone read it to you if you can't get to a support group. It goes through stuff like how long it might take for you to get better. Plateaus, you know, stuff like that. They seem to emphasize having patience. You go through ups and downs. It's all very helpful.

I'm gonna keep it at that. You know, it's been a long week. I'm tired. Here's my link to the past, I mean stories from the past. Hope you guys have a good week. I'll include some photos of what I've been doing. Talk to you next week. Love, B. Nice

January 10, 2015

Hi you guys. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the present. My friend and I were sitting here talking about something stressful and it reminded me of something. It reminded me that even when you're stressed out you have to think of something funny and it reminded me of this. I think I told you, but I'll tell you again, cause it's funny.

My father's friend came over from the church. She's very nice but very conservative. She had a plate of cookies. A nice gesture. Anyway, she was standing there talking to my father and our little dog ran in. He's a small poodle mixed with a cocker spaniel. You know, a small dog. Well, he promptly sits down, looks at my father's friend and jumps up to stick his snout right in her crotch. He took a deep breath and ran away. We were all mortified. It was actually a bit awkward. The cookies were good though.

You know, sometimes I wonder if I have mini moments when I'm sleeping, cause there seems to be a never ending cycle of getting better and going back to square one. I mean, sometimes I wake up and it's hard to move my arm properly. Sometimes I wake up and it's difficult to speak. I eventually warm up to be semi-normal, but I'm getting tired of this shit.

On another note, I was watching the cheerful news (I'm kind of sarcastic here). They were talking about Paris. You know the whole terrorist thing. I really wanted to do a cartoon, but you know, I can't draw cartoons anymore, so I'll share with you what I was going to draw. Now imagine this: imagine a paramilitary person pointing a rifle (AK 47) at another person, an artist. Well, the artist says, "Wait, wait! All I have is my pen and my life. I'm just an artist. A cartoonist." And the terrorist says, "Oh, I'll take both." I can't draw cartoons anymore so you'll just have to use your imagination. I draw. It's a bit abstract though.

That's it for now. The New Year, we still have some lights up. It's bizarre I have a hard time looking at Christmas lights. I guess it's because they are highlights and the rest is dark. It's hard for me to look at. Just an observation. With brain injury you never know what you're gonna get. I'll talk to you guys next week. Here's my link where I talk about the past. Love, B. Nice

P.S. The first image on top is a card from my friend who lives in Paris. And the painting behind it is from my daughter and father.

January 3, 2015

Hi you guys. Welocme to my blog where I talk about the present. At the present, my eight year old daughter is here. It's snowing like hell and she's really happy. My friend here who's typing this for me has to go so I'll tell you a quick story.

My daughter was working on a jigsaw puzzle. She kept trying to force some pieces together. I said, "Wait my little one wait. Jigsaw pieces are like a relationship. It doesn't work if you try to force them together. They should go together smoothly." She looked up at me with a blank expression and just said, "Sponge Bob?" That's my profound story of the week.

Happy New year. Love you guys. B. Nice

Here's the link to my blog about the past. See you next week.

December 27, 2014

Hi you guys. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the present. And I'm presently happy to say my daughter will be here tomorrow!

I keep saying it over and over again, but you have to avoid stress when you're like I am. You know, traumatic brain injury. Stress is really important to avoid. I mean you should see my life. Like I said before, it's like a bad country song. You can't make up the stuff I go through. Remember what I said, meditate.

You know what I discovered? I try to stand every minute I can and it helps a lot. I use something called a Sure Hands Lift. It helps you stand up. It works pretty good. I stand up almost every hour. It sounds simple but it's really tough to just stand up. The other thing that's cool is I've been feeding myself. I look like a two year old eating tomato sauce, but it works. Sometimes my hand actually finds my mouth. You know you're in trouble when your seven year old daughter says, "OK Daddy, here comes the airplane into the cave." Something's not right with that. Sleeping has been up and down. You know, sometimes I wake up at 3 in the morning and I can't get to sleep. Some days I'll sleep until 9 am. It's all up and down. You never know. The other thing I discovered is I have more and more moments when I'm exercising or when I'm really tired, like at the end of the day. It seems these moments come on when I'm either exercising or tired. Go figure. It's all a mystery to me. Another benchmark.

I'm gonna leave it at that. I just like to benchmark where I'm at. Hope you guys have a good week. Me and my friend here will pick out some images I've been shooting. Love, B. Nice

Oh yeah, here's the blog where I talk about the past.

December 19, 2014

Hi you guys. Can you believe Christmas is a week away? Pretty crazy. I sat here for like ten minutes bitching about something to my friend. When you're like the way I am, you gotta blow off steam once in a while. It helps to have somebody to talk to. It's wild. I tried the weighted vest again yesterday and I'm still feeling the side effects from it. You basically wear a vest and they put weights on your weaker side. I think I talked about it before, but the weights act as a counterbalance to your weaker side. It kind of balances you up and makes it easier to do therapy. But the problem is, when I take the vest off, I feel weird for a day or so. Everyone keeps calling me Eileen… It's pretty wild though, how it works. You would never think it works but it does. And to have it cleared and have insurance pay for it is pretty complicated. You would think it would be easy, but it's not.

Going back to Christmas, the one good thing about brain injury is that people give you some slack when you don't give them presents. I can't exactly hop in the car and go Christmas shopping. I usually give people a drawing that a two year old could do.

Not much else to report. It's all been the same old thing day in and day out. I would like to benchmark where I'm at because in the future I'll look back at a blog like this and I'll see where I was at. I can get around with the wheelchair and get around fairly decently. I can use my hands now which is pretty cool. But man, those door jambs, they hurt when I hit my hand against them. My face is still a little numb and tight. It's really difficult to talk. But it's always been like that. My vision is getting better. It's a good thing since I'm a photographer. Let's see, what else? I can roll over by myself and I don't freak out when I'm on my stomach. Before it was pretty freaky. Imagine this, imagine being taped up like a mummy and being put on your stomach. I felt really claustrophobic, but now I can move onto my back. It all sounds trivial, but believe me, it's all giant steps for me. I know I'll get back to walking one day, but I gotta be patient. You know, I say it over and over but, you gotta remember how lucky you are. Just to be able to stand up and walk. I'll get there one day. Now I'll go back to trying to put tape on the bottom of my dog's feet. It's my only entertainment I have. See you guys next week. Oh, and have a good Christmas or holiday or whatever they call it. Have a great break. Love, B. Nice

Oh, here's a link to where I talk about the past and some photos I've been doing.