January 23, 2015

Hi you guys. Welcome to another week of traumatic brain injury. I'm gonna dedicate this blog to my team. You know, it was my birthday the other day and my team got me to another birthday. When you're in intensive care, you really need a team to get you through it. It's a lot of hard work and you can't take any short cuts. You know, in life, there are no short cuts. I'm gonna be profound here for a moment. Like when I ran track & Field. Sure you can take short cuts. Skip a work out, or shorten your runs by taking a taxi. But in the long run, you'll pay for it. You'll get halfway through a race and get blown off by everyone else thinking, "Oh, I should have done those workouts." See what I'm saying? You can apply that to life as well. For example, when I was in the ICU, you know, you really had to work hard at just breathing. It can be a problem if you take a short cut. See what I'm saying? A good team will help you get through everything. I had a good team, and I dedicate his blog to them.

You know, I took a week off at the gym and after going to the gym for the first time in a week, I'm really shaky. I feel totally out of it. I guess, you know, by missing just a week, it really takes its toll on you. You gotta stay busy and active. Just an observation. You know, I do have what I call "moments." They're more and more often but shorter and shorter. I call my neurologist and they say, "What do you want to do?" again. I feel like I should change my name to guinea pig. Once again it comes down to either increasing the medication or meditate. I choose to meditate. That and get some strippers. Just kidding. I wanted to see if you were paying attention.

Not much else to really report. I've been having a hard time sleeping. I always wake up at like 4 am, freaking out. But I guess it's all part of the process. I can't get back to sleep so I think about drawings I'm gonna do. I'll include one here. Here's my link to the past, you know stuff I used to think about. Have a good week. Love, B. Nice

P.S. Remember, I couldn't even hold a paintbrush before. Now I can at least hold a paintbrush.

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.