September 21, 2016

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

Oh man, it's been about 7 years since my first brain bleed. I'm still learning stuff. For example, I've learned that you can set up a trust fund to deal with your spend down. You know, the money you owe the state from your federal medicare. It's all rather complicated and your probably wondering what the hell is he talking about, but it all makes sense if you talk to your social worker. Now, that brings me to another point. I think I talked about this before, but you're gonna definitely, most definitely I'll emphasize, need a point person. You have your social worker who does most of the ground work, but you'll have to do a lot of work yourself. Or, rather, your point person will have to do a lot of work him or herself. My mother does all of my paperwork for me. I can't write or type. The more I think about it, you almost need a personal assistant to help you out. It's almost worth it to hire someone to do all your work for you. Like a bookkeeper, a secretary. Someone you really know and trust.

My friend here sounds like a cat coughing up a fur ball. And that reminds me, It's allergy season and I think it really affects me. My balance is a little off, and various other things affect me. I'm basically a little off. I'm pretty sure it's the allergies, now that I think about it. It's also been unusually hot, and that seems to affect me as well. Oh the joy of having a brain injury. Never a dull moment. That's for sure.

This past week I made a trip to Montauk, my old home. It was kind of bittersweet because I dropped off all of my windsurfing stuff to a special needs camp for kids. I dropped off all my gear. It was sad to see it all go even though I know I can't use it. Hell, it'll probably be considered antique by the time I get better. But it'll go to some good use. It'll help some young kid who wants to go out and sail. It was a good trip though. Plenty of good weather and lots of waves. You know what was ironic? I went to the beach where I used to surf and they were having a big event there. Everyone was being real nice to me. All the police. There were some EMT people there. Some doctors and nurses. I thought what the hell is going on. Then they told me it was an event called healing through surf. It was pretty cool. It was an organization that put on surfing events to help people heal. Unfortunately, I had already dropped off my wet suit. So I had a coffee and a donut and watched my friend surf.

That's about it for this week. Hope you have a good week. Love, B. Nice

Here's my link to my other blog.

August 31, 2016

Hi you guys. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the present.

So, check this out. A friend came to visit me. A friend I haven't seen in 25 years. She hasn't changed much, but I got a little shorter. I'm in a wheelchair. But, it's strange cause, I really have no concept of time, so when I saw her, it just felt like I hadn't seen her in about a year. She's doing really good. I'm happy for her.

The other cool thing is my Uncle came to visit. It's great to see him. Haven't seen him in a long time. So basically, Ive had a lot of visitors. All this new input makes me really tired though. I have to learn how to pace myself. I keep doing therapy. Sunrise to sunset. I'm working on becoming more independent now. I get a special therapist just for that. Eveyone has something to bring to the table. So, when you're offered a service, you know, when you have a brain injury, go on and take it. It helps a lot. Not much else to report. I just keep working. Check out my other blog where I talk about the past.

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

August 24, 2016

Hi you guys. I forgot to add a few descriptions to my state of being. Remember I was at a party cruising over to this woman in my wheelchair. I had a full on wedgie at the front, you know, revealing a package of nuts. Because of my frontal wedgie, my sweatpants were hiked up to my knees, revealing the whitest skin known to mankind. They should call me "The Human Guppy." Anyway, Mr. Guppy is slumped over to the left, drooling, laughing and mumbling. Would you run away? Or stay and have a chat? Anyway, I just thought I'd share that with you. I forgot it last week.

The other thing I want to share with you is I asked my daughter what she wanted to be for Halloween. She said, "Oh, I want to be a princess." I said, "A princess? A princess is a woman who is demeaning, subservient, she gives off a feeling of being self-important." I said to my child, "No, you're not a princess, you're a goddess. You're strong, powerful, self entitled." She looked at me with a blank expression, and the conversation quickly turned to cat videos. Kids are always entertaining. The point is, you gotta have fun. Kids are fun. You gotta play, cause, being in this state, the way I am, you know, having a brain injury, is a real drag.

And kids are one way of lightening things up. The other fun thing was, I went to an arts and crafts fair where my friend here had a stall. It was pretty cool. Check out her website. fullcirclequilting.com. Get out there and do things.

One other thing I wanted to share with you was I met with my social worker and we figured out a way to get help by using my spend-down. A spend-down is when you have to pay money back to the state. It's a long story but a social worker will know about it. It's basically so you can get people who you want to work for you without going through an agency. If you go through an agency you have to take who they give you. Right now, I want to get someone who can help me with my photography and my health needs. Does any of this make sense to you? Anyway, I just thought I'd share that with you. You're always learning stuff when you have a brain injury.

I'm gonna leave it at that for now. Check out the documentary I did. Share it with anyone you know.

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

Here's the link to my blog where I talk about the past.

August 12, 2016

Hi everybody. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the here and now. You know what it's like to be a traumatic brain injury survivor.

I'm gonna keep this short because it seems the heat and high humidity really affect me. It's hard for me to dictate to my friend here. Just another fun side effect of having a brain injury.

When you have a traumatic brain injury, you tend to forget things. For example, I forget I'm disabled. I'll explain what that means. I was at a party the other night and there was this cute girl there, so I decided to go over and have a chat with her (some habits never die). Anyway, imagine this. Imagine a man coming over to you in a wheelchair, his hair looks like it's been combed with a wagon wheel. He's wearing an eye patch, black one. He's wearing a shirt that's way too small for him. His belly is showing. It should have its own zip code. He's got red watercolor paint all over his right arm. It looks like he's been playing with a box of razor blades. His pants, his sweat pants, are way hiked up in his crotch, and it looks like he's got a giant wedgie. He's wearing a pair of Vans skateboard shoes that look like a fourteen year old would wear them. Then, on top of it all, he's drooling all over the place. Laughing, and mumbling. Quite the sight. And you wonder why she walked away. Anyway, my point is, no matter how silly you look, you can't isolate yourself and stay home. You've got to get out there and mingle, no matter how silly you feel. Silly, ha! I feel silly about eating in public. I have to be hand fed like a parrot. I guess one good thing is, I noticed people stare at me. I guess it's good I notice. I can see better. Every once in a while, to give people a show, I make a funny face. They look highly concerned, but hey, I'm having fun.

Talk to you next week. Love, B. Nice

P.S. Here's the link to my other blog where I talk about the past. And here's the link to my documentary I did with Team Hall. You might want to share with someone that's feeling down.

Love, B. Nice

August 3, 2016

Hi everybody. Sorry about the delay. I bought a 1981 convertible Ferrari, 12 cylinder. Did I mention it's canary yellow. I also met a girl named Angel. She's a "Broadway Dancer." I'm a little tired. Actually, I'm just kidding, but not about the tired part because my daughter was here for almost a month. I'm very tired. That's why I haven't blogged in a while. But everything is great. I had a lot of fun with my daughter. She's all grown up it seems. She's only 9 and a half, but she's super smart, fun, great to hang out with. I continue to do therapy. When you have a traumatic brain injury, you really have to be patient. Take everything in steps. I know I mentioned it before, but it's real important to be patient. Right now I just working on sitting up. It sounds simple, but, believe me, it's not easy. I continue to slowly get better. I mean, even my daughter notices the difference. She said, "Wait, Dad, your speech is getting better, and you move your hands more." Little things like that are big encouragement.

You know, doing everyday things are like therapy. I mean, the other week I went to my dad's art gallery opening. We all went to the city in one car. It was interesting. He was talking to ny friend here, saying how artists used to get together and show their work. It was a real simple gathering of young people. It wasn't about money and who you're selling to, etc. It was just about art, for art's sake. The opening my dad had was cool because there were a lot of young people there. Sure, they probably came for the alcohol, but it was cool to see them stand around and talk about the paintings. It was a great night. Tough for me to handle, but, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Right?

I'm gonna go back to staring at a tree. Feel free to email me if you like. briannice@me.com. Or check out my website: www.briannice.com.

Have a great week. Love and miss you guys. Hey, here's my blog where I talk about the past.