July 15, 2020

Hi everybody, welcome to the blog where I talk about the present. Hey! Happy Bastille Day. That was yesterday, France got it’s independence on the 14th.

When you have a traumatic brain injury, or any situation for that matter, you’ll find that someone or some situation will let you down, you know, take the rug from under your feet or take the wind out of your sails, something like that. You’ll find that the only thing you can rely on is yourself. You are the constant, (other than change). Listen to me. I sound like a motivational speaker, but it’s true. You are the one that can rely on yourself. Or as I say, “The three of us: me, myself and I.”

I used to be a competitive runner for my school. My specialty was the 1500 meter or the 800 meters. Of course, you’re always out to beat your competition, but always in the back of your mind you have to better yourself. Better your time. Let’s say I ran the 800 meters in 2 flat. I would try to run the next race in 1:59 flat. See what I mean, you’re always trying to better yourself. That’s what this is like, you’re always trying to better yourself. It’s exhausting, but you gotta keep at it. It’s the only way you’ll get better. Before my friend died, she said, “Man, this is gonna be a marathon. You’re gonna be in the toughest marathon of your life.” And it’s true.

That’s my motivational speech for the week. I’m gonna get back to my gardening now.

Love ya, B. Nice

April 22, 2020

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

Happy Earth Day everybody. It’s the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. Appropriate because my father really supported the environment.

Hey, I wanted to start out by apologizing to my former mother-in-law. I guess I’ll dedicate this blog to her. You see, unfortunately I made some bad comments. I thought I was talking to someone else. Unfortunately, she was on the receiving end of some bad comments. When you have a brain injury you almost have a condition of no filtered frustration. I guess you could say it’s a form of tourettes. It happens with a brain injury. It’s either that or good old fashioned bad temper. Either way, it’s not cool.

I’d also like to dedicate this blog to my friend who unfortunately has the corona virus.

It’s bizarre. I’m dictating to my friend here and she’s at home typing my blog. We’re doing this blog via the internet. Is it our new normal? I have a feeling this will go on for a while. To me it’s really no big change. I’ve been staying home for about 9 years. You need any tips? One thing that helps is to get a small dog. Get a fishtank with some cool fish. And start cooking. I guess I’ve become an expert in staying in the home. The only big change for me is that I don’t go to therapy. Like I did say before, this is all kind of a vacation for me. The only thing I really worry about is if I have a big seizure and have to go to the ER. That would not be cool. I just do things to reduce stress, like I don’t watch the news, and that sort of thing.

Anyway, I’m gonna cut it short and leave it at that. Miss you guys.

Love, B. Nice

March 11, 2020

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

So, I have a hard time watching TV, but I was sitting in front of the TV with one eye open, and my health aide walked in. Now, this one health aide, she’s always bringing me snacks of food. She held her hand out and said, “Look what I have.” It looked like she was holding a spring roll. I went to take a bite of it. WEll, it turns out it was her thumb wrapped in a bandage. I almost bit into her thumb. She had caught it in a car door. That would have sent her through the roof. It’s a good thing I didn’t take a bite. Just another moment of a brain injury.

So when I was a cross country runner, we did this one run called Canal Run. We ran along the Eerie Canal. It was a long, monotonous run. At one point you look up and you think, “Where the hell am I?” That’s how I feel right now. I’ve been working and working away. Now I take notice and think, “Where the hell am I?” See, sometimes you work so hard you forget where you are. I’ve been working at it for ten years now. It’s funny, I’ve said it before, but the body feels like it’s waking up. I just feel like I can stand up. I wouldn’t try it though. If I fall, that could be real bad. But having that urge is good.

The good thing is, you also have the desire to leave the house. Just the other day I went out on a bike trail over the Hudson. It felt great to get out of the house. Now that the weather’s getting better, I’ll get out more. I’m gonna cut this blog short because I’m supposed to have my daughter here and she didn’t come becuase of the coronavirus scare. Anyway, it’s better to keep her safe than sorry. Who knows whats really going on.

Talk to you guys next week.

Love, B. Nice

February 5, 2020

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

It’s Valentine’s Day coming up. Why do skunks love valentine’s day? Because their Scent-a-mental… Get it? That’s an intelligence test. I didn’t get it at first. Let’s just blame it on the brain injury.

Inspiration. That’s what I’m lacking right now. Before I would get inspiration from my parents, another photograph, a place, a painting, my wife (when I was happily married). You never know when you’re gonna get inspiration, but I’m definitely lacking it right now. I guess you’d call it a creative slump. You see the good thing about being an artist is that if you just go with your slump, you’ll be OK and then you’ll be creative later. It’s kind of a drag being in a slump because being creative helps you get through something like this. You never know where your muse is gonna come from. I guess I’ll just sit here until my inspiration comes.

On another note, I went to my doctor and I got cleared for physical therapy. That’s cool because I need therapy after my surgery. It gets you going.

That’s about it. I just wanted to add that stuff. I’ll include a photo from a time when I felt inspired.

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

January 29, 2020

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

I’m presently still recovering from surgery, so I’m gonna keep this kind of short. I just want to reiterate something. You know, when you have surgery, it’s really important to have someone you know with you when you wake up from surgery. Thank God my sister was around when I woke up. Because you’re in a real far out state when you wake up. You need someone you recognize to be there to reassure you. It’s hard to describe it. It’s a scary moment when you come out of anesthesia. Anesthesia can also affect your respiratory system. It’s strong stuff. It took me about four days to get it out of my system. I had to be on oxygen for about four days. Kind of a drag. The only entertainment was the guy next to me. The poor guy was totally out of his mind. He was an older actor. Totally broke, but when his social worker came in, he told her he was a multi-millionaire. He could get all the nurses he needed to go home. It was pretty funny.

I’m gonna leave it at that. I’ll pick out a photo for you guys. Next week we’ll talk about the year 2020. The year of vision, which is ironic. I have a story to tell you.

Love, B. Nice

P.S. I just want to add something: my brain surgeon, you know, the guy that originally operated on me, was at the same hospital that I had surgery. The guy found out I was there totally hooked me up with a great floor and a great room. I just want to express my gratitude again. He’s a great guy.