January 18, 2023

Hi you guys. Welcome to my blog where I talk about the present. I want to dedicate this blog to my daughter who was here, and my friend who’s typing this for me.

It was cool to see my daughter. Man, she’s all grown up. Amazing. Anyway, she expressed interest in seeing van Gogh’s painting, Starry Night. I thought that was a great idea, as I’ve always wanted to show her that you can make something beautiful even though you’re all messed up (Van Gogh was mentally messed up). So I took her to MOMA, where they have the painting. Man, it was crowded, but that’s a whole other story. It was cool to see the painting. I never realized how much paint he used in each brush stroke. That painting is thick with paint. Anyway, it all worked out good, and I got to show her that you can make something beautiful even though you’re in a bad way. It’s cool to see the painting live as you get the 3 dimensional aspect of it. You could always look it up in an art book, but you won’t get the 3 dimensional feeling of it seeing it live. It has been preserved well. The thick paint hasn’t cracked at all. It looks like it was painted yesterday. Cool. Anyway, I just thought I’d share that with you.

The other thing that’s cool about having my daughter here is she got me out of the house. She got me off of my ass. We went on hikes. I mean, I rolled, but she hiked. We went to coffee houses, went ice skating (at least she ice skated, I watched). In other words, it’s cool when another person acts like a catalyst and gets you going. I’ve been so self isolated for so long. It felt great to get out of the house. I’ll tell you though, the more I get out and about, the more I realize there aren’t really a lot of spots that are accessible for the wheelchair. It’s not easy. Also, very frustrating as well. At the moment, I’m working with the current government in my town to make the sidewalks better for people like me. It would even be good to improve the sidewalks for mothers with their kids in strollers - but that’s a whole other topic as well.

The other thing I’ve been working on is trying to get decent pay for these home healthcare workers. It’s crazy. They made increase in their pay, but really nothing, and its almost an insult as its just enough increase to knock them out of contention for food stamps or decent housing. You can make more flipping burgers than looking after a human soul.

Please watch this link to my documentary about it.

I’ll continue to fight for these guys as it will get more people wanting to do this job, and as there are more and more people that need home healthcare. I hear about it all the time. I’ll tell you, being like the way I am has opened my eyes to a lot of things. Frankly, I’m tired of large companies making a profit on my misfortune. The healthcare workers help me, but I guess I’m opening up a whole can of worms.

On another note, I just finished a mini documentary I did with a filmmaker. I’ll keep you posted. It’s basically about an artist from the Hudson River Valley. I’ll include a link to the documentary when it comes out. Stay tuned.

That’s about all for this week. Love and miss you guys. Give me a call or come and visit if you have the chance. Thanks. B. Nice

December 28, 2022

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

I’m gonna dedicate this blog to my daughter cause she’s right here! It’s cool she’s visiting for one week. Welcome!

So I had a bizarre dream. An event I didn’t remember until I had the dream. A long time ago, I was on a photoshoot in Tunisia. I was in the middle of nowhere, in the open desert. There was one lone tree out in the middle of nowhere. It was a big tree, but it was at a 45° angle. I didn’t understand why it was growing that way until I opened the car door. The door almost got ripped out of my hand. It was so windy, it was crazy. Our driver said that the wind was always there. All year. And he said the tree bends with the wind. Now the reason why I’m telling you this is slightly philosophical. Now in my dream, I dreamt that life is like the dream. You gotta bend with the wind. How profound is that?! Does that make sense?

Anyway, I just wanted to share that with you. On another note, you know everything I went through, I use my running career to get me through the tough times. You see, my competitive running made me more patient and able to bear extreme pain and suffering. You see, I have drawn on my running to get me through everything I’m going through. It also helps with my career to have an explosive temperament. In other words, it would piss me off when someone would run past me. Now I hate it when a doctor tells me I can’t do something. In other words, be patient and having a wicked temper, helped me through the tough stuff. It’s more philosophy for ya.

I’m gonna go back to hanging out with my daughter. I’ll make it a short one for this week. Above are some pictures I did recently. I’m still taking photos. Remember, Art is Therapy.

Love, B. Nice

December 21, 2022

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

You know what’s tougher than brain bleeds or brain surgeries? It’s living with this stupid condition of a traumatic brain injury. Let me explain.

Now, I used to be really active. I used to do stuff on my own all the time. Now I rely on anybody for everything. Crazy. I can’t do one thing on my own. Maybe I can pick up a sippy cup. That’s about it. It’s frustrating. I don’t blame my friends, but I go through friends like toilet paper. My friend here said, “Nice image.” But it’s true. And I don’t blame them, but I have to call them for rides. Help me do things. Its tough, because on the one hand you need help, and on the other, you don’t want to ask for help. That lazy boy chair and a bag of weed is starting to look good. I guess things have ways of working out. Maybe this all pushes one to become more independent. You know, small things like; get an apple watch so you can talk the telephone number and stuff like that. Little things you’ll learn. But you have to learn how to become more independent.

Ive been walking more and more with a walker. It’s real tough but also real rewarding. It feels great to walk again. But it’s like any other athletic endeavor. You have to keep at it and do it over and over if you want to get good. Same thing with feeding myself. I practice every morning. A good image is of a three year old child on crack. That’s about how I operate. Food goes everywhere. It’s frustrating, but hey, my dog’s happy.

I would like to talk to you guys about something I’ve learned. You know, when we do things, we often make mistakes or there are imperfections in what we do. I found that there are often beautiful mistakes. In other words, you can learn a lot from your mistakes. You can learn to take advantage of them and recognize them as works of art. The photo above is an example of a couple of mistakes that can be seen as a work of art. The light leak on the image is something you can never recreate and what I’ve learned is to enjoy mistakes, recognize them and don’t discard them. Anyway, that’s my philosophical thought of the day.

Anyway, that’s all I really have to report on. Talk to you guys next week. Love and miss you. Love, B. Nice

December 13, 2022

Hi everybody. Welcome to the blog where I talk about the present. I’m also gonna draw upon the past to make this blog.

Now, when I was a competitive runner, I would run the 800 meters and then 2 hours later I would run the 1500 meters. It was a brutal combination. Both races you’re running flat out. One for 2 laps, and one for 3 1/2 laps. It was a killer combination. But you know what? The 800 got you ready for the 1500. It got you warmed up. You just needed that 2 hours to recover. Now, the reason why I’m bringing this up, I’m in therapy now, right. I work out on the machine called the NuStep here at home about an hour before my therapy. It helps a lot. It basically loosens you up for your therapy session. And therapy now, I’m on a device called Up n Go. It’s for transition from the wheelchair to the walker. It’s a cool device. Custom made for me. I highly recommend it if you’re starting to learn how to walk. The walker is the next goal. Then, after that, ballroom dancing. Just kidding. Anyway, it’s all hard work, but like they say, the more you put into it, the more you get out. You just gotta put in the hours. There’s no shortcut.

On another note, my daughter is coming to visit me. That’s a form of therapy in itself. And should be fun, and challenging for someone like me as well.

That’s all I really have to report on. This is B. Nice signing off. Love and miss you guys.

Love, B. Nice

December 7, 2022

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

I’m gonna dedicate this blog to my friend here. We’ve been doing this blog for about 10 years now. She comes over every Wednesday at 3 o’clock. When you have a traumatic brain injury, it’s awesome when people come over to visit. And, frankly, something like doing a simple blog is like a form of therapy.

Speaking of therapy, learning how to walk is an athletic endeavor. It takes patience, repetitive exercise, and more patience. I’ve been at it for about 10 years now. But, like they say, the more you put into it, the more you get out. My friend and I were just talking about learning how to walk, and it’s incredible whatever you have to put into learning how to walk. When I first started, I couldn’t even move. They had to get the brain used to swinging the arms and the legs. Then they put me in the water with weights on my ankles, and a life jacket on me. That was to get me used to the muscle groups you use in walking. I was cool with the water, because I used to be a surfer. Some people freak out because the water’s right at your nose. Then they suspend you from the ceiling, get you wearing a harness, and put you on a treadmill and move your legs and arms. Now I’m in a harness strapped to a four wheel walker (my friend said, I’m going four wheeling, and I guess I am). Then, every Sunday, an instructor comes over and helps me walk with a walker. This is all the second time I’ve done this. Because, remember, this is a recovery from my second brain bleed. Remember I had two brain bleeds and two brain operations. So, yeah, it’s monotonous, and for sure it’s an athletic endeavor. You gotta stick at it. It’s either this or buy a lazyboy chair and a bag of weed and a bong. Actually, that sounds like a good idea - and it’s legal now, well, at least in some states.

Having some down-time is definitely important. I often sit in my garden and reflect on what my life used to be like. It was crazy. I was on a plane almost every week, for about 20-30 years. It was non-stop travel. No wonder why I like to sit in my garden. Anyway, having some downtime after all the training I do is important, and frankly I don’t mind at all.

That’s all for this week. Don’t forget to check out my other blog about the past. Have a good one. Love and miss you guys.

Love, B. Nice