Chapter 88 - February 6, 2013

Hi Carl. Hi Marilyn. I get a lot of emails from people that were in my past. If I could, I'd email all to say "Hi" individually. But, I can't, so I'll just say a general "Hello!"

Hi everybody. Another week goes by. I was just at my outpatient hospital. You see, I go every day to the hospital to do rehab. Every time I push my wheelchair down the hall, on my way to rehab, people say things like, "Hi Brian." "What's up Brian?" "Have a good day Brian." My father, who takes me there, remarks on me knowing everybody it seems. I say to him, "Well, yeah! The first time I was here for 5 months. The second operation, I was here for 4 months. I'm still an outpatient. What do you expect?" I should get a freaking condo here. It's like my second home. Nice place though, Helen Hayes. They have great therapists. Speaking of hospitals, I'd like to say something. You know, my friend here was reading my last blog to me, and I forgot to mention, when you get in the hospital, it's so important to have someone hold your hand. I'm talking about when you're in ICU (Intensive Care). It's really important to have someone hold your hand. That, and you need someone like your coach or your point person to keep reassuring you that everything will be all right. Have that person tell you what's next. Those things, and the things I talked about in the previous blog, really helped me.

This past weekend I got to see my little one. It was only for one day, but man, it was great to see her and hang out with her. Kids grow up so fast. My sister's kids also came over, and they all hung out. I wish I could play with them. I guess watching them play is the next best thing, and a little less exhausting. I said it before, but I'll say it again. You know, I'm doing this blog to help other people. There might be some information in here they could use. You know, help them out. I'm not a doctor or anyone connected with the medical field, but I'm just talking about my experiences. You know, from my point of view. Anyway, it might help.

https://mypointofviewproject.wordpress.com/

I've been doing a lot of water therapy. It's so helpful. I can walk in the water. It's fantastic. My mom was taking photos the whole time. I forgot, but when she showed me the pictures, remember my eyesight is not so good. She was showing me the pictures and I look like I've got freaking implants. I said, "Mom, who's that chick?" It was me! The instructor was holding me in a way that made me look like I had a big rack. I looked quite sexy. Other than the water therapy, I've just been working hard at building my strength and my core as well. Core strength is what's so important. One good way to build up your core is you have someone like my mother drive you to therapy. Her nick name should be Mario Andretti. Enough of the medical talk. Let's just tell a few random stories.

This week I saw on the news how they had an earthquake near New Guinea. It reminded me of a time I was on a shoot in New Guinea. Anyway, I was photographing a model. She was on a rope bridge. It's basically a bridge made out of rope. She was in the middle of the bridge. I was on the land. A huge earthquake happened. Rocks were falling around me. Trees were falling over. I just laid down on the ground. She looked at us like we were aliens. She didn't know what was going on. The bridge was going up and down, but it was before the earthquake anyway. Thank god the bridge didn't fall apart with the trees it was tied to. Cause, if she fell, it would have been instant death. Hey, anything for a great photo, right. When I think about what we did, I can't sleep sometimes.

I've got lots of situations I went through that won't let me sleep at night. One time I was doing a swimwear shoot on Bondi Beach in Australia. It was a big advertising shoot. Lots of talent, a few location vans. You get the idea. It was a big produciton. Well, we all got there, had some breakfast, and it started raining. I called the airport because I had the number for the tower. The guy at the airport said, "Oy Mate, how'd you get this number?" I said, "My friend at the fire department gave me the number." Well, I could hear the guy cover up the phone with his hand. I could hear him shouting out, "Hey I got some yank on the line who wants to know the weather." Then I heard a voice say, "Tell him to look out the window," and then the phone hung up. Well, after I called the tower and basically got no response, I decided, in my infinite wisdom, I decided I'll just call the shoot off. We'll reschedule it for a few days later. I was being a New York photographer. Well, the guy that owned the company I was shooting for flipped out. He said, "You can't call the shoot off!" I said, "I just did." Funny, I never worked for them again.

I'm going to finish it up. Make a short one this week. I've got link here for my drive across America. I hope you get a chance to check it out. When you're like this, it's good to have a project. Something to look forward to. I'm really messed up, but you know, this will be a different type of traveling for me. You know, it all comes down to your attitude. Stay positive. I'll talk to you guys next week. Love, B. Nice.