Hi everybody. Welcome to day 829. I miscalculated. I added a year before. I guess time goes by when you're having so much fun. (I said this sarcastically.) Anyway, welcome to another day.
It's actually been a tough week. I've been aspirating a lot. It's when liquid goes into your lungs. It's not fun. Who knows why this happens. But it makes things more difficult. You know, like talking, eating. Just another Traumatic Brain Injury moment. The good thing is, my walking is getting more fluid. I've been using my Up & Go device to walk. It's working out really well. Sleeping has been great. I sleep like 9 hours a night. I no longer have to sleep with a light on. What a big boy I am. Maybe the light was keeping me awake, and I finally turned the light off. All in all, things are moving along. When a doctor told me to be patient, I had no idea he meant this. It's been about 4 years now, but who's counting. You know, when I was in the hospital, the food was such a drag. I remember one day a friend showed up with a bunch of food. Her husband had a couple of restaurants in New York City, and a restaurant in St. Bart's The food was Italian. Anyway, I had a great feast. It really makes a difference. All this TBI stuff is getting monotonous. I'll tell you a few stories.
I could write a whole book on the assistants I had. Oh my God! It was unreal. This one guy I worked with, he was something else. Actually, I could write a whole book on him. When I got divorced the first time, I moved in with him. He graciously gave me a room. I mean closet. I mean room. I'm pretty sure it was a closet. Anyway, I was just grateful to have anywhere to stay. But living with him ranged from getting in fights with small people on stilts, to cats and dental floss. I'll let you use your imagination, but I can guarantee you I didn't get much sleep.
My friend here reminded me of a cartoon I did from Djurba. Djurba was in Tunisia, and it was an island where they stuck all the tourists. Anyway, this assistant and I used to always play tennis. He was French/Vietnamese and we would always kid around. I mention that he was French/Vietnamese because we used to sneak up on each other and scream "Whataaaa" like in Inspector Clouseau and the Green Hornet. Never a dull moment. Actually, I worked with that assistant for a long time, so I could do a whole book on him as well. Never a dull moment.
Sorry, I'm getting distracted because we're having a big lightening storm right now. If you haven't noticed, I get distracted easily. I could be shooting and someone might yell "Brian, watch out! There's a big truck about to hit you!" And I'd say, "What a pretty butterfly." Some people call that distractedness. I call it creativeness. Anyway, back to the assistants. Man, I could go on and on. It's bringing back bad memories, I mean good memories, I mean bad memories. Yeah, I could do a whole book on assistants.
I mentioned good food before. You know, in my line of work, I vowed as long as you fed everyone really well, they would be generally happy. I tried to do this as often as I could. Man, we had some great meals, at some great restaurants. One time, we were in New Guinea. The locals invited us over for dinner. This consisted of them digging a hole into the ground. Heating some rocks, throwing them in the hole, throw some ferns in, throw a dead pig in, throw some more ferns in and some yams, some more ferns and some more heated rocks. They would cover the pit and let it sit all day. At the end of the day, the locals would dig everything up, put it on the table and have a meal. It was, well, disgusting, but you know, I was polite. I finished what I could and one of the locals came over to me with a bowl. I said, "Oh, dessert?" She said, "No, it's dope." I said, "What?" She said, "Dope." And I said, "Dope?" She said, "Yes, dope." I said, "Dope?" with a question mark. "Yes, you've had a hard day. It's time for you to relax." And she rolled me up a giant joint. Well, I didn't want to be rude, so I smoked some. It was very strong. I passed it to the driver. He said, "No thanks mate. We've got to make it home alive tonight." Well, I started getting really paranoid, and then the same woman who gave me the dope, wheeled out a video player and a TV. She went to the back and started up a generator. She played a film of the first time the white man came to visit. It showed an old DC-3 landing. It showed the locals in amazement and shock. It then showed some people, white people getting out of the plane. The locals went crazy. Then one of the white people came over to the locals, grabbed a pig that was on a leash, took out a revolver and shot the pig in the head. What a lovely introduction. Anyway, that was the start of that relationship. It's been like that ever since. Where was I? Oh yeah, after she showed us that film I got really paranoid and started freaking out. I couldn't find the door to go outside so what did I do? I went through the wall. The house was made of grass. I immediately saw a campfire and went over there to sit down. I sat down to get some air. After a while, my eyes adjusted to the darkness and then I noticed the whole village was there staring at me. Just another day. It was a beautiful place. It was the first time I saw rain forest come down to the water, and then coral reef go down into the water about 100 feet. The water was so clear. It was an amazing place. I'll never forget it.
Anyway, that's about it for this week. My friend here will include some more cartoons and the link to my next project. Remember, if you're going through a TBI, stay positive, and don't set any time limits. Talk to you next week. love, B. Nice
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