I appeared on Wood TV 8’s EightWest on Friday, June 30. Rachael Ruiz and Terri DeBoer got a chance to try four different kinds of Wednesday Evening Cookies vegan creations — chocolate chocolate chocolate, chocolate chip, samoas (just like the Girl Scout version, except vegan) and lime shortbread cookies. In the video, you can barely see the large brace on my right leg and my wheelchair is just off screen. I dare say I look pretty good for an invalid.

Since appearing on EightWest, I’ve noticed a few things about being a baker:

1. I should shave more. My facial hair grows in all splotchy and it looks really bad from the side, like some sort of follicle leprosy. Nobody wants that.

2. Cookies with more contrast look awesome on camera. The chocolate chip cookies and samoas were really appetizing. The chocolate x3 and lime shortbread cookies just looked…meh.

3. When you’re hawking food products on TV, with the possibility of HD viewing, make sure you don’t have to follow a feature on peripheral arterial disease. It’s not incredibly appetizing.

This appearance has resulted in a few new orders, meaning I’m a little bit closer to securing an actual bakery in Grand Rapids. Originally, I was slated to go on the show Wedesday, June 2, but a fateful rainy night the Saturday previous found me nearly bleeding to death on Fulton Avenue with a protruding femur and several other broken bones.

Apart from many, many reasons to live a healthier and smarter, my accident has shown me how vital mobility is. As one whose happiness depends on moving around a kitchen and getting cookies to homes around the community by bicycle, I can’t imagine how my life would have changed were I to lose the use of one or both of my legs.

Grand Rapids, fret not, for Wednesday Evening Cookies is returning stronger than ever to fulfill your vegan cookie needs.