Author: Brian Kirwan

• Horrible People, Gravelly Throats, and Autobiographies – Thoughts from November 9 to 23, 2024

  

  November 9, 2024 I need to write now more than ever, but I’m afraid of what I’m going to say. When Patti and I took our trip along Route 66, there were Trump signs almost every mile as we drove. We knew there was a huge section of America that ignored every horrible thing Trump…

  Brian Kirwan

  October 28, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, acid reducer, addictions, avoiding family members, being abused, Brian Wilson autobiography, comedy autobiographies, conceptual and performance artist, dietary restrictions, documentary, get it lasered off, gravelly voice, hateful renaissance, HBO, Laughlin, Marina Abramović, medication, medication helping?, mental health issues, misinformation and hate, miss singing in the car, music-making, musical process, negative influence, Patti, people rewarded for horrible behavior, prescription, prescription strength, progress, Republicans, Route 66, stomach pain, Thanksgiving, The Artist is Present, The Beach Boys, thoughts, throat doctor, torture herself for art, Trump signs, vocal cord polyp, worst of the worst people, worst President in history

• First Surgeries, Allergies, and Pleasant Eating – Thoughts from November 2, 2024

  

  Before I left for work today, I got a call from Kaiser to schedule the appointment to treat my throat and plan the removal of the polyp on my vocal cord. Honestly, I didn’t know if I was going to be scheduling the procedure itself. I wasn’t. This is the checkup before the procedure. It…

  Brian Kirwan

  October 21, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, alcoholics, all the milks, almond milk, beef, beer, checkup, coconut, dairy, eggs, future note, hair analyzed for allergies, high reactivity, Kaiser, minor surgery, moderate reactivity, mustard, my first surgery, no broken bones, no major health problems, no reactivity, Oranges lemons and duck, pecans, pleasurable eating, reactivity test, remove the polyp on my vocal cord, restrictions on my diet, satisfied, smokers, taking health seriously, thoughts, throat problems, tomatoes, unpleasant surprise, veal, vegan diet, wheat, wheat is a major ingredient, work

• Memories of Route 66, Anxieties, and Word Choices – Thoughts from October 12 and 20, 2024

  

  October 12, 2024 I haven’t written a Thoughts paper in a while. Actually, that’s not true. Why am I lying to you? Because I can. I should say I haven’t written anything unplanned. Patti and I took a Route 66 trip that I wrote about, but I didn’t write the entries on the date I…

  Brian Kirwan

  October 14, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, a picture is worth a thousand words, airports, anxiety, anxious thoughts, arbitrary word choices, awkward, Couples Sans Souci, damaged emotions, dash cam, dash cam footage, easily triggered anxiety, electric bill, emotions, financial crisis, flying in a plane, heat of summer, images lead to memories, Jamaica, knowledge always wins over belief, only flying first class, Patti, Petrified Forest, realizing my error, Route 66 trip, snobbish rule, taking pictures, taking pictures throughout the day, thoughts, Thoughts paper, visual thinking, Wordscapes, wounded emotions, writing

• Route 66, Peggy Sue’s Diner, and Home with the Cats – Thoughts from September 21, 2024 – Last Day Part 2

  

  Now that we knew the Bagdad Café didn’t have food, we had to pick a new place to eat. I asked, “Aren’t we driving by Peggy Sue’s Diner? We could eat there.” Patti said we were, so we did. We arrived at about 4:30 pm at Peggy Sue’s 50s Diner in Yermo, California. This was…

  Brian Kirwan

  October 7, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, 50s attire, Bagdad Cafe, ball-shaped tiger, baseball with feet, baseballs, big-eyed monkey, cats, cats sniffing everything, curiosity and fear, Eddie World, fridge magnets, fried chicken, fried food, gift shop, ice cream sundae tower, Javin slow loris, mannequins, missing home, must-have plushes, not a food-critic blog, Patti, Peggy Sue’s 50s Diner, Peggy Sue’s Diner, pictures from the trip, plushes, post vacation, purple dragon, restroom, self-control, shot glasses, Sit whereever you like, sitting with cats, Southern fried chicken, souvenirs, stuffed animal addiction, stuffed animals, stuffed cowboy at a fake urinal, thoughts, vacation Brian, Yermo California

• Route 66, the Bagdad Cafe, and Tourists – Thoughts from September 21, 2024 – Last Day Part 1

  

  Patti and I woke up for the last time in our hotel room in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Tonight, we would be home and sleep in our own bed. The end of our vacation was hours and not days away. We drive back today but we still have a few more places to visit. The…

  Brian Kirwan

  September 30, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, Arizona, Bagdad Cafe, Bagdad Cafe movie, bring crowds with us, bus fulls of tourists, California, Calling You, food service, French tourists, Historic Bagdad Cafe, in the desert, Japanese tourists, Jevetta Steele, Lake Havasu City, Newberry Springs, no internet, off-ramps, Patti, restroom, restroom walls, Route 66, Route 66 historical destination, Route 66 shield, thoughts, tourist pictures, US flags

• Route 66, Historic Stops, and Roadkill Burgers – Thoughts from September 20, 2024

  

  Patti and I woke up in the Jack Oakie room of the El Rancho hotel in Gallop, New Mexico. We got a late checkout, so we didn’t have to be out until noon. We took showers in the awkward bathroom and collected our luggage, large snack bag, cooler, and other assorted items back into the…

  Brian Kirwan

  September 23, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, Arizona, awkward bathroom, beer, being stuffed, bikers, Bird That Smacked the Curb, buffalo meat, cooler, El Rancho hotel, elk meat, face mask in bed, Farm Burger, Gallop New Mexico, Gateway to the Grand Canyon, heading home, in bed with cats, Jack Oakie room, Lake Havasu City, large snack bag, late checkout, locals, luggage, menu of stories, natural history museum, OK Saloon, Patti, posing dead animals, Reuben sandwich, Roadkill Cafe, Route 66, science, Seligman Arizona, sit anywhere, sit anywhere motto, Swirl of Squirrel, taxidermy animals, Texas toast, thoughts, throat and sinus problems, throat problems, time change, tourists, traveling the highway, vegans, wasn’t out kind of place, Williams Arizona, You Kill It We Grill It

• Route 66, Dreams, and Second Breakfast – Thoughts from September 19, 2024

  

  My last morning in the Roswell hotel began with a dream. I was walking up a cluttered stairwell with my mom and a cousin of ours. The cousin and I were kids. My mom was younger and could walk up and down the stairs easily. This was not the reality for my mom, especially in…

  Brian Kirwan

  September 16, 2025

  Uncategorized

  1938, 2024, albuquerque, bad dream, box of Lego, breakfast, businessperson, Californian, collecting Lego, cowboy hat and lasso, dad, defying expectations, desert lizard, dream mom, dream yelling, dreams, El Rancho hotel, eye mask, finding a channel to sleep to, freeway, Gallop New Mexico, home of the movie stars, Jack Oakie, Lego, Lego pieces, Lucille Ball, mom, New Mexico, old Hollywood, old-fashioned metal key, Patti, Petrified Forest, petrified tree, Roswell New Mexico, Route 66, second breakfast, sit anywhere, sleeping in hotels, stairs, state motto, steakhouse, tepee hotel, The Affairs of Annabel, thoughts, toys, travels, vacation foods, Waffle House, waffles butter and syrup, writing, yelling

• Route 66, Alien Cats, and Donuts – Thoughts from September 18, 2024 – Roswell Part 2

  

  We bought several alien and Roswell-related things from the various shops we traveled through. The best one was an alien ship driven by an alien cat who is attempting to beam up a mouse. There were several other things I wanted to get, but I’m realizing I have too much stuff from past vacations, so…

  Brian Kirwan

  September 9, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, alien cat, alien ship, alien themed, Arizona, authentic Mexican food, Baskin Robbins, beam up, California, deliciously authentic, donkey and squirrel sidekicks, donuts, Dunkin, endlessly fascinated, giant alien, good Mexican food, half dozen donuts, heading back, humorous videos, ice cream, McDonald's, Mexican TV show, New Mexico, only acceptable flavor, OUT OF THIS WORLD FRIES, Patti, restaurant, Ronald McDonald, Roswell New Mexico, Roswell-related things, Route 66, shaped like an alien ship, shops, sit anywhere, soft serve, spacecraft, spontaneous part of the trip, Tagueria Jalisco, thoughts, too much stuff, understanding Spanish, wait to be seated, wooden alien

• Route 66, Aliens, and Spacewalks – Thoughts from September 18, 2024 – Roswell Part 1

  

  Patti and I woke up in Roswell, New Mexico. This was the location she was most excited about visiting. We would be here two nights. She didn’t plan it this way, but we needed another day just to make up for arriving so late on the first night. At 3:00 pm, we were visiting the…

  Brian Kirwan

  September 2, 2025

  Uncategorized

  1947 UFO crash, 1994, 2024, a blacklight adventure, Alien Attack, alien autopsy, alien capital of the galaxy, alien creatures, alien lore, alien-related items, aliens, aliens from another planet, bigfoot, Bricktown, California, cheesy car salesman, cheesy fun, credibility, documentaries, examine another time in history, extreme weather, haunted house, Kyle McLaughlin, Land of the Lost, Lego, light-up ray gun, Martin Sheen, NASA, over-selling, Patti, putting on a show, re-creations, Roswell movie, Roswell New Mexico, Roswell UFO Spacewalk, Roswell Visitor Center, Route 66, Sleestak, small towns, space aliens, thoughts, top-secret documents, tourists, UFO, UFO Museum and International Research Center, unconfirmed assertions, zapping noises

• Route 66, Tepee Hotels, and Squirrel Puppets – Thoughts from September 17, 2024

  

  Patti and I woke up in the tepee hotel early in the morning. Taking a shower in the oddly shaped shower was as weird as showering in a tepee can be. All I can say about it and the toilet is they worked. It’s good to do so we can say we did it, but…

  Brian Kirwan

  August 26, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, ancient animals, being chastised, changing time zone, chicken-fried chicken, cornbread, Crackle Barrel, Crystal Forest, dinosaurs, donkey and squirrel sidekicks, donkey rubber duck, finger puppet squirrel, heavy winds, liking squirrels, local diner, losing room key, magical broom, Newspaper Rock, Oatman, oddly shapped shower, Painted Desert Visitor Center, panoramic view of the landscape, Patti, Petrified Forest National Park, petrified trees, picture of a cat, Rainbow Forest Museum, restrooms, Roomba, Roswell New Mexico, Route 66, sidekick photo friend, small towns, staying in a historic place, tepee hotel, thoughts, travelers, vacation breakfast, visitor center