Category: Uncategorized

• Not Talking, Testing Beds, and Collecting Figures – Thoughts from June 3, 2025

  

  The day after my surgery, I thought it would be a good idea to look at beds. I did some research on beds online, but I wanted to feel them in person. Our old mattress was getting painful to sleep on. It was only slightly better than sleeping on the floor. All the mattresses I…

  Brian Kirwan

  February 3, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2012, 2025, action figures, anime, anime series, back to work, bed shopping, California King mattress, collecting, early shy years, fellow shy people, firm beds, firm mattress, Funko, lifting a piano, mattress delivery, mattress manufacturers, mattress store, mattresses, Memorial Day, Memorial Day sale, My Hero Academia, not talking, Patti, piano in the house, plush beds, plush mattress, salesperson, sleeping on my side, Southern California, stopping myself from talking, surgery, testing mattresses, thoughts, throat surgery, using my phone to talk, wanting to say more

• Post Surgery and an Organized Tool Shed – Thoughts from June 1, 2025 – Part 2

  

  June 1, 2025 – Part 2 As I told you last week, I had my first surgery on May 22. We pick up the story after the surgery and my post-surgery days. For at least the next few days, I would be in Patti’s hands and the cats’ comforting paws. Patti had to drive me…

  Brian Kirwan

  January 27, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2003, 2025, bolts, cats, clean up tool shed, container with little drawers, couldn’t talk, creature poops, didn’t sound normal, distracted driver, electronic tools, first surgery, heavy trashcan, knowing where things are, lawn table, mask for the dust, nuts, only think about pictures when its too late, organized shed, organized tools, organizing, Patti, plumbing tools, post surgery, read words I type out loud, rusty tools, screws, storage containers, sweeping, thoughts, time off, toolboxes, tools, washers, Word document

• My First Surgery – Thoughts from June 1, 2025 – Part 1

  

  I used to have times when I struggled to find subjects for my Thoughts papers. Recently, I’ve had to make lists of subjects to write about, so I don’t forget things. When I started writing these back in 1991, I had less happening in my life. Who would guess I had more going on in…

  Brian Kirwan

  January 20, 2026

  Uncategorized

  1991, 2025, anesthesia, anesthesia technician, cat claw marks, cat scratches, cats, clown miming skills, do not talk, dressing gown, ellipsis, giant beret, inability to speak, leave wedding ring at home, medication, my first surgery, naked behind a curtain, nurse asking questions, opened in the back, parents had any surgeries, Part 1, Patti, polyp removed from my vocal cord, reliving younger days, show of my life, stint into my vein, surgery cap, surgery veterans, thoughts, Thoughts papers, tying a dressing gown, undressed and hearing people, welcome distraction, Willow, writing

• Choking Cats, Surgery Prep, and Heart Bushes – Thoughts from May 18, 2025

  

  It has been so long since I wrote my thoughts, I had to make a list of things I haven’t written about. First on the list is finishing painting the house. Let me say that again for those in the back. We finished painting the house! The last thing we did was put up new…

  Brian Kirwan

  January 13, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2025, 3-D curved heart, 3-D modeling, 3-D sculture, angle cuts, asthma, cat mouth adapter, cats, choking, finishing painting the house, first surgery, general anesthetic, heart-shaped bush, inhalers, lawn work, learning experience, liquid medications, minor surgery, Patti, protractor, remodel, scared of surgery, squirting medication in cat’s mouth, table saw, ten-foot trim boards, thoughts, throat problems, throat surgery, to the vet, trimming bushes, Willow, Zoom appointment

• One’s Self, Avoiding Pecans, and Painting Mishaps – Thoughts from March 27, 2025

  

  March 27, 2025 Here we are again. I’m at the Honda dealer, waiting to get my car serviced. It sounds like I’m waiting for my car outside a brothel, but you need to get your mind out of the gutter. Why you, the future reader of these words, would plant that in my mind, I…

  Brian Kirwan

  January 6, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2025, allergy list, allergy to pecans, angled beams on a carport, artist’s steady hand, avoiding using tape on the trim, English, English Composition degree, future problem, grammatical rules, Honda dealer, if ignorance is bliss I’d rather me miserable, ladder height, mixed nuts, not normal on the inside, nut mix, oil-based paint, older house, one’s self, painter’s tape, painting the house, painting trim, painting with a file folder on trim, Patti, peanuts, primer, rain, singular and plural pronouns, singular pronoun one, snacks, soreness in my throat, tape removed paint, they his or her, they is plural, thoughts, two-person job, uncomfortable on ladders

• First Surgery, Allergy Apps, and Drinking the Costco Lemonade – Thoughts from March 23, 2025

  

  There’s so much I haven’t talked about in these Thoughts papers; I don’t know where to begin. The biggest thing going on in my life is being scheduled for my first surgery. On May 22, I will have that first surgery. I am augmenting my nose to be even larger. Actually, I’m getting the polyp…

  Brian Kirwan

  December 30, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2025, additives, allergy app, allergy list, allergy restrictions, Costco, Costco membership, eggs, first surgery, granola bars, grocery list, grocery store, interaction with employees, milk, monthly cost, Patti, pecans, polyp on my vocal cord, problem foods, produce, reactivity, Sam's Club, scan and go app, self-check machines, snack foods, study the ingredients, thoughts, Thoughts papers, throat doctor, wheat

• Sleeping In, Addictions, and Being a Control Freak – Thoughts from February 24, 2025

  

  The best way to start this Thoughts paper is just to start it. I have many things I want to talk about, but don’t know where to begin. The ongoing saga of working on the house continues. I have a few pieces of trim to fix, but we’re down to just finishing the painting. The…

  Brian Kirwan

  December 23, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, addiction, alcoholics, Alcoholics Anonymous, belief in a higher power, Christian based organization, cigarette pack, completist, craving sugar, dad smoked, denial, drinking too much, fixing the trim, flood of emotions, holding them to get through cravings, I’m an atheist, illicit drugs, meetings held in churches, mental health, mentionaing God, mini vacation, Narcotics Anonymous, nerds, non-religious, non-religious programs for addiction recovery, not in control, painting, Patti, proof of denial, pure sugar, sleeping late, smoking, social drinker, substance take control, sugar addiction, thinking clearly, thoughts, Thoughts paper, too much of a control freak, under the influence of a substance, weight goes up, working on the house

• Mini-Vacations, V Day, and New Obsessions – Thoughts from February 16, 2025

  

  Patti and I are back from our mini-vacation and we’re still working on the house. We’re down to painting and fixing some of the trim. It’s going to feel weird when we finish everything. The first day I don’t have to set the alarm to get up on my days off is going to be…

  Brian Kirwan

  December 16, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2025, anime action figure, baseball cap, Benihana, cabinets, carpet, cats, concierge level, giant bowl of a drink, giant trash bag filled with stuffed animals, Grand Californian, jam-packed with people, kitchen, leaking water heater, lounge, mini vacation, My Hero Academia, my obsession with the show, Patti, Pixar Place Hotel, rain, rain kept people away, rainy day, renovated, seats by the bar, set the alarm to get up, shopping for Disney stuff, stuff we got on vacation, thoughts, tiling, Valentine's Day, waiting in line, working on the house, yard work

• New Years, Old Jobs, and The Wedding Song – Thoughts from December 29, 2024 to January 26, 2025

  

  December 29, 2024 The year is ending in two days. There are several things I’m looking forward to in 2025. My last loan payment will be at the end of February. In March, I’ll have been at Disney for 20 years. That will mean my vacation and sick time earned will go up. When I…

  Brian Kirwan

  December 9, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, 2025, all we need is time, allergies, allergy to wheat, artificial intelligence, artificial singers, backup singers, being busy, building the shed, cats, consequences, creating a harmony, Disney for 20 years, disposing old shed, electric guitar, extended deadline, fixing the house, food allergies, four cats, future note, general scratchy feeling in my throat, giant chocolate chip cookie, June 14 1997, lifetime pass to Disneyland, looking forward, lyrics, married, meatball sandwiches, mobile home, my AI voice could sing, no downtime, no more wheat, Patti, reality, recorded main voice, retirement, retiring, singing, strangers around the house, The Wedding Song, thoughts, Thoughts paper, throat problems, tired, wedding march, working on song

• Out with the Old Shed, In with the New – Thoughts from December 27, 2024

  

  This entry was not actually written on the 27th, but let’s pretend that it was. Patti and I had been working on the outside of the house and now it was time to put in the new shed in the backyard. Step one of putting in the new shed was deconstructing the old shed. Some…

  Brian Kirwan

  December 2, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, backyard, base for the shed, baseboards, blowing down in the wind, brought out the leveler, chainsaw, deconstructing, falling apart, fighting wind, flat in all directions, flimsy material, flimsy plastic panels, floppy wall panels, large and solid, let’s pretend, little wooden house, new shed, not flat, old shed, Patti, pieces of the shed, pile of wood, proper floor, proper shed, roots of a tree, screw the flooring to the base, sweat, thoughts, trash days, various sizes of poop, windiness, wood base, working on house