Tag: autobiography

• Mileage Milestones and the Weight of the World on Your Shoulders – Thoughts from February 21, 2026

  

  I wish the following happened on 2/23, but it didn’t. This is another entry into Brian’s mileage milestones. As usual, I saw the number coming before it arrived. Sometimes I get distracted by driving. This is not a bad thing. Paying attention to my driving is job number one, but a close second is seeing…

  Brian Kirwan

  September 8, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2026, 232323, anorexia, anorexic, autobiographies, autobiography, avoiding eating, binging and purging, Brian, bulimia, change our habits, controlling your body, cool numbers, crazed weirdo, dangerous eating habits, defenses and denial, denial, emotional eating, emotional problems, gaining weight, health at risk, healthier eating habits, hiding actions, Jane Fonda, keeping busy to deal with emotions, lack of support system, mileage milestone, My Life So Far, nutrition in your diet, only eating certain foods, Patti, problems with eating and weight, secrets, self-conscious, societal pressures, thoughts, vegan diet, wanting control, weight issues

• Autobiographies and Religion – Thoughts from February 15, 2026

  

  Before I begin this Thoughts from Life, let me tell you two things about myself. I have listened to many autobiographies because I enjoy hearing about someone’s life from their point of view. Biographies tell you about someone’s life from the outside. Autobiographies are like diary entrees and biographies are like book reports. Before I…

  Brian Kirwan

  August 18, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2026, atheism, atheist, audiobook, Augusten Burroughs, autobiographies, autobiography, beliefs, beliefs are irrelevant to your story, beliefs are temporary guesses about the world, biographies, Caitlin Moran, Carrie Fisher, comedy writers, David Sedaris, Dawn French, diary entrees, Ellen DeGeneres, getting religious at the end of your autobiography, humorous writers, Jennifer Saunders, Jenny Lawson, Kevin Hart, Kevin Smith, Mindy Kaling, Miranda Hart, people’s beliefs, predictions, religious language, religious practices, religious subjects, religious subjects in autobiography, Richard Ayoade, Sarah Silverman, spirituality, Steve Martin, supernatural happenings, talking about religion, talking about your beliefs, thoughts, Thoughts from Life, Tiffany Haddish, Tina Fey, Trevor Noah, waxing poetic

• Traveling the World, Autobiographies, and Revisionist History – Thoughts from June 26 and 30, 2024

  

  June 26, 2024 Do I regret not living in a dorm, traveling the world, or living more adventurously when I was young? The rest of this Thoughts paper will explain my answer. Why am I asking this philosophical question about my possible regrets? It began when I was listening to Rebel Wilson’s autobiography. She talked…

  Brian Kirwan

  May 20, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, audiobooks, autobiography, being a good person, being an interesting person, being rich and famous, believing in supernatural things, California, caring about other people, coincidence, college, destiny, foreign laguages, foreigner in my own land, getting philosophical and spiritual, growing up in a small city, justifying your beliefs, living in a dorm, living outside the US, love at first sight, mono hearing, multicultural, Patti, Paul Stanley, private school, public school, Rebel Wilson, regrets, religious beliefs, religious words, revisionist history, spiritual equals religious, temporary relationships, thinking independently, thoughts, Thoughts paper, traveling the world, weird shy kid, world traveling, you can’t change the past

• Mono Hearing – Thoughts from June 2, 2024

  

  I’m going to start today’s Thoughts paper with a thought about what it’s like to only hear in one ear. I noted about twenty years ago in a Thoughts paper how my hearing was declining in one ear. Over the years, I have gone from only hearing certain tones to hearing almost nothing. I was…

  Brian Kirwan

  April 8, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, anxiety, attractive people, autobiography, bad ear, Beatles songs, Brian, creating music, deaf in one ear, declining hearing, Halle Berry, headphones, hearing loss, hearing only in one ear, humor, ignoring my name, Is this the correct side?, knowing left from right, knowing where sounds are coming from, live events, live events are a nightmare, loud noises, mono hearing, mono hearing sucks crap through a straw, overloaded ear and brain, Patti, Paul Stanley, physically hurts me, pity attractive people, Rob Lowe, speaking quietly, Stephen Colbert, stereo music, stereo was my jam, the name Brian, the price of beauty, thoughts, Thoughts paper, walking on the left of people, you’re on my bad side

• Celebrating Too Much, Censors, and Living Out of Your Car – Thoughts from June 1, 2024

  

  June 1, 2024 Well, June is finally here. It’s not only the time of gloomy weather, but it’s also the time of Patti and Brian’s anniversary. June 14 is less than two weeks away. We didn’t have a vacation set for this time of year, so I decided to take an extra day off work.…

  Brian Kirwan

  April 1, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, Aldi, autobiography, before VCRs, boycotting shows, Brian, censors, chocolate lasagna, Christian fundamentalists, commercials, dessert, gaining weight, going out, June gloom, living out of the car, mini vacation, network executives, Norman Lear, Olive Garden, Patti, Patti and Brian’s Anniversary, racism, real people, religion ruins everything, retired, retirement payment, sexism, shrimp scampi, Streaming services, SUV full of stuff, thoughts, tiramisu, tuning in to watch TV, TV, VCR

• Non-Smokers, Feminist Punks, and Cassette Recorders – Thoughts from May 28, 2024

  

  Patti is still a non-smoker, but she said she found it rough recently, so she bought a week’s worth of nicotine patches. I have mixed feelings about it. You would think the time to use them would be weaning yourself off the cigarettes. She has been smoke free for weeks now. The physical effects of…

  Brian Kirwan

  March 25, 2025

  Uncategorized

  1990, 2024, audiobook, autobiography, converting audio cassette tapes to digital, creating new songs, creating songs, distinct style, editing, experimental singing, experimental songs, four-track cassette recorder, high notes, home studio, horrible father, incomplete songs, influencial, junior high, Kathleen Hanna, macho crap, my songs, nicotine patches, non-smoker, only completed in my head, Patti, physical effects of nicotine, pioneer of feminist punk, punk music, Rebel Girl, record and edit songs, recording music, singing harmonies, singing lessons, song structure, song writing, thoughts, Thoughts paper, traumas, victims, weaning off of cigarettes, writing full songs

• The Mothers, The Beatles, and The Other Bands – Thoughts from May 12 and 19, 2024

  

  May 12, 2024 As I mentioned in my non-existent seminar, it’s Mother’s Day today. Patti and I no longer have living mothers so it’s just a reminder of what’s missing in our lives. We also don’t have living fathers, but we’ll deal with that when we get to Father’s Day. I celebrated the day by…

  Brian Kirwan

  March 11, 2025

  Uncategorized

  1966, 1968, 1970, 2024, autobiography, baseball analogy, being friends with your spouse, being non-religious, Billboard charts, book, Canadian, comparing bands, comparing songs, fantasy stories, Father's Day, fathers, friends before dating, George Harrison, George Martin, getting to know someone, Hard Days Night, ignorant opinion, John, longevity, lying on date, Mike Nesmith, Mother's Day, motherhood, mothers, my fantasy stories, Patti, Paul, Preferring The Beatles, preferring The Monkees, presenting perfect version of yourself, religious myths, Ringo, skipping book chapters, song writing, The Beatles, The Beatles vs The Monkees, The Monkees, The Monkees movie Head, The Rolling Stones, thoughts

• Going Home, Laundry Day, and Cat Scratches – Thoughts from March 1 and 9, 2024

  

  March 1, 2024 I woke up about 9:00 am and all four of the cats were in bed with me. This was as good a time to get up as any. I looked at my phone and hadn’t heard from Patti. I texted her and told her I was up and to call me when…

  Brian Kirwan

  December 31, 2024

  Uncategorized

  2024, AJ and the Queen, Aldi, Audible, autobiography, Beatrix, bleeding profusely, cat scratch, cats, cats in bed, creature of habit, daylight savings day, distractions, Drage Race, games with medications, going home, good story, grocery list, grocery shopping, hospital, laundry day, listening to audiobooks, Luna, making five meals for my work week, morning routine, operation smoke no more, Patti, Patti’s friend, Patti’s Sunday rules, personal lives, picture of cat scratch, prescribed asprin, prescriptions, produce, quiting smoking, quitting day, quitting smoking, retirement, rountine, RuPaul, Sam's Club, Scout, smoke free, Sunday is laundry day, the great American smoke out, thoughts, time math, Vegas, waiting to hear from the doctor, Walmarket, Walmart Market, whatever Patti says day, Willow

• Meditation, Hypnosis, and Rock Stars – Thoughts from January 14 and 20, 2024

  

  January 14, 2024 I was listening to a meditation today. Why I was listening to it is not what I’m talking about today. Part of it was a positive affirmation to tell yourself. I’ve heard people saying these things before, but I was noticing how the affirmations have no connection to reality. Telling yourself you’re…

  Brian Kirwan

  November 19, 2024

  Uncategorized

  2024, audio examples, audiobook, autobiography, avoiding conflicts, Barbra Streisand, being hypnotized, Bono, changing your life, credit cards, diplaying toys, fame, famous people, good people, Goodwill, hiding thoughts, high interest credit cards, hypnosis, indesicive, innermost thoughts, Irish band, loan, meditation, not a normal job, organizing, paragraph, Patti, people’s thoughts, playing with writing structure, positive affirmation, premise sentence, rambling, removing stress, rock star, rock stars, songs, strangers, stress, structure, the logic behind my actions, thoughts, thoughts about other people, Thoughts paper, toys, typical rock star, U2, unaware of the world, vocal range, Wilipedia, writing

• Experiencing Things not Made for Me, Including Silence – Thoughts from December 3 and 6, 2023

  

  December 3, 2023 English is my first language. I don’t really have a second language, unless you count Nerd as a language. Sometimes, I wish I spoke another language well enough to have conversations, but not enough to put in the time to actually do it. I have delved deeply into English enough to keep…

  Brian Kirwan

  October 22, 2024

  Uncategorized

  2023, a good person, audio examples, audiobook, autobiography, Barbra Streisand, belief, bribing our kids, Christmas, Christmas myths, common ground, diverse people, English language, enjoy the fantasies, experiencing things not made for me, good at urination, good for goodness sake, history books, hypocrites, interesting conversations, interesting people, interests, kids watch what you do, libraries, lying to kids, movies, music, nerd language, people disturbed by silence, people’s stories, restroom, Santa, Santa Claus, second language, silence, silence is unnatural, silence makes me anxtious, silent library, silent restroom, silent room, songs, straight white man, telling kids about Santa, The Nightmare Before Christmas, thoughts, toilet, treating strangers badly, urinal