Tag: Disneyland

• Archie’s Tail, Secure Spices, and LitRPG – Thoughts from March 13, 2026

  

  Yesterday, Patti and I were celebrating my 20 years of working at Disneyland. Today is my 21st anniversary from my hire date. Yesterday, Patti was hanging out with her favorite cat characters. Today, I am hanging out with one of my favorite actual cats, Archie. He was hanging out on our porch, and I was…

  Brian Kirwan

  October 27, 2026

  Uncategorized

  2026, Archie, audiobooks, books, cats, character statistics, clamps, comforting self with a stuffed animal, Disneyland, Dungeons and Dragons, fantasy story, humorous stories, Lamb Chop, lazy Susan, like it was made to be there, LitRPG, LitRPG books, logic my way through problems, long audiobooks, memoirs, outside cat, Patti, playing RPG game on a computer, role-playing game, screwing at an angle, skinnier than we would like, spice rack, stepping on cat’s tail, stuffed cat toy, there’s enough drama in the world, thoughts

• Joy Explosions and My Unreal Job – March 12, 2026 – Part 2

  

  As promised in Part 1 of this article, I left out the most important part of my 20-year celebration at Disney. As always, Patti is the most important part of any story. We were enjoying our time at California Adventure with all my 10+ year celebrators. One of Patti’s favorite rides was the Tower of…

  Brian Kirwan

  October 20, 2026

  Uncategorized

  20-year celebration, 2026, baseball jersey, being fired, Berlioz, California Adventure, cast members, changing work locations, Disney, Disneyland, Duchess, excitement on Patti’s face, favorite Disney character, fondness for cats, food and drinks, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guardians of the Galaxy ride, Hollywood Land, internationally famous, It beats working a real job, kittens, Ladies do not start fights, but they finish them!, Marie, Marie from The Aristocats, newspaper, over eating, pandemic, Part 2, Patti, Patti’s obsession, pictures, regretting things, retiring, super fan, The Aristocats, the happiest place on Earth, thoughts, Toulouse, Tower of Terror, working at one company

• 20 Years of Happiness – Thoughts from March 12, 2026 – Part 1

  

  My start date at Disneyland was March 13, 2005, even though I started working on November 13, 2004. It took me six months to get full time. I was 34 years old when I started working at Disney. Today is one day before my 21-year celebration, but I’m celebrating my 20-year anniversary with Disney. The…

  Brian Kirwan

  October 13, 2026

  Uncategorized

  20-year anniversary, 2004, 2005, 2026, anniversary celebration, anticipation, avoiding menthol cough drops, basket full of kittens, beer, beer drinkers are weird, best drinks and food, dietary restrictions, Disney, Disneyland, Disneyland Park, favorite fur person, I feel old, introducing Patti, light up ice cubes, magical night, Mickey Mouse, musicians, pandemic, Patti, Radiator Springs Racers, riding alone was over, self-control, singer, thoughts, unlimited drinks, unlimited food, Walt Disney

• Birthdays at Home – Thoughts from July 1 and 6, 2024

  

  July 1, 2024 July is here, and the hot summer bugs are singing their songs. To me, the songs mostly sound like Happy Birthday because tomorrow is my birthday! I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about what it’s like to have a summer birthday, so here I go. If you have a summer birthday,…

  Brian Kirwan

  May 27, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, 54 years old, alcoholic drinks, annoying birthday aftermath, Beatrix, being held back a year, Ben and Jerry’s dairy free ice cream, Blue Milk, cats hanging out with me, celebrate on my birthday, chili dog from Wienerschnitzel, chocolate chip cookie dough, choice of beverages, dairy, dairy-free ice cream, Disneyland, eating as you drink alcohol, eating in a restaurant, fireworks, food is better at home, Fourth of July, girl cats, Happy Birthday, hearing problems, holiday near your birthday, home body, hot summer bugs, lactose intolerance, leftovers, Luna, no school birthdays, Patti, sample cocktails, Scout, senior citizen, singing bugs, sliver of bed space, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge, staying at home, summer birthdays, sushi on my birthday, the cats, thoughts, Willow

• Ignoring Facts, Wearing Glasses, and Movie Cliches – Thoughts from September 9 to 16, 2023

  

  September 9, 2023 I figured out what my greatest skill is. I can listen to someone spewing facts at me and ignore them all. Facts don’t stay in my brain, so I ignore most of them. When I hear the other person express an opinion based on the facts, that’s when I listen. People who…

  Brian Kirwan

  August 27, 2024

  Uncategorized

  2023, absurdly humorous cameos, acknowledging people, birthday, cliche villain, cliches in movies, Competition ruins everything, cotton candy, Disneyland, exaggerations, glasses, hard contacts, I wait for people, ignoring facts, kindness, Marie from The Aristocats, nerd, Nightmare Before Christmas, opinions based on facts, other possibilities, overeating, overly polite, Patti, pink eye, politeness, popcorn holder, questionable facts, questionable opinions, responsible kid, Roku, rude as a group, soft contacts, spewing facts, thoughts, understanding possibilities, unworthy of my niceness, Velma on Scooby-Doo, walking through crowds, wearing glasses, Weird Al Yankovic movie, where facts come from, You’re not my husband

• Ubernerds and Time Math – Thoughts from July 26 and 30, 2023

  

  July 26, 2023 I tried to type QWERTY on my swipe keyboard and it typed “Way”. I guess people don’t type QWERTY much. This Thoughts paper is being interrupted to bring you a special news bulletin. Patti just told me Sinead O’Connor just died. She was only 56. 53-year-old me thinks that’s way too young…

  Brian Kirwan

  July 18, 2024

  Uncategorized

  2023, 401k, being a nerd, being a rock star, collecting facts, communicating, Competition ruins everything, confusion, considering feelings, died at 56, Disneyland, emotionless people, emotions, Excel worksheet, facts, facts are boring, focus, heed my own words, interpreting facts, learn from my failure, lifetime pass, my retirement, nerd-friendly, never became a rock star, never consider myself retired, new employee, Patti, QWERTY, retirement, screwed up youth, showing off nerdiness, Sinead O’Connor, social security, swipe keyboard, ten based, thoughts, Thoughts paper, time math, too young to die, ubernerd, vacation hours, virtual coins, wasting time, Wordscapes tournament, working for a living, writing

• Sexist Old Men and Unpleasant Pets – Thoughts from April 30 and May 06, 2023

  

  April 30, 2023 Last day of the month, here we are. I want to start this Thoughts paper with a thought from yesterday. I was in a van of older gentlemen and they started talking about comedians. One of them said he doesn’t like female comedians that speak vulgarly. As part of that, he mentioned…

  Brian Kirwan

  May 16, 2024

  Uncategorized

  1970s, 2022, 2023, Amy Schumer, animals, attitudes about women, Bill Cosby, blogging, cats, childhood, comedians, diary entry dribble, Disneyland, dogs, educate yourself, farms, female comedians, female lead, female led comedies, fish, Fritz, fury raging inside me, good behavior, growing up on a farm, hamsters, humor, listening to women, male comedians, male executives, male-centric forms of entertainment, memoirs, minds in the past, old man lead, older gentlemen, period humor, periods, pets, pure breed, questioning things, roosters, sexist men, sports, stored-up thoughts, thoughts, Thoughts paper, ugly, unwritten, vulgar comedians, vulgarity, women are better than men, writing

• Out on a Live Stage – Thoughts from August 10 and 14, 2022

  

  August 10, 2022 I’m almost glad that the nervousness of performing live was too much for me. If I could do it easily, I would not be as happy and healthy as I am. I don’t like watching live performances so I don’t know why I thought I would ever want to perform live. Whether…

  Brian Kirwan

  December 7, 2023

  Uncategorized

  2004, 2022, accepting you are gay, acting, admitting you are gay, anti-gay stance, applying, being honest with yourself, believe in yourself, believing in religion, concert, daily workings, dementia, Disneyland, drunk A-holes, exclusion, family reaction, fast forward, fear, gay, happy, healthy, illogical, ingoring your surroundings, live events, live performances, live shows, living a lie, misconceptions, my body is just a meat sack, nervousness, not pleasurable, performing live, rejected, religion, short thought, singing, South Park, supernatural being, telling jokes, thoughts, Thoughts from Life blog, Thoughts papers, tour of nowhere, understandable but sad, valuing religion over people, voice performance, volume, work, writing

• Waiting for Disney – Thoughts from January 6 and March 23, 2010

  

  Future note: The following entry was from an “incident” that happened in November 2009. It was nighttime. A plumber was walking backstage, and I was driving to pick up some people. When I got close to him, I could see him slowing down and looking at me. As I passed him, he screamed, “Five miles…

  Brian Kirwan

  June 15, 2023

  Uncategorized

  2009, 2010, a talker, anger management, appeal, awaiting his fate, bruise, Disney, Disneyland, driving, fired, first incident, headlights, incident, incident report, judge, lawyer, leads, let go, meeting, other employee, Patti, plumber, punch, stenographer, suit, thoughts, waiting, Waiting for Disney, yelling

• Drunk and Missing the Cat Sister – Thoughts from May 16, 2008

  

  Know that I’m drunk right now, so what I say is from the mind of a drunken person. Have I mentioned that I’m drunk right now? I’m working at Disney these days. I’m a lead. On Friday and Saturday, I’m the lead most of the time. We have several people who started with me as…

  Brian Kirwan

  June 8, 2023

  Uncategorized

  2008, 2009, 21 year old cat, animation, cat, cats, computer, crying, Disneyland, drunk, end her suffering, Goodbye to My Soul, hesitation, kittens, lead, music, my songs, NAS, nerd, Nerd Mouse, pain, Patti, reminders of missed, sick, Sister, suffering, thoughts, throw up, thyroid problem, Truck, vet