Tag: toys

• Christmas, Cats, and a New Cat Tree – Thoughts from December 25, 2024

  

  Just as Christmas Eve was mainly about our niece and nephew’s new baby, Christmas Day was about Scout and her three kittens. Actually, it’s about Scout and her only slightly younger than her adult cats. Until next July, Scout is four and Beatrix, Luna, and Willow are three. Beatrix is about the same size as…

  Brian Kirwan

  November 25, 2025

  Uncategorized

  2024, Beatrix, big cats, Blaze, boxes, building cat tree, can’t handle their own weight, cat dad, cats, cats had destroyed it, Christmas Day, covered in sweat, custom Funko Pop!, disassembly, followed instructions step by step, four cats in one house, Funko, Funko characters, House of Cat, Luna, new cat tree, old cat tree, other pets, Patti, piles of stuff, pink cat tree, pink house, presents, Quest, regulate cats food, Scout, Scout’s boys, season for cat trees, Slash, sturdiness, supervising cats, thoughts, time to get used to, toys, Willow, wish list, wrapping paper

• 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

• 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

• Anxious Nerd – Thoughts from August 28 to September 8, 2022

  

  August 28, 2022 I think I used to be more of a nerd, but now I’m just a recovering nerd. Reading back on my Thoughts papers tells me how much of a nerd I was. I talked about working on computers and other nerdy technical issues I was dealing with. Today, my nerdiest issues are…

  Brian Kirwan

  December 26, 2023

  Uncategorized

  2022, A-hole behavior, A-holes, adult children, anxiety, anxiety medication, anxious adult, anxious child, autism, cartoons, childhood, computers, earliest memory, fantasy, few friends, first grade, grade school, hobby nerd, humorous, I care about other people, I thought I failed kindergarten, internet, issues, junior first, making friends, mortgage and taxes, nerd, nerdy career, nerdy skills, Other People Exist, Patti, reality police, recovering nerd, regular bills, science fiction, stories, stuffed animals, thoughts, Thoughts papers, tickets, toys, traumas

• Toys and Charlie Manson – Thoughts from August 7 to 9, 2022

  

  August 7, 2022 Today’s Thoughts paper is brought to you by sleep. I’m looking forward to getting some tonight. I’ve dropped a lot of things today. Being tired will do that to you. I’m too tired to have many thoughts. I promise to have more tomorrow. August 8, 2022 I was going to work today…

  Brian Kirwan

  December 5, 2023

  Uncategorized

  2022, action figures, anxiety, anxiety provoking, as a kid, Charles Manson, Charlie, Charlie Manson, daughter, driving down the street and back, dropping things, faded words, freeway, granddaughter, Harley Davison motorcycle, hateful words, living with mom, local Charlie, Manson died, middle-aged man, mobile home, multiple toys, no job, no one would employ him, one toy, open the box, out-of-control hair, parents took me to Toys R Us, regret, research, riding a bike, sad future, screaming obscenities, selling drugs, short motorcycle rides, sleep, stuffed animals, thoughts, Thoughts paper, tired, too tired, tough decisions, toys, Toys R Us, Toys R Us truck, urging his suicide, video games, wrong decision

• Brian Explains Toys – Thoughts from December 25, 2010

  

  Brian Explains: Toys This Christmas time, I thought I would talk about an important issue we must examine this time of year. It is an issue affecting us all when we reach a certain age. Are we children, teenagers, young adults, or the dreaded adult? We are walking around thinking fun-filled, happy toy thoughts and…

  Brian Kirwan

  July 25, 2023

  Uncategorized

  action figures, adulting, Barbie, Barbie car, Barbie house, bills, birthday, boring toys, boys, build furniture, changing, child, childhood, children, Christmas, computer, crabby, crabby teenagers, cranky adults, create badly, create fashions, creative, creative adult, creative child, creativity, dollhouses, Ewok vehicle, Ewok village, forgotten memory, games, girls, grow up, junior high, Ken, kids, last toys birthday, Lego, parents, soap opera, Star Wars, teenagers, thoughts, toy, toy boxes, toy store, toyless, toys, Toys-R-Us, wife

• Brian Explains Hoarding – Thoughts from December 10, 2010

  

  Brian Explains: Hoarding If you haven’t seen any of the shows about hoarding, you owe it to yourself to watch one. The basic premise of every show is that the person who the show is about cannot let go of things. “Things” include both physical and emotional things. It is the emotional baggage that compels…

  Brian Kirwan

  July 18, 2023

  Uncategorized

  2010, Atari 2600, avoid hoarding, childhood memories, clear a path, clearing a path, coffee cans, collecting, dad, eBay, emotional baggage, emotional objects, feel better about yourself, floppy disks, get help, Gremlins cereal boxes, hoard, hoarders, hoarding, make room, memories, Men in Black, OCD, parents, Patti, physical objects, reminiscing, take a picture, thoughts, throw object out, tip, toys, wife

• Brian Explains Boredom and Change – Thoughts from October 15 and 22

  

  October 15, 2010 Brian Explains: Boredom Some people have a hard time being alone. I am not one of those people. I can be alone for hours and I always find something to do. The hardest part for me is deciding what to do. I guess this makes this an anti-explanation of boredom, but I…

  Brian Kirwan

  June 29, 2023

  Uncategorized

  2010, alone, Barbie, Barbies, bicycling, bored, boredom, boring, Brian Explains Life, change, change in your life, computer, creative, creativity, drawing, embrace change, health, hoarders, hobbies, hobby, imaginary, juggling, kids are stupid, Lego building, lonely people, moviemaking, music, Nebraska, painting, productive, programming, routine, same every day, sculpting, skateboarding, swimming, thoughts, toys, writing

• August 29, 1997 – Thoughts from Life 4

  

  I’d have the world in the palm of my hand right now if it weren’t so wet. I don’t like wet hands. I never did. Many people have strange neurotic conditions and quirks. I don’t know why anyone would ever consider themselves normal or would want to be normal if it existed. My quirks made…

  Brian Kirwan

  November 15, 2022

  Uncategorized

  1997, Barbie, bargain shopper, Dan Quail, Disney, Drew Carey, flowers, food, gossip, hobbies, hobby, jobs, juggling, Lego, low self-esteem, lying, Mickey, mistake, music, nutrition, opinion, pinning flowers, playing house, pool, questioning, questions, ride share, scuba, swimming, toys, wedding, work, writing

• August 25, 1997 – Thoughts from Life 3

  

  Traveling down the road of life, I see a computer sitting on the side of the road. It’s shiny, new, and smells of megabytes. I pick it up and press one key. On the screen appears a single word. I stare at the word a moment and keep walking, leaving the computer on the side…

  Brian Kirwan

  November 10, 2022

  Uncategorized

  1970, 1997, 6th grade, birthday, bully, clown college, complaining, composition, computer, computer screen, CSUSB, English, Ewok, family, high school, humor, lazy, make-out, marriage equality, Milli Vanilli, Mr. Rogers, parties, playing music, schoolyard, Star Wars, teachers, teased, thoughts, time, toys, wife