Brogan's Blog

  I have been providing Central Iowa online information a long time! Back in 2004 I started my first local website Digital Des Moines which provided local stuff to do. Back in 2004, the internet was fairly new still and I just found it fun to post local happenings and then join in the fun. And here I am 17 years later still providing a list of things to do on my website. I guess it’s not too boring. Lol. Over the the years I have worked on different sites. Here are the sites I’ve created over the years: Digital Des Moines  – digitaldsm.com (My first website which I thought was cool. Included things to do and places to eat. Sounds familiar!) Thoughts of Thomas  (Brogan’s Blog) –  thomasthoughts.blogspot.com  (Was my first blog of just thoughts. I then wrote a book based on it.  You can buy on Amazon!   Still actually up. Hey it was free!) Gluten Free Des Moines  – glutenfreedsm.com (This was a short stint to help provide Gluten Free options around ...

  For whatever reason Dystopian Young Adult books have taken the world by storm as of late. Personally, I’m a huge fan of this genre and have read and highly recommend all the books on this list. If you aren’t familiar with Dystopia, it’s an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one. Of course many of these books have been made into movies. While some of the movies have been good, the book is always 50 times better! So if you are looking for some good books to read grab one of these trilogies and read away! Hunger Games Trilogy (The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay), Suzanne Collins  – In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in a...

Parenting can be exhausting!  Anybody else out there agree?  The Lack of sleep, no privacy, constant questions, the never ending cleaning and all the other stuff that comes with being a parent sometimes catches up with you.  At that point the will to continue on another 2-3 hours before the kids finally go to sleep becomes a strong mental challenge.  Sometimes when I get to this point in my day it reminds of the movie, The Matrix.  If you’ve seen The Matrix this might make sense, and if you haven’t, bear with me as you read on. When you hit the point of going crazy as a parent, you have 2 options.  You can take the blue pill or the red pill (this is just a metaphor; I’m not saying to get drugged up – had to clarify that). “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how d...

In August of 1974 Adventureland opened it’s doors to guests to explore some fun rides in Central Iowa. Granted I wasn’t born yet, but in the 1980’s Adventureland was my place for Summer fun. I remember my parents worked for Pioneer at the time and we would always get free tickets each year to go out and have some fun. I have to say as a kid my favorites included the Bumper Cars, Red Barons (fun airplane ride), the Sky Ride and the Log Ride. Do you remember some of these former rides that were at the Park? I remember my mom never cursed at all. But when we got on the Super Screamer I heard some very interesting stuff come out of her mouth. It was hilarious! The Silly Silo I was always too afraid to try. I admit it. Wasn’t interested at all! The Log Ride was a must ride. I remember sitting in the very front trying to duck down and not get wet! The Der Flitzer was the very first roller coaster I rode on. Yes it was small, but it was so much fun!! Super Screamer Silly Silo Log Ride Der Fli...

  I wonder what percentage of sales at Starbucks comes from parents.  I would think that it would have to be a pretty high number.  Starbucks is basically parent fuel that keeps moms and dads across the country functioning just long enough to get their kids in bed and then pass out.  Right?  Can you relate?  To be honest I didn’t even drink coffee until I had kids.  But after a few weeks of being a parent and experiencing no sleep at night, an Ice Coffee became one of my best friends.  Unfamiliar words like Grande and Venti became everyday words that brought some hope to a tired day.  But with all the goodness that Starbucks brings to my day, I can’t help but think of some fundamental improvements that could be made to help accommodate weary parents.  If I ran Starbucks, here is what I would change from a parent’s perspective: A “Kids on Board” drive-thru lane  -  It can be so frustrating to whip around the corner towards my lo...

The definition of the word   BRAVE   :  ready to face and endure danger or pain; showing courage.  Do you have to be brave to be a parent in today’s world? YES.  It seems like as a parent there are so many decisions we make that require us to show courage.  So my message to all my fellow parents out there is to be  BRAVE .  Just think about some of the choices we have to make on behalf of another little human being.  2 big ones that come to mind our health and education choices. 1.  Health  – We must decide what is best for our child.  When to take them to the doctor, what medicines to take and all the other things that go along with the medical world.  Sometimes it takes courage to forget tradition and try new things such as essential oils and natural medicines.  But we have to make those choices.  And remember you may get a million pieces of advice but you know your child better than anybody else. 2.  Educ...

  I was thinking the other day how much parenthood changes a person’s lifestyle.  For me there are many ways, but I was able to condense it into a top 10 of sorts.  Here are 10 characteristics that describe my life as a parent with young children that I think you may just relate to: You know all they lyrics to “Let it Go” from the Frozen Movie. Your Netflix recommendations include Handy Manny, Strawberry Shortcake and Barney. The idea of a Friday night shopping at Target (without the kids) sounds like fun. You know exactly which restaurants across town have Mac and Cheese on their kids menu. Your cell phone has more apps for kids than for you. You always have hand sanitizer with you. By the end of the day you have some sort of food or marker stain on your clothes. You drive a Minivan. Starbucks just isn’t a luxury it’s a necessity. You are reading this list.    Who else looks at parenting websites, but parents?

  Life is tough enough, but driving around town any more is stressing me out.  It seems like sometimes when you merge onto the interstate you are entering a Thunder Dome, with no rules or regulations.   Isn’t it enough that we have to deal with ice and snow covered roads for 3 months a year?  I guess it’s not, because we also have to deal with other drivers.  From what I have found there are basically 5 types of people driving the roads of Central Iowa. Here they are: 1.  The Average Joe  – These are people such as myself who obey basic traffic laws and that have a little bit of common sense. 2.  The Soccer Mom  – These are moms who are usually driving an SUV or Mini-Van around town. Their cargo….Kids, Lots of Them. They are known for showing a soccer ball emblem in their back window. You must be aware of the Soccer Mom because she is trying to operate a large vehicle with kids screaming, a DVD movie showing and while talking o...

  Walking around at Costco today got me thinking about the amount of shit we have in our lives. And if we didn’t already have enough, we are out looking to buy more! If you really take a minute and think about the amount of clutter and material items you have in your life, it’s quite ridiculous. Do I really need 25 t-shirts? Or 10 pairs of shoes? Absolutely not. But whenever I’m out shopping the temptation is there. The need to buy more. To have more. And I’m not the only one. Wrap your head around these stats about Americans and our clutter: There are 300,000 items in the average American home. While 25% of people with two-car garages don’t have room to park cars inside them and 32% only have room for one vehicle. British research found that the average 10-year-old owns 238 toys but plays with just 12 daily. 3.1% of the world’s children live in America, but they own 40% of the toys consumed globally. The average American family spends $1,700 on clothes annually. Whi...

The saying goes “Youth is wasted on the young”. But I think “Retirement is wasted on the old” rings true as well. We have this whole retirement thing backwards. Why do we work while we are young and retire when we are old? It would make more sense to me if we were able to enjoy life when we young, vibrant and full of life. Instead, in today’s society, we retire when we are past our prime. The  average age of retirement in the U.S. is 63 . So unless you are in great shape and have avoided any major health issues how much can you really enjoy retirement? So, how do we fix this problem in America? We do a big switch-a-rooney! After completing college, we give the youth their retirement. You get 5 years to travel the world, skydive, party, sit on a beach or whatever you want to do. You think money might be an issue? That’s where the government comes in. You know that social security money we are suppose to get someday. You get it now. During your 5 year retirement period you get $1200 ...