Things I Love: Being Nominated for a Liebster
Posted on May 9, 2013
by donkowalewski
1 Comment
So, I guess I’m pretty popular in “mommy blog” circles. Check that, I’m popular with one particular “mommy blog” and it’s because it’s written by my sister. In her first couple months of blogging, she’s putting me to shame. But, as her older brother, the very fact she’s doing something means I need to jump off my couch and try and one-up her. Well, not really anymore …that’s something I might’ve done when I was younger. Now, I’m just proud of her and it’s cool to see her doing awesome stuff, like blogging and running and the only “older brother” baggage I still have is that I have to tell myself she’s doing both of those things, in part, because of me. Hey … I have a big ego and I’ll invent ways to stroke it, if needed.
My sister, the blogger at MomRunsHalf (which I guess means she’s blogging about running at half-speed or something) nominated me for a Liebster and I’m hoping Tina Fey and Amy Peohler will be the hosts at this year’s Liebster Awards Show …oh, that’ll be a fab’ time. A Liebster, as my sis tells me, is a pass–along recognition for smaller blogs (under 200 followers) who deserve notice. Hey, I’ll take any recognition I can get and I’ll be framing my Liebster. To quote my sister, “The rules are simple. I’ve answered 11 questions from my nominator, posted 11 random facts about me, and give 11 new questions for my nominees. These are bloggers I read regularly so I’m happy to give a much–deserved shout out!”
Here’s my sisters 11 questions for me, then 11 facts about me, then 11 answers to the questions she was asked, and then, ahem, 11 questions for my nominees (but I don’t have any nominees).
11 QUESTIONS FROM MomRunsHalf:
- Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate.
- What is your favorite blog to read? Write Now Coach by Rochelle Melander
- What is your favorite season, winter, spring, summer, or fall and why? Winter. I dig it. I love how massive amounts of snow and debilitating coldness reminds you Mother Nature is totally in charge.
- What is your favorite blog post that you wrote? Geesh. 6 years into this, it’s tough. But I wrote one about my Mom and how losing her too soon reminds me what savoring life is all about.
- What is your favorite color and why? Green. Because it’s soothing and it’s Michigan State, and it reminds me of the perfect lawn I’m constantly trying to cultivate.
- How did you pick your blog name? For four years, my blog was “Don’s Ego” and “DonniEgo” because when I started blogging, I thought blogging was nothing more than someone showing off because of their over-inflated sense of self. And it is …in a way …but people love blogs and I love writing, and I love reading other blogs, and I’m just one of millions who blog. Now, I call my blog Kaleidoscopic Raygun because my blog isn’t very focused and is all random and all over the place but sometimes …bam …it focuses in like a laser.
- What is your favorite drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic)? Coffee made with my Aeropress.
- How long have you been blogging? 6 years.
- Which do you like better Twitter or Facebook, why? I like them in different ways. Twitter is much more random and nobody cares, and it’s an incredible news source and the only thing that would make it better would be if all my family, friends, and co-workers were Tweeting. But, most people are on Facebook and it’s like a continuous family and high-school reunion and people on Facebook are like other people on Facebook and we love sharing and seeing what each other are up to. So …Twitter would be better if everyone I knew also Tweeted, but since they don’t, I’ll go with Facebook.
- Why did you start blogging? I read an article in Fast Company about blogging, and I kept journals for years and years, and I thought, hey, I’m gonna blog. Just like I tried Facebook, and MySpace, and Friendster …if it’s new and someone says it’s cool …I’ll try it. Blogging …I’ve managed to keep it up and I help other people blog.
- Favorite meal? For my entire life, it was a 2-cheeseburger meal-deal from McDonald’s. But now …if I had one last meal on death row, I’d go with a Red Coat Tavern burger and plate of fries and an icy cold Coke.
11 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME
- Despite being short, basketball is my favorite sport and I’m pretty good at it.
- My life would be great if I woke up with a fresh $20 bill under my pillow and nobody knew about it and I could spend it on stupid stuff every day (coffee, a cookie, a book, songs on iTunes, etc). Seriously, I could soooo easily spend $20 randomly every day.
- I stress out about my receding hairline (which isn’t actually receding).
- I love cheesy pop-music.
- I like to dance, and I think I’m pretty good at it, and I learned lots of dance moves from my sister, and took dance classes in my late teens. Because, well, I wish I could dance and sing and be on Broadway.
- Mowing my lawn isn’t a chore for me …it’s therapeutic.
- I greatly regret resisting my parents efforts to make me learn the piano.
- I hate Nikes.
- I watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report every day.
- I share the same birthday as my Dad, my brother-in-law, two of my neighbors, and I think one or two other people. Nobody I know knows as many people with their same birth date.
- I wish I had lived in Manhattan at some point in my life, just so I could experience it.
11 QUESTIONS FROM DANA’S NOMINATOR WHICH I ACCIDENTALLY ANSWERED BEFORE I REALIZED SHE HAD HER OWN QUESTIONS:
- If you could be best friends with anyone, current or historical, who would it be? Steve Martin …I’d just like to see how he creates and manages to always be re-inventing and having fun.
- Coffee snob or tea–litist? Coffee. Period. I’m overly passionate about it …I don’t even own a drip percolator brewer and I don’t have a French Press …I use a vacuum siphon brewer called an Aeropress. I’ve paid over $5 for a single cup of Columbian at a local coffee shop that’s made using a pour-through technique and water kept at 201-degrees. I could talk for hours about coffee. Just sayin’
- Favorite workout? I used to love to run …3, 4, or 6+ miles was great and I loved the solitude. Nobody can call you when you’re running. Nobody can interrupt your thoughts. But a lung condition has limited how much I can run (like, not at all) so I’m looking forward to summertime and long, slow laps in the pool. I won’t be swimming like I used to when training for Triathlons, but seriously …there isn’t a better work-out than swimming and I’m going to be very disciplined this summer about it.
- Favorite recipe? My own, perfect salsa, known as Donnie Jalapeño Salsa. Seriously …it’s the best salsa you’ll ever have. I make it only with fresh ingredients and I don’t even make it in the winter time when I can’t get fresh supplies from Michigan and the midwest. So, I guess I’m a salsa snob, too.
- Coolest place you’ve every been. (Can be as extravagant as a tour of Europe or simple as the best hole–in–the–wall café ever). Maybe it’s because I just got back, but I’ve been three times in my life and it’s gotta be Maui.
- Why did you start blogging? Because I read an article in Fast Company about blogging and I just wanted to know what it was, so I started doing it just as journaling and for fun and it took off from there.
- One thing that automatically makes you smile. Steve Martin. I know I’m supposed to say my wife and kids, and they do make me smile and happier than anything in life, but …hey …it’s kids and it’s marriage …it ain’t all smiles and sunshine. But Steve Martin …we’ve never fought and he’s never told me to watch what I eat or ignored something I’ve said to him. Also on the list of things that make me smile? Great coffee. Showtunes. High school and college memories and all the inside jokes.
- Tell us one of your dreams or goals, why, and what you’re doing to pursue it. Write a screenplay. I truly have the most awesome idea for a story and I know Pixar would buy, or possibly Judd Apatow …it would be epic if done as “live action” but easier to pull of as a Pixar/animated movie. Crap. I really need to get that done.
- Which do you dislike most: emailing, texting or talking on the phone. I don’t know why …but talking on the phone. When did that happen? As a child of the 70s and 80s, the phone was it, man. I’d talk for hours on it if I could. And my Dad would talk with my Uncle and his Dad, forever. And when I was in college and after college, I could talk to my Mom for hours. I loved it. Now …I like texting and emailing better. Why? I need to really look into that.
- Would you describe yourself as a thinking, communicator or doer and why? Nobody else would call me this, but I’m a “thinker” …but you can’t see that I’m thinking about stuff before I ever staring “doing” or “talking about it.” I think alot …and lay awake at night “thinking” and if you gave me a week to myself, I would just think about stuff the whole time.
- Finish the sentence: If I could do anything with my life from this point forward, I would… Write a book about sales. Write a screenplay (I mentioned that above). Write for The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. Basically …write, write, write. Maybe I should look into that.
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Don Kowalewski 
I love running for those same reasons, but i would imagine swimming is like that too, no one can bother you. Get writing that screenplay!