Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
Reblogging It
I’m not sure if this is cool or useless. I’m able to “Reblog” an old Blog post. Which is what you see linked below. Sometimes I think life is about a series of experiments. Now I’ll spend the next half-hour Google’ing and watching videos on YouTube about “why Reblog something.”
ReBlogged below is my opening statement from 2020 and my New Year’s Resolutions. It explains the “why” behind my annual quest to improve my life in big ways …and document it. The problem with Blogs is that you’ve got a public record of your failures, missteps, and lies. But, you also have evidence that you tried.
My Blog is evidence that I want big things for myself. I want perfection. I want to be better.
It reminds me it’s not silly to have hopes and dreams. At what age and at what point in life should you and I stop dreaming and planning and making goals? Read More
#ResolutionADay
I tried it in 2019, 2020, and 2021. I’m convinced #ResolutionADay can be done.
It’s a little bit the Kaizen Method, which is “small improvements every day”. And a little bit borrowed from Achieve Anything in Just One Year. It’s bodacious. It’s daring. It’s the basis of my future book. But I have to do it. I think I said in a Blog entry once that, “it’s easy” and that the resolutions can be creative and don’t always have to be a daily chore or task. Here was my big explanation from 2021.
Originating in Japan, the Kaizen Method focuses on achieving continuous improvement through small, ongoing changes. It embodies the idea that any aspect of life, personal or professional, can be steadily enhanced by making incremental, consistent steps forward
Great at Gifting or Great at Getting?
Not sure how it is in your house, but for my wife and I …gift giving is a competition. Before and after all gift-giving events (Valentine’s Day, Anniversary, our birthdays, and especially Christmas) we pre-brag and post-brag about “winning Christmas” or “winning our Anniversary.” It’s about who gives the other person the most thoughtful, most inspired, and most “wow” gift.
The problem (from the perspective of my lack of victories) is that Kathy is so much better at gift giving.
Taking a page from the incredible Matthew Dicks, I’ll start chronicling the wins and losses. And 2024 Christmas was definitely another in the loss-column for me. Read More
The Annual Christmas Card Letter, Part 5
Years ago I read David Sedaris’s Holidays On Ice and it had, what I thought was, the funniest short-story in the form of the most over-the-top (and demented) Christmas Card Letter. I thought to myself that might be fun and funny if I took the traditional family-letter that arrives with about 3 or 4 Christmas cards every year and gave it my own spin. These letters usually talk of promotions at work, accomplishments by the kids, and recaps of the year-that-was (i.e. “So-and-So is recovering nicely after shoulder surgery” or “the entire family enjoyed our trip to Alaska and seeing whales”).
Some are written third person. Some are written by the dog or cat. Some are good. Some are too long. Some too short. Some letters are melancholy or reflective. And of course, some are self-aggrandizing or narcissistic, and no matter the style, length, or detail of the letter, I loved them all. Read More
My Aeropress Recipe
I don’t have to tell you that last weekend was the Aeropress World Championship. I couldn’t make it to Australia, this year, but when it comes to the Americas, you can bet your sweet double mocha ass I’ll be there. Like most people, I love seeing and reading about the winning recipes (or techniques). Though the original recipe, and the whole point of the Aeropress, was a quick technique invented to make a smooth cuppa coffee that spent the least amount of time steeping and avoiding acidity or harshness …well, the Aeropress community was never happy leaving well enough alone. Read More
Turkeys Cannot Fly
If you work in the radio industry and you’re over age 50 (or you’re young and work with people over 50), you probably know about the classic sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati. And if you know the show, you probably know about one of their most classic episodes, “Turkeys Away.” In the episode, station manager Arthur Carlson attempts to pull off the greatest Thanksgiving promotion in radio history … dropping live turkeys from a helicopter.
Last week, a station I work for, 106.7 WLLZ here in Detroit, paid homage to this classic show and stunt. We didn’t drop living turkeys. We didn’t drop frozen turkeys. Yet, in the two weeks leading up to our Turkey Drop, the on-air promos didn’t quite get specific on the details. Why ruin fun and mystery with facts? Surely in 2023, nobody really thought WLLZ was going to drop living (or frozen) turkeys from a helicopter. Read More
Gonna Get my Podcast Life In Order
There’s too many Podcasts. I love Podcasts and I want my Podcast library to be like a 1970s “book library” that someone might’ve had in their home. That respectable 70s (or 80s) “book library” would’ve had a full Encyclopedia set, quite a few Stephen King novels, and then novels and nonfiction books that would give a visitor an immediate sense of what said book-collector was into.
Cooking? Parenting? Romance? World War 2 or Vietnam?
And while nobody can or will ever see my Podcast list, I feel the same sense of pride in that my “Library” should be a reflection of …me! Read More
Angry Old Man Discount Tire Edition
I’ll say it here. My 20-year-old daughter is cute, blonde, and tiny. I worry sometimes about how the world will treat her. So far, the world has been pretty good. But not so much yesterday. She lived through the most stereotypical chauvinistic treatment from a sales guy at Discount Tire. It was so nasty, you’d think it was in a movie and if you saw the scene play out you’d say, “oh, that’s a little much …nobody really acts like that.”
Well, they do. I’m proud to say, with a little coaching, she stood her ground, got her tire fixed, and someone else treated her nicely and fairly. The way she was treated, and lied to, by the sales guy, disgusted me. Even on my worst day as a human, I’ve never treated anyone like my daughter was treated. At least not on purpose. And if I ever did, at one point in my life, act like a giant pig …I think I would apologize if it was pointed out. Read More
iHeartRADIO App is the Best Music Streaming App
Yes, I work at iHeartMEDIA but …wait, wait, wait …I promise I’m objective when I say the iHeartRadio App is the best streaming app. I’m comparing it to Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, the Audacy App, SoundCloud, and YouTube Music.
Quickly, I’ll rank them. Then tell you why, for me, they’re ranked this way.
- iHeartRADIO
- YouTube Music
- Spotify
- Audacy
- Pandora
- Soundcloud
Here we go …the “why” behind my list and my reasons. Read More
The OTHER Male Pattern Baldness
If you’re male and you’ve reached the age of 40, half the Emails you get are from Hims or Keeps about thwarting hair loss. Each starts with a survey, asking questions like, “do you want to regrow your hair,” or, “do you want to prevent further hair loss.” Problem is, it’s all about the head.
Are they not aware of an equally troubling male-pattern baldness? It’s the dress-sock ankle-shin hair loss. It’s real. And it’s just as devastating.
As a child, my cousin S.B. and I thought the funniest thing was his dad’s, and all the uncle’s, hairless shins and ankles. Read More
Don Kowalewski 