Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
Be Creative and Fun, Not for You, But for Others
Why do I have a Blog? It’s not to monetize it or become famous. That might happen, but it’s not my “why”. My “why” is because I like to write and be creative. My audience might be ten people. Might be 8 people. Maybe a bit more or less, but mostly I write for 4 people … my wife, two daughters, and son. I wish I remembered where I read this writing advice, but the advice was to write everything as if you were writing it for one person. Keep that person in mind and make sure whatever you create and whatever you do, will make that “one person” happy and they’ll enjoy it.
Sometimes I write for my Mom (gone for almost 20 years) because she was my first editor and a voracious reader and always so proud of me. She would definitely read my Blog. Or I’ll write something to my friend Matt (gone 5 1/2 years). Read More
Use Better Words
Each year, Lake Superior State gives us a list of banished words. I’m usually in about 90% agreement. For example, at the end of 2023, they said we all need to stop using “GOAT”, “amazing”, “it is what it is” and about seven more. Spot on. But the list could be longer. Or, more to the point, we shouldn’t need a list at all because we should all work to be less boring.
If you hear people saying “lean in” and “at the end of the day” and you hear it often, it shouldn’t be your green-light to say those things, too. You should not want to sound like everyone else. If you hear a mother tell her daughter “I appreciate you” and then also hear a guy at the movie theater tell the person selling them popcorn, “I appreciate you” . . . well, the “feels” aren’t there. Read More
Podcast Efficiency (aka Podficiency TM)
Look at that… in two days, I’ve invented two words…
Lawnficiency (Noun): Mowing your lawn and doing yardwork in the most systematic and time-saving way possible
Podficiency (Noun): Listening to Podcasts and avoiding all the time-wasting pauses and slow talking
If you don’t read another word, just do this … put the App Pocket Casts on your phone and move all your Podcasting listening there and make sure you explore all the cool, time-saving features.
2024, for me, is gonna be about maximum efficiency in all areas of my life (the parts that are the must-do so I can spend more time on the wanna-do’s). Read More
Lawn Efficiency (Lawnficiency TM)
I’m obsessed with my lawn. There. I said it. Sometimes the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem but, the thing is, I don’t think it’s a problem. I call it a hobby. Or maybe a passion-project. Psychiatrists and therapists can determine whether it’s healthy or not.
The only thing that troubles me is this – is it worth my time? I read Matthew Dicks’ Someday is Today recently and loved it. Probably loved it for all the wrong reasons. My takeaway from the book was efficiency in everything because “time” is our most precious resource. I’ve been on a time-capturing kick for the past year once I realized how much social media was taking away from things I’d rather be doing like reading, writing/finishing a book, making more money at work, spending time talking to and being with my family in the moment, calling people and saying hello, or spending time with a hobby I enjoy. In this case, my lawn. Read More
Blogging About My Journaling (Sometimes a C+ Effort Produces A+ Results)
Social media and the Internet has produced, what I call, “Guru World.” Everyone’s an expert. Everyone has it figured out. Everyone is perfect, disciplined, has routines, and has 100% success rates.
No they don’t. And I certainly don’t. And that’s OK.
What is better? Running 3-miles a day, eating only lean healthy food, meditating daily, and never putting white sugar in your mouth and telling everyone you’ve lived this lifestyle since 2003? Or, taking a brisk, long walk four times a week, doing some sit-ups and push-ups and planks a couple nights a week when watching TV when you remember and feel motivated, and flossing 3 or 4 times a week? Or never doing any of the above and sitting on the couch every night watching TV? If you believe “Guru World”, it’s all or nothing. Only that 3-mile-a-day runner is doing it right. “Guru World” makes you think walking-sit-up person and do-nothing-couch-potato person are the same.
Read MoreAd Analysis: The Kia Ice Skating TV Ad
This will be unpopular, but I hate this ad. I know what Kia wanted and I know why. Kia, and their ad agency, made my wife cry. That’s what they wanted, right?
I hope you’re happy, Kia! My wife was already dreaming of a Kia (not an electric one) and this pretty much seals the deal, but for me …it makes me not want a Kia.
Why am I so angry at this commercial? Because the story it tells is not the least bit anchored to any common experience, realistic event, or feasible scenario. Not that commercials can’t touch the heart. Lord knows the cry-inducing commercial genre has been around a long time. Read More
A Great Book!!!
Sometimes a book comes along that’s worthy of it’s own Blog post. And that book is Someday is Today by Matthew Dicks. Most good books I read just go in my Books I Love section with a little review. I review them for myself and these are my own notes and takeaways.
But not Someday is Today. This book deserves much better.
My main takeaway is that my entire life I’ve run from my quirks, rituals, habits, and systems (even tho I still do many in secret) but Someday is Today made me feel not so alone. I run a stopwatch on how long it takes me to shower. I know how long my Get-Ready-Quick Routine is (8 minutes from the moment I decide to shower and get dressed and leave the house) versus my Full-Ready-For-the-Day Routine (14 minutes). I can mow my front yard in 23 minutes (28 with full edging). Read More
Ryan Gossling Knows About Joy
If you didn’t watch The Oscars last night, you missed an all-time Oscar moment – Ryan Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” from Barbie (embedded below). It was joyous, and you know how I feel about bringing and spreading joy in the world from my Moth StorySLAM where I told about my harrowing hospitalization years ago (watch/listen here if you’re not familiar).
Ryan Gosling, let’s face it, has everything. Handsome. Famous. Wealthy. Funny, but also serious. Ripped abs. And last night we learned, oh, crap, this guy can also sing …and looks good in a pink sequined suit. He made the “goth girl” (Billie Eillish) laugh (look over his left shoulder as he starts singing) as well as the “head cheerleader” (Margot Robbie) …honestly, she’s a great actress, but that laugh was without a doubt a genuine couldn’t-keep-from-laughing type laugh. He had Emma Stone singing along with him. A male dancer kissed him on the cheek, he broke boards with karate chops, and he hit nearly every note while remembering complex choreography (I guess we knew he had that skill from La La Land) and looked like he was having a blast doing it. Read More
Someday I’ll Have a Time Machine
The exciting news about this photo is that someday I’ll have a time machine. But for whatever reason, I’m going to travel back in time and somehow get into my Grandma and Grandpa’s wedding party.
Question …do you say “Grandpa and Grandma” or “Grandma and Grandpa?” Is there a right way to order those words …like “salt and pepper” or “gin and tonic?” Even though Billy Joel says “tonic and gin” in “Piano Man”, but I think that’s more so it rhymed with “crowd shuffles in.” Does anyone say, “Dad and Mom?” No. Nobody says that. It’s always, “Mom and Dad.”
I love old photos. This one sorta amazes me. Yes, I understand genetics and how they work and that it would make sense that I look very similar to someone else in my family. But a spitting image? Read More
Mary Lou Knew the Right Way
People who knew my Mom would not have considered her “opinionated”, but instead I think she was “resolute.”
Been typing away at this Blog entry for a little over a month. Her birthday was January 23rd. She would’ve been 78 years old. This October, she will have been gone for 20 years.
Opinionated means someone feels very strongly about their position on a topic, but that position is not absolute and can be argued.
Mary Lou was resolute. Resolute means she was unwavering. Read More
Don Kowalewski 