Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
Duck. Duck. Gone?
I was gonna be a duck dad. The one silver lining of this winter’s massive ice and heavy-snow storm and all the downed branches was, quite by accident, a little duck made a nest in my giant pile of evergreen limbs and I was all excited to see ducklings wandering around my yard.
Now? That might never happen.
One day, I’m working outside looking at the momma duck sitting patiently on her nest and then, the next day …poof! Gone. No momma duck. No eggs. No ducklings. Just some random scattered feathers. Read More
2023 Hairvolution (Meaning I’m Getting a New ‘Do)
Now’s as good a time as any to give a little progress update on my hair. Recall on January 11th I looked in the mirror and said, Don, ya just don’t look good with short hair. High and tight isn’t for you. Time to get back to grown-up hair. News anchor hair.
I’ve been 55 days and 2 haircuts since that day (I get a haircut every 21 days) and things are looking much better. The length on top is the right look. I still have a ways to go. My bangs, when my hair is at an ideal length, can be pulled down to just about my eyebrow level. I’ve still got a little ways to go. Thinking it’ll be about late April until my hair is just right. Read More
The Power Outage Tales
I use this Blog to tell stories, be funny, be interesting, and put good content out into the world. Sometimes, however, I’m gonna use this to whine and complain. After all, we all know what B-L-O-G stands for, right?
- B ig
- L ist
- O f
- G rievances
I’m gonna complain about another power outage. I made a Lenten promise to Blog every day during Lent and then what happens? 5 out of the first 12 days of Lent I’ve been without electricity which, well, I’m just gonna say it and make excuses …it was difficult to Blog without power.
Yes. I could’ve Blogged from my phone. Yes, I could’ve Blogged at work. But I didn’t. I have a nice computer and a writing desk and that’s where I do my writing and Blogging. Without power and without Internet, I simply didn’t Blog. Read More
AirPod 3rd Generation = Inspiring
A Blog entry about AirPod 3s? But this isn’t an electronics Blog. I don’t regularly review Apple products or electronics and don’t have a YouTube channel where I unbox stuff and explain features and what I like and don’t like. Yes, I’m obsessed with headphones, but my recent purchase of Air Pod 3s isn’t about quality audio, but instead about a company getting something so completely perfectly right.
And when I find a product created so perfectly right, it brings joy.
The AirPod 3rd Generation earbuds might not be perfectly right for everyone, but for what I do and what I want, they are. And because they work so perfectly right for me, and I almost feel like I was on some braintrust idea panel where Apple designed them around my needs and wants, I’m comforted thinking other people must have my same list of priorities. Read More
Goals for 2023, 1-Month Update
I started the year copying Matthew Dicks’ and his ongoing tracking daily, monthly, yearly, and lifelong goals. He’s got 49 things on his list. I have 11 things. Well, now I have 12.
This is a fun experiment. First, it lays bear all my goals and the progress. It’s humbling. But it also is helping me focus. It would help anyone focus who dares write down his goals. This ideas of “writing down your goals” is nothing new. Matthew Dicks didn’t invent it. I’m not one of a handful of people toying around with this idea of writing things down. If you doubt it, just Google “write things down to better achieve goals” and you can spend a week reading all the articles. So, let’s get to my 2023 and Forever-Goals.
2023 Will Be a Hair Triumph
Been a while since I Blogged about my hair (see above), but with only a few months until my 50th birthday, I need to get serious, again.
I’ve made some unfortunate decisions over the past few years with regard to my hair. First, the pandemic. I went with long hair. And when I say “long”, I mean modern-day Jason Batemen. On my 5′ 5″ frame, it just didn’t work. When I saw myself in pictures, all I could see was Peter Dinklage. Next, when barber shops finally re-opened, I broke-up with my barber. Suddenly, my barber, once the home of an $18 haircut (+ $4 tip), raised their price to $30 (+$5 tip). I get my hair cut every three weeks. 17 haircuts per year. My annual hair budget, not including the occasional between cut $6 clean-up, went from $374 to $595. Read More
Goals for 2023 and Forever
I’m committing plagiary. Intellectual property theft. But not really. Matthew Dicks actually encourages his fans (and I am one) to do what he does. Here’s what he does. At the beginning of the year he establishes a set of goals (ie New Year Resolutions) for the year, posts them on his Blog, then holds himself accountable.
“I recommend this to everyone.” -Matthew Dicks
Then he posts an update monthly, quarterly, and annually. It’s inspiring. I’ve talked about doing it for three years. 2023 will be my attempt at it. Matthew Dicks’ list is epic. Maybe he started that way. Maybe his list evolved. Mine will be a work in progress …hopefully decades of work and progress. Read More
My 2022 Christmas Card Letter
I wish I could send everyone a copy of my ’22 family Christmas card and enclosed Christmas card letter, but postage stamps are expensive. Lucky you if I deem you worthy of .50-cents.
No, really. I’m a very lucky guy. I have so many people I consider friends. Former co-workers. Current co-workers. People at Church and parents I’ve met through my kids and school. When I say “friend”, I mean someone I would have no problem picking up the phone, calling (not texting), and saying, “I was thinking of you recently and just wanted to call and say ‘hi.'”
Maybe I’m an idiot and some of these people don’t even like me. But I don’t care. I like them and will call them. Sometimes out of the blue. For no reason other than to say ‘hi’ and see how they’ve been. Read More
Project 50 (What I’m Calling My 2023 New Year’s Resolutions)
Here it goes! My New York Times Best-Seller. My Blog is about to BLOW UP! Oprah’s gonna have me on as a guest. What’s that? She retired!?!?! Poop.
No matter. I’m about to be known as that “Project 50 guy” and it’ll be a movement for guys turning 50, or in their 50s, who want a smart way to lose weight, be active, get healthy, and live at optimum health.
I turn 50 years old this year. This last year …ahem. Let’s not talk about it. OK? Just, well, let’s just say, it wasn’t a great year. I went backwards. Stupidly I scheduled my annual physical on December 27th, a month removed from Thanksgiving …after a month of sugar cookies, big holiday lunches, happy hours, and then my Christmas ham. My blood test, officially, said my blood type was “mayo” and my blood pressure, it was determined, could best be compared to a power washer. Read More
Note to My Older Self, Part 1
This is Part 1 of a new series of Blog posts I’m writing to my future-self begging myself not to do certain things or become the type of person I would hate. I picture myself a wise, charming, clever old man who listens more than he talks and no matter how old I get, I’ll still be curious, optimistic, and constantly learning things. Maybe I’ll learn a language. Maybe I’ll learn piano. Maybe I’ll teach myself to write left-handed. Maybe I’ll get a job at a Thai restaurant and work in the kitchen and learn how to make new, delicious dishes. Hmmm. Maybe I’ll become a master chef.
Point is, I vow never to be a grumpy old man. I want to enjoy life rather than hate it and everything in it.
Occasionally, like at the store last weekend, I’ll run into “old people” that make me shake my head. I went into this adorable little corner market by my house to buy a few things (pizza sauce, block of mozzarella cheese, and this amazing spinach artichoke dip). Read More
Don Kowalewski 