Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
Don’s 2022 Christmas Wish-List
Readers are well aware of my Stuff I Want Page. It’s a living-document, constantly being updated based on my changing tastes and hobbies, new ideas, and things being purchased. The list is a combination of big, expensive items (for those who really, really like me), moderately priced items (for those who like me, or maybe want to buy me multiple things), and budget items that can be gifted at any point of the year. Don’t worry if you’ve never given me anything …I’m not keeping track. But as you know, it is better to give than receive, so I give you a list, and you can give me a present.
My family was just discussing that people are either givers or receivers. Some people are just dang good at picking out gifts, listening for hints, or knowing their friends and family well enough they know what to give. These “givers” take great pride in giving. Read More
Thanksgiving Follow-Up, Turkey-licious
Turns out I have at least one reader. Thanks to read J.F. for cornering me and pulling me aside at a cocktail party recently and asking, “well? How was the turkey? What was that cooking method, again?”
Lucky me, I got to bend someone’s ear at a party about how brilliant the spatchcock turkey cooking method worked.Â
Of course, the entire happiness of Thanksgiving was more than just a well-cooked bird. Though I didn’t mind the random comments like, “I never eat turkey, but this was amazing,” or, “I don’t even like turkey, but I went back for seconds,” and, “I’m not a big white meat guy, but, wow.” Read More
Will Spatchcocked Turkeys Make this the Greatest Thanksgiving, Ever?!?!?
Well …hopefully in 12 hours from now I’ll be able to report back this was the most epic, most successful Thanksgiving, ever, with the best cooked turkeys my family has ever known. If it is to be, the reason will be the spatchcocked turkey cooking method. Everyone wants that Normal Rockwell moment with a perfectly cooked whole turkey being carved at the head-of-the-table, while a large, happy family looks on admiringly waiting for a toast to healthy and happiness and then perfect slices of turkey are cut and passed out. Or maybe some just want to carve the turkey, expertly, and arrange a platter of turkey in such a way it could be on display at an art museum. I do believe there are cooks out there who can pull this off …but there’s a better way.
Spatchcocking. Read More
Don’t be Boring
Don’t be boring. Be fun. Be interesting. Stand out in a crowd. Show your individualism.
Some might say, “don’t try so hard,” but I say, “why not?”
We all have such a short time here, why would any of us mail-it-in? The older I get, the bolder. Something fun, funny, or interesting I do might make someone smile, laugh, or be inspired.
If I could invent a time machine, I’d go back in time and tell my younger-self this …”ya know all those things you’re NOT doing because you’re a little embarrassed or shy or because you’re worrying what others think? Well, does it make you happy? Does it excite you? Then do it. Do it big and bold and with joy.” My 18-year-old-self still probably wouldn’t listen, but it wouldn’t stop me from telling him …er, me. Read More
Lawn Stuff: Don Doesn’t Rake Leaves
I don’t rake leaves. I don’t bag leaves. I mulch them. Religiously. I mow them right into the lawn.Â
I don’t bag my grass clippings in the spring. The summer. Or in autumn.Â
All these mulched grass clippings and leaves make incredible soil for my lawn.
First, raking leaves sucks. We all know it. It’s a constant battle for weeks on end. Rake on a Saturday afternoon and by Sunday evening you might wonder if you raked on Saturday, at all. Then it rains and the leaves get heavy and gross.Â
But ..if you mulch your leaves into the lawn, you don’t care. Dry leaves. Wet leaves. Lots of leaves. A few leaves. It doesn’t matter. It all gets mulched and decomposes all winter long right on your lawn. The snow. the rain. Just feeding your soil.Â
The ONLY downside is that you might find yourself mowing parts of your lawn 3 or 4 times a week. And when I say “mow”, I only mean mulching the leaves. In Michigan, where I live, by the time you get to mid-October and we’ve had a frost or two, the grass isn’t growing anymore, anyway.
Ya know what else I do? I carefully chop down every summer shrub and bush. Hostas. Purple cone flowers. Day lilies. Every perennial flower I have. With the exception of the Yuccas (which are pretty much an evergreen bush), everything must goooooo! I chop. I gather all the chopped flowers and annuals. I put them in a pile on my lawn. Then I mulch them into the lawnmower bag attachment. Pour them out. Mulch them again. Then spread that all over my flower beds like a cozy winter blanket.
It’s not like I’m an Earth-first type guy or some environmentalist. I simply believe one should use all the organic material available and mulch …compost …and give yourself amazing soil and healthy grass.
#NoRaking #NoBagging #NoBurning
Join me.Â
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This doesn’t suck …my Shark Navigator Vacuum Cleaner Review
When you buy a high-quality item, after extensive research, and it arrives and lives up to every review you’ve read and every expectation you had for it …life is good.
Household chores can actually be joyous. If you have a Shark Navigator Life-Away Upright Vacuum Multi Surface Floor Cleaner, that is. Before I got this vacuum cleaner, I had this behemoth Dyson. It was also top-of-the-line but …behemoth. Big. Powerful. Too big. Heavy. If I’d had this Dyson in the ’80s, when everyone had wall-to-wall carpet, it would be perfect. But it’s 2022. My entire house is hardwood floors with area rugs and despite having a perfectly-good and working vacuum cleaner, it was time for a change. Read More
Your iPad Makes You a Loser
The NCAA basketball tournament means millions of eye balls watching TV and, hence, new TV commercials from major brands. If I ran a company, I wouldn’t even bother with a ad in the Super Bowl that gets aired once, critiqued like crazy, and forgotten.
Anyone remember the ad with floating QR code? Oh, you remember the ad and it was for crypto currency something, but you don’t remember what the actual advertiser was.
Advertising like AT&T and “Lilly” stepped up their game by adding many big Hollywood stars. The ads aren’t good, or funny, but they’re “there” and that’s good enough for branding. I guess they want me to move my entire family from my current wireless provider to AT&T and they’ll give me a free phone or something, Read More
Self Improvement Stuff
Let me tell you about a fool. An idiot. About a guy so dumb, I’m ripping him off every day. It’s all about me and he doesn’t even see I’m robbing him blind. Also …this fool …is brilliant.
It’s Cal Newport. How I’m only now discovering this genius is, well …because I’m actually the fool who follows and invites Internet ads like a moth to a flame. I read an article by someone I like. I immediately hit their website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and when I do, all the other “gurus” and self-help wanna-be’s find me by Internet cookies and by guesting on Podcasts I listen to, and most of them might help people a little, but mostly they just want to sell more books, courses, or coaching sessions. Read More
Fountain of Youth, Part 1
A new person recently hired in at my company at exactly the right time for the health of my skin.
It was January. The middle of a very cold winter. I had just started a new skin care regiment and got Harry’s face scrub, eye brightener, and daily facial lotion. It was not going well. My face was basically a giant surface of flaking skin.
Every day. More face scrub. More lotion. And every day I felt like my face was literally falling off. Read More
Don the Hero, Part 1
I forget how many times I’ve been a hero, but it’s alot. I’m like Batman. What’s my latest bit of heroism? I’m glad you asked.
Starting in December, I started getting calls on my cell phone from people saying they’d like to schedule a counseling session. It started slow. Maybe one each week. I would never answer these numbers I didn’t recognize, but I always listed to the voicemails they left me. Read More
Don Kowalewski 
