Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
It’s Going to be an Awesome Year
Look! My son and I built a giant green-screen. Why? No reason at all. OK. There’s a reason. Back when I was doing alot of writing, I bought myself a writing desk and a very nice and fast computer. I put that writing desk and computer in my bedroom (so I’d have a retreat where I could write away from everyone). The computer is still there …in my bedroom. It’s a nice computer. All the kids use it for homework. I use it for all my music and family video files and fast Internet computing. And my son uses it for gaming (and when I say “gaming”, I mean for Minecraft). Playing Minecraft and watching others play Minecraft. If you know a boy somewhere between the ages of 8 and 14, you’ll know the second best thing to playing Minecraft is watching videos on YouTube of other people playing Minecraft and making all sorts of funny comments. If you’re over the age of 20, you and I both think that’s ridiculous.
But …stay with me. Sometime around Thanksgiving I saw J.J. Abrams (director of the new Star Wars and many, many other awesome things) and he talked about being young and “not much into sports” but rather into making skits and borrowing his parent’s video camera and making funny movies. At the same time, my son was asking, “how can I make a video of my screen,” and, “can I have YouTube channel to make Minecraft videos?” Now, some parents would say, “no, get outside and run around,” or they might laugh off the whole thing and call it, “too much video games and computer and screen time.”
I’m choosing, instead, to look at it as my son exploring his creative side. I asked him what his vision for the YouTube channel is. Why he wants one? And then asked, “how can I help?”
Back to what I was saying . . . he has a webcam and he Skypes with his friends and my bedroom is in the background, so the green-screen was sorta born of the idea I don’t want to have his friends looking in on my bedroom. But the other thing is, it’s allowed us …together …to build it, figure out how to layer video-image sources, take out the “green” and do all sorts of fun things. We worked together to figure out how to properly light it so his bedroom is like a little mini TV studio. Yes. Last weekend we went to a fabric store and hardware store and for $13, got everything we needed to build the green-screen.
*** Note: There’s a sinister motive behind this, too. It’s my idea that the computer should be downstairs in our family room in a little area that is set-off from the rest of the room and makes a nice little office. My wife disagrees. Perhaps having to navigate around a giant green-screen in our bedroom will change her mind. Heh, heh, heh. I’m a jerk.
We did it! 2016 is already a success. Look at my son’s first attempt. I hope the Golden Globes are paying attention. This kid is on his way.
A Weekend Thought on Happiness
I went into the weekend with a plan. Here’s that plan.
- Wake up early and exercise hard.
- Enjoy coffee after the workout.
- Make breakfast for my kids.
- Clean the kitchen.
- Straighten up the house.
- Work on a “green screen” with my son.
- Get the Christmas tubs down so put Christmas into storage.
- Have a meatloaf sandwich for lunch.
- Help take a few Christmas decorations down.
- Surf the web and think of something to blog about.
- Get ready for Church.
- Go to church.
- Come home and eat and sit on the couch watching NFL playoffs until midnight.
- Drink two Manhattans.
I’ve read a hundred articles on what “successful people do to ensure the best weekend” and “tips to making the most of the weekend.” The key is always, “have a plan.”
I have a plan. I’ve stuck to it. I’m having a great Saturday. This isn’t always the case. Dang! I like this. I’m happy.
And I’ll leave you with this thought from Scott Westerman.
Scott’s Life Maxim #1: Happiness is not the destination. Happiness is the path. Purpose is the map. Passion is the fuel. You are the driver. Every road taken includes bumps and potholes. Why not decide to buckle up, take the wheel and enjoy the ride?
This Blog Doesn’t Look Good
This blog doesn’t look very good. I tell people, “oh, hey, I’m a blogger, and a freelance ghost-writer, and social media expert,” and I can’t imagine what they think if they come to my blog. They see a grey, lifeless layout without much content, without a picture of me, and without all the other things bloggers would tell you a blog should have.
Why?
And visitors here also see a blog without a mission or purpose. A blog missing a mission and purpose is a definite no-no.
Recently I listened to Tim Ferriss’s Podcast with Derek Sivers and thought, “oh, man, that’s what I need to do.” Look at his webpage (or is it his blog)! Is it nice and pretty like Heather Havenwood’s, Rochelle Melander’s, or Marlena’s pages? No. But it has a purpose. Derek Sivers has a bio, a bragging bio, lists of blog posts, and lists of books and various other things her reviews. Essentially, if you like what David Sivers is about, then you’ll like his page and all the supporting pages.
My blog? Well, if you like what I’m about, my blog doesn’t really reflect what I’m about and if you don’t know what I’m about …again, the blog doesn’t tell you crap about me.
If the only thing I accomplish in 2016 is making my blog nice-looking, organized, and representative of what I do …it’ll be a win. 30-minutes a day. That’s it. In 365 days, it’ll mean I spend 182 hours (or the equivalent of 7 1/2 days working on my blog) and that should mean some sort of progress.
Construction. Begins. Now. Where can I find a “Men at Work” sign.
New Deoderant, New Generation 3 Bedphones
I’ve always been an Old Spice kinda guy. But now …drum roll …I picked up a new deodorant and I think I’m in love.
I’d like everyone to meet Every Man Jack. Maybe it’s a little pricey (actually, at $6 for a stick, it’s not that expensive, really).
Why the switch? Well, I had been using Old Spice antiperspirant for a while then read an article about the harmful chemicals it takes to actually block perspiration and said, screw that, I’ll go with regular Old Spice deodorant. But it consistently failed me every afternoon about 3 o’clock. Fascinating stuff, right?
I’d swipe and swipe and I started keeping an extra Old Spice stick at work and kept thinking, this can’t be right. Something’s not right when you swipe a half-dozen times under each arm in the morning and by 3 o’clock in the afternoon, you’re smelling like you just ran a 5K.
Every Man Jack claims the following:
No harsh chemicals. No unbelievable promises. Just naturally derived products that get the job done.
Two days in, so far, so good. The reviews on the website say it doesn’t last an entire day, but none of the reviewers said what they do for a living. I’m a sales guy who spends 60% of my time in the office at a desk and 40% of my time on calls. I wear a cotton dress shirt (when I’m not wearing my Mizzen & Main shirts) and a blazer over it when going on appointments. It can’t be worse than the Old Spice.
The next thing . . . I got my new Bedphones, Generation 3. These are supposed to be more durable and the in-line microphone is up higher on the chord and my first call this morning was well received by the co-worker on the other end of the line. She said, “sounds clear and I can’t tell you’re not holding it up to your ear.”
10-Minute Blogging, Episode 1
I want to and intend to blog daily. Scroll down. You’ll see I fall far short of that. Just listened to a Podcast by the wise and wonderful Tim Ferriss where he said, daily, spend 5-minutes journaling. Simply writing down a few simple things, like, “what was the best part of today,” or, “what could I have done today to make today better?”
I’m four minutes into this blog entry.
My blog isn’t read by millions. Some days I write things I think, hey, I need to share this with the world and then I do (world defined as a dozen or so friends on Facebook who sometimes take a few minutes to read my rambling thoughts). Then, days like today, it’s a blog entry for me.
But “doing for me” and “doing for you” is not entirely selfish. I find when I don’t blog, it hangs over me. “Don,” I tell myself, “you’re a blogger. Blog something, dammit!”
Other things weigh on me, too. Do things weigh on you?
8-minutes have passed in the blog entry.
“Don …you’re a sales a marketing guy. Sell and market something, dammit!”
“Don …you’re a writer. Write something, dammit!”
“Don …you’re a father. Do some fathering and parenting, dammit.”
“Don …you’re a Catholic. Do some praying or spiritual stuff, dammit!”
“Don …you’re a husband. Love your wife, dammit!”
These things we should be doing, daily? When we don’t. They hang around our neck and bring us down.
Do what you should be doing today. Even if just for 10-minutes. I blogged for 10-minutes and came up with this blog entry your reading. Is it the next Atlas Shrugged or War and Peace? Is it the blog entry that’ll make me an internet sensation? Obviously, no. But, it (30-seconds left) got me an early morning win.
Thanks for reading.
Do You Want to be Happy for the Next Three Minutes?
It’s funny how a couple of nights ago I sat through a lecture about the meaning of Advent and how it relates to the four levels of happiness. No where during this hour-and-a-half-long presentation did the speaker address where on the heirarchy something like this Boyz II Men-Fall Out Boy collaboration fits in.
I’m pretty sure it’s at a higher level than is shown on the chart above.
Enjoy.
A Holiday Memory – The Correct Way To Hang Certain Ornaments
Anyone care for a Mary Lou story?
Something’s been nagging at me, lately. I have all these memories of stuff, and I like to write, and a few people (family members) have said on more than one occasion, “you should put all those stories together and write a book.” Let me give you my two main excuses for not doing it. (1) I don’t think anyone would read a book that’s filled with 4 wedding toasts, a speech I gave in college, 5 eulogies, and then 5 or 6 stories on top of that. (2) I tend to embellish things and I would regret if my memory of something has been distorted over time and my version of the stories turn out to be only 75% accurate (or less). Not like I’m saying I’d write a story about my “Uncle Stephen” and then everyone would be like, “Don, you don’t have an Uncle Stephen.” It’s more like I’d remember a single memory and try and fill in details, but the details of a specific Thanksgiving might blend together multiple Thanksgivings and possibly a Christmas and, well, what good is a story like that?
But here’s a story I know is completely accurate. My Mom (Mary Lou, for those of you new to my blog) loved Christmas. Our house was madness. Multiple tea kettles, a snowy old-time village of miniature light-up houses all over the place, a model train that drove through that miniature village, specific mugs that only came out between Thanksgiving and replaced the every day mugs, and candles and runners, and Christmas art that replaced the year-round art on the walls and a giant Santa head that hung over our fireplace. And much . . . much . . . more.
Even my Dad got in on the act and when we moved to West Michigan. We lived in a neighborhood that prided itself on elaborate light displays. It was the type of neighborhood where, on most evenings, cars would drive through the streets at 5 miles-per-hour gazing at hundreds of houses decorated to the max. Well, coming from Sterling Heights, I seem to recall we had lights outside, but nothing like what my Dad did in Kentwood. He rigged lights that were in the shape of a two-story Christmas tree in front of our house. It was like a May Pole, but with Christmas lights.
I suppose some wives would frown on an upstairs window being ajar an inch for more than a month, allowing heat to escape and for a crazy snowy-ice-dam to form on the soffit vent and in the gutter, but for the sake of a quality outdoor light display, Mom didn’t mind.
The Mary Lou story that I’ve taken with me into my marriage (and I realize this might not be my Mom’s sole invention or theory) and am passing along to my kids is this – any glass or crystal ornament should be hung directly in front of a light on the tree. It’s imperative. When we were younger, we’d all help hang ornaments and in typical childlike fashion, every ornament was hung at the bottom of the tree, no higher than 4 feet (as high as we could reach). Then, later that evening, once we were all in bed, Mom would go to work re-arranging the ornaments to perfection. A properly ornamentized tree should be equal parts novelty ornaments, religious ornaments, meaningful souvenir ornaments (likely from an exotic travel destination), mixed with a blend of standard, solid color ornaments (in our house, it was burgundy and gold) to match the color scheme of ones home. The burgundy and gold should be a pure 50/50 mix and no single color should dominate any quadrant, nor the top-half or bottom-half. And most importantly, as I’ve mentioned, glass or crystal ornaments must be hung in front of a twinkling light to highlight them and make them shine.
I can only imagine, now, if she came to my house and saw an ornament hung incorrectly, she’d probably move some ornaments around when we weren’t looking.
She loved Christmas. I think most everyone could agree on that. Only someone who loved Christmas and celebrated it as a season of giving would spend the better part of 200 hours shopping for the perfect gifts to wrap (perfectly wrapped, I might add) under a perfectly decorated tree.
Thansk, Mom, for loving Christmas and loving us. 
A Good Ballad Can Still Be a Hit
Sometimes I wonder if we’ll never have crooners and ballads as part of the Billboard Top-40. I remember the ’80s (and early ’90s) when Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Phil Collins, Michael Bolton, Celine Dion, and Boyz II Men clogged up the Top-40 and Top-10 with huge, soaring ballads. Now? It’s all Fetty Wap and Ariana Grande.
Yes, this is the type of thing I “wonder” about when driving in my car alone. And I “wonder” …how much water is too much water and should I buy a book of crossword puzzles to help ward off Alzheimer’s?
But then, a song like Adele’s “Hello” comes along and it’s impossible not to love it. I mean it. It’s impossible. Show me someone who says, “I don’t really like Adele and don’t understand what all the hub bub is about,” and I’ll show you a damn dirty liar. It’s like when someone says they don’t care for bacon. Um. Sorry. The human taste-bud isn’t that complicated and the human taste-bud scientifically and empirically is, via evolution, designed to like salty meat. We homo-sapien human beings have only been reading, writing, farming, and speaking for about 10,000 years (actually, I’m not sure if we’ve had farming technology for 10,000 years, but whatever), and that’s not enough time for evolution to take away our animal instincts of craving meat for survival.
I’m not scientist.
Anyway …the point is …just as all humans like bacon, so too do all eardrums like Adele’s voice. Our ears like birds singing, babbling brooks, lightly falling rain, and Adele.
Ballads still have a place in this world. And sometimes, children’s instruments and Jimmy Fallon have a place in a ballad.
What Life is All About…
Wanna know what life is all about?
When I was in elementary school my parents took me out of school early on the Friday that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom hit theaters. Could I have waited and seen a 7 o’clock show that evening? Certainly. But for this past 30 years, that was an amazing, fun memory. It’s just stuck with me. And we don’t have to argue about how Temple of Doom was cheezy and not all that great. I was in 5th Grade. Maybe 6th Grade. And I got to leave school early …on a Friday … to see a movie before anyone else.
Flash forward to 2015. Earlier this evening my son and I went down to our local theater and bought tickets for “opening day” for Star Wars. He danced when we left the theater with still forty days until we can actually see the movie. He sang the Star Wars theme song as we walked back to the car with tickets in hand. And we have tickets for the 2:30 show on Friday, December 18th. I’ll pick him up from school at 1:30 – a full two hours before his classmates will get out of school (for the Christmas break, even).
If it all goes right, whether the movie is good or bad …it’ll be a day, maybe, he’ll remember for the rest of his life as I have remembered that day all those many years ago when I was skipping out on the last few hours of school and watching Indiana Jones float down from an airplane on an inflatable boat and watching a man have his heart pulled from his chest. That kinda stuff sticks with a person. Not the heart-pulling-from-chest stuff …although that was probably the most gruesome thing I’d seen up to that point in my life.
No …what stuck with me was this …life is long, hard, and tedious at times. Remember to have fun.
If you see my boss …tell him (or her) that I have some intense sales meetings on the afternoon of December 18th. But, if you see me that Friday, you’ll see the geeky me having a ton of fun with my eleven-year-old son.
May the Force be with you.
Lung Update, or I Might Be a Hypochondriac
It’s been four years since I saw my Pulmonologist and I’ve had some ups and downs with my lungs and my coughing. I remember his words four years ago when he said, “you’ll always have this and it could get worse, but it probably won’t.” He told me to get a pneumonia shot every four years, to make sure I get a flu shot every year, and whenever I catch a cold, call him and he would call in a prescription for antibiotics.
“What about the wheezing,” I asked? He said it will happen, and will be worse in the evening. He was right.
“What about the coughing up blood,” I asked. He said that, too, will happen and as long as it’s not more than a teaspoon at a time and subsides in twelve hours, then it’s nothing to worry about. He was right, except every time it happens I can’t help but worry a little.
“What about the exercise and the 5Ks and the triathlons,” I asked. He said, hey, that’s probably not a great idea but we’re not trying to get you into that extreme shape, but try some moderate swimming and fast-walking. If you swim or walk briskly for a half-hour a day, you’ll be in the top 10% of fit and in-shape people in the U.S. and healthy. And, he said, walking is a non-impact exercise and is actually much better for you knees and back and all that. I’m sure he’s right. But it sure makes me feel like I should be busting out an A.A.R.P. card and walking around the local mall.
So today he listened to my lungs, made me do some breathing into a tube, measured my oxygen levels, listened to my chest and back, ran some tests that might prove or disprove I’m asthmatic, and did a chest X-ray. He listened to my stories and theories and symptoms and worries and said, “I think you’re fine.”
He ruled out asthma. He ruled out the night time coughing is from the bronchiectasis. He thinks it might be a post-nasal drop. He wants me to breathe into a meter three times daily and measure the strength of my breath and oxygen levels but he suspects they’ll be like it was today – perfect. He thinks my chest-pains is just from coughing and sleeping on my side – and is not my heart. Oh, yeah …he tested my heart. He wants me to take a mild Allegra at bedtime and really thinks that’s going to make a world of difference.
So, that’s it. That’s the update for those of you who were wondering, hey, what’s up with Don’s lungs. Once again I’m being told not to worry, everything looks and sounds good, and that wheezing and coughing? Try some Allegra.
I kinda hope this is one of the last times I’ll ever have to Blog about my lungs. But stay tuned. I go back in 2 months to assess the Allegra experiment.
Don Kowalewski 