Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
Bulletproof Coffee
“Gee. Don never drinks bulletproof coffee at home.”
About a month ago, awesome-guy Tim Ferriss posted a video of his power coffee recipe and I thought to myself, “no, Don. You’ve got to draw the line somewhere, or you’ll be dangerously close to becoming a stalker. You can’t do everything Tim Ferriss does.”
Then today happened, and I came back fresh from a long weekend with my son, brother-in-laws, and nephews in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. During the 8-hours I spent driving there, and the 8-hours back (some of which spent in silence while my ten-year-old son (a) played iPad, (b) slept, or (c) read books – he read 3 books cover to cover, by the way ), I thought about getting healthy, once and for all. And I started thinking about “going Keto”.
Lo’ and behold, after only a few minutes of researching this “keto” phenomenon, I came upon the recommendation of “bulletproof coffee” by Dave Asprey and …OK. I’m in. Gonna make it tomorrow morning (as soon as I watch these two (1, 2) videos from detractors).
Oh, and I added “Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb” blog to the right.
“I Love Don Week” Day 4
Gonna be quick, here. Day 3 and 4 were great and each day brought with is a new batch of desk decorations and, in fact, my co-workers made me a banner. A banner!!! Guess you could call it a “banner day.” Zing! With cleverness like that bottled up inside me, I need a blog for all my puns. Is “banner day” a pun?
Got some lottery tickets from the fam’ at home and won $4, which I’ll use to buy more lottery ticket scratch n’ wins. Cube neighbor C.S. bought me a pound of Tanzanian Peaberry beans from Chazzano Coffee (of Ferndale). Sooooo great.
Don’t forget the list. Not a ton getting scratched off. But I’m sure you’re just waiting for the perfect time to get me the perfect gift. I’m cool with that.
- The Blackman 2.0 White Dress Shirt from Mizzen + Main
- JCPenny’s Signature Collection Side Sleeper Pillow (yes, I was a lifelong back-sleeper and now I’m a side-sleeper)
- Kettle bell(s) (and a book by Pavel Tsatsouline)
- Pair of Levi’s 559s (31W, 30L) – I’m putting the cart before the horse with that 31″ waist, my friends
Pound of Chazzano Coffee (preferable Tanzanian Peaberry)- Tablet Platform or Tablet Dish (from Evernote Marketplace …see below) …trust me …this is cool.
Tervis Tumbler Water Bottle(the bottle was found in our mail room)- Clip-on shades for my glasses (I recently bought a regular pair of sunglasses and they’re blurry …I need my prescriptions)
- Black iPad skin
- Black ankle socks
- Flip flops (last summer I burned through 3 pairs)
“I Love Don Week” Day 3
We’re almost done with “I Love Don Week” Day 3, and I don’t wanna dive too deep into this, and yesterday was good, but …I received zero gifts (save for a free coffee from co-worker C.M., but I think she only bought me a coffee because she’s generally a nice person) on Day 2. Even my wife, while thoughtful by planning a special dinner and keeping my wine glass full during The Bachelorette, didn’t get me a gift. And “the list” (see below) is so easy, this year. Hmmm. Maybe I need to add more ideas.
Two exciting things happened on Day 2 of “I Love Don Week”. First, my desk was #Fandalized (get it? When a person’s “fans” “vandalize” something, I’ve mashed up the words). I think I need to trademark the word “fandalize” …not that I think there’s a great need for the word in the English language. Hmmmm. How do I make it part of pop-culture and the Zeitgeist?
Extra points for me for using the word “zeitgeist” in my blog. And for making up a new word.
The second exciting thing was …my house flooded. From the second story bathroom into the basement. Yes. Through the floor and down the walls. This was thanks to my pre-teen daughter running the sink at full speed, and the shower, and then distractedly walking away. But I learned we have exactly enough towels to handle a small water disaster. Had it been any worse, we would’ve been borrowing towels from neighbors. I happened to be taking a shower in the downstairs bathroom (which is immediately below the upstairs bathroom) and when I got done I was like, “hmmm, why do I hear water dripping?” And then when I opened the bathroom door I saw water dripping.
That was the anti-I-Love-Don-Week moment. Can’t wait to see what else my kids have in store to ruin my week.
I did have a great conversation with a very good friend and it gave me the shot in the arm I needed to be optimistic about turning 42 and not worrying about that which I’ve not done and things I’m not doing and keep focused on the great and wonderful things I am doing and that are in my life.
Speaking of things “in my life”, I wouldn’t mind a few of these things “in my life”. Plenty of time for Amazon to still ship anything on this list.
- The Blackman 2.0 White Dress Shirt from Mizzen + Main
- JCPenny’s Signature Collection Side Sleeper Pillow (yes, I was a lifelong back-sleeper and now I’m a side-sleeper)
- Kettle bell(s) (and a book by Pavel Tsatsouline)
- Pair of Levi’s 559s (31W, 30L) – I’m putting the cart before the horse with that 31″ waist, my friends
- Pound of Chazzano Coffee (preferable Tanzanian Peaberry)
- Tablet Platform or Tablet Dish (from Evernote Marketplace …see below) …trust me …this is cool.
Tervis Tumbler Water Bottle(the bottle was found in our mail room)- Clip-on shades for my glasses (I recently bought a regular pair of sunglasses and they’re blurry …I need my prescriptions)
- Black iPad skin
- Black ankle socks
- Flip flops (last summer I burned through 3 pairs)
I’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully to brag about some of the great gifts I received.
“I Love Don Week”, Day 2
Can you believe it’s already Day-2 of “I Love Don Week”? I found myself outta town and without Wifi and unable to blog, yesterday, the official Kick-Off of “I Love Don Week.”
But my wife did not forget it was the start of “I Love Don Week” and I got a magnetic Spartan logo to put on my car. And I had quite a bit of windshield and fishing time to daydream a few more items for the “I Love Don Week” wish-list. Sorry for the short blog entry …had every intention of getting up early and blogging all about myself and my birthday (and working out), but the bed was pretty cozy this morning.
For the newbies, “I Love Don Week” is the 6-days leading up to my birthday, July 11th, and this is a long-standing traditional summer holiday. Plenty of time to shop.
- The Blackman 2.0 White Dress Shirt from Mizzen + Main
- JCPenny’s Signature Collection Side Sleeper Pillow (yes, I was a lifelong back-sleeper and now I’m a side-sleeper)
- Kettle bell(s) (and a book by Pavel Tsatsouline)
- Pair of Levi’s 559s (31W, 30L) – I’m putting the cart before the horse with that 31″ waist, my friends
- Pound of Chazzano Coffee (preferable Tanzanian Peaberry)
- Tablet Platform or Tablet Dish (from Evernote Marketplace …see below) …trust me …this is cool.
Tervis Tumbler Water Bottle(the bottle was found in our mail room)- Clip-on shades for my glasses (I recently bought a regular pair of sunglasses and they’re blurry …I need my prescriptions)
- Black iPad skin
More tomorrow or later, tonight. Don’t worry.
Sometimes a Blog Can Just Share Something Fun
Most days I wake up around 5:00 or 5:30 a.m. with grand plans to tackle the day and take control and take a walk and eat a power breakfast and do some chores and do some writing and read some headlines and do some sit-ups and map-out my entire day and . . .
And then sometimes, like today, I hit the kitchen at 5:15 a.m., make myself an incredible cuppa coffee via my Aeropress, and then sit and scroll through some Facebook, read some articles about being awesome that I’ve bookmarked to Instapaper (reading about being awesome does NOT equal being awesome …I know that), and listen to the birds chirping outside and just chilllllllll.
I’m OK with that. I have to be. Otherwise, I’d have missed the video below (that I watched twice).
Many of us are lucky enough to have a 3-day weekend on the horizon which means we have a short work week and we’re going to get outta town, do something fun, watch things explode in the sky, drink some beer, laugh with friends around a campfire, go to a carnival or festival, and …well …turn our brains off.
Do millionaires with multiple companies and blogs and books and speaking engagements ever do that? Do they ever wake-up and forego their power routine and instead watch cat videos on YouTube.
Probably not. And maybe that’s why I’m not one of those guys. But that’s OK. I watched awesome movie dance scenes and am feeling content.
Indomitable Spirit
All day I’ve been smiling about the brief conversation my wife and I had with my 8-year-old this morning. Just as I was walking out the door to head to work, she came downstairs with sleep in her eyes and stretching and yawning, but with the biggest smile. She said, as she stretched, “I had the best dream.”
We asked what it was. She replied, “I had a dream I lost both my arms.”
My wife and I looked at each other puzzled and shocked. Oh, and it gets better.
“How was that the ‘best dream’,” I asked.
She continued, “well, we were going on a cruise. And we had to go a day early and stay in a hotel and the hotel caught on fire and my arms burned off.”
Best. Dream. Ever?
“That’s awful,” I said.
“No,” she protested. “I mean, kinda, because the bed caught on fire, too.”
“What does this have to do with the cruise? And how was it a good dream?”
“Oh,” she said. “Because when we got onto the ship, they put me in a room full of puppies and the puppies were crawling all over me and licking me.”
So, you see. It’s all about perspective. Albeit an odd perspective only an 8-year-old (and maybe only my 8-year-old) can rationalize, but there you have it. No matter what disaster may befall her in her life, throw her in a pile of puppies and she’ll be fine.
And now …the best song ever that I’ve listened to about 30 or more times since I first heard it on Wednesday. It’s my new favorite song and I hope it’s my favorite song forever.
Run-Up to “I Love Don Week”
In a conversation with some friends, yesterday, someone brought up “I Love Don Week” and I forget exactly who brought it up and felt like talking about me and my birthday – you know how these things just happen spur of the moment.
Anyway, there’s a tradition around “I Love Don Week” that says it can’t be talked about until it’s talked about and then …boom …it can be talked about and blogged about.
For the newbies, “I Love Don Week” consists of the six days leading up to Don’s birthday – July 11th. During those six days, Don is to be fawned over and given loads of attention – and gifts. It all kicks off, this year, on July 5th (only 9 days away …how excited are we?!?!?!?!?).
Start planning. And to help, I’ll post the initial gift-wish-list or, dare I call it, a “registry?” Hmmmm. That gives me an idea. I might go to Target today and ask if I can get a zap gun and make a “I Love Don Week” registry. But if you’d rather shop online, here’s the list.
- The Blackman 2.0 White Dress Shirt from Mizzen + Main
- JCPenny’s Signature Collection Side Sleeper Pillow (yes, I was a lifelong back-sleeper and now I’m a side-sleeper)
- Kettle bell(s) (and a book by Pavel Tsatsouline)
- Pair of Levi’s 559s (31W, 30L) – I’m putting the cart before the horse with that 31″ waist, my friends
- Pound of Chazzano Coffee (preferable Tanzanian Peaberry)
- Tablet Platform or Tablet Dish (from Evernote Marketplace …see below) …trust me …this is cool.
- Tervis Tumbler Water Bottle
I feel like I should have more. I’ll put some serious thought into this over the next couple of days. Leave a comment if you hear of any “I Love Don Week” sales going on.
Mind Shift, Sleep Shift
Anyone have any thoughts on shifting one’s entire hours-of-operation? I ask because I seem incapable of sleeping past, oh, 4 or 4:30 a.m. Waking up at 4:30 a.m. isn’t the end of the world, but it means I have to head to bed at 9:30 or 10 o’clock each night so I can try like hell to get my 6 1/2 or 7 hours of sleep.
This means I’m going to bed, during the summer months, earlier than my 12-year-old (and at about the same time as my 10-year-old).
Today I’m going to research sleep hours and adjusting my internal clock.
Here’s something else crazy – now that my kids are getting older, and it’s summertime, most of my mornings will be me, awake, having breakfast, taking the dog for a walk, having coffee, reading some articles on the laptop, maybe watching The Daily Show from the night before, shower, shave, and head off to work and I won’t see anyone in my family (which will be amplified if my mornings keep starting at 4:30 a.m.).
I wonder if I stay up later if I’ll sleep longer (it’s never worked in the past). But if I go to a 1980s adult schedule and force myself to always stay up and, at least, see the opening monologue of The Tonight Show, maybe going to bed at midnight will let me sleep until 6:30 or 7:00 a.m.
Leave a comment if you got something to say.
I Like Things. Things Like the iHeartRADIO App
Full disclosure, I work for iHeartMEDIA. But, I promise you as sure as my name B
ob Pittman, even if I didn’t work here, I’d love the iHeartRadio app (for the iPhone). Still kinda grumpy about the iPad version. Just sayin’.
Today iHeart announced they surpassed 70-million registered users. Pretty cool, right? Hey, don’t just take my word for it. Even TechCrunch found it worthy of an article.
And what’s so great about this app, you ask, right?
I’m going to tell you what I think is the best thing – the Shows (aka Podcasts). There’s like an infinite world of Podcasts and shows on any topic.
Just go to your iPhone (or Android, I guess) app and hit the Menu button in the upper left and then hit Podcasts.
Now search …anything. Search “Travel”. Bam.
Search “NBA” and all sorts of sports shows will show up. Like the Nerdist. It’s there. Do you read Men’s Health and want to listen to their weekly Podcast? Just search “Men’s Health” and listen to the current episode or past episodes.
My favorites are Jay Mohr’s sports hours and Sklarbro Country.
What I’m saying is you can listen to your favorite local station, or you can listen to custom stations based on an artist or genre (the Pandora design), or you can listen to pre-programmed stations like My ’80s Station,the ’80s Movie Heartbreak Station, or GenX Radio …stations that someone else curated and researched, or you can listen to a Podcast, or last night’s Jimmy Kimmel monologue, or some financial reports from ABC News Business.
iHeartRadio does it all.
Not sure if I’m a trendsetter, corporate shill, or a fanboy. But I like this better than Pandora or Spotify. There, world. Now you know.
Follow me at @donkowalewski.
A Thirty Day Self-Challenge
Knock knock. Who’s there. Gimme a second. Gimme a second, who? Gimme a second chance to make 2015 everything I’ve planned.
Worst. Joke. Ever.
But I’m not joking.
There are great things that happen when I listen to podcasts from Tim Ferriss, Jeffrey Gitomer, and Gary Vaynerchuck and watch all their videos and read all their blogs. The good? I get motivated. I imagine myself as a future guest on their shows sharing with them the secrets of how I balanced a great job in media and advertising sales, wrote a book, kept up a blog, built a business on social media, kept romance and passion in a 20-year-old marriage, raised three children, lost fat while adding muscle, trained myself and my lungs to handle running and that I ran a 10K, coached my kids’s soccer teams, kept in touch with old friends, read a book every month, figured out how to sleep 7-hours each night, managed my stress, saved for retirement and college, but had a little fun along the way and contributed to society and charity.
The bad?
The bad part about listening to all those podcasts from perfect people who made millions of dollars and seem to have it all figured out is that I sometimes get the feeling I’m not even close and I’ll never get there.
Positive, “I can do anything” thoughts mix with, “you’ll never do any of that” voices.
Did these perfect people ever have self-doubt? Sleepless nights? Stress? I notice they often don’t have kids. Excuse number one why I’m not doing all those things in the paragraph above. Or they are “consultants” and “authors” but don’t actually have “real jobs.” Excuse number two.
It’s like a sink or swim feeling. It’s like there are two options …figure it all out, make millions, and then start telling people they can do it, too. Or just keep beating your head against a wall.
Why this blog? It’s the even of June. June has 30 days. June will be my launching pad for the rest of 2015.
Join me?
Don Kowalewski 