Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
I’m Going to Lose Weight and Be In Great Shape
I’m going to lose weight. I’m going to lose so much weight and be in such great shape, you won’t believe it. My stomach will be flat. I’ll start running 5Ks and sprint triathlons, again. I’ll work up to 100 push-ups at a time. I’m going to be amazing. I’ve been telling everyone for months and months that, when I start exercising and eating right …whoa! Look out! I’m going to be my best-self and have the best-life-ever.
Lazy, fat, unmotivated people are what’s bringing me down and just you wait.
But …first. I’m going to eat like a pig. I’m going to sit around and eat some more. I’m going to drink beer and booze. Like, five or six days a week. I’ll have Five Guys for lunch every day for a month. Sugary candy and cookies? Yes, please. Read More
Take “greens” on an Empty Stomach
Over the years, I’m sure I didn’t void all the benefits of daily greens by taking them “with food.” But that’s what I was doing.
I’m a multivitamin-guy and I come from a multivitamin-family. My Mom swore by multivitamins and before it was cool and before the Internet, she was very into the multivitamin thing. Back in Grand Rapids, MI, in the ’90s, before every specialty market had supplement and apothecary sections, my Mom “did the research.” The world had Centrum, and maybe GNC had some stuff for Men, but multivitamins were an emerging scam …er … trend. Nowadays, you can spend hours reading about every multivitamin and manufacturer and learn their background and how the inventor grew up on a farm and has my best interest in mind and all ingredients are sourced by fairies and trolls and grown in an area of the Brazilian rainforest that has the least amount of air pollution anywhere in the world. Read More
The Top-10 Songs of All (My) Time, #7: Somebody That I Used to Know
I was lucky. My parents had a wonderful, normal, healthy relationship. I met my soulmate when I was 15 and started dating her when I was 18 (going on 19) and we’ve been together ever since. She’s normal. SHw as normal then. And is normal now. She’s nice, honest, funny, wicked smart, and makes me better, and my life better, because she’s in it. My wife’s parents are normal and had a great marriage.
But ya know what fascinated me all through college and after? How different other relationships are. How dysfunctional some relationships are because of the bizarre world-view of one, or both, of the people in that relationship.
Some dudes in college were a source of endless entertainment. Guys just couldn’t figure out the whole girlfriend thing. Things like “buying a girl a dozen red roses on a first date.” No. No. No. Or saying “I love you” on a second date. Record. Scratch. They’d come to me for advice, as if I actually knew what I was doing …I was figuring it out, too, but just had a better head-start (see first paragraph). The questions they’d ask would be things like, “when should she meet my parents?” I’d have to convince them to let it happen naturally and “you’ll know”, but definitely not after one month and 3 “sorta dates.” Read More
2025 Goals Check-In, Month-1
I’m totally stealing this from author, speaker, storyteller, teacher, all-around-great-guy and guru, Matthew Dicks. I envy him and idolize him. For years, he publicly lists all his goals and then, equally publicly, updates his progress. Good and bad. Successes and failures. It’s what makes him unique compared to so many other gurus and coaches that offer advice …he ain’t perfect and he’s not too proud to admit it.
But …he’s pretty incredible and good at stuff and great and getting stuff done. So that’s kind of annoying.
Below (and here) are my 2025 Goals and my 30-day progress and update.
MAKE MY WEBSITE AND BLOG A REAL THING
- Categories Finite and Sensible <- I’ll say A+ on this. I feel very good that if some rando goes to my website, they’ll be able to figure out what I’m about and if you know me and are looking for something specific, you can find it.
- Build it for 2 Specific Audiences In Mind, and those audiences are… <- B+ … it’s a slow process to take all my old Blog posts and Pages and organize it so I can proudly tell, say, my co-worker, “hey, if you want to order salsa, just go to my website.”
Super Bowl Halftime Should Have a Pop-Up Video or Manning Cast Option
I’m old. Not really, but when it comes to modern hip-hop, I’m as old as my uncles were in 1985 when they would “beat box” at family gatherings and say, “that’s all rap is,” …and they’d make puh, puh, huff, huff sounds.
Kendrick Lamar is performing at halftime and I’m so out of the loop. I’m writing this on a Friday. I’m going to binge Kendrick Lamar all weekend in an attempt to appreciate his artistry and maybe I’ll recognize something on Sunday. I’ll watch a YouTube video or two that comes up when I search “why is Kendrick Lamar great” and “history of Kendrick Lamar.” Then I’ll ask AI to “give me a brief history of Kendrick Lamar and his career, summarize the story behind his top-5 streaming songs, and do it in less than 500 words.”
But what I really need is an alternative half-time viewing experience and, ideally, it would be a pop-up video. When he riffs a lyric and his fans go crazy, I’d like a quick pop-up that says, “this is in reference to his longtime girlfriend, (name-the-girlfriend) and her affair with (name-the-other-guy).” Or “this song is off his second album, released in YEAR, and it’s an anthem to famed SOMEONE who Kendrick credits for giving him his big break.” Read More
Signature Brands, Part 1: Shave Cream
My shaving life has been torture on my face and neck. When I started shaving, I think I used Barbasol. And for my teens and 20s, and into my 30s, my post-shave life was filled with acne, sensitive skin, razor burn and rashes. I tried the fancy stuff from the cologne brands. I tried bar soap. I tried just a basic lotion. I tried hot water soaked washcloths pre-shave, cold water post-shave, and electric razors. I was convinced my shaving-life was cursed to pain and suffering (well, discomfort more than “suffering”) and it was time to give up.
Then came Trader Joe’s and everything at Trader Joe’s is just a little friendlier – especially their shave lotion. Finally, I’d found a brand that didn’t immediately burn or irritate my skin and so, for about the past decade, I’ve been happily shaving with their stuff. I guess it wasn’t a money-maker or big seller, because late last year, Trader Joe’s discontinued it. Read More
The Top-10 Songs of all (My) Time, Part 3
It’s important to the world-at-large that I finish this project where I tell you my favorite ten songs of all time. Remember, these are my all-time favorite songs and was born of Rolling Stones‘s attempt to define the 100 Greatest Songs and 100 Greatest Albums of all time, which I believe is impossible. My full rationale is here. Impossible because your opinion, and my opinion, and my barber’s opinion …it’s all about “where you were when” and so no list can ever be right (or wrong).
If you were an 18-year-old college freshman in 1967 smoking your first doobie in your dorm room with a girl who you’ll eventually marry and raise a family with, and Bob Dylan was on the record player, well, chances are, Bob Dylan songs and albums will be in your top-10. If you were the future George and Lorraine McFly at the Under the Sea Dance in 1955 and you just punched your bully, Biff, and have your first kiss on the dance floor, then “Earth Angel”, The Penguin’s version of “Earth Angel”, is going to be in your top-10 and you’ll never appreciate Dylan. Read More
Mary Lou and the Cabbage Patch Kids
I’m writing this Blog entry on what would’ve been my Mom’s 79th birthday. Happy heavenly birthday, Mom.
My siblings and I are “80s Kids”. Born in the ’70s and grew-up in the ’80s. Star Wars. GI Joe. MTV. After school specials. The Cosby Show. Miami Vice. Break Dancing. Atari.
My generation, and the ’80s, are defined by pop-culture and fads. And nothing is more early-1980s than Cabbage Patch Kids.
Before social media, somehow, fads happened. Some fads were obvious, like Star Wars action figures or anything born from the characters on Saturday morning cartoons. Other fads were driven by shopping mall culture which, by virtue of a thing being in stores (Jordache jeans, parachute pants, Member’s Only jackets), became a fad. Read More
I Want In-Ear Communication Devices (A Review of Back in Action on Netflix)
I’m not a movie snob. I’m a proud member of the “mass” part of “the masses” and “mass media and entertainment.” So when Netlflix drops a movie with Cameron Diaz and Jamie Foxx and tells me that movie has fighting, guns, and explosions and at least one funny moment in the preview, I’m in.
This wasn’t a cinematic masterpiece and I wasn’t expecting it to be. The jokes were funny. It was predictable with a small twist on the secret-past plotline. Lots of action and John Wick-esque fight scenes. There’s a double cross and another cross (a triple cross).
4 out 5 Hoorays on Don’s Hooray-O-Meter.
For me, however, the most interesting thing were the miniature in-ear communicators – something quickly becoming my favorite Hollywood cliché. I love them and I want some. Read More
Let’s Stop Using Hypophora (If You’re Not Going to Use it Correctly)
In 2025, let’s stop using hypophora in speaking and writing – unless you do it correctly.
See what I did there? I wrote a clear, concise statement of opinion.
Too many people, in real life, are using hypophora or anthypophora – figures of speech in which the speaker poses a question and then answers the question – in weak and unnecessary ways. Further, way too many “professionals” on radio, television, and especially Podcasts use hypophora to such an extent, it sounds like word-salad and makes it hard for the listener. Which is me.
This next paragraph begins with hypophora, but done correctly.
Can hypophora be clever and useful?? According to Ultius, a writing website, hypophora can enable the speaker or writer to anticipate the listeners’ concerns and then address them within the context of the speech or written piece. Read More
Don Kowalewski 