Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
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
Commercial Critique: Discover Card
I’m a stickler for a good commercial. I overanalyze commercials. Probably because I consider myself part of the “advertising community”. The latest commercial I’ve noticed is from Discover Card and features Matt Leinart. In this ad, a guy (a Dad/dude) notices he’s standing next to Matt Leinart and then notices they both are using a Discover Card. The guy calls “twinsies” and embarrasses himself in a series of Matt Leinart run-ins. Fairly ridiculous, but “ridiculous” can be good in a commercial. However, I think this commercial was trying to be clever and funny instead of “ridiculous.”
This Discover Card commercial is good because I noticed it and remembered it. Points for that. This commercial is bad because of a plot device used to have the Dad/dude notice Matt Leinart and Matt Leinart’s Discover Card.
The dude’s pre-teen (or teenaged) daughter notices and points out Matt Leinart. Read More
Give to Caesar What is Caesar’s
If you were giving me a letter grade on my understanding, reading, and quoting of The Bible, I’m probably a C+ student at best. In fact, when it comes to paying attention in Church, I probably deserve a C there, too.
But when I pay attention, I really pay attention and there’s a Gospel I like and think about often. It’s a great lesson in time management and how you spend your time. Which I know is not Jesus’ intended message, but let me explain.
In Matthew 22:21, the Pharisees asked Jesus what they thought was a trick question or, as we say these days, a “gotcha moment.” They asked Jesus if it was OK to pay taxes to Caesar and waited for him to say “yes” or “no.” If Jesus said “yes”, they’d say he wasn’t loyal to his fellow Jewish people and he’d start to lose his followers. And if he said “no” then they could show him as treasonous against Rome. Read More
My Wife Won Christmas 2024 – And I’m Officially Surrendering
They key to a happy marriage is having an intense rivalry with your spouse. Happy couples should always be tracking who does more around the house, who garners more love and admiration from their children, and other markers like “who remembers more things” and “who had a higher ACT score back in 1990” (for what it’s worth, it was me in the context of my marriage).
Kathy and I have each been in the winner’s circle on various things, and one of our biggest battles is the one-upmanship of who “wins Christmas” or who “wins Mother’s Day/Father’s Day”. But mostly it’s about who “wins Christmas.”
The problem is, Kathy is an incredible gift-giver. She listens. She watches. And she hasn’t bought something from my Stuff I Want List in years. She doesn’t need a list. Kathy has her own ideas and she absolutely nails it every time. She has, like, a 100% success rate. I can’t remember a gift from Kathy that I didn’t like or that I wanted to exchange or return. She’s really good at it. Read More
The 2024 Christmas Card Letter
I love getting Christmas cards.
I appreciate the generic. It’s nice to know someone thinks enough of me to address an envelope and write a little something, even if just “Miss you” or “Let’s get together in the new year.”
I really like cards with pictures of my friends and family. It means they poured over photos that represent a near-perfect moment from the past year, and then also that I mean enough to that person that they sent me a card.
Extra points if the cards are addressed by hand.
But I love, love a good Christmas card letter. Always have. Done correctly, the Christmas card letter is like a mini newsletter updating me on everything with the sender’s family and their year. It was Facebook before there was Facebook. Read More
Announcing My 2025 Goals
I love New Year’s Resolutions, fresh starts, resets, lists, and especially To-Do Lists. I like writing things down (or Blogging about them, same dif’) because it helps me remember. Readers know I use Cal Newport’s Time-Block Planning each day, giving each minute of each day a task and activity. I plan weekends with a list chores, tasks, and To-Do’s to maximize my weekend. I find weekends are more fulfilling when I get to Sunday night and can look back on very specific things I got done.
For me, each year is a fresh start. A chance to review the previous year. Course correct. Change my mind on things. Double down on other things. And make new goals. Even if I accomplish 50%, it will be a fantastic year working on these things.
MY METHOD
Each day, I look at the list at least once. Looking keeps things top-of-mind. I find looking at it daily helps make it stick and lock it into my brain. Read More
Dishwasher: Choose Clean Over Beauty and Longevity
I have this dream that someday, someone is going to set out to build the perfect dishwasher and they’ll send letters and notices to every town and village, and they’ll nail a poster to the front door of town hall saying, “wanted …citizens to volunteer to help build the greatest dishwasher ever built” and crowds will gather and read it, a murmur will begin among the gathered crowds, and I’ll push by everyone, demanding to see what the ruckus is about, My eyes will open wide and my jaw will drop and a small child in the crowd will point at me and exclaim, “Him! He can do it.” For in this village, it is known to all, that I have been busy in my workshop scribbling ideas and designs for a dishwasher that will clean everything every time and will last for decades. A dishwasher that a proud man can leave to his children in his will, and they to their children. I’d rip the flyer from the bulletin board and run home, throw open the door to my home and say to my family, “I must go. My nation needs me. I will help end this vicious cycle of good-enough dishwashers designed to only last for so long and none designed to actually clean dishes,” and my wife will cry, knowing I’m going away, and my kids will beam with pride because their Dad is going to make a difference in the world. And off I would go. Read More
Work-Life Imbalance: A Day in the Life of a Sports Talk and Sports Podcast Listener
Full disclosure (and why I call this the Work-Life Imbalance) …I work for Audacy. I create and sell Sports Partnerships. My business card says “Director of Sports Partnerships.” But that’s not by coincidence. I have this job because this job combines what I’ve been doing for 25+ years and my passions – sports, Sports-Talk Radio, and Sports Podcasts.
Audacy (again, the company I work for) recently conducted a Sports, Sports Fan, Sports Talk listening study. It tells a great story and gives lots of facts and figures about what marketers need to know about sports fans, but I want to quick explain, if you’re a brand, how you reach a guy like me.
I WATCH SPORTS
Yes. I watch sports. I love sports. I’ll never miss a Michigan State football or basketball game. I’ll never miss a Lions game. If cable TV and the Pistons, Red Wings, and Tigers could get along, I would always have those games on, even if in the background. I watch some Premier League soccer. I’ll watch the NFL on Monday, Thursday, all day Sunday and Sunday evening and I’ll watch college football from sun-up (starting with ESPN’s “College Gameday”) until sundown. Read More
Don Kowalewski 