Don Kowalewski
Writer. Ad Sales and Marketing. Social Media Content Creator. Aeropress Coffee. Makes the best salsa in the world.
Things I Love: Helping People
Today I’ll have two meetings and three conversations regarding blogging, writing, and social media. I’m certainly not an expert and haven’t turned my blog into a household name, nor have I written a best seller based on the massive loyal following I’ve acquired through years of writing about American Idol and The Bachelor over at spunkybean.com. But I really like doing it and I learn a little bit more every day.
I’ve learned enough, I guess, that other people who don’t blog or Tweet or engage in conversations on Facebook wonder, hey, how does all this work?
My latest pet project will be for my friend Nick, a quadriplegic who’s been in a wheel-chair since he was 20 as a result of a gymnastics accident. Thing is, his drive and his refusal to let his chair limit him sometimes makes me forget he’s in a wheelchair. If that sounds harsh, it’s not meant to …it’s inspiring …trust me. Travel? He does it. Skydive? He does it. Scuba dive? That, too. In fact, he’s had more worldwide adventures in his 23 years paralyzed than many people have in a lifetime. In a word …he’s living!
So now he’s launching a blog to chronicle his past adventures and start planning new ones. His site is Off the Accessible Path (it’s a play on words around the phrase “off the beaten path”). I love it. In fact, in speaking with him last night, as he was explaining he doesn’t really want to make any money off the site, just wants to inspire others in wheelchairs, show that anything can be done if you put your mind to it, and hopefully help others plan big adventures, I was inspired. Not to skydive (I’m a chicken), but to keep pursuing my dreams and helping others achieve there’s.
Thanks, Nick. Thanks for reaching out to me and flattering me with an opportunity to be a part of something I think can be really great.
Things I Love: Holy cow! Voice to text really works!!!
So I wanted to see if I could really write a blog entry using iPhone voice to text technology. This entry is composed completely via my voice and not typing a single thing on a keyboard.
Pretty much, I’m living in the future and anyone still using a keyboard to type is living in the past.
However, it’s not as easy to talk versus write for a writer. There’s something completely organizational about typing and putting things down on paper or on text format versus speaking.
But I’ll learn.
That’s all I’ve got for now. If you are a writer and have an iPhone or I assume an iPad 2 or 3 has the same technology, try it. I never realized what that little microphone symbol was on the iPhone keyboard right down near the spacebar. On occasion I’ve bumped it with my thumb and didn’t know what it was prompting me to do.
Now I know.
Have a great weekend.
Oh, and here’s a picture of the final present of I Love Don Week, which was an all you can eat crab leg pig-out session with my dad on our birthday. Thanks, Dad!
Things I Love: I Love Don Week (Epilogue)
Congratulations to everyone who made “I Love Don Week 2012” the best “I Love Don Week” of all time. There’s so many people to thank, I don’t know where to begin. And, because this blog is about me, thanking other people would take the focus off of me and I’m not sure that’s the best idea for this blog.
Lead primarily by my wife, and my Dad, here’s the final tally.
o two meat thermometers for better grilling
o an outdoor utility cart/table/cutting board for grilling
o Poland’s Euro/World Cup futbol jersey
o date night at Treat Dreams (in Ferndale)
o USA Soccer warm-up jacket
o scratch n win lottery tickets, which netted $26
o sunglasses (purchased with the lottery ticket winnings)
o Adidas soccer sandals
o double burger-press
o Thai spices
As temps soared across the nation this past week and records were set, I think it’s safe to say the biggest story is the record setting “I Love Don Week” haul of gifts. Plus, I’ve never had so many birthday well-wishers and I think the decade I’ve spent talking about and promoting “I Love Don Week” and marketing my birthday and my brand speaks to the incredible amount of attention I got yesterday on the big day. I don’t have statistics from 10 or 20 years ago, but I’m confident my birthday wasn’t recognized by 300+ people as it was yesterday. It’s interesting because many people say social media is “silly” or “selfish” or “a plague on society” or “a complete waste of time” and “unnecessary” and “leading us to a society of egocentric behavior and narcissism” and …well, you get my point. But I argue the opposite. All joking aside, who doesn’t like a little birthday wish every now and then? Who doesn’t like a little recognition for a great accomplishment? And if you ask me, “who cares about what sandwich I had for lunch?” I’ll answer, “more people than you realize.”
I often hear, “social media …puh …if I want to talk to someone or keep in touch, I’ll call them.” Truth is …no you won’t. Nobody will. And nobody ever did. It’s OK. It’s impossible to keep up with everyone and everything, including birthdays, births, marriages, graduations, and deaths. Social media, and specifically Facebook, makes it possible. Yes, I want to know when an old friend has a baby …and so do alotta people. Yes, I want to see my friends new home and be happy for them. Yes, I want to know how my friend’s wife’s chemo treatments are going. Yes, I want to know when my nieces and nephews make the honor roll, win a championship, or “chill with their BFFs” and no, I don’t understand their inside jokes, youthful humor, or their music (ok, yes I do love their music), but it’s fun to see it all.
Facebook and social media makes it all possible.
I’m sad “I Love Don Week” only comes once a year, but I look forward to next year and setting new records.
Things I Don’t Do: I Don’t Have a Niche.
Sometimes I wonder why this blog doesn’t have 10,000 readers and why I’m not already a highly sought after writer, speaker, and humorist. It’s either (a) I rarely post entries, (b) most people don’t want to read about “Don Kowalewski” and his rambling thoughts, or (c) I’m actually dead but because Haley Joel Osment is still talking to me, I think I’m alive and blogging.
That was a Sixth Sense reference, by the way.
Maybe I should offer advice with every blog entry? Like, I’m writing this blog entry about a lack of measurable results and trying to be funny and then …bam …I switch to a “self help” post where I compare my blog-success with any “success”, be it fitness, dieting, or relationships. The analogy would be easy to create.
Maybe I should end each blog entry with a few questions …questions so good and so compelling even the casual reader will be compelled to answer or pose a question of their own. And I don’t mean I’ll ask “should Roe v. Wade be overturned” or “will Obama Care bankrupt our nation?” That would be pandering and appealing to the lowest common denominator.
Or maybe I should really figure out my “niche.” According to the AMAZING Rochelle Melander, who inspires me every week, my lack of readers could simply be because I’m rambling and unfocused.
Is this a blog about…
- Don?
- Parenting?
- Coffee?
- Writing?
- Being unfocused?
- Finding adventure?
I’m supposed to ask myself, “why am I an expert and worthy to write a blog on a specific topic?” Then I need to identify my reader, what they need, and be able to easily list 25 blog entry titles.
Gulp!
My success (or lack of success) in blogging is because I’m unfocused. My success (or lack of success) in my career is because I’m unfocused. My success (or lack of success) in writing is because I’m unfocused. My success (or lack of success) in fitness and diet is because I’m unfocused.
See what I did there? Blogging, like any craft, vocation, hobby, or effort, won’t be what you envision if you lack focus, dedication, discipline, and consistency. And a niche. For the same reason your blog hasn’t been featured on MSNBC, neither has your amazing body or your
This blog, for now, isn’t going to have a niche and as I tell people, it continues to be a blog for me, about me, written by me. If you happen to stop by and love reading it, well, you’re totally awesome. You must love hearing about my birthday wish-list and my lung conditions.
Why do you read this blog? What topics would you like me to delve into further? If I had legions of loyal readers, I’d have a million comments.
I guess the best I can hope for, for now, is that some of my readers are like me and they have a career, and a hobby, and kids, and commitments, and a marriage, and outside interests, and this blog will feel like the voice inside their heads and it will be something light and fun to read while we all navigate our complicated world.
Here’s another song I’ll be adding to my running playlist. Welcome back, DMX.
Things I Love: I Love Don Week, Day 5
We’re in the home stretch of “I Love Don Week”, that week leading up to my birthday on July 11th. It’s been amazing so far, but there’s always room for improvement. And don’t think this week is all about me …I’ve given you a gift as well. Yesterday I started running, again. 3 miles yesterday and 3 miles today. How is this a gift to you, you ask? Well, I’m working to give you a better version of Don and also extending the number of years the world will be able to enjoy Don’s existence. See? And you thought “I Love Don Week” was the ultimate exercise in self- adulation and arrogance. Just imagine the joy you’ll know when next you see me and I’ve lowered my body weight, my resting heart rate, and start sleeping 7-hours each night …it’ll be like looking at a work of art.
Critics of current parenting often point to the fact parents are constantly rewarding their kids for minor accomplishments or things that aren’t accomplishments at all. They say we give kids a sense of entitlement and importance they don’t deserve and haven’t earned. And I agree …this sense of entitlement and importance should be created on their own. Nobody gave me this current air of superiority …it took years of dedication to selfishness, disillusionment, and self-aggrandizement. I hope my kids look at me and this “I Love Don Week” and they grow up to be just like me. I’m not about to give them their own week …this was my idea. They can invent their own week.
Speaking of running …though today I feel like I was in a car accident, I can tell already, after only 2 days and 6 total miles, that my body is thanking me. This will be my 39th birthday and I’ll be marching swiftly towards 40 and a mid-life crisis, so at least I’d like to turn 40 living a life I control. I’m sure, a year from now, I’m going to have all sorts of regrets and be depressed as I face the reality of aging and mortality, but if I can be healthy …well, it will be one less thing for me to fret about.
Here’s the updated list. It’s still pretty much all my wife …so get on it. Start “loving” Don.
o Adidas or New Balance minimalist running shoes
o a burger press for my grill
o grill accessories (I got two meat thermometers)
o a Weezer vintage graphic tee
o the soccer ball from the Euro cup 2012
o $20 iTunes card
o iPad 3
o quality nose-hair trimmers (a sure sign I’m getting old)
o the men’s line from Arbonne (I’m almost out of everything)
o Fifth of Canadian Club
o 1 lb of Chazzano coffee
o a French Press (hey, I’ve never had one, and I’m a coffee snob, so …I should have one)
o Poland’s Euro/World Cup futbol jersey
o lottery tickets
o America’s World Cup 2014 jersey
o a Mac book
Oh, and here’s the beauty (and depression) that comes with running on a Sunday morning. Fire up an Alternative Rock station on a Sunday morning (on iHeartRadio, for example) and most will be playing “classic alternative”. It’s great to relive some old memories when They Might Be Giants, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Psychedelic Furs, and Depeche Mode come one …but it’s also one more reminder that, hey, dude, you listened to these songs 20 years ago. Haha, you’re old. Nice 10-minute mile, buddy.
That’s how my ego talks to me.
Anyway, this classic Depeche Mode song is, in my mind, their best song ever and turns out has a great tempo for running. And after the video, the recent commencement address by David McCullough that raised quite a stir when he told Wellesley grads, “you are NOT special.”
Things I Love: Don (I Love Don Week 2012)
Of all the blogs I’ve ever hosted and written, this is one of them. It’s also the least cared for and cultivated, which is a shame, because if I ever want to become an Internet sensation, I’m going to have to do much better than 23 posts in a year.
Luckily, there’s one amazing week every year that gets the blog jump-started, and it’s “I Love Don Week” which is, for the newcomers, the week leading up to my birthday. I’m a little late in getting started in 2012 because I went on vacation, but it doesn’t mean “I Love Don Week” doesn’t still happen even though I’m not blogging about it.
It’s Saturday and officially it’s Day 3 of “I Love Don Week”. So far, so good. Last night my lovely wife boughte $10 worth of scratch-n-wins and I won. Solid. Today, she’s taking the driving duties on our three hour car ride home from vacation so I can, ahem, “write”, and that’s what I’m doing. She thinks I’m writing for my clients. Don’t tell her. Oh, and on Thursday she surprised me by starting our vacation by revealing she brought Shuler’s Bar Cheese on our vacation. Usually she doesn’t buy it for me because I’ll eat the whole thing in one sitting and make myself sick to my stomach. But during “I Love Don Week”, an upset stomach is allowed because of my unopposed gluttony.
One thing troubling me, however, is that my wife is doing the bulk of the heavy lifting, and that’s probably my fault. Usually this blog has a wish-list and others can play along. So without further ado, here’s the “I Love Don Week” wish-list.
o Adidas or New Balance minimalist running shoes
o a burger press for my grill
o grill accessories
o a Weezer vintage graphic tee
o the soccer ball from the Euro cup 2012
o $20 iTunes card
o iPad 3
o quality nose-hair trimmers (a sure sign I’m getting old)
o the men’s line from Arbonne (I’m almost out of everything)
o Fifth of Canadian Club
o 1 lb of Chazzano coffee
o a French Press (hey, I’ve never had one, and I’m a coffee snob, so …I should have one)
That’s all I can think of right now, and I should really get to writing for my writing clients and not waste these 2 1/2 hours of travel time alone with my keyboard.
Happy “I Love Don Week!”
Things I Do: Write about The Bachelorette (and more)
I write about American Idol. I write about The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor Pad. I write about new home construction (as a ghost-writer) and making money in luxury real estate (also as a ghost-writer). All this writing and ready-made topics, and at times I still struggle to find motivation.
This summer I’m leaning heavily on the Write Now Coach, Rochelle, to keep me motivated. Today she blogged a tip about managing your social media reputation. In a nutshell, she recommends the following…
- Search for ‘Brand You’
- Set up Google Alerts
- Correct Mistakes
- Create Your Own Content
- Repeat!
For more in-depth analysis, check out the full blog entry.
I tell my writing clients I need only 1/2-hour per day to give them blogs, Facebook pages, and Twitter accounts full of engaging content and interesting things. But the truth is, I need more than that. I need about a half-hour to get warmed up. Then a few minutes to get energized and get the creative juices flowing. Here’s how I get amped up to write.
- Buy a coffee at a coffee shop.
- Log-on to their Wifi.
- Post a FB status message. Send a Tweet.
- Quick read the very last thing I wrote.
- Lament the fact my best writing is behind me.
- Remember the first rule of comedy writing – your work doesn’t suck.
- Check Twitter and hope for an article about writing to distract me or motivate me.
- Sip coffee.
- Check Facebook.
- See if anyone IM’d me.
- Answer emails not about writing.
- Quick write three ideas.
- Pick out some music to stream while writing.
- Eaves drop on any conversation I can hear in the coffee shop.
- Check the clock and see how much time I’ve wasted.
- Panic a little.
- Refer back to my three ideas.
- Quick make tomorrow’s “to do list”.
- Sip coffee.
- Change music selection.
- Once panic has reached capacity, the panic that comes with realizing you’ve wasted nearly 45-minutes doing and writing nothing, turn that panic energy into writing and launch into writing based on my three ideas.
Panic is what, eventually and finally, motivates me. Any ideas how to fix that? How can you create the sense of panic and the level of creation that comes from panic without actually panicking?
Yup …that’s my writing tip. I’m no Rochelle. But she is, and she’s better than a bout of panic, any day.
Write Now! Coach Rochelle Melander is an author,
a certified professional coach, and a popular speaker. Write-A-Thon: Write Your Book
in 26 Days (And Live to Tell About It) is the 10th book authored by Melander, who
teaches professionals how to write fast, get published, establish credibility, and
navigate the new world of social media. Get your free subscription to her Write Now!
Tips Ezine at http://www.writenowcoach.com and sign up to be a member of her Write
Now! Mastermind class for professionals at http://www.writenowmastermind.com
Things I Think: Unbecoming Who I Are
I love Facebook. Anyone who knows me knows that. In fact, I’m dangerously close to a reality where, if you don’t know me on Facebook, you probably don’t know me. It’s like, if you ask me, “what’s up?” and you don’t know about my running jokes and my interest in soccer, writing, American Idol, my hair, and vanity license plates, well, you obviously haven’t done your homework and you’re actually just asking me about myself for your health.
I’m kidding. Sort of.
But what I also like about Facebook is how people post inspiring pictures of kittens, mountains, children, Jesus, or kittens with Jesus and each has an uplifting, motivating message. It’s like a constant source of cool quotes and good thoughts. Then my friend Lisa felt inspired to publish this photo (top/left) to her timeline and I was like, “um, no …I learned who I was back in college and now I’ve spent nearly 20 years trying to un-become who I are.”
I am a guy who likes to sleep about, oh, 18 hours each day, play video games during his waking hours, eat cookies …always. Like, live on cookies and throw in the occasional multivitamin so I’m getting some vegetables. I’m a guy who likes to watch TV while waking and dozing for those 18 hours. Why 18 hours? Because everyone knows when you sleep in front of the TV on your couch, you’re not getting “good sleep” so you need more of it. I learned 18 hours of “couch/TV sleep” was about the equivalent of 7 hours of darkness/night time sleep.
“Who I are” lived 30 pounds overweight. “Who I are” learned to live on $20 a week that my parents gave me. “Who I are” bailed on commitments. “Who I are” wasn’t nice to all people and sorta, ahem, wasn’t respectful to my parents.
So, what I’m saying is …without a filter and without constantly striving to NOT BECOME who I are, I’ve managed to stay employed, keep a wife, and convince everyone I’m able to raise three children.
“Who I are” is a sail boat without someone constantly holding the rutter and the sheets (those are the ropes that hold the sail in place). Thank goodness for everyone holding the sheets, the rutter, and keeping me afloat.
Not sure why I jumped all over this little tidbit of Facebook wisdom, but I just want people to understand …don’t become who you are. Become who you want to be.
Things I Don’t Do: Need to Become ‘Things I Do’
The categories on this blog are as random as the posts and the fleeting thoughts in my head. Too often, a fleeting thought becomes a fleeting action-item which goes onto my to-do list, and then somewhere along the line, it drops off the to-do list or doesn’t transfer from one to-do list to another, and I trick myself into forgetting I was going to do something.
Lucky for me, from time to time inspiration enters my life in the form of friends, mentors, peers, or just some form of debt I’m about to incur because I put the cart before the horse. Like, book a trip to Hawaii for example and then wake up one night realizing, “hey, I can’t pay for that,” and see how your mind races to invent a revenue stream.
At least that’s how I tend to operate.
Today, enter an email from awesome person Rochelle the “Write Now Coach” who’s launching a NaNoWriMo Camp or something this summer for would-be book writers. I’m gonna write a book. I did, recently, actually, and it wasn’t as difficult as I had feared …there’s that word …”fear.” I’m not saying the book was any good (though two friends did actually buy it and read it and say it was “good” and “funny” …so that’s some positive feedback).
Anyway, back to Rochelle. Got an email from her today and she’s doing this, and I’m going to do it, too. NaNoWriMo is short for “National Novel Writing Month” and usually happens in November, but it turns out they want to extend the brand. Slick.
Rochelle’s action-item list in brief looks like this:
1. Choose a project (I’ve chosen THREE projects, mostly because I’ve been putting them off for months)
2. Decide on a word count (each of mine will be around 20,000 each)
3. Choose a cue (mine will be a 5 a.m. cup of Aeropressed coffee)
4. Get rewards (still figuring it out)
5. Get support (it will be my peers at spunkybean, Rochelle, and all the awesome ppl on Twitter with me).
Who’s with me? Check out the links above and get inspired. Oh, and don’t rely on my exclusively because, if you know me, you’ll know this motivation may last only as long as the caffeine from this Americano allows. I can’t recommend this enough …whether you are a writer, painter, or photographer …it’s all art. Rochelle taps into “creativity” and “inspiration” which looks and smells about the same in all artistic endeavors.
Good luck.
Things I Do: Write Stuff and Use Google Docs NEW Research Toola
Like most writers, I’m always seeking the perfect writing environment. The problem is, it’s always changing. I often think I’d write best if I lived in a small cabin over-looking one of the Great Lakes and the air was often crisp and chilled, and I would need to wear a thick wool sweater and drink lots of coffee all the time. I’d have a yellow-lab that loved laying by the fire.
Then sometimes I think, no, a coffee shop surrounded by hipsters using Mac Book Airs would be best.
Or maybe the quaint, simple desk I have in my bedroom and the Logitech Wave Keyboard and huge computer monitor is best.
Just as I can never pin down the perfect writing environment, I’m also always in search of the best writing process. MS Word? Google Docs? Or some other simple, no-frills word-processor for my iPad. “Distraction free” is a real buzz word amongst us writers.
But then sometimes, we writers need distractions …especially when researching for a piece, or looking for links and related articles and images. And for this, I’m in love with the new Google Docs Research Tool which opens up a search window right inside the document editor. It’s totally awesome and my kinda distraction.
If you write alot for the web, I highly suggest it. It’s so great, now I’m going to ask Santa to add a similar feature to WordPress because I compose quite a bit inside WordPress (I know, horrible idea and the best way to ‘lose your work’ because of a lack of ‘auto-save’). Just sayin’. Anyway …Google Docs Research Tool has me all nerdily excited today.
Don Kowalewski 