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Brandon Kowallis

Meeting Minutes Kicks & Giggles

Meeting Minutes

This was a fun joke I sent out to my colleagues after our staff meeting to see if anyone actually bothered to read the minutes. The idea came to me when someone in another meeting I attended made a sassy comment about senior leadership and jokingly said to the administrative assistant, "don't put that in the meeting minutes". I thought, hmm, what if I created a set of meeting minutes that only had notes that shouldn't be included in the meeting minutes. Anyway, I had a fun time writing it and I hope you have a fun time reading it.…
June 13, 2024
Working with Me Philosophy

Working with Me

I got this idea of creating a "Working with Me" document from the Tim Ferriss podcast. I wish I could remember who he was interviewing. The basic idea is that we often assume that other's around us know the best way to work with us because we know what we like. Sort of like a toddler who assumes that everyone knows where the hidden toy is because he hid it and knows where it is. But the reality is that unless you have clearly communicated your preferences for how others should work with you, they probably don't know. And that…
June 12, 2024
On Nature Photography & Relinquishing Control Canyonlands from Mesa ArchNatureObservationsPhilosophy

On Nature Photography & Relinquishing Control

Nature photography is an art of unpredictability. It is an art of acceptance and adaptability, an art of patience and awareness. I was surprised, when I visited Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park, to find amidst the morning stillness, the gradually warming light, and the echoes of little critters going about their day, a handful of cranky photographers who had travelled hundreds of miles to reach this destination and capture an image that had been photographed thousands of times, bickering with “tourists” who were “in their shot”. A shot they had seemingly waited their entire life to photograph, on which…
May 3, 2024
On Being a Dad Expert Kicks & GigglesObservationsPhilosophy

On Being a Dad Expert

As a parent of curious children you have to be pretty much an expert in everything. “Dad, when was Dr. Seuss born?” “Dad, George Washington like cake?” “Dad, do Walruses dream?” “Dad, how do you build an airplane?” And they ask with such complete and utter confidence that you will know the answer to every question that pops into their minds that somehow the answers just seem to come.
March 2, 2024
The Nutty Putty Cave Rescue & the Death of John Jones – One Rescuers Perspective CavingNews

The Nutty Putty Cave Rescue & the Death of John Jones – One Rescuers Perspective

The day before Thanksgiving in 2009 I was invited to assist with the Nutty Putty Cave rescue of John Edward Jones. I ended up being the last person to see him alive, though at the time I arrived he was mostly unconscious. Since that time I have received numerous questions from reporters and curious individuals. Recently there has been an uptick in those requests as a result of some viral videos that have been posted. This is my attempt to provide information and help answer the questions that I am qualified to answer. The day after the rescue efforts failed…
February 23, 2024
Sidewalk Lines Observations

Sidewalk Lines

Obstacles made for entertaining the eyes of the bored, lonely eyes, troubled eyes, thoughtful eyes. Stress day distractions for the passerby thinking, don't look this passing fellow in the eyes. Horizontal canyons in miniature as I walk moving like the frames of film passing memories and imagination. Activating thoughts of times passed by like the trees to each side of me as I walk. A visible metronome ticking with my pace rhythm of imagination's song unraveling from my mind. A song only I can sing.
August 28, 2017
Getting More Out of My Days Yellowstone GeyserPhilosophy

Getting More Out of My Days

Today my thoughts, words, and actions are my choice, To wander aimlessly t’ward every thing that vehemently demands my attention, Or to face my challenges like water; immune to impact, adaptable to change, and always focused toward finding that path that leads toward that great calm body I’ll experience moments good and bad in complete presence of mind. A bright light in the fog that flows fluidly around obstacles whose material illusion is nothing.
June 12, 2017
Creating Goals Worth Pursuing Philosophy

Creating Goals Worth Pursuing

If we are truly interested in achieving our dreams and expanding our ability to make a difference in the world with what we do then we have to make time to make this happen RIGHT NOW. So grab a paper and pencil and get ready to start something amazing. No matter how busy you think you are, you have the ability to make time. The world will still exist tomorrow if you don’t do whatever “busy” to-do item you think is so critical today. Systems can be over-ridden to make exceptions, deadlines adjusted, impatient people will eventually calm down, law suits…
May 12, 2017
8 Questions You Should Ask Yourself About Social Media ObservationsPhilosophy

8 Questions You Should Ask Yourself About Social Media

About three years ago I decided to say adieu to my facebook page. I almost went to the extreme of deleting my account, but decided that perhaps down the road I might find some use in it. I went almost two yeas without logging into my account and then one day figured what they hey and logged back in, luckily, with a completely different perspective than I began with two years prior. Below are the questions that inspired my leave of abscense and my own personal asnwers at the time. How do I feel when I am using social media? I…
May 12, 2017
Beyond the Basics | 6 Ways to Improve Your Cave Photography CavingTeaching

Beyond the Basics | 6 Ways to Improve Your Cave Photography

#1 It’s Not Your Camera The first thing to realize is that when your cave images don’t turn out, it has nothing to do with your camera. It has everything to do with your understanding of light, composition, and how to use the technical components of your camera to creatively communicate your experience underground. A great cave photographer can take a $5000 camera and a $100 camera and create the same amazing shot. If your camera isn’t taking very good pictures it’s probably not a mechanical issue. There is an urban legend out there, a story of painter Pablo Picasso,…
January 29, 2014
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