Her name is Ziba. Try to pronounce that name without messing it up, and yes she is amazing just like her name. She is one of those very few people who smile when they speak. Her name starts with the letter Z, and just like the letter she will always have your back.

My friend Ziba lives in Chicago and she owns an awesome dance company! It has amazing wordplay. Ziba calls it, “Confidance Chicago”. I really wish that I could think of something that amazing.

Ziba is one of the most confident upstanding people that you can meet, and for her to teach a confidence class through the art of dance is wonderful. I have a friend who teaches classes on how to be confident but is disguised as a hip-hop dance class. How cool is that?

Since I live far from Chicago, I can’t ever take one of her classes. Which brings up the problem for this article in which I wouldn’t know what I’m writing about. Therefore, I need to take this class because it is so amazing to know that someone out there in this world has the strength, energy, and charisma to do this.

My plan is to attend one of her classes when I go to Chicago next. Then, I will write more into detail about what I know about Confidance Chicago.

I love it when my friends do cool things and tell me about it. So, it is only right to be supportive in big and small ways. I have talked to Ziba about Confidance Chicago plenty of times, and I even saw her during my last visit in December. That is a way of being supportive, but now I am ready to take the next step forward by taking a class.

I can’t wait to meet people who are taking her classes, to see her studio, and for the post-class discussion. Self-reflecting is very important for having good and well balanced mental health. A lot of self-reflection can be visualized through dancing, and with hip-hop music becoming the most popular music that is dominating the game right now, she could possibly start a chain of dance factories all over the US. This is because of the need due to the growing demand of people wanting to learn how to dance with hip-hop music.

Imagine the lights. Confidance “Your City Here”.

There is so much potential in this opportunity that she created for herself. I can’t wait to see it grow, and I want to do my best to help her spread the good word about her mission. This is why I need to take one of her classes, which makes me so ecstatic because even I need a confidence boost.

We all need a boost in confidence in our lives. This is why we should all do something different and try new things. I haven’t taken a dance class since high school, and dancing isn’t a regular thing for me like when it was when I was going to school.

Anyway, the next time that you find yourself in Chicago, be sure to check out one of her dance classes! You can find out more about her dance company here at confidancechicago.com.

Keep reading so that I can keep you posted about my experience of taking a dance class from my amazing friend Ziba.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

As I have been slowly transitioning into the most exciting years of my adulthood at age 25, I have come to realize what my top five little trinkets of foodie love are that instantly make me happy. This should go for everyone because when depression strikes, we should all know what will cheer us up for at least five minutes to make us forget about our stressful situations.

Here’s mine, and most importantly I’d love to know what yours are as well!

1. Pancakes.

My Father would always make my family pancakes every Sunday when I was growing up. There have been countless memories ever since I was a boy of him making pancakes. Now as an adult, every time that I eat pancakes I always think of the great memories that I had of him making pancakes. One memory to point out was whenever the last blueberry pancake was up for grabs, he would always give it to my little sister because she was simply his “Little Blueberry”.

 

 

2. Caffeine. From Coca-Cola, Coffee, and Tea. (Anyway you can get it).

This stimulant of the methylxanthine class makes the world go round and round. I have countless stories of how the three have saved my life, not only because it gives me focus and energy but when it has jolted happiness in my life. Most notably Coca-Cola because of the fact that it almost cures everything for me. Stress, depression, anxiety, headaches, and even the common cold. Whenever I think of Coke, it reminds me of my childhood and the good times that I had drinking it at a birthday, pool, hockey, and all sorts of childhood parties and celebrations.

 

 

3. Doughnuts.

This energy packed pastry was the last to enter my list which is now a major staple in my Top 5. After I had my first ever major hospitalization in my life, my cousin took me to Bogart’s Doughnuts on 36th and Bryant in Minneapolis and it changed my life. I love Bogart’s with all of my heart, and whenever I go there it is my duty to purchase more doughnuts to give to some of the people that I will see during that current day. Why? Well, because it would be selfish to eat these amazing doughnuts all to myself. My favorite coffee shop, Canteen 3255, sells Bogart’s on Friday’s, which makes me ecstatic because it combines two of my top five favorite places in Minneapolis.

 

 

4. Vietnamese food.
Pho, bun bo hue, bun rieu, broken rice, bun, spring rolls, and Vietnamese ice coffee; it is all amazing. You probably grew up on mac and cheese with hot dogs, well I grew up eating Pho. Vietnamese food is so healthy for you that it is insane why Americans don’t just change their diets over completely to eating yummy Vietnamese cuisine. If I could choose one lunch and dinner food for the rest of my life, it would be Vietnamese food due to its history of Indo-Chinese colonization from France, because the French influence fuses both east and west cultures together. This is the secret to why Vietnamese food is one of the world’s greatest gems. Besides my Mother, Pho Tau Bay on Eat Street is my favorite place to get Vietnamese food as I have been a patron there since I was a boy.

 

 

5. Pizza.
Your friends can’t always be there for you at three in the morning, but pizza will. I could write an article about the history of pizza and why it is so significant to the world. In my personal opinion, pizza is the official food of the world. I mean, who doesn’t love a good pizza party?

 

 

Notice how three of the five on my list are various forms of glucose. Sugar is the most addictive substance in the world and is even more addictive than cocaine, and the reason for this is because sugar makes you happy! What are your top five happiness foods that instantly make you happy when you are depressed, anxious, or just down in the dumps? Comment below and let me know what makes you happy at first bite! I’d love to find out.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

As I have come of age, like Will Hunting, Holden Caulfield, or Peter Parker, there are many realities that hit you hard in the head as an adult, one of them being death. When I turned 24, many people in my life started dying. From family members, friends, and old acquaintances more people have been passing away in my life.

 

 

This isn’t a coming of death story, but I am writing this from a young person perspective of realizing the realities of death.

There is a major genre of literature, poetry, music, and cinema that reflects on a youthful protagonist that comes of age, known as the “coming of age story”. With all of the things that I believed in my heart when I was young, they all just seem like coasters for beers and clean surfaces for the naive negligence of the cruel reality of death. With that, as I have grown older in my life story, I have realized that death is a real thing in this life.

They say that once you turn 50, you will be going to more funerals than weddings. I have been to more funerals than weddings in my 20’s, and I hate funerals. Man, they are stressful, emotional, and very morbid. These are adjectives that I do not like to associate myself with.

One can argue that death is beautiful rather than it is tragic. If one lives a full life, was a good person, and left the world a better place then yes, life coming to an end is beautiful. But, if one is a horrible person such as a murderer, then their death means justice. I may be wrong, but what I am right about is that death means that there are many mysteries of definitions. For example, I had to watch my Grandfather slowly die every day in the hospital for over a month and a half. Now looking back on that experience, I wish he would have died a beautiful death which would have been swift.

This is not just.

Why do people on death row have it easy when they are sentenced the death penalty? Whereas, a person who lives a good full life has to suffer from a disease, cancer, or a virus that doctors fight to save them from. This causes suffering, and no death is worth suffering unless there will be the triumph in the end.

Many people on their death beds either decide to fight or accept death. Some people grow old and realize that they do not have any real reason to be around anymore, and others have reasons to stick around. There are so many factors when it comes to all of this.

Do we accept death or do we reject it? But, that is the point! When we are younger, we tend to reject the concept of dying. But as we grow older and we experience more people’s lives coming to an end, we come to understand that death is a part of life; the only thing that is guaranteed in life.

With that, there are many coming of age stories. But, why aren’t there any coming of death stories? Yes, there is the tragedy genre that always ends in death, but we never really learn anything about death. Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” is a tragedy where death leads to the advancement of one’s own self-betterment of taking power in the world. This is why tragedies are what they are, but why aren’t there any coming of death stories?

If death changes, influences, and effects people then why isn’t this a major genre? I define the coming of death story is one’s acceptance of death and how it changes your perspective on reality. I may be utterly wrong about this but this concept of a coming of death story has been making me scratch my head for the last six months.

In my case, after seeing so many loved ones die in the past year I have realized that I am lucky that my parents are healthy, my sister is safe, and my friends are taking care of themselves. At any moment we could fall to the ground, never wake up from our sleep, have an allergic reaction to something, and etcetera.

Once we come of age, we will eventually come to the realization of death. My realization is that I am truly blessed for good health. This article isn’t about a coming of death story, but I wanted to throw the idea out there for a novel, movie, or maybe a song that could be produced.

Who knows, maybe I could write that book. But, I am not really certain of what this new school thought of a genre that I may or may not have created.

This has been something that has been really bothering me upstairs in my head for quite some time, and it has been very difficult for me to process it to create my own conclusions. What is your definition or interpretation of a coming of death story? Feel free to comment below so that I can learn from your thoughts.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

Here is a contributing writer to my blog. Francis Lee Carlson, an employee at my restaurant has a very big imagination and decided to create a fictionalized cartoon version of myself. After I read it, I thought it would be okay to honor his request to keep this post on my blog. If anyone wants to write an article on my blog, feel free to contact me. 

Remember, these are Francis’ words and not mine. I hope you enjoy the next 192 words of pure gloriousness. 

Hey, have you guys ever jump onto zoo tycoon and realize what a train wreck your life has become? That was my last night when I came back from my last day at my family’s wine bar. We were all set up to have a huge night. But alas and alack, nobody showed up. Just kidding, it was crazy AF. I proceeded to shout “closing time” at the top of my lungs as I zoomed in my full sized Hylander going 95 down 35W. After I got out of my car, I pounded seven four locos, and my best friend Seamoan went out for some late troll hunting. We hit up some badminton on the quad after waking up from yet another mushroom pass out. The next part is hazy but I’m almost positive that I met up with a Flash Gordon knockoff and the two hottest of the Berstein Bears and went on an absolute grind collecting all the overdue change from the Uptown parking meters. The moral of the story is, love yourself. Be the best David Zosel you can be. Be on the lookout for King’s Part 2: Electric Boogaloo.

Remember, I know everything.

-Francis Lee Carlson.

What beautiful words. I am still trying to process this fictionalized version of myself and it seems a lot more crazy than my life actually is. But, I am a writer which means my life is crazier than yours. If you would like to post a short article about a fictionalized version of me, feel free to contact me. 

This may be the first of many articles written about my family’s restaurant, Kings Wine Bar. It may be the last as well, as I am pouring my heart out before I have to leave my house for my third to last shift at Kings. The news struck town on Tuesday on social media that my family sold our restaurant a few days ago to an outside corporate buyer. With our final day approaching very soon this Saturday (3/24/18). I just wanted to tell a quick anecdote about this crazy little thing called owning a family restaurant.

 

 

 

When my Father moved me out to Los Angeles to attend film school, we visited my second cousin who owned a chain of pizza restaurants in Pasadena. She told us about the business and offered to franchise the company out in Minneapolis. As business goes, things fell through. My Mother suddenly was all in for owning a restaurant. The concept still remained to own a pizza restaurant.

Despite that my dream didn’t come true of becoming a filmmaker, the silver lining was that my Mother’s dream was going to come true.

After hunting for spaces, investors, and talking to many consultants we found a charming little neighborhood spot called Kings Wine Bar. My parents knew it had a lot of potential in the historic neighborhood of Kingfield in South Minneapolis.

It happened so fast. I was stunned. My family and I had no previous experience in the industry. It was crazy bloody bedlam from purchasing a restaurant, then having to bartend during the first two weeks of my parents buying Kings with zero experience being a bartender before. But, all we had was a remarkable Mother with a dream to share her food with the entire world, and we wanted to support and protect her dream.

My family was in a whirlwind, and so was the Kingfield neighborhood. The possibilities were endless. We had a restaurant in South Minneapolis, it was badass, romantic, and life was all but a dream. As I have written before on my blog, achieving your dreams are amazing but living them out is the greatest challenge. My parents had many plans for the restaurant and they executed it very effectively. They became the first Pan-Asian wine bar in South Minneapolis, or maybe in the Twin Cities. The first thing that we did was that we rolled out what Jim Walsh proclaimed as “The Best Pho in Town”.

I am proud that we sold thousands upon thousands of bowls of pho and over 400,000 thousand egg roll’s in the last three years, my Mother’s specialties.

My family pioneered many new precedents. Of the many, the most notable to mention the great events that have never been done before such as “Pho/Streetfood/Asian Tacos Your Way.” We consistently had the musicians Billy Johnson and El Vikingo perform at our restaurant. We created “Souper Bowl” week to celebrate the Super Bowl with new soups that we put on special.

The last thing that we will set a precedent for is to come out with a craft sake bomb entitled, “The Minnesota Sake Bomb”. Mixologist Ryan Martinez-Garcia developed this craft cocktail to celebrate our final weekend. He is a known craft cocktail artist that I consulted with for Kings to become the first craft sake cocktail bar in South Minneapolis. But, due to the abrupt selling of Kings, this pioneering vision of mine will be held to a halt. But, that will not stop me from selling his amazing sake bomb which will consist or Loon Juice Cider, and a bay leaf spiced infused sake shot that will be dropped and pounded by our loving customers. It will be unforgettable.

 

 

We have created many new precedents in this industry but I am the proudest of one thing. My Father and I created an unofficial program of hiring all student’s from Washburn Highschool to learn the ins and outs of the business. Together we created a system of training and development that cross-trained these kids how to perform tasks from everything as wait assisting, dishwashing, prep cook, cold side cook, and hot side cook. The next phase of this program that we had was to teach all of them to become servers when they turned 18 years old. I am devastated that this did not happen as we only have two 18-year-olds on staff. But, I was able to train one of these remarkable kids on how to do barbacking duties.

 

 

With that, all of the 15 kids who work for us are now able to get a job at any restaurant as they leave for college next year due to this amazing experience. I think that is pretty incredible that we were able to do that.

 

 

Never will they be able to have an experience of going to work with all of their best friends from school, having a blast at work, and doing incredibly crucial duties to make a business run. They will never have a boss that will be as cool as I am as well. Let’s not forget about that.

 

 

I will miss my staff the most. As the assistant general manager, they weren’t even my employees, they were a part of my family. Along with my family, I now have three older sisters, two uncles, nine little brothers, and one baby sister named Annie.

I’ve enjoyed every second of attempting to be a good role model for all of our Washburn kids. I will miss them the most. These are kids who had the responsibility for their education, extra-curricular activities with sports and musicals, their co-curricular activities at Kings, and their own individual passionate pursuits in life. When I was their age, all I did was play hockey and that was my focus. This gave me a great life-changing perspective now as I look back at my youth.

They came to work every day with crucial responsibilities that ran a multi-million dollar establishment, and they stepped up to the challenge every single day.

I am so proud of my family and what we have been able to give to the past kids and especially the current ten of them, “The Badboys and the Supergirl” of Kings Wine Bar.

The list goes on and on towards all of the things that we did differently for a restaurant, and for all of the amazing events that we did. But, the best part was that I got to see my entire family on a daily basis. Not many adults get to have that.

I am going to miss seeing my Mom every day, and I’d never thought I was going to say that again. The last time I said that was on my first day of pre-school as she left for work. But, what I can’t handle is how much everyone loved my Mom and how they sacrificed their sweat, blood, and tears for her. Every time I think about that it brings me to tears. Especially the Washburn kids, they loved my Mom like she was their own mother. It wasn’t a job to them, it was and always will be their family.

I will never have a greater honor or achievement in my life than to have worked for my family and to support my Mother’s dream.

It has been an honor for my family and me to have provided a wonderful place to have a great experience in the Kingfield neighborhood.

Kings Wine Bar was not only my Family’s restaurant, it was a restaurant that was disguised as our living room. Thank you to everyone who came to hang out with my family and eat our food in my living room.

 

 

In the big picture, I am so proud of my Mother, and I am so set at ease that she will not be working 100 hours a week anymore, which included many hours of her corporate job at Medtronic. I can finally start to not worry about her health. Every night after work I would walk her to her car and kiss her goodbye and say a little prayer to God that she wouldn’t fall asleep at the wheel.

We never “called it quits”, this was all about her health and for her to relax for the first time in three and a half years, which is the reason why we sold it.

We never quit, because all of us will move on and pursue other passions and dreams with the positive preserving perspective that Kings Wine Bar stowed upon us. 

As I raise this imaginary glass of Trapiche Broquel Malbec, here is to all of you. To my new friends and family. You all made this wild rollercoaster of a ride for my Mother, a Chinese immigrant from Vietnam, with a dream of sharing food to Kingfield one of the greatest experiences of her life.

From the Kings family to yours, we love all of you so much.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

 

 

Depression is a waste of time. It is just a period where we feel hopeless and sorry for ourselves. This is how I find justice when I am depressed. These are a few things that I do in order to bounce back and defeat depression.

Defeating depression is like playing in an NHL or NBA playoff series. But, only in the championship form. Here are very effective techniques, which I discovered are best used to neutralize depression in a week or two.

One week is a seven-day playoff series. If you win four days (games) that means you win the week. In a perfect world you would win on Monday through Thursday in a 4-0 sweep. But, all you need to is win 4 out of 7 days a week. How easy is that?

The key is to “win the day”.

This concept should help you get out of depression immediately. Seriously, do it. You can’t sit inside and feel sorry for yourself.

Get out and face the storm!

First, I want you to do something different this week. If it is successful, then keep doing it. If it isn’t, well then stop that shit. Depression is a state of grey monotony, and if you live life without color, then things will only get worse. Add color to your life by doing new things.

Next, we should all count all of our small win’s and build off of the momentum of winning. For instance, washing your hands, and making your bed. Brushing your teeth is always a huge victory for me before I go to bed. This is because it is the best way to cap off your day and solidify the victory.

Build on the success of your small victories to set yourself up to “win the day”.

Third, do one damn thing at a time! Seriously, stop trying to be Superman. It is okay to be Clark Kent every now and then. Did you know how Clark Kent was a famous and successful journalist because he did one thing at a time and was thorough about it? Depression is a gift due to its ability to harness being thorough.

Fourth of all, treat yourself. But don’t use this card very often as it will create an addiction to depression. When I was severely heartbroken, I bought myself a pair of Air Jordan’s then suddenly, I got over it. But, it still took me a full week.

People feel sorry for themselves and buy things. This creates an addiction to purchasing many unnecessary goods. Only treat yourself once in a blue moon. Use this card wisely.

Next, number five, we will proceed on to the physical activity method. Do I need to explain why exercise is good for you? Do something active two to three times a week when you’re depression kicks in. If you don’t like going to the gym then join a softball league or something along those lines. It will give you something to look forward to once or twice a week.

Six. Well, I need you to take this one seriously. Be goofy. If you’re scared to do that then jump up and down on your bed so no one will see you. Don’t they say, “Dance like nobody is watching”, or something like that? Seriously, I need you to be goofy for me.

Number seven, drink a lot of water. I cannot emphasize this enough! We are made of water, if we are dehydrated then we will always feel like a cactus; dried up.

Buy a water bottle with a bright color, and always have it filled at all times. Whenever you see your water bottle please make sure that you take a sip out of it.

Moving forward to number eight, when you are depressed, make sure you close whatever chapter that you are going through and move on. This is because you have written one chapter. Can you go and rewrite your past? No, so move on.

Being depressed is a waste of time, yet we all have it. We all do it. I’m not perfect. Hell, I was depressed last week. Now, I am happy because I told meadowlarks that I am not depressed.

You gotta tell the birds off.

Number nine, number nine. Create a strategic winning routine to propel yourself to a successful happier day.

Last, do your duty. If you can wake up, do the small things, and stick to your winning routine then you can beat depression fairly quick. If you do your duty of taking care of your responsibilities then you will feel better. This requires major mental toughness and will. So, if you are depressed and it keeps you from going to school, work, or to an engagement then that is no excuse. Do your duty.

These things are ways that I beat depression in two weeks or less. Sometimes it will beat it in a day.

Don’t be depressed. Life is short. It is really just a waste of time.

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

He is the poster boy for Bipolar Disorder, a severe mental illness that affects 5.7 million of Americans. Kurt Cobain, one of music’s all-time greats, may have defined this mental illness and at the same time may have given it the worst stigma possible. Bipolar disorder is a scary thing. A fine example of this is the life and career of Kurt Cobain.

We all know about Kurt Cobain and his crazy life and tragic death. But, I wanted to highlight the fact that his success could be attributed to his Bipolar disorder because it is a gifted curse. Yes, it is terrible but it is amazing at the same time. Without knowing that he was diagnosed for a long time, he was tortured by demons in his head. It would ease his pain by creating all types of mediums of art, not just music. By doing so, this would channel those demons. Bipolar disorder was never an excuse for him to pursue his dreams of playing music. He took his oblivious mental illness and serendipitously used it to his advantage, becoming one of music’s biggest icons.

Kurt addresses his Bipolar disorder and usage of the drug Lithium in his song entitled, “Lithium”. This song is all about the process of having a mental breakdown and what it is like to have and be treated for bipolar disorder. I don’t want to interpret the entire song is but, here are three major points that highlight this mental illness.

When on Lithium, it puts you in a state of mind that is altered away from your chemical imbalance. It will shift your mood in order to balance it out. “I’m so happy because today I found my friends. There in my head…”, is the opening line of the song which means that he feels fine because he is not okay while he is not on the drug because he feels unsafe and crazy without his friend, medication. When he is not on the drug, demons fill his head, but while medicated, his friends fill his head.

Being bipolar is rough right out of the gate, but after you’ve been put on Lithium specifically, nothing seems to matter at all. It makes you feel content. Not too high or low, and that is what Lithium hazily does. That is the flipside of that coin. Every day will suddenly feel the same due to the power of this drug. Before taking Lithium, every day for a bipolar person feels the same, but you feel like a different person. This is a major theme for people with bipolar disorder. The line, “Sunday morning is every day for all I care…”, reflects well on this statement because while on the drug, every day feels the same, and you will feel the same every day, like a happy-go-lucky zombie.

This is a major reason why this drug and prescription medications are feared with also having a bad stigma.

Along with his other best songs, his lyrics can be interpreted in many different ways. The song is all about the flashes of emotions that Kurt has to deal with. We all can relate to this to some certain extent. Even without the lyrics, you can feel the music shifting between two states of mind, which is symbolic of this gifted curse.

With the bridge of the song, he talks about not cracking or breaking down, and he then proceeds to splurge on an array of emotional changes that he deals with without the drug. He flashes all of his emotions that torture him; like, miss, love, kill.

People with bipolar disorder generally do very cool things, having very inspiring professions. With that, if channeled correctly, victims can find success in life because a major cure for this disease is to use it to your advantage through pursuing what you are passionate about. Yes, it is that torturing and the only way to make life a little more bearable, for anyone, is to pursue your passion.

Kurt Cobain is one of many people in the world who has a mental illness which is a common thing amongst many. If we could learn anything from him, is that it is possible to channel your inner demon to become your best possible self.

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

There he is, Mr. Sunshine, here to melt all of our Minnesota winter blues all away. Be careful though, because you may slip on the icy sidewalks of Minneapolis’ slippery spring, due to all of Old Man Winter’s snow that is melting away. Yes, it is March and the birds are singing and ringing in. This is the opening act of spring, a time where our aura begins to change.

 

 

The season of new life has a pattern of changing the Minnesotan culture every year at around this time. People are smiling more, spending more time outside, and overall we are in a better mood because of the excitement that was contained during the long cold crisp winter. Primitively speaking, this is due to the changes in nature that inspire hope, happiness, and the positive changes that spring brings.

Beside the point, as the weather gets warmer, we go crazier.

Yes, that is right. Crime rates are going to go up, clearance sales are beginning at malls, rose (wine) sales are beginning to take off, and baseball season is right around the corner. As we transition to the summer, many of us will be hitting the gym more diligently to achieve that nice beach body physique for the summer. This is so that us millennials can be confident about non-narcissistically posting all of our partying pictures on Instagram of us acting like we live the T-Pain and Kanye West, “Good Life”, on Lake Minnetonka from our parent’s boats.

Yes, we have survived the dark stumbling months of winter from October till now. It is time to party, and fiesta season starts on St. Patrick’s day and the holidays will ensue until Labor Day, the day where the summertime partying mania will end for us Minnesotans.

Be careful, slow down, because it will all end in a blink of an eye, and then we will begin to burrow our way back to winter. Girls will be breaking out their sundresses that have been hanging in their closets for the past nine months, and all the boys can finally wear bro-tanks, snapbacks, Ray-bans and all of that basic jazz. The beer will be cold, the summertime bars will open their rooftops and windows, and last we will all be wound up into our idiosyncratic summertime romances.

What we look forward to with summer around the corner is unfolding like a Shakespearian opening act, spring. With that, there comes tragedy, such as days that devastate us with snowstorms in March and April that deflates all of our hope for the new season. But, there will be many more days that inspire hope, with glorious sunshine, and furious lust that the sun will thresh upon us that will lead into the climax of the summertime mania that Minnesota is stumbling into.

On this snowy day, let us step outside and not be afraid, power through this storm and go down to your local pub, raise our glasses to the opening act of spring. Straighten our backs and break the ole winter barricades, and celebrate our spring with a Minnesotan parade.

Let’s stay inspired on this snowy day because it will all go away. So, remember that it is the opening act of spring because the birds are ringing in.

Welcome, springtime. It is about time you showed up and opened the act for the main headliner, called “Summertime Mania”.

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

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Many rock stars, celebrities, and significant influential people of whom despite their successes are severely tortured by the swaying array of emotions of mental health. Not many people know that over 450 million people suffer from these chemical imbalances in their brain. One very notable musician, Bruce Springsteen, suffers majorly from depression.

Like many musicians, Bruce majorly struggled before he became “The Boss”. For entrepreneurs, artists, and strong individuals who try to pave their own path individually, there comes major highs and lows. So, imagine for a second that you can feel the lowest of hopelessness. Then, suddenly when something good or promising happens to you that you feel like you are going to take over the world, becoming one of the greatest touring acts of all time. The Boss is 68 years old and he uses his greatest struggle of depression to his advantage, being able to channel it to become his greatest power.

But this is never an easy task for anyone, even for The Boss.

Growing up, his father struggled with severe alcoholism and it created a major impact on his life. There it is, he is more relatable than what is on his exterior, and many people realize that. This is why with his ability to use his adversity with his father and his depressive weakness, he has overcome to use it as a superhuman ability to be able to touch audiences from all over the world.

A great example of him being able to connect with people are the songs, “Thunder Road”, and the follow-up song, “The Promise”, which was basically his part II. Thunder Road is about taking chances with relationships, individuality, changes, and life itself. It’s about running away and being free, happiness, love, and joy. This song is about being a dreamer, which we all can relate to.

Then his come down happens due to his experiences with depression and how he had to deal with adversity in his life. “The Promise” is all about facing your dreams becoming a reality or for them to fall apart. The let down from your dreams hits Bruce hard in the gut, that spirals his depressive episodes. This is why he is so relatable to many people. “The Promise” teaches us that we need to be dreamers in order to come to face with reality and that depression is a good thing because when we as humans face the excitement of experiences that he talks about in “Thunder Road”, we can learn to appreciate them even more so.

Sure, he is a big rock star, and it seems like all of his dreams have come true. But, this lesson of this two-part song that touches on the issues of mania and depression teaches us a lot about false and true realities which make him admired by many. Bruce is the epitome of a person whose dreams have come true, but he teaches us that as much as he wanted that to happen, he realizes the reality of it wasn’t as easy and glorifying as it seemed to be.

This is why he has been able to overcome his struggles of depression and prolonging his dreams by turning it into one of his greatest strengths.

Mental health is not a disease if you let it be. He was presented with this adversity, and he used it to his advantage and that is why he is the icon that he is today.

With the subject of mental health, I wrote a book called “Gray Poopon”. If you would like to purchase a copy of my mental health (bipolar) memoir on Amazon, here is the link to get your paperback copy.

Also, if you prefer the Kindle version, here is the link to purchase your ebook. 

 

 

 

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

Here is a small excerpt from my first book, “Gray Poopon”, which is the first volume of my series, “Conquering the Gifted Curse of Bipolarism”. This is a real-time memoir of the changes that I go through with prescription medication to aid my Bipolar 1 Disorder. This is a documentation of slowly discovering powerful interior and exterior changes while taking medication. This is extremely personal information where I provide brutal honesty regarding my fears, current life adversity, self-betterment, and the quest to finding balance.

CS Lewis says in his preface of his novella, The Great Divorce, “ I do not think that all who choose wrong roads perish; but their rescue consists in being put back on the right road. A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on.”

Then Lewis goes on to say, “Evil can be undone, but it cannot ‘develop’ into good. Time does not heal it”. If I’ve done something wrong it cannot be fixed because time has passed, I have to fix it myself. If I want to be a better person then I have to go down the right road to greatness. Last, if I were to go down the wrong road, I would have to go back and fix it. Two steps forward, one step backwards would apply to that. This is why heaven and hell can never be married; they are different essences. Heaven and hell in my case would be mania and depression, but in this case it can be married and it is called equilibrium. But, I want to call it “Phi”, the golden spiral, which correlates to how symmetrical balance is perceived to be life’s beauty because it is beautiful to those who view its balance.

CS Lewis wants us to know that life is full of choices and once we make those choices, we cannot go back because of the constraints of time. I cannot give up on my journey of my medication and using it to aid my self-betterment. This is because once we take a path and make a decision we shouldn’t give up and go back to take the other path again. This applies to me because I need to stay strong to my self-discipline, perseverance, and commitment. The theme in this novel is that Lewis wants us to understand the ideas of salvation through the metaphors of heaven versus hell.

The bottom line is that I am happy about this slow transformation and I am not used to feeling healthy like this at all. With this Gray Poopon regiment, at my dosage level I am starting to see the light of salvation, but that light at the end of the tunnel is very far away.

When I gave up on medication before, I sunk into a major dark spot in my life because I realized what I was capable of. Knowing that you are bipolar or any mental health disorder changes everything for you if you’re are conscious of it. Some people have no control of their self-aware consciousness about it because they mentally cannot. If we can be capable of this then I truly believe that is the first step in the right direction. The next step would be the acceptance of it.

But my determination kicked in when I was diagnosed, and I became hell bent on getting better because I knew that in order for me to fight this beast, I had to relearn how to do practically everything. From talking to people, eating out, handling myself in public to getting into a healthy routine. Everything had to be relearned.

54 This is my second renaissance phase. Right now, I have to relearn everything all over again because feeling centered is so foreign to me.

Good thing that this Grey Poopon (Lamictal) doesn’t make me want to kill myself. Most importantly, I am happy that I have not consumed alcohol for 22 days now and this has helped me rediscover myself.

Handling relationships, social situations, routines, work ethic; the whole nine yards are all in the process of being relearned.

“You’re like Chinese food, Lo mein. I get on up like a soul train. Down low like a U-boat. My voice is so sweet like a canary song. Open your book it is time for a read along. I feel fresh like a jar of Grey Poupon. Just got a haircut, can finally scratch my neutrons. Beat you at Nintendo 64, Tron. That’s right I’m the Bozzy Bentley running marathons.”

Want to read more?

If you would like to purchase a copy of my book on Amazon, here is the link to get your paperback copy.

Also, if you prefer the Kindle version, here is the link to purchase your ebook. 

 

Remember,

“The Zos Knows”

-David Zosel 

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

Are you tired of the same old shit? Doesn’t waking up, going to work, and all that jazz stir up the monotony of your life? Ninety-nine percent of us lead pretty repetitive lives to some consistent extent.

We see and talk to the same people. We go to work at the same time and place. We go to the same bars. We live in the same house. This list can ensue, but this is what insanity is.

A lot of us are photosynthesizing, and watching paint dry on the wall right now.

So, let’s not do the same thing and get the same result. But, if you’re insane then you would be trying to do the same thing in order to get a different result. That is what insanity is presented to us in a society based on that idiom or metaphor type statement. The best example that I can think of is the life of work, where we clock in and do our work and then we get our paychecks. But, we think that after working hard for so long that we will get a promotion or that it will lead to another opportunity.

 

 

But, wouldn’t it be a little crazy to do different things in order to achieve different results? To be honest, we all want different results but we all do the same thing over and over again, obtaining the same reward, like a paycheck.

The people who succeed in environments like this are ones who think and do things differently, and that is why they get different results rather than just a simple paycheck. Yes, we are all insane if we are monotonous.

That stuff gets old.

From a personal standpoint, I don’t do anything the same. This is why my life is fascinating, not to brag. People always tell me that I always have the craziest stories, encounters, and events in my life. This is because I do things, think, and act differently.

But, the problem that I am having now is that my life is becoming more monotonous and it is driving me insane. How do people deal with this? Is this a brainwashing trap that people walk into?

Stop drinking alcohol this week. Eat a different cuisine. Hangout with someone old or new. Go on a date. Take a chance. Wake up at five in the morning. Go to the movie theatre. Try to do one new thing a day that is for yourself and that is out of the ordinary, whether it is in work life or in your personal life. Who cares, dare to be different for five fucking seconds of your life.

Going out of your comfort zone is refreshing and it gives your life perspective. I always tell people that sometimes if you try something new, life will reward you. For me, this is true.

So let’s be young, say yes, and be crass enough to step over the line and make serendipitous mistakes that we may or may not learn from. Taking chances by stepping outside will provide a beautiful energy to give us that boost that we need in the war of mankind versus monotony.

I want to call an old friend that I haven’t spoken to in 10 years this week and see what he or she is up to. For it is absolutely magnificent to see how others are doing. Personally, I have never eaten Indian food before, maybe I will go do that. Black Panther seems like a cool film, and I have never seen a movie in a theater by myself before.

So why not?

Life is too long to just dance to one tune, so let’s change the channel on the radio scanning the sun from the moon.

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon

As I was filling out my application for a year-long fast-track program to begin a career in advertising, I realized what I was writing was very true and real about my ambitions, adversity, and the next phase of my life. I thought it would be appropriate to share this with everyone as I only write about what is real about how I feel. Here are my responses to the four questions on this application. The name of the school will be changed and the names of the people that I refer to will be changed with an alias. 

1. What interests you about the program that you are applying for?

I am applying for the copywriting program at ADVERTSCHOOL to become a writer for an agency.

First and foremost, I am initially excited about going back to school to be surrounded by like-minded people who are willing to learn the same skill sets as me. The most vital part of this notion is that we all will be fresh pieces of clay that will be molded into achieving the same end goal. Another interest that I have is that I will be learning about the creative process that this program will teach me. I am a naturally creative person, but there is always room to improve and to grow as a creative. I am very excited about the fact that I will have a vast knowledge of the advertising industry before going into my first job. Most importantly, I am ready to learn, be humbled, and learn from my mistakes as a writer. I have never been able to take direction creatively before in my writing academic career. This is because learning came easy to me and I took it for granted, but after proctoring two classes at ADVERTSCHOOL and knowing that it can help me pursue a career that I want to break into, I realized that I want to make the most of this opportunity to be the best writer at this point in the learning stages of my career. I am ready to fail as a writer so that I can learn in order to develop into one of the best writers in advertising once I hit my early 30’s.

2. Choose an advertising campaign, design piece, or website that you like. It should be one which applies to your area of interest. Briefly describe or send copies of your choice and explain why you like it.

Right now, I really like the Bud Light advertising campaigns because, despite all of the humor, I interpret it as that back in medieval times that even paupers, peasants, and even Kings would glorify Bud Light just like in the present day. This is brilliant because it is hitting a major demographic that is very widespread due to the Game of Thrones craze that has been perpetually catching interests of different sects of the population for the last seven years due to the HBO series. With that, a lot of people also like to romanticise about living during this period of history. For me this is genius. I personally do not like Bud Light because I prefer Coors Light or Mich-Golden Light. But the phrase “Dilly Dilly”, has resonated with me because it is very simple and only a mear two words that now has hit a sensory signature within the brains of many consumers all over the country, especially the ones who are obsessed with Game of Thrones. The commercials are like a mini television series that are told in 30-second specs, in which keeps the consumer waiting in anticipation to learn more about the story. I may be right or wrong but I do not think there has to be anything like this in advertising before that uses comedy or basically in general. Like a sitcom, I am going to label this as a “Com-Com”, a comedic commercial series. Now if you go to their website, they use simplicity and sensory signatures in a brochure like fashion to draw you in not only to admire the commercials but to set a sort of propaganda to purchase Bud Light. The key to this is the design of placement that blends words with pictures, and videos from the commercials. Every time you hover your mouse over the words such as, “Friends you can count on”, it inverts from the blue font with a white background to vice versa. This to me shows the blue color that Bud Light is all about. Every phrase on the front page is written between 6-9 words and it grabs your attention. As a writer, this is hard for me to do. I want to learn more about this process to create ad campaigns similar to this one. Last, the smaller subtext does the same thing in less than 20 words. This is an effective strategy that uses the catchphrases that are 9 words or less to transition to the more informational text that they give you about their brand. Everything is beautifully placed and it tells a story.

3. Choose an advertising campaign, design piece, or website that you dislike. It should be one which applies to your area of interest. Briefly describe or send copies of your choice and explain why you dislike it.

When I think of State Farm, I do not think about insurance because I think about those dumb commercials with Aaron Rodgers and Clay Mathews. As a Viking’s fan, I despise these people. But, when you go to their website they are nowhere to be found. This destroys all of the sensory signatures in our brains about what represents this service that they are providing. We see images of couples, families, and people of a wide demographic from all walks of life. As neat as this is, the more you scroll down the front page, there is more and more literature that I personally do not want to read. Like most consumers who view ads and websites, I have a short attention span because we live in a modern world in which we are constantly being sold to. At a certain point, everything is written in 30 words or less, versus 20 words or less on the Bud Light website. The front page needs to be a brochure that is used as a launching pad for consumers to commit and purchase this service. If State Farm wanted to promote to all of these different demographics of people used on their website then they should have created a commercial campaign that is not geared towards football fans. So, when admirers of Aaron Rodgers go to the website to see more of him, they will be thoroughly disappointed rather than interested in their services. I may be 100 percent wrong. But I stand strong by this because of their misleading campaign. Due to their misdirection, and the words on the front page on this site, it cannot add to the campaign to make it more effective just like the Bud Light website did.

4. Why do you want to come to ADVERTSCHOOL?

I want to attend ADVERTSCHOOL to develop my writing skills to work in a field that uses my best skillset. Admissions Guy told me that people come to the school with a lot of determination to get their lives started. He told me that people who go to ADVERTSCHOOL are sick of their jobs at banks, bars, and law firms or etc. This is because they want to work in a creative industry with like-minded people to do something that they love. I also have been speaking with Mr. Portfolio and many other people who have worked in the industry who have highly spoken about the school saying that they get their best employees from this program, and I really want to be one of those products of this environment. They also emphasized the great selling point of how you will get a job coming out of the program. I am tired of working as a bartender and getting rejected after numerous job interviews for positions that I have no interest in. When I spoke to Ed on the phone, he told me that the school has many resources for networking, job search and even job placement all over the country. As much as I feel honor and pride in being a General Manager/Bartender for my family’s restaurant, I want to get my life going in a job that I want to work my hardest in to excel. Working at a restaurant is something that I do not want to do for the rest of my life, it is being a writer is why I want to pursue a successful career in the creative industry.

I wanted to share this with my readers because when I wrote this application, I realized that this was a true part of who I am and where I want to go. We should all think about the Latin phrase, Quo Vadis, in which means “Where are you going?” For right now, I’m facing the horizon everywhere I go, and the horizon is my home. 

Remember, “The Zos Knows”. 

-David Zosel

If you want to support my writing and for me to be able to create more content you can make a donation to either of these links:

Venmo or Patreon