Operation 365... Blog 361

"So I'm like totally writing these essays about he the 365, and it's like, cool, or something."
Me, as Butthead

What can I say? I think Beavis and Butthead are funny and I'm glad they're back. So yes, I am recapping the experiment that is the 365, so I hope you enjoy learning some of what i learned posting 3 videos a day for a year and blogging about it daily.

The Experiment To See What Would Happen

When I started the Operation 365, a year ago yesterday, I said I was doing it as an “experiment” to see what would happen. Well, I did it. Now it's time to begin the life-long task of looking back and trying to decipher what it all meant. What changed in a year of 365ing? The world changed and the 365 reported on it in its own historical way each day, reflecting at least one perspective, often more.

How do I feel sitting here on the beach outside my apartment with all this unfamiliar free time? I feel different, like a million things each day get taken off my things-to-do list. I feel freer, but also a little aimless. I've not yet adjusted to life without having to make videos. There is some comfort in the structure. There is a sense of relaxation in knowing what you’re going to do. I knew each day I was going to prepare three videos, including learning or writing a song, in many cases. At some I was also going to be writing a blog about the meaning and context of them all and then posting them from somewhere with an internet connection. That’s quite a few steps to account for.

Why did I do it? To see if I could? Because I could? I had been wanting to share a bunch of content I had accumulated for some time. These became the Archives. I also had wanted to share the story of all these folks (my friends) and our experience. I didn’t realize how important that was to me until some time into it, but I am really glad that got done. It seems secondary whether people actually ingest that or not.

Exceptional things happen in this life and they are not always documented. They are not always shared. There are no less significant than anything else that has happened. No less interesting. I studied history. I think life matters, every second. It is important for me to share this story. I feel like it can help other people enjoy their lives. Having told it now, it’s something I no longer feel the need to do in mine.

It’s a story of friendship and love. Ups and down, overcoming adversity by the beach in San Diego in the last few years here, mostly. Our life. Our times.

The Benefits of 365ing.

I would recommend people incorporating a "365" into their lives. Of course, I don’t suggest attempting anything like mine. I would go so far as to say “please don’t try this at home, even." The part of it I do recommend however is, identifying something in your life you want to do more, something you think is important to you, and something that may help you grow. Then, challenge yourself to do it daily. It does not have to be anything public or taxing, time-wise. It can be kissing your loved one or doing a push-up or eating something healthy or even thinking of positive things about life. If you do that every day, it will become part of you are. You will eventually become naturally inclined to do it.

So that I recommend highly. For me, what’s next is, I will be focusing on pushing my CD, “Gift To Be Alive. It is available here incidentally,

http://www.jeffersonjay.bandcamp.com

It is my strongest work to date and I need to give it every opportunity to take me where I want to be. I want to reach people. I want to help the world. I want to survive and ultimately thrive financially, being who I am, and giving back. My goals have all been personal, spiritual, artistic all this time. I have succeeded to some degree, but because I have never focused on having dough, I have about exactly that much.

I may be becoming a family person in this world. It is possible. Some adjustments, dare I say, improvements, need to be made before that can really happen. I’m ready. I got the music. I gotta use it. One pitfall I’ve slipped in too many times that I intend to rectify is… I’m going to hire some people to help me.

I recognize a need for change in that department. I have to hire some professionals somehow to spearhead the distribution, marketing, publicity, and promotional side of the program. What the hey, let’s throw booking in there to. I am OK at all of these things. Not great. That’s a different thing I’m gonna do. I intend to follow this thing through.

In this life, we’re inclined to spend time trying to figure things out. I asked myself on the 365th day, "Why? Why Decide?" Why not just live and be alive? That’s what really matters anyway. Things change all the time in ways you could never imagine. Instead I answered, as an alternative to my question, “Release.” Yes, let go, instead, and let the universe be your guide. Ask and patiently await, receiving. Do what you can to love life and help yourself and others in the meantime.

One other thing in the what-to-look-for-next-from-me department is bringing this thing home right. I don’t who may have an interest, but I feel there is a great story here as well as a snapshot of time, 2011, day by day. 2011 was a very eventful year. There was Osama Bun Laden getting killed (allegedly,) the Rapture wacko, the tragic death of The “Macho Man” Randy Savage. There were work stoppages in the NFL and NBA. The NBA one ended today, they say. There was a lot more... The Occupy thing, The Great San Diego blackout, hurricanes, snowstorms, earthquakes, worldwide revolt, people awakening largely, by and by. What a great time to capture living. What a great time to be alive.

I intend to release this collection of Operation 365 blogs as a series of books, mostly available online. It will be a 21st century way of enjoying art. Readers can click onto any video they are interested in, or they could just read, taking in the stories at their own stride. They will be known as "Operation 365 Presents: 40 Days & 40 Blogs, Books 1-10." These words will occupy some of the final pages of the 10th volume, "The Grand Finale," if you will.

I also intend to go back through the 150 some-odd tunes I wrote expressly for the Operation 365 and measure their merit in one way or another. I have already begun this process, thanks to the helpful tools at

http://www.video2mp3.net/

Those guys have helped to pull some of the tunes written for the 365 into my iTunes. There, I will listen. Some will tunes will got modified. Others re-learned. Should be a fun expedition, seeing what I actually wrote while the camera was rolling. Maybe I'll eventually make a CD of Operation 365-penned tunes.

Revolution of the Mind - Ideas for a Brighter Tomorrow

There is so much potential. So much is happening. For years, I wondered if people would ever wake up. For years, folks sat idly by. At least now they’re loitering with a purpose, outside. Sadly, for this they get sprayed in the eyes. The police state is transparent. Just say anything over and over again in public and eventually, they’ll be by.

What is free? We can be. In our minds. It’s only way. The only location where a revolution can take place. Choose your mind, your reasons, your why. They can take your freedom, your stuff, your anything. Your vote. Anytime they choose, no reason why. These things are not rights. They’re on loan to us, as long as we continue to work and buy.

What they can never take though, is your mind. Your mind can not be beaten. It can not be captured, although I’m sure they’re trying. If you decide not accept all this stuff, this corporate madness, the greed-ridden police state, the compulsive consumerism, then you can free your mind. Decide not to propagate that lie. Now we’re retaking minds back, one at a time. For the people, of the people, our minds.

The reason this is the only way is because you’ve seen what peaceful protesting makes happen. The Stormtroopers smash free thought as they spray peoples' faces, casually walking by. One by one, if we refuse, then we can use this space that we’re creating. This space made in our brains to unify, and do things for a righter reason.

People should work together. It is simple. There is no glory whatsoever in stepping on someone to get high. Higher up the food chain. Higher up the pay scale. Higher up the ladder. Higher in your mind. There is no way to justify. There are more than enough resources for everyone to survive.

We are all, every human, brothers and sisters. This, we can not deny. If the sun were to perish, we’d all follow. Dead bodies piling up into the sky. We need to recognize this fact and that our fates, we decide. It is an illusion that we are separated. You’ve heard of this, it’s conquer and divide. It doesn’t matter what the order is. King Kong Bundy liked to count to five. Sorry about that. These obscure pop culture call-backs can be hard to kick. I ditched my TV two years February, but I still read my wrestling online. We work together. It takes time.

This is what I’m after. Making the world a better place, by and by. Will work my whole life for it. Why do an Operation 365? I didn’t know. I did feel like sharing shit. I wanted to be out there more, on the internet. I wanted people to see who I was and why. It’s something I’d been pondering a long time. I wanted to make an internet network and share all this content on a loop. Original Artist Entertainment.... Original American Entertainment… The Good Vibe… I imagined it doing well overseas and online. Independent art for the people.

Living history - A Breathing Art Project

My friends, Dylan Avery and Wes Davis, had just finished a movie called “Buzzkill.” It was about Wes quitting coffee for 21 days and how it affected his life. Through this lens, they looked at a lot of other things. They looked at Wes and how he liked to climb. Wes loves nature and being outside. It looked at life in Ocean Beach and filming. It looked (indirectly) at Dylan’s awesome directorship and it looked at getting by. Through headaches, withdrawal, daily life. It looked at coffee and how it affects us.

These things were all interesting to me and they all wound up finding a sister city in the 365 somehow, but none of them were the biggest reason why I was inspired by their art. Wes says in the movie (Honestly, I only saw the pre-release long cut, but…) that when you do something each day, you become more likely to do it the next day. It becomes a part of what you do. That happened to me too, except instead of stopping coffee for 21 days, for a year, I made videos all the time. Each one shared a little sliver of my mind. Some shared a whole lot more sometimes. So I want to thank Wes and Dylan for sharing their inspiration. That talk they had in my living room long ago not only begat their inspiration, but it also begat mine. I like using words with the “I” Sound at the end of sentences a lot of the time. It is fun to rhyme.

The Operation 365 doubles as strange resume of some kind. It shows I can do a lot of entertainment things. I can write songs quickly. I can produce content prolifically with the best of ‘em. I can be incredibly consistent. I can do what I want to do, if I set my mind. Alright, it’s enough already with the “I.” It shows I do things differently. That’s a challenging task in this time. I can’t stop. I’m sorry.

So I’ve been sitting here by the beach typing for an hour now. The dogs, Angel and Nigel are by my side, quietly resting. It is peaceful. At least it was, until that other dog ran by. It is again now. The sun’s about to set. It is both humbling and awe-inspiring. To be a part of such a special set of creatures, alive on the planet at this time. It means everything. It’s a greater gift than we can imagine. I want to pass it forward and share that gift with everyone. I’m trying.

One nice side-effect of the 365 is I’ve gotten better at guitar. Playing every day will do that to ya, I suppose. It’s nice to improve. I don’t mind. The not-as-nice side effect of that side effect is, though, is now I need a fretjob. I played mine all the way down. They have indentations in them and it doesn’t sound right. Nothing 400 dollars can’t fix though. I am not fretting about money. I am choosing to release and let the universe provide. I’ll work hard. That’s implied, but I’m not gonna cry for 400 dollars. Or the money I need to push my album, or even basic stuff to get by. It will be alright. I feel confidence about that inside.

Still not super-used to this whole free time thing yet. There’s a few things I know I wanna do with some of it. I want to spend more time with my girlfriend, Leanne. We hang out a lot but I can’t tell you how many times I had step away because I had to “do my videos.” I want to thank her, in fact, for her incredible patience and support throughout the 365. Although, she never asked me to, I told her I would not undertake a project of this magnitude without asking her, next time. That was kind of tongue-in-cheek when I said it ‘cause I never intend to attempt a project of this magnitude again. I'm also excited to spend more time playing with my poochies, playing music and catching up with my friends who I really enjoy that I haven't seen in a long time.

For some reason. Some folks expect me to do another 365. I can’t blame them I guess. There’s truly no precedent for this. It’s never been done before and never will be again, most likely. That fact kind humbles me. I like being that kind of guy. It’s the same reason I’ve hosted “24 Hours of Free Music,” four times.

When people find out you’ve done something of this magnitude, something that requires that amount of commitment, they naturally want to know why. That is what I like most about Occupy Movement so far. Of course, I like that they’re there and what it symbolizes, but more specifically, when you see the local news and it says “Occupy Movement: Day 61,” it begs the same question. Why are those people sitting out there? Why?

It’s the same reason, actually. It’s because we want change and it’s because we have something to say. They say it by occupying, and informing the world about the 99%, and selflessly enduring vicious beating at the hands of those employed to protect them. They do it that way. I do it mine. Absurdity, History. Entertainment. Humor. Music. Sharing my mind. Offering openly what I’ve learned in my time. I gotta go. It’s sunset. Bye bye.

The sunset's over. I'm back at my desk now. My friend Matt Reischling, is one of those friends I haven't seen face-to-face in awhile. I spoke to him yesterday though, I sort of had my initial Yeah, the Operation 365 is complete" moment with him on the phone. He correctly tabbed "Sierra Nevada" as the type of beer I was drinking. I said, "It stands to reason he would guess that. There's only about a million beers in the world." Ha!

So Matt and I have been friends awhile. He listened to the tune I wrote for the last day, "Why Decide?/Release." He said he really liked it and we discussed it for awhile. He said he thinks I should be a motivational speaker. An inspirational speaker. He said I have a powerful spirit and and could get paid to get people fired up in a therapeutic and spiritual manner. I like that idea. He said I could sell my music through that on the side.

That's what I am here for actually. Helping people find happiness in themselves. In life. Music is the method I choose to use, but I could do it another way. I wouldn't mind. As long as the message gets delivered. This is your life. Your time. Each precious moment is a cause for celebration. Everything you have to offer is precious, unique and divine. We spoke about our music, where we're at in our lives, and finding quiet space inside our mind.

Later that night Blowksi and his girlfriend, Arual came by. We were at Leanne's. Leanne, Josh, Adrianna, Chris, Richard, Steve and Tara, and I. They brought by a bottle of Almond flavored champagne to celebrate the completion fo the 365. It was very considerate and appreciated and delicious and effective. Thank you my friends. Thank you God for this life.