Operation 365... Blog 362

More Initial Reflections on a Post-365 world.

The days are starting to feel like normal days again. For a year, every day I got up I had a few special things to do. A specific sense of purpose. It matters not how relevant it was. It was just something I had to. I kinda liked that in a way. I am not used to free time yet. I could use something to do. It was fun. Got a lot done. Now a lot of time all of a sudden. It's a little weird. It feels like before.

The Best of the 365

A couple things stand out as most important. Being able to make an impact, a positive impact in someone's life is an amazing thing. It is humbling to be able to help someone. There were times when I wondered if there was any point at all to this work I was putting out there every day. One day, I believe it was September 11th actually, a woman sent an email in my youtube inbox. I don't check it often so I found it a few weeks after.

This is what it said.

"Be happy
Froggie Went a-Courtin' happens to be one of the few children's songs my ex-husband liked when my daughter was little. My daughter and I had forgotten about that, until you uploaded the song just a few hours after he killed himself and we were coping with his death. Thank you for giving us that happy memory when we needed it. You helped us.

Also, at the risk of rambling at 2am... There can't be much better in the world than being able to bring happiness or comfort to people you've never met, miles away, in circumstances you could not have anticipated, without even knowing that there was a need or that you could or did help. That's what you did for us and that's pretty good stuff -- what music's all about. Keep up the 365."

It still humbles me to read her generous words. An artist can only dream of making that type of profound impact on someone's life and regardless of who else got anything out of the 365, this moment means everything. That is what music and life is all about. Incidentally, this same woman impacted my life positively again in a big way when she became the first person to download my new CD "Gift To Be Alive," a week ago. I made it free with the thought that anyone could get and people wouldn't have a reason to not check it out. Boy, was I wrong? No one, not a friend, not a family member, had downloaded even one tune, for almost two weeks, until this woman stormed back in as my anonymous Great appreciator and donated $24.00 for the right to enjoy my music and share it with her daughter. I feel like she is a guardian angel of sorts, keeping me focused and positive. The thought that her family may be getting as much out of it as I am, thanks to my work and music, is gratifying, humbling, and makes a sense of justice in my mind.

Oh. "Gift To Be Alive" lives at

http://jeffersonjay.bandcamp.com

if you're interested.

I received another opportunity to make a positive impact when I received this email from my friend, Teagen McClain on August 26, 2011

"Hi Jefferson,

It was cool running into you at Peoples the other day. Your girlfriend is really nice! I have a favor to ask you that I think you may be up for. Recording a Youtube song for a little boy with Cancer. My dearest friend Gillian in Oregon (friends since teen years) has 2 sons, Sean and Eli. Eli recently started Chemo. Eli is Vegan and loves to play with fake food and pretend he's a cook. He's a cool little guy."

So I got on it pretty quickly and penned this little number for my new bro, Eli.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 279 A Song For Eli (The Smartest Boy in the World)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA35ubatlbc

I posted my song on August 30 and was pleased to receive this comment on the vid from Eli's mom

"Thanks again so much for this! Eli wants to see it a lot and loves to see Angel sleeping on the floor... Cracks him up. Thanks for the smiles! -Eli's mom"

Obviously it's humbling and life-affirming to be able to be involved in such an important instance. A couple months later I was teaching 2nd grade Special Ed. at a local elementary school. All the classes in the grade were brought together in a room and told of their classmate Isabelle (I later learned it's really spelled Ysabel) who had recently overcome leukemia. She had missed school for awhile and the kids were being educated as to what to expect and how to act upon her return. I was moved by this story. What did this girl do to deserve such a serious challenge so early in her life? Nothing, of course. What about her parents? How scared must they have been?

I had to step outside for a moment and recompose myself and then I got this whole tune in my head. After we watched the Charlie Brown movie, I went and wrote "Isabelle." A couple weeks later, last week in fact, I taught Ysabel's class as it turned out. I met her parents and told them of the song. I gave them and encouraged them to share it with Ysabel if they felt that she would like it. Ysabel's dad sent me a nice note of appreciation later that day. I hope they did. It felt like the right thing to do. Here it is.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 338 "Isabelle"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuaoPadR_Fc

Any time you can do something nice for someone, consider that time well spent. I was able to make a nice birthday presentation for my Mom in May, which felt good. I played her favorite number, "Blackbird" and wrote a song for her as well.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 171 "Blackbird" - by John Lennon and Paul McCartney
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrZsFAQYPg4

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 171 "Raindrop in the Ocean"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smuqM0xuuCA

I also write a song for my Dad for his birthday in October. My stepmom said it made them cry. That's a good thing, I think.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 321 "Happy Birthday Dad"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43pkk8av7Lc

I guess the biggest other nice thing besides playing music all the time and writing a bunch of tunes is the way I got to relive a bunch of old friendships and memories and bring attention and appreciation to some friends, who for one reason or another, can't do so for themselves.

My main man, Don Truesdail, passed away on January 13, 2009. I had recorded and video-recorded a bunch of his performances in the last year or so of his life. I had no idea they would account for a large amount of his output obviously, but with that being the case, I felt a compulsion to share the material and I felt the need to share it in a context befitting its importance to me.

Reiterated, Don's performances didn't happen in a vacuum. There was a whole little known community of artists supporting and inspiring each other. We all enjoyed each other's company and brought out the best in each other for a good while there. So the 365 gave me the motivation and the umbrella to share and explain the feelings that are there. This felt like a more appropriate showcase of this material to me.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 298 Don Truesdail "The Traveller's Lament" 10-27-08
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ls4leGviLjY

With my friend, Robin Lee, it is a similar scenario. I haven't seen Robin in a long time. She was set to go to prison for transporting a large amount of marijuana, which has been legal in California for medicinal purposes since 1996. I haven't seen her since and don't know where she is. I miss her a lot and think of her a lot though. By watching and sharing her performances, her legacy as a songwriter and a caring human has the opportunity it deserves to grow. Her loved ones, like Don's, have the ability to enjoy the music of their friends' they can no longer hang around. It is not the same, of course. but it is something.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 347 Robin Lee "Turn of the Century" 4-2-2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru5YCzFb5CY

Justin Mills, I see all the time. He is one of my favorite songwriters, but he doesn't play music in public ever. If he were to, it is highly unlikely he'd play any of his songs. He just doesn't care for them as much I do. I care a lot. So I posted them many times in the last year. Each time I watch them, I enjoy them again, except when I'm distracted by my spotty bass playing. So getting to share Don, Justin and Robin as much as I did, was awesome. It was important to me to do that as friend, as a history guy and as a human who wants to share with other humans.

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 272 Justin Mills "Destruction Device" 12-11-2008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12wCtDhFYQ4

Finally, playing music every day is good for your soul. I got better on guitar. I wrote probably 100 or 150 new tunes. I will take a chunk of the rest of 2011, going through them and deciding what should happen to those guys.

I thought I played some of the covers decently well. These two jump to mind.

"How Deep Is Your Love" by The Bee Gees
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUL_MtOrzqs

"Let's Stay Together" by Al Green
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5xPiSvnayU

I also enjoyed being silly, and playing with the pooches.

Being Silly

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 137 " Rock A Bye Baby" - Traditional
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aN7Ek8otBE

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 297 "The Snoring Song"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDc7QBgVl38

Playing With the Pooches

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 186 "Livin' in the Laps of Dogs"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMY5gDNwKL4

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 221 "The Puppies Are Fighting"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur_AN_TpOps

There was a good amount of both of those. It felt good to feel that there was something artistic to do every day. I have always dreamed of getting up in the morning and knowing I had to write a song or record a song that day. In my imagination, I was for money or a job of some sort, but those are peripherals. I was able to make the creative part of that dream come true. Every day, I had a musical project to do. The times where I was out of town (on tour in April or in Jersey in June, for example), where getting it done was that much more satisfying. Overcoming the adversity of getting stuff done when it was challenging, when I couldn't think of a tune, or get it played right... It is fun to overcome.

The Best of the Rest

There were some other tunes I wanted to cover, but never did. I had hopes of hitting one of the more ambitious tunes off the great Pink Floyd CD, "Animals," like "Dogs" or Sheep." "California Dreamin'" by The Mammas and The Pappas seemed a natural, but no. "Going to California" by Zeppelin, I used to do, but not this year. I played Billy Joel's "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant" numerous times. Once I played it really well but with the mic off by mistake, so that didn't ultimately make the cut. I wanted to cover Hendrix's "Angel," the tune I named my pooch after, but it was hard. Trey Anastasio's "Sweet Dreams Melinda" was another one I had my eye on. I even learned the whole intro section to that one. There wasn't time to do everything as I would have ideally liked to on the 365. Time was a factor... and I never did "Greased Lightning."

I have some pretty cool originals tunes I didn't use as well. Tunes I wrote about other women never felt right to play. "Kiss Life on the Lips," "I Need to Know," and "The Back Page Blues" are a few of those. Some songs were too political or angry and I didn't want to carry them forward with me. Sometimes you have to let tunes go, so you can grow. I did that with a number of them.

So that was what was awesome. Being with my friends. Smooching Leanne at the end of the videos. Entertaining people. A lot of folks dropped me nice notes and said encouraging things on Facebook. That all meant so much. That is what kept me going, people's kindness and appreciation. So thanks to everyone who supported me, encouraged me and every said or wrote a nice word about the 365 anywhere to anyone. Thanks to Leanne,

Operation 365 -- Jefferson Jay -- Covers -- 94 "I Love A Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbitt
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GRenQ9H__s

the pooches,

Angel
Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 323 "Independent Girl"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At0MozHRIPM

and Nigel
Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 164 "Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Npcj4W_vXv8

Michael David Lewis,

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 268 "mikelewismusic" by Mike Lewis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53wFMt7wSao

Dick and Anna Van Magana of Mariposa Ice Cream,

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 119 Jefferson and Will Raffle SDMC Grand prize - 3-4-2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC2uEY6jDKE

Dylan Avery,

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 326 "Olson"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVj1erCBR9E

Blowski (who backed me up after I accidentally stabbed myself on Day 16),

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 16 "Killing's Wrong"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wSLwA5bY0I

Paul Ruiz,

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 257 Jefferson Jay - "The Juicing Song" - 7-26-2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNhWbHS2Pqo

Josh Rodriguez, The Cheeseburgers, JustinMills, and Adrianna Martin-Morningstar

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 365 "Thank You" by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYJa1-SAJzs

Clifford Jomuad,

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Covers - 50 "Runaround Sue" by Dion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLV0tdZxqW8

my family,

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 316 "John"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOQV0AnVy1E

specifically my new nephew Jake, born on May 16, 2011

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Originals - 173 "A Baby Boy Is Born (Hooray Today)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A5crUVrZfs

The Truesdails,

Operation 365 - Jefferson Jay - Archives - 330 At Home With Don Truesdail & Angel Gets a Gift
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nL5aOV4hF8s

and you.

Peace