Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Operation 365 2... Blog 373

SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2017
Operation 365 2... Blog 373

Finally, a spare moment. Finally, I feel rested. Spare moment over. Dan just showed up to hang. Maybe I’ll type a minute more. I have missed the unseen people of the 365. I have missed the work. I feel unproductive without doing videos every day. I was bushed for a couple of weeks after. I think mentally, more than physically, but now I feel normal again, whatever that means. Donald Trump will be inaugurated this week.

I have been working hard on stuff, but it is hard to maintain the level of enthusiasm I had when I was writing these blogs over the last weeks. Life provides challenges. Just getting things done is a challenge, so one must rise to level of life and not be dissuaded. Power ahead.

What I have been working most on is finishing my 7th record. Obviously, this is project of passion, because I’m not sure people even buy CDs any more. If I were just a bit better at getting paid for what I do, I might find I already do a whole salary’s worth of stuff. I trust the universe. Om. Since we last spoke, The Chargers, who I sang many songs about in the course of this 365, moved to Los Angeles where nobody wants them. Is there a parallel I’m missing there. Maybe everything is perfect in San Diego. Life will tell.

On January 8, my dear friend Robin Lee turned 64. On January 13, it was eight years since my brother from another mother, Don Truesdail. When reviewing my blogs from the end of the first 365, I was reminded how central to the first 365 those two friends of mine were. At that time, I was missing them both in a huge way. I felt our story needed to be shared at that time, especially as the guy with the keys to the kingdom. By that, I mean I had many videos of them both performing that no one else had. I needed to share them and I need to share their story and our story, the Portugalia story.

So I did, I used the blog to provide context. Don had passed a few years before and Robin had gone to prison, for driving medicine, aka weed, around. She’s been there ever since. Marijuana has since been made legal for recreational purposes in several states. Robin is scheduled to return soon. I can’t wait. It was important. It was a calling. I forgot how central that was to what I did = back then.

As time has passed that Portugalia Era has become more and more legendary around here in Ocean Beach. It was a moment in time and I am happy that I shared some of it and folks reminisce on it fondly.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2017

So, I think it’s just about over. I will power throughout the rest of this blog. Aside, form missing the connection with all the folks out there, life has more or less returned to non-365 mode. Been hanging with my wife a bunch more. The house is cleaner. I am focusing on other projects like finishing my “The best of Operation 365” CD and trying to make some moves with my Christmas musicals. Playing every day is good for the soul and I miss all the creativity, but I am aware, I can play and write as much as I want whenever I want. The final touches to putting the 365 behind me for good, are reading the “By the Numbers” final essay from the first 365 and writing one for this one. I also intend to learn the hundreds of tunes I wrote for this project and figuring out which ones I aim to keep around for the duration. Maybe I’ll take my time doing that one. In, a world sans active 365, there is a whole lot less urgency and that’s a welcome change of pace for awhile.


In wrapping this up today, here are a few thoughts pilfered from the end blogs of the first 365 that seemed to ring true just as much right now.

“I learned you can do almost anything if you put your mind to it. I learned once you put something out there in the universe, you have no idea how it is going to affect people…There were times I felt it was pointless, until I realized it wasn't.”

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