JAKE LODWICK

Jake Lodwick is an interesting guy. Sure, he co-founded Vimeo; but that was back in 2004. What’s he up to nowadays? Below is part one of a recent Q&A with Jake. Coolio.

Above: Jake Lodwick

Hey Jake, thanks for taking the time to chat with Gym Class Magazine. Tell me about the Standards Project… what is it, why are you doing it and where does this Q&A sit within it?

In June I was feeling lost. I would wake up, putz around, put a few hours into one project or another, nap, stretch, try to read… I felt as if I had no purpose. I felt like the gap between who I could be, and who I was, was inexcusably vast. It occurred to me that nobody else would create a structure for me, so in a moment of inspiration I created one for myself.

The system is quite simple: I have a list of so-called “Standards” for each day of the week prominently displayed in my apartment. Every Monday-Friday I attempt to accomplish everything. On Saturday and Sunday I do whatever I want, and on Sunday evening I revise the system for the next week.

In the past six months, the system has evolved from an embryo to a healthy adult. Similarly, I have evolved from a depressed lout into a happy, fit, purposeful man. I cannot imagine living without the system at this point. I also see self-management as a young trend, as the Internet allows more and more people to live happily without working in an office. If you can manage yourself, you can live independently and with far more freedom.

You asked where this Q&A sits within my system. In fact, I am blowing off my morning routine at the moment. When I woke up my mind was racing to answer your questions… I haven’t done an interview in years, and was excited! I will write for another few minutes, but then I have to run to the gym. I’ll try to wrap it up during my “Work” block between 9am and 1pm.

You were in Paris recently. What did you think of it?

I loved it! I enjoyed every minute of my trip. My girlfriend and I were like a power couple, in the sense that I admitted I was terrible with maps and directions, and let her take over. So there was very little bickering, just one week of pure enjoyment. On the first night we learned the Metro, which opened many doors. We could go anywhere at any time, quickly and cheaply.

I’d been a little scared to visit, because I’d heard that French people were rude, or hated Americans. That wasn’t true at all! Everyone we encountered was friendly, and was happy to speak English to us. It makes me wonder what other great cities I’m missing for nonsense reasons.

About a month ago on tumblr you posted a photograph of you holding a five-pound tub of Muscle Milk. How much of the Muscle Milk have you consumed and has it worked?

I’m a little over halfway through. Presently I am in the best shape of my life and it feels great. I exercise five days a week. I love looking at myself in the mirror. I look like I’ve always wanted to look. But, I don’t know Muscle Milk’s role in all this. If someone asked me why I drink it, I would be unable to give a rational answer. I drink it because I crave it, and because my trainer Nick tells me to drink it. I’m “just having fun” I think.

You wear cool glasses. Do you have a favourite pair? If so, what are they like?

Ha! I’m trying to move on from glasses, I’m getting tired of them. I think glasses and nerds go hand in hand for one subtle reason – glasses cut you off from normal face-to-face social processing. People can’t see your damn face right! I want to get high-tech correction, not Lasik but whatever the newest technology is. I want a naked face, not an engineer’s face.

I only wear one pair right now, these black “sad aviators”. I think they make me look kind of silly, certainly different than how I feel. I feel like a no-glasses man. I’ve worn corrective lenses for almost 20 years. I’m tired of them.

Tell me about your weekly video project over on odwick.com. What’s it all about? What are your motivations?

Well, for most of my life I made videos. I started when I was seven or eight years old, with the family camcorder. When Firewire started appearing in consumer cameras around 1999 I got into digital editing and made dozens of videos every year for about five years. Towards the end of 2004 I started shooting little clips every day, and thought, “I should make a site where I can upload these short video clips,” which became Vimeo.

I spent the next few years working on Vimeo, and my focus shifted away from actually making videos. When I got fired in 2007 I was completely out of practice, so even though I was free, I wasn’t in the right mindset to create. This was a bad state for me – there is no escaping the part of my nature that wants to create videos.

Odwick was my attempt to get back in the habit of creating videos. I figured, if I set a weekly deadline for myself, if I tell the world, “I’m putting up a new HD video every Wednesday night,” then I will undoubtedly start creating. And it worked! So far I’ve released five videos, and am very happy with some of them. Of course, I’m learning a lot about myself in the process. It’s funny, how much one learns by doing something. Anything! When you’re forced to act, you evolve. I have a bad habit of getting cerebral and writing endless pages in notebooks. It’s my version of someone who goes to grad school because he doesn’t want to get a job. It’s so easy to live in a theoretical brain-world. I’m glad I got myself out of it.

The funny thing is, now I can’t wait to finish the project. There is a new website I want to create (nothing to do with video) and I’m just dying to start, but I can’t cheat on Odwick. I must finish these last five videos or risk losing confidence in myself, and jeopardizing all future endeavors. Like, “Yeah, right, self, like you’re gonna stick with this project.”

More: The second half of this Q&A will be published soon. Don’t be a stranger.

Posted by Steven, about 11 months, 2 weeks ago