#Vote Forward

Creative Solutions

A letter to my cousin on the East Coast of the US

Good morning,

I know something stinks, it’s our government. It is in need of reform, and Kamala Harris talks about reform a lot. We have to be flexible at times. It took time for Biden to be convinced to drop out of the race.

P45 is so dangerous and unfit to be president. He has spread so many dangerous lies that have hurt legal immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, and then lied about FEMA efforts over by you during the two hurricanes. The lies & misinformation have caused so much chaos and harm to US citizens, lies that he started & were repeated into a frenzy. He has 70 million people that believe anything he says. It’s a cult.

He has studied speeches by Hitler. This is documented in interviews with his wife in a documentary by PBS.

He refuses to debate a second time, he won’t go on 60 minutes, he won’t release his medical records.

He is talking about using the military on US citizens who oppose him, calling people vermin. Him and his people plan to dismantle the EPA, the Department of Education, take away free weather reports. Make abortion banned in the US, and replace loads of government employees with appointees of his choosing. He wants to handle our economy by imposing tariffs on imports that will cost everyday people a lot more money in daily life, and on, and on, and on. Not to mention the climate crisis. The world would see no help from the US on that front. He does not appear keen on solar and wind.

I totally understand being disgusted by the system, but that is not an excuse to take your hands off the wheel and run it into a ditch. The US is in trouble from inside, and that is the perfect climate for a takeover that could change our country for the WORSE. I urge you to choose to help elect the candidate that will work on reform and an Opportunity America, including a Green New Deal!

Please vote to save democracy. There is only one person up for this important job who will uphold democracy and work on the positive reform that we need with the people. Kamala is a career advocate for the people. She was raised by civil rights activists. The two choices could not be more different.

The movie refs are: “The Choice 2024” by PBS Frontline

& “Unfit” directed by: Dan Partland

“70 million followers” was taken briskly from Instagram & could be exaggerated.

Earth Day Everyday

Creative Solutions

Happy Earth Day Season!

Earth Day is an inspiring time for many people! Here are a bunch of cool things we can do to pitch in and live more in harmony with our sweet planet.

Edible plants and natural cosmetics

Growing Aloe Vera and using it as a facial cosmetic is a fantastic way to take good care of your skin in a 100% natural way. When we produce our own cosmetics, we avoid the whole manufacturing/packaging/ shipping process and end up with a pure product.

Google lens makes identifying edible plants quick and easy. It’s amazing how many ARE edible. Lots of wild lettuce out there. Prickely Lettuce grows in the yard here and is delicious as an organic wild green. Another good one is Purslane, which is more dense and gelatinous. This website has an extensive index to help identify edible weeds/greens/ herbs that grow in our yards. It’s a good idea to learn to allow the wild plants to share the garden boxes with plants we grow on purpose for food.


Purslane grows wild in Southern California, and all over North America.

Check out this video that describes Purslane and how we can eat it.

It is incredibly empowering to be able to forage for wild food, not to mention a beautiful skill to have if you ever need it, one that can be developed on an ongoing basis.

This year, I made citrus tea and snacked on these edible citrus blossoms.

Each year, citrus trees bloom with the most fragrant flowers. Citrus blossoms are a special luxurious culinary ingredient to enjoy for once they start blooming in Spring. These edible flowers make incredible culinary ingredients and garnishes. If you are in a place where this happens, try making tea with them, the little flowers are really yummy and fun to garnish meals with.

Collecting Rainwater

Stockpiling rain not only helps alleviate potential flooding during the rainy seasons, but also is great for watering all the garden and trees growing on one’s property.

This young peach tree has been watered exclusively with collected rainwater all year so far!

Nature Documentaries

There’s a lot of awareness developing in the field of keeping the planet healthy, and understanding the relationship between all living things coexisting in our sweet planet home, and its natural systems. Check out Our Living World on Netflix–stunning footage of the epic beauty of Earth’s natural landscapes and biodiversity.

The wild world is savage indeed and getting to see how all the different players inter-relate is so helpful in developing a wholistic picture of the circle of life and how its vital components all fit together in keeping our planet pure and beautiful. Shows like Our Living World are helping to raise awareness in developing the necessary respect for what our planet needs to remain habitable for everyone.

Planet Earth is so infinitely rich with resources, everything we need to stay healthy. That’s why the rainforests are so essential to keep in tact. Organizations like Rainforest Action Network, and World Wildlife Fund do a great job of advocating for the health and protection of our forests and building sustainable minded community folk.

Animal rescues and personality stories like The Dodo to help spread awareness about treating animals kindly and with dignity and helping them whenever we can, and advocating for their well-being and making it a priority! These stories are gold. Animals are such beautiful little souls and shining the spotlight on people who help them to have good lives and care is a movement that is warming the heart of the world.

Reusing & Reducing Packaging

Another fantastic way to conserve resources is to reuse packaging in creative ways!

Let’s hear everyone’s ideas. This is something really worth applying our creativity toward!

Let’s make it more and more popular! We can shop the bulk bins and refill our containers of rice, chocolate chips, flours, beans & all things bulk.

Let’s celebrate not taking things that we know we are going to throw away in half an hour. Let’s respect our planet home that is so good to us and keep it clean and respect its resources that are harvested to make bags that get thrown away so soon. Let’s bring our own bags, and bottles, and cups, and utensils. Let’s move away from the unsustainable/lazy/shortsighted lifestyle of creating so much trash everyday with togo food containers. Let’s really drill the images of MICRO-PLASTICS in our bodies, micro plastics start as macro-plastics. Let’s work collectively to reject plastic wrapping and phase micro plastics in our bodies, and all around OUT already.

Let’s remember to ASK before just bagging things for folks, I think we can all agree that the days of just plastic bagging are becoming part of history! I know it’s a hard habit to break, and it can give our hands something to do to avoid feeling awkward at the checkout, but let’s get uncomforable, what have we got to lose? Let’s be creative about how to get items transported safely. Let’s stop making so much trash while it’s our choice and we’re not forced to. We just have to be AWARE.

I try to remind myself that Everyday is Earth Day, and live it like a mindset.

All photography by: Anna Thoreau courtesy of Aesdiopod Designs @aesdiopod

All About the Music by Anna Thoreau

A Reflection on Artworks

Creativity

Art can comfort, teach, keep us company, energize us and inspire. True art has a spirit and life of its own, which is contributed to by the admirer, appreciator, or the experiencer of the art work regardless of the medium.

Art is a fire, art can make a contribution on its own once it has been realized by the artist into this big blue world! Or, it can just express and be a much needed outlet.

Sublimating is a healthy choice for expression of feelings and emotions especially negative and destructive ones. In this manner, art can live on and make an impact in the world all by itself. This mode of expression, to make artwork, naturally requires discipline and practice in the chosen medium so that the creator can produce via their chosen artistic language.

Art can provide us with healthy distraction, as well as company, or even an often desired/needed escape.

Art is an outlet and can be cathartic and or metaphorical, it can teach, entertain, or both.

I am so grateful for art, by other humans as well as my own. Thank goodness for art, and for style.

wildflowers

Creativity and Creating

Creativity

Creativity is an asset that can be cultivated and developed. Some ways that strengthen creativity are:

A friendly word with neighbors and good chats with friends. Human connection is highly stimulating.

Nature encounters and immersions for any length of time.

Bike Rides; Skates; walks or runs can be tranquilizing and/ or invigorating.

wild flowers

Peace, and peaceful time. Walking by the water, taking hikes; quieting the mind are all beneficial to creativity, and desirable to incorporate into one’s routine.

Cleanliness and order. It is really easy to make a big mess during the creative process, but starting with a blank canvass, or a clean workbench so to speak can be extremely helpful in getting started with a creative work because of the space. Space is essential for creation.

Ideas to kindle the inner fire of creativity:

Go on a Creative Retreat for however long you can manage it.

Taking creative retreats to explore new places and green areas with lots of trees. The aire is so much better and nourishing and it’s sweet to commune with the wildlife and it’s so inspiring and feeds creativity and the creative spirit. Nature is the best medicine. Tree canopies are so favorable to the senses and the planet and the aire.

red berries

Find a change of scenery. It’s been fun taking care of some really cute bunny rabbits back up in the Pacific Northwest. Environment is so important, and as people, we can do a lot to create our own environment, a bubble of sanctuary. Creating an environmental bubble and how to do that is a rabbit hole worthy of exploration.

Protect your creative time.

Find your sanctuary and spend time there creating from your heart, do whatever it takes to carve out creative time to explore your unique expression.

Have positive creative like minded friends, they are a blessing and they are fire to your creativity. Co-arting is an awesome synerguistic activity for buddies to make dates for on a regular basis.

Regarding creating: just start with your intention. From there, take good actions and your mind will get on the track of producing your unique works. You will find yourself having bright ideas that will take your projects to the next level at all sorts of times: like driving, while out for a walk or run, in the bath. Just start.

Inspiration is Essential to the Creative Mind

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Happy Spring! We’re headed on the road for a trip up to the Pacific Northwest with the goal of finding a good home with big trees in the backyard for building my off the grid treehouse.

Inspiration

I’ve been down in SoCal for all of 2022 and it’s had its highlights naturally. Got to explore Idyllwild forests some and met a really cool bass player and played out some with him, and also had fun dancing at shows for his main project The Odd Advantage (TOA), especially memorable is the Saint Paddy’s show in a parking lot in Menifee. More good times playing music definetely include the historic Hemet Theater.

Love the Ska Band “The Odd Advantage” playing all over SoCal, they’re based in Hemet.

Inspiration is vital for the Creative Mind and constant progress and development hence, the trip up North has me fired up!

Exploring the local music scene. Riverside Idyllwild. And more Cattooning here on our official feed @Crookshanks in the Multiverse on IG.

Follow along with Crookshanks as he explores the many realms to explore.

Keeping the spirit of the Pacific Northwest alive as I’ve been wondering around down south is The Creative Solutions Collective co-founded by my artsy creative fire of friend Kayla Cabe @KaylaCabePaints and yours truly. Thanks for being a great creative force with me Kayla and for our creative streak of nearly weekly creative synergy since around late 2018.

Creative people need other creative people, or at least it sure seems like it to me, keep creating and building community citizens of Planet Home.

Creative Living

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What does it mean to live a life based in Creativity? I believe that means you have all kinds of ideas to realize into life including reinventing things and a compulsion to make and share these creations. In my case, I am only truly satisfied when I am creating and sharing what I have created. Some ideas are much bigger than others.

This time around it’s one of the small ideas, I wanted to embellish my kitchen with a pretty flower mini-mural on the cabinets. And it really is a bit of a thrill bringing my idea to life thus far!

Big blossoms comin up!

I’ll post again with the finished result, I’m working on it in the evenings after work so far.

Another way I enjoy expressing my creativity is making an impact to help the world be more sustainable, by reusing packaging and insisting that our own reusable containers be allowed to be used again and again, and that mode become the norm. I was very active with the Sunrise Movement last Spring and Summer. Ultimately I want to influence the system toward sustainable energy, products, food, community, the list goes on and on. I am ever open to collaborations to this end invite you all, dear like-minded friends of the world to continue to believe in a sustainable equitable society in which folks can spend their lives using their gifts to contribute positively to an equitable society that values fellow human, flora, and fauna life. Enjoy the flowers, hug the trees, and bring your own: bottle, cup, utensils, bags, and respect our beautiful life giving oceans. Until next time.

Minimalism

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Greetings fellow Creativity Junkies,

I’ve been packed up from Seattle for about 3 days. My old room is now an amazing minimalist aesthetic office/studio and am I loving it.

There is nothing like S P A C E…

It feels very noticibly lighter with all that stuff packed up and not an option to get into. In my next studio I will have a dedicated work room with an ad·ja·cent/əˈjās(ə)nt/ living room space.

It feels easier with so much packed up too, I hardly have any clothes in the closet and drawers. It’s kind of a hard feeling to describe, it’s just a ligher aura, more pure. I’m definitely going to be mindful unloading, I have a feeling I will lighten a bit more before I move completely into the Cali dwelling. I’ll keep exploring this topic on here…..minimalism. Just what you need and love.

I’m wondering about what percentage of my possesions are in that trailer. It’s amazing what fits in there. Most of the furniture is staying here at Sunflower Squad House where my fellow creative crew Kayla @kaylacabeprints and Gaby @gabythebaddie and @aesdiopod while we’re at it(: painted an adorable mural. Peace out for neow Seattle, but the West Coast remains the Best Coast cha.

Now, speaking of creatives, there is a cool project up called @creativesolutionscollective where EVERYTHING gets upcycled, it’s a creative mindset and a lifestyle. Also we talk about using less in the first place. Join us.

And Special Thanks to my honored Patreon subscribers. I try to keep the thank you gifts varied and surprising. Hey reader! Consider subscribing and get interactive about creativity with us!

One more selfie for the road.

Motivation

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Sometimes, things get challenging. My horoscope this week said it is a lot easier (I’m paraphrasing;) to be negative than positive, and the astrologer said: BE POSITIVE, and I AM –This is December 2. This truth is in the same vain as it’s easier to be out of shape than be in shape.

I thought it was enough to be self motivating as an entrepreneur/ freelancer. But man, this is new level. However the show must go on. As usual my mentor Dan Tyre is there saying and doing all the right things.

And in the end it’s up to me to carry on and these past few weeks I am learning a lot about the sheer power of will, commitment, self motivating and momentum. No matter what happens, if you can stay in action, it does wonders for productivity and confidence.

But as my grandfather always said, and my awesome dad would reminds me constantly (thanks Papi) “You never know good luck from bad luck”. What is important is vision, discipline, faith, action, and consistency. It really works.

I’m creating new environment friendly, sustainable thank you gifts for subscribers to my Patreon. Join the club!

Creative Solutions Collective

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Aesdiopod Designs is busy, with a full que. Fuller and busier than ever. Thriving and hiving. A combination of bold moves landed us here working out of Galvanize Seattle (home to many little & bigger companies). And taking part in an amazing entrepreneur program by Success Bully called Summer of Success, plus dedication and stars aligning and an epic mentor named Dan Tyre.

Current projects include: building a new site for a rad local band called Sunbeam Tiger and contributing to building up their image, it’s really fun.

And simultaneously building a new site for a local record store:D in Capitol Hill. Also have a big redesign for Aesdiopod Designs with a lot of cool new functionality. Check back soon. Lots in the works!

Art Bestie Kayla and I also have put our heads together to create the Creative Solutions Collective. Check out our IG page. It’s a 100% a 50/50 collaboration thus far. Hey hey it’s our launch day!

Been putting in a lot of hours to wrangle these projects but eventually the goal is to adjust to a 3-4 day work week.

We’re the Creative Solutions Collective! Join us! @creativesolutionscollective on IG

Newest Latest

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Aesdiopod Designs is currently based in an amazing Start Up Tech Space ever in Pioneer Square, Seattle.

I have been developing a Cattoon chronicling the adventures of my cat Crookshanks as he explores the multiverse. I just started a Patreon and will be adding a Cattoon Zine as one of the levels that folks can subscribe to 😀

Recently, Aesdiopod added a bunch of new content & pages to the Sunrise Tacoma Movement‘s site. That group has been working really hard this summer to launch a Tacoma Green New Deal in Tacoma, Washington to show the world how to make it happen. I am so glad to be in with these folks, this is such timely essential work!! Can I get an AMEN.

Crookshanks floating in space with Ninja Toast & Judo Butter

I am in the BEST company. My neighbor Jessie has Crypto site. And he plays guitar. Check out his side project, Socean. Looks good.