BOOK REVIEW: Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake

BOOK REVIEW: 

Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake 

As colonial frameworks progress, the connection between humans and nature has increasingly strayed. Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake takes us on a journey beneath the soil into the vast networks of mycelium. These networks are the life force behind our planetary ecosystem. They help distribute resources amongst the forest to maintain the health of the whole. 

Upon reading the intro, I was hooked. It spoke about neurological mechanisms when humans are capable of suspending disbelief, and then you are escorted into a beautifully illustrated journey into mycology and fungi’s relationship to everything. As someone who is really excited about transitions, the segment that covers lichen was a fun departure into the unknown. Lichen is an organism that forms from a symbiotic partnership between fungus and algae in what is called a “composite organism.” 

I really enjoyed this perspective of an entangled life. The way the book brings our small or the unseen cohabitants to the surface is a great reminder that there are many factors that contribute to our quality of life and ability to exist. It lends a new perspective towards innovation, new mechanisms and leverage points are exposed. Most of all, it presents a mirror. Entangled Life shows that we are all connected and that we can see ourselves, clearly, in nature and all of its movements. 

EVOLUTION OF ECONOMICS with Asset to the Resistance

Evolution of Economics with Asset to the Resistance 

Earlier in the year I saw an offering for an accounting course that is equivalent to an associate certificate in accounting, for free. The intention was to create access to information and training for people to gain employment or support their small businesses better. 

The program was created by Asset to the Resistance. This organization is comprised of accountants, tax preparers and fiscal consultants aka Radical Money People (RMP) who understand the inherently flawed and oppressive logic of capitalist economics. They believe that in order for life to thrive, radical transformation is necessary. They want to elevate business models that focus on equitable labor practices and local resource consumption, distribution, and preservation. Through education and empowerment, they support our clients in constructing new ways of doing business, one where “success” is not solely defined by numbers, but rather by the overall health of all living things.

Our current economic system exploits the many in favor of the privileged few and tries to bury its truths and deceive its workers. From a young age, we are led to believe the “myth of meritocracy”: if we work hard enough then we, too, can achieve financial success. This “meritocracy” does not account for the impact of indigenous genocide, slavery, racism, gender inequality, transphobia, homophobia, xenophobia, ableism, etc., all of which dramatically affect our ability to earn a living. As a result, we are encouraged to fight for limited resources, competing with our neighbors and friends rather than directing our anger and frustration at the system itself. Capitalism is upheld by shame and scarcity. It is not healthy for building and encouraging a sense of self and community. 

As assets for the resistance, we have the privilege and responsibility to address economic inequality. This includes educating our communities about the capitalist system, how it impacts them, and how to navigate it with a sense of power. Asset to the Resistance does this by creating a referral network through arpdx.org, offering grassroots fiscal education and providing Q&A sessions with RMP’s. 

Asset to the Resistance’s mission is to build a stronger, more equitable community, one where we talk about money and privilege openly and with vulnerability for the purpose of supporting the broader social justice movement.

LEARN MORE https://www.arpdx.org/

JUICY Review of Orange Tart Live Rosin from J.E.T.S. and Arkitecht22

Strain – Orange Tart 

(Orange Blossom x Exodous Cheese) 

Breeder – Dynasty Genetics 

Grower – Arkitecht22 

Hash Maker – J.E.T.S. 

My friend hits me up every once in a while, and we grab a smoke, maybe some Thai food, and great conversations. Arkitecht22 is one of the most consistent growers out there. I always love to see the care and consideration he puts into his indoor grow. The other summer I was cruising social media and saw that my friend was starting to collab with one of my favorite rosin accounts J.E.T.S.(Just Enjoy This Solventless). I had to try it right away! That was a treat, one of the best things you can do is smoke or dab something you, or someone you know produced. When they came out with the Orange Tart, I could not pass it up! It did not disappoint. 

Texture 

Smooth, butter-like texture with slightly firm resistance on the dab tool. Great for slicing the perfect dab right out of the jar. 

Nose 

Bright sweet like the Tang drink they give to astronauts. I’m already blasting off from this citrusy terpene profile. It rounds out into some nice gassy notes to let you know this is the dank shit. I like when you can shove your nose in a jar and feel your temples tingle and your mouth water at the same time. I feel like a cat. I want to roll around on the ground all blissed out with this live rosin aroma. 

Taste 

Earthy dab rounded out with rich citrus flavor and a gassy undertone. My mouth feels like I ate a bunch of orange slice gummies, the ones with the sugar coating. One of my favorite things about rosin is how processors capture the essence of the flower strain in the taste. This is a sign of a great relationship, quality flower going into the hands of a hash maker who cares. J.E.T.S. nails it with Arkitecht22’s Orange Tart. 

5 minutes 

The dab went straight to the dome. It is giving me a relaxed and focused head. I had a migraine coming up all day, and it is starting to go away. 

20 minutes later 

Really focused, I am deeply interested in everything. Migraine is gone and I was able to knock out a few work tasks. 

1 hour later 

OMG, I just want a slice of cake and to crash out. I can feel my eyes getting heavy and my body relaxing. Great for the end of the day. 

Nicely done, J.E.T.S. and Arkitecht22! 

HIGHLY RECOMMEND you may not be able to try this concentrate they sell through batches in less than a week..

WHY BOTHER? How To Stay Lifted in Tough Times by Bettie Borenstein

Oh, hey Cannabis professional. Have you noticed, even our decidedly “feel good” industry is not immune to the barrage of challenges that pop up like a whack-a-mole game. It can be hard to sustain the energy it takes to continue to thrive. 

How do I maintain? (Besides, of course, smoking that sweet sweet cheeba ;) 

Here are 3 areas of focus that buoy me past the rocky waters into a grounded sense of purpose.… 

1. Coming Out Green. Being public about my relationship with Cannabis means a lot to me. Being so immersed in the culture now, I almost forget how alienating it was to feel like I could not be honest about this part of my life. It was not until I moved to Portland Oregon that I found a community that I felt understood me in this regard. These relationships are what gave me the confidence to try and get into an industry I had no connections in, other than my love of the plant and the positive impact it has on my life. It’s always helpful when I take the time to be in gratitude for the new levels of visibility, appreciation, and understanding of this ever-emerging culture for myself and others. 

2. Cannabis to the People. It is my belief that the Cannabis plant is a gift to humanity to assist in creating peace and wellness on Earth. Those of us that are called to be an ally for this plant know, access to Cannabis is a tool for a more connected society. I genuinely love and appreciate the people and experiences that Cannabis has brought into my life. I have the good fortune, in many regards, that I have never been fired, incarcerated, or publicly shamed for my relationship with this powerful plant. Many have, and it’s one of the reasons that I feel so passionately committed to be some part of getting Cannabis to the people. There are so many types of Humans that find benefits from utilizing Cannabis in its many forms. I find here is an area of society where we treat “stoners” like a monolith that includes being lazy, dull, stupid, horny, indulgent, losers. Could there be some cross over with cannabis consumers - sure! But that is true for every slice of subculture. Into every binary system we will have the winners and the losers, and everything in between. But I digress, the point here is that I am committed to being a resource to the Cannabis community and cannacurious doing the best I can do with the tools I have been blessed with. 

3. Honoring the Spirit. Cannabis is so powerful that just knowing she exists, insists you have an experience. Having any kind of knowledge of the presence of this plant’s consciousness on this planet, her medicine begins to work on you. She is the “peoples” plant, meaning she can grow anywhere and has, all over this great blue and green globe we live on. Because of this, it is then up to each one of us in how we will engage with the plant and what we base our opinions on. The spirit of Cannabis is that powerful. 

While we humans shuffle around in the nitty gritty of power, money, and ego…. 

Like Sugar, Cacao, Tobacco, Coffee, and Rose - Cannabis will take her seat in the lineup of plants that are honored and exhaled in modern society for their indisputable effects on humanity, mind, body, and spirit. 

The sheer breadth of the impact that this plant has makes me a proud consort to the proliferation of quality Cannabis. 

Cannabis showed me how to open my heart, see humanity through kinder eyes, and soften my hard edges enough to relax and enjoy life. Thank you to all those that have come before to my comrades in the streets, and to the next generation of builders. The future of Cannabis is a legacy worth championing for. 

FOLK & FORAGE by Jim Davis

Just outside of Veneta Oregon there’s 219 acres of pristine PNW forest called Havenroot. Havenroot is a campground that offers a humble retreat from the world and hosts different groups throughout the year. The crew there have spent years working with nature to bring people a cursive experience. They have trails, archery and axe throwing, canoeing, zip lines, a low rope challenge course, a corral for horses, and swimming. The campsite is amazing and provides a great time to lose yourself in the moment. One of my favorite experiences was on the sections that range from tent sites to cabins strategically placed throughout the property, offering a sense of seclusion and privacy while still working with nature. There’s also a really cool ecotone trail that campers can explore the local flora and fauna that winds throughout the grounds. 

How did I ever find out about Havenroot, you ask? For a few months a close friend of mine kept talking about Folk & Forage and how much fun it is. Folk & Forage is a mini festival of all things mushrooms. A gathering of like-minded people that love our fungus friends. They offer classes and workshops on how to forage, identify, prepare, and store mushies and other herbs and plants. 

To be honest, I hesitated to go because I didn’t want to horn in or be a distraction for my friend all weekend but when they said they were doing a pop-up pizza stand and how much fun we’d have, I was all in and started packing for the trip. My friend also generously offered for me to stay in their RV with them and to be honest at 51 with some health issues this was a blessing I couldn’t thank them enough for. 

Folk & Forage offers festival goers several classes and workshops over the weekend to sit in on and learn. Wyrdwood is the main stage area for music that has a small amphitheater surrounded by big, beautiful trees and led lit pathways that gently guide you down to the main area. On the second night I came walking down the path into the mini amphitheater right as Mahzeter started playing and enjoyed having their fusion of electronic and Eastern music sonically wash over me and the crowd. 

Across from the concert on the other side of the pond are there’s a sheltered Pavilion that can hold workshops and gatherings. Campers were treated to workshops like Beginners Wild Foods Foray, Coastal Fungi for Color, Foraging the Wild Foods of Spring, Growing and Companion Planting Mushrooms Outdoors. People got to hear from experts on how to forage, identify, prep their wild foods. 

The weekend was one of the most fun times I’ve had in recent memory. People were so cool and happy to be there too that the whole vibe was a beautiful space to be in and very hard to leave. People watched out for each other, and children played happily romping all over the campgrounds during the day. There was music being played somewhere all thru the day and night around campfires and in quite spaces. There was art everywhere and the famous Mushroom Masquerade Ball with an award ceremony for best costumes. This is a must see, there were so many creative costumes. I ran into a giant Morel on my way to the bathroom one night in the dark and had to think about whether I really that high for a moment. 

Each night, after the kids went to bed, concerts were held in Wrydwook that went late into the evening. People stayed after each night early into the morning to play their own instruments and share their music with each other. It was really cool to see people connecting in large and small groups all over the grounds only lit by their fires. 

I spent most of my time in our camp at the Pavilion which is a large area that covered with several picnic tables and a large fire pit. My friend set up an area for his traveling kitchen and people immediately congregated. They set up small propane fired pizza ovens and served the hungry group that continually floated through. I really enjoyed talking with the stream of people, I heard so many amazing stories of healing and joy. I met many others who’ve used psychedelic to heal from past trauma and hurt. We shared the stories of our journey and process with each other. The whole space had a sense of open-source learning and some shared projects they’ve secretly working on with everyone. People shared ideas and resources freely, the atmosphere had that electric buzz to it that groups of passionate people generate. I learned about psychedelics and how they react with the pharmaceuticals that some have to take. I’ve been SSRI free for almost a decade but many need to still take them and there should never be shame or judgment. It was interesting to hear how some people weave mushrooms into their required pharma routine. I talked to one person who uses Effexor and takes a few days off from the script, because that’s all they can handle before the withdrawals, to use psychedelics and then they start taking them again after. It sounds like slowly each time they are able to see marked improvements in their daily lives. 

Folk & Forage brings dreamers, explorers, and free thinkers together, seeing people bring their passion to the event and share made for a magical space. It was really hard to leave, and I spent that morning in partial denial that it was coming to an end. I finally packed up my gear and said a temporary goodbye to everyone. Driving home I realized I made the two-hour drive without the radio on. I drive 3500 miles a month up and down the Willamette Valley doing sales and I always have music or podcasts on for company. The weekend was such a rich experience that I just needed to process and unpack on the trip home and several days after. I didn’t realize how much I had unplugged over the weekend and honestly, I haven’t gone back to the habit of always playing something in the car to fill the void. I’ve been enjoying being in the moment more and listening to the hypnotic sound of the tires hum on the pavement and feel the sunlight fill the car and warm my skin. I know the Folk &Forage experience changed me and I can’t wait to return in October to see my mushy family. 

Mush Love 🍄☮️

INDUSTRY REPORT Q2 2023

What a time to be alive. It has never been more apparent that it is our responsibility to design what we want to see. We have seen what happens when we stand by and it just doesn’t work. 

Psychedelics 

Oooh buddy, people are pissed. Seems like psychedelic therapy is doomed to follow the footsteps of early cannabis; clueless regulators, exorbitant licensing fees, zero accessibility for equity and consumers. How is it the state keeps rolling out consumer product industry regulations and has zero channels set up for consumers? Anyway… the first graduating class of psychedelic therapists graduated from InnerTrek in March. While it is great that people are interested in facilitating therapy with psychedelics. We see a load of red flags appearing with training and facilitation facilities. The number one issue with training protocol is that the trainee facilitators are taught with ketamine and not psilocybin. However, the therapy they are attaining facilitation certification for is to administer psilocybin. 

RED FLAG.

Cannabis 

HOLY SHIT! DRAMA. These past few months have been wild at Cheechable HQ! We have been fielding calls and messages from local industry folks who are fed up with the State and regulating bodies. Oregon Secretary of State was busted in an audit that revealed special interest and collusion with a statewide chain of cannabis dispensaries. This investigation further revealed shady strategies that have been in play to squeeze out the independent family sized operations. 

As if Oregon cannabis farmers weren’t suffering enough, along comes this little thing called Aspergillus. This harmless organism is everywhere all around us, and the state of Oregon has decided that all flower must be free of this particular microorganism. They’re demanding the flower is to be cleaner than the air we breathe, as one of the co-owners of Utokia farms put it in one of many research and awareness videos they have been creating @utokiafarms on Instagram. KOIN 6 a local news station also picked up the story with feedback from Alibi and Cannassentials farms to share the devastating effects of predatory policy on the farms. 

March 2023 a new regulation came into effect that stated all cannabis products had to be tested for Aspergillus. If product failed, it could be remediated through chemical, UV, or irradiation and tested again. For small farmers, paying to double test multiple quantities of one batch could mean their entire profit for that harvest. While it could be a drop in the bucket for large scale grows, it can be devastating for the small farm. 

One anonymous farmer wrote to share their story with us: 

Aspergillus testing has affected my family and me tremendously, our health, stress, anxiety; we worry every day. Will our family business, an organic grow, survive the unnecessary testing and regulations putting our small family business in jeopardy? 

Microbials and aspergillus live everywhere, on our food our clothes, it lives in the air freely. If we are testing for mycotoxins there is no reason at all to test for microbials. 

Oregon cannabis growers are the poorest farmers in the nation. Why are we being put through so much? These rules and regulations are hurting good people health wise and financially. We need the OLCC and OHA to work with us and feel like we are working as a team, at this point Oregon cannabis companies feel like we’re being ruled. This microbial testing requirement needs to be removed NOW. These tests are morally wrong and they’re not even accurate. How can we put family farms in jeopardy like this, one failed unnecessary test will and has put farms out of business and employees out of a job unnecessarily. 

The remediation and microbial testing is a joke, it’s just another way for greedy people to try to make money off cannabis. Consumers don’t want remediated cannabis and Oregon longtime organic medical growers don’t want to ruin their medicine. The OHA is saying that aspergillus is dangerous, and we need to remediate our flowers if it tests positive. The remediation processes ruin the terpenes, the true medicine of cannabis, sick people aren’t getting their true medicine when cannabis is remediated. Also no one knows the long-term consequences remediated cannabis could have on humans. Microbial testing and remediation are doing more danger to humans than aspergillus does.

Interface 

Tech has been kind of sleepy this quarter. Not too many innovations or announcements outside of the tone-deaf pricing of the new $3500 Apple Headset. There is one insight that comes from a Big Five company move like this. They are operating in a bubble that is about to burst. They are still not involving the consumer in the conversation; Apple hasn’t released an innovative piece of hardware since the first iPhone debuted in 2007 or the SSD in 2008. I can only see one future for businesses when quality decreases and prices increase. Might be fun to run a short sale on Apple, who has stock?

Evolution as a Concept

The theme for this edition is EVOLUTION. We talk about progress and where we’re headed in life. We can see evolution in regenerative cycles and imprinted in nature. We are ever changing and contributing to changes in our environment. Join us as we look at different perspectives on evolution, how industry has grown and adapted to change; how personal journeys evolved. We also take the opportunity to look at species outside of the human realm. How are they coping with change? Ultimately, evolution is just ways we adapt to survive, but what does that look like when survival is becoming more dynamic every day? 

I am personally inspired by one of my mentors, Peter Schoonmaker, an evolutionary biologist who taught me how to push boundaries in policy to help out the little guy, aka endangered species. Evolutionary biology is a field that studies the evolution or changes in a species as it adapts to the changes in their ecosystem. I am very curious about the evolutionary relationships between technology as a species and its ecosystem; the server, the human or non-human user, the environment, and the expansive atmosphere of outer space that houses satellite communication. 

I wonder about the human relationships with Earth, the soil, water, and natural abundance of flora and fauna. Our Earth home is resilient, and so are we. As we saw with global quarantine, the Earth cooled itself and the air quality improved after a handful of months of no air travel. I believe we can intentionally course correct our evolutionary dystopia and become more mindful of our relationship with ourselves without sacrificing modern conveniences through design. I am talking about listening with our whole bodies and realizing we have instincts and intuitions. We have to listen to our natural rhythm.

The last time the human brain evolved was when we were exposed to fire as a tool and could begin to cook food. This afforded early humans to be less nomadic, and conserve energy and resources. However, this was 2 million years ago, and we still have the same brain. We have evolved culturally as a species but have become more limited in our physical bodies and more expansive in our digital counterparts. There are some tech experts who would argue that we are already cyborgs because we are connected to our digital devices more often than not and have developed codependent relationships with our apps and social platforms. I would argue this is one avenue that has been designed from a small group of people’s perspectives and now we are in a hyper feedback loop of addiction and introspection because of it. Not saying this is bad or good, it may even be necessary to help push us to the next neurological evolution. 

Pick up your copy of EVOLUTION in our SHOP!

YOU VS GOD BRAIN ATHEMIA

By Mage Chadowitz

A facsimile of a first-person shooter in which “you” in your hubris are combating the benevolent and altruistic GOD BRAIN ATHEMIA.

GO CHECK OUT GORK_ONLINE!

Speculative Futures, Futurists & Frameworks to Support the Creation of a Plausible Tomorrow.

The term futurist can conjure up images of sci-fi or psychics. While there are some overlapping traits, that isn’t exactly what a futurist is. The crux of futurist work lies at the intersection where vision meets strategy. This is the practice of creating and facilitating the possible future, rather than predicting it. Foresight is the action of a futurist. It is a collection of frameworks to understand the current state of something, envision several possible outcomes, and work from those insights to strategize and facilitate change. Speculative Designers like Dunne and Raby are futurists in the way that they use design as a medium to stimulate discussion and debate amongst designers, industry, and the public about the social, cultural and ethical implications of current and emerging technologies. Systems Thinking is a practice where you can dissect the elements of a new system and analyze the outcome based on speculative feedback loops and deeper analysis of agents of change. These two approaches lend a unique perspective in creating a desirable outcome with frameworks.

Visioning

The simplest version of foresight is visioning. This can be done solo, or with groups of various sizes. It is a way to tap into your imagination, closing your eyes helps. Start thinking about the challenge or the desired outcome. Start thinking about the senses around that environment. Who are the people, smells, colors, origins of obstacles? How does it feel to be in that space? Bring the full picture into your vision, build up the scenario so you can see it from a big picture perspective and zoom into all the fine details. This will help you comprehend elements of the system you are working with. If done in a group, this exercise can be done in 5–20-minute sessions of deep thought followed by a facilitated discussion.

Signals

Training yourself to recognize patterns and discern meaning is a craft that supports the navigation of a challenge. When you are engaged with research or in a visioning exercise, make note of themes that start to emerge. Maybe they’re physical, signals can also evoke feelings as well. For example, we will see new industries and customer segments emerge over time. We might see signals that a commodity is creating a viable market, these signals can be used to identify the support the market and customers need. Signals are an exercise that can be facilitated by asking people to do research beforehand and track what they notice. Each person takes a turn presenting their findings.

Future’s Cone

This framework is a different look at time and desired outcomes based on potential, preposterous, possible, plausible, probable, preferable, projected, and predicted scenarios. It is a tool to visually represent where the outcomes live in relation to your objectives. This is a good way to disseminate the work of visioning and signals into actionable segments for exploration.

Machines of the Pre-Apocalypse

By Seth Sypko

Folks frequently come up with some of the most roundabout ways to solve problems. Momentarily ignoring base capitalist motivations, much of the time this process of discovery feeds into a broadly accepted culture of waste. We all know this.

Marketed as relatively inexpensive and sustainable, ebikes and other wheeled e-mobility devices have become an attractive transportation solution for those that aspire to a less car dependent lifestyle while still fulfilling the need for speed and personal freedom. Whatever the case, the reasons are there and they’re all completely valid.

Sadly, the failure rate for these machines is startlingly high. There are as many reasons for this as there are riders riding these things. Mainstream service departments are rarely a viable avenue for repair. The bottom line there is that beyond a certain point the threat of liability becomes too great.

One of my jobs is working at a decent sized bike shop. We sell a ton of ebikes. Mostly big-name brands and all are kinda pricey. Remember that remark about high rates of failure? Our brands aren’t impervious to that. Our warranty department is full of bikes that have failed for one reason or another. Broken frames, dead batteries, thrashed motors, and bricked systems. And nowhere to really go with them.

Over the past summer, one of my more industrious and anarchy-minded coworkers took it upon themselves to methodically test and salvage all usable parts from the warranty pile. Eventually half a dozen bikes were built up and distributed amongst employees that could use them. Mismatched paint, battery packs strapped down with Voile straps and Gorilla Tape, motor compartments left exposed for an easy swap, these bikes are ugly and fast. Shelves of motors, batteries and controllers are ready for when a component dies. Six months in and all of the bikes are still going strong, with more being added to the mix over that time. As remarkable as this example of repair and reuse is, it’s opened my eyes to how widespread this practice has become.

I take a lot of joy in the fearless ingenuity of street level mechanics. Necessity and curiosity is manifested. Whether it’s a 1000 watts of batteries daisy chained to a hacked Lime scooter splitting lanes with a shopping cart full of scrap metal in tow, or the sheer resourcefulness of Pakistan’s DIY King and Dhoom Bros, who make free use of marine batteries, car alternators and home-brew Android controllers strategically strapped to a bike shaped object and cheerfully propelled well beyond any reasonably safe speed.

It’s also rad to see the right to repair to its most extreme. I’m here for all of it. I don’t know where we’re going, but we may as well get there on our own terms. Wacky Races Style!

The Repair and Reuse Economy

The work from home life was killing me so I sought out a way to connect to the community and get out of my house on a regular basis. Earlier in the summer I applied to be a cashier at a local junk shop up the street from my house. I was seeking low-lift, low risk, part-time accountability that balanced well with my design workload. I wasn’t hired for the cashier role, but because of my background in fabrication and design, I was hired on as the repair technician. FUN! This was a new role for the organization and an eye-opening opportunity for me.

The reuse economy is thriving. It dawned on me that the only metrics we collectively see for economic health are capitalist. This is only a partial view of how people are meeting needs and solving problems. There is a deep network of recycle and reuse opportunities that aren’t quantifiable, even more so in the found economy. The value exchanged is often times greater than the value of the item or even the price tag. The organization, Reclaim It!, has a unique business model that thrives on donations and being the only organization with access to remove items from the metro transfer station, aka The Dump. Most of the overhead comes from space rental and employing 5-10 people. The rest of the operation thrives at the hands of a diverse Board and workforce of volunteers as young as 16 up to 80 years old. This is where you start to see the value beyond compensation. Multi-generational and culturally intersectional groups of folks stand in communities with the same mission, to reduce waste.

There is a collection point at the transfer station, Recology. The main domestic waste pile is gleaned by three people on the floor at a time; this number is for safety. As you might imagine, the culmination of household and small business waste from a metropolitan area is quite a chaotic site to see. Trucks hauling deposits to smaller sorted piles of concrete, metal, or appliances; and of course, the pile. The pile is where most furniture, toys, tools, and bulk supplies are found. Gleaners pull items that need small repairs or bulk items to be used for parts. They load up carts making sure to avoid other patrons or the crushers that periodically compact the pile. This is an exciting and highly sought after role in the organization, and it is 100% volunteer based.

The gleaned items make their way to the retail shop, Reclaim It! where they are received by a modest staff and a team of volunteers to sort, clean, and repair the items. This process takes about a week to incorporate all the new items into the retail shop. The customer base is hyper local, most folks stop in just to see what’s new each week. While others come through for DIY, interior design, or arts missions. This eclectic hub creates an alchemy similar to Finnish mythology’s Sampo device. Sampo is an object constructed by a blacksmith and provides riches and good fortune to those who possess it. Think, horn of plenty style.

If you can think it, the pile will provide. It is remarkable, the things that have manifested before my eyes. Everything from an industrial printing press to an entire supply of glue sticks and a new glue gun. The cyclical nature of preservation churns with a strong and volatile energy because it knows how precious this balance is. It takes a certain type of person to dig in trash. Most folks wouldn’t bother, but people who have been through it in life can say some of their greatest moments were discovered when feeling discarded or abandoned.

Please enjoy the fruits of our collective labor, and if you are in Portland, please visit ReClaim It!, Rebuilding Center, Lovett Deconstruction, Community Warehouse, Community Cycling Center, and Free Geek for all the beautifully restored housewares, cycling needs and electronics!

2023 Q1 Industry Report

Wooooow! The giants are falling! Kinda… It looks like capitalism is really wavering and if you’re all in on it, now might be the time to diversify your options. You’ve got time, but that’s where we’re headed. The cycle of exploitation is coming to a head. Future generations will not work the same as the previous generations. Technology and human intelligence have far surpassed the need for wasteful transit and superficial trinkets. We work for a purpose, or simply create for the sake of creating. Sure, we could keep corporating the corporate, but it all seems so tone deaf and a little desperate for where we’re at.

We can do better, and we are starting to see the light.

Psychedelics

One brave soul opened a brick-and-mortar mushroom shop in downtown PDX. The Shoomery had a short-lived 6-week stint in operation. You could buy a series of mushroom based tinctures, chocolates, and of course various weights of dried psychedelic mushroom strains. People lined up for blocks and the shop was eventually closed by local authorities.

Psychedelic therapy has gone dark in the mainstream. There are small groups still in operation, but most have promptly disbanded or have realized that regulation is going to be more limiting than liberating. Of course, there are the big names who are vying for top dog, but that doesn’t necessarily seem to be the best strategy as we have learned from cannabis.

Cannabis

Cura Leaf, aka Select, aka Social, aka a bunch of other names to trick consumers into trying a product from a horrible company, has left Oregon, California, and Colorado. Hooray!

This doesn’t mean they are gone for good. Sorry East Coasters.

They’re headed for you now. Get a solid business plan together and hold your ground. Do not race to the bottom like the market will suggest. After all, they admitted their only means to survival is that there is no competition. Cannabis, as an industry has encountered way meaner and powerful bullies. You got this.

The New York market is stiiiiiiiiiill taking longer than expected to launch access to licenses and operating facilities. Meanwhile, it’s looking like a snooze fest on the product side of things. Many products are white labeled California brands that aren’t connecting with a New York audience. Which goes to show how cannabis is a lot like food in that way, people want to see their culture represented. The first dispensary opened up; pretty cool to see it is owned by a non-profit organization that provided support for AIDS/HIV patients, Housing Works. Apropos, given that much of the survival of the cannabis plant was because it was such a powerful medicine during the AIDS pandemic of the 80’s and 90’s.

How low can you go? Consumers can take advantage of the low prices this winter and cannabis business owners and workers can expect a new boom cycle this spring and summer. Take the slow time as an opportunity to strategize! This is another year of consuming smarter, and the cannabis beverage keeps evolving. With nano tech creating more surface area in the oil, the quicker the onset and resolve. This means more opportunities for cocktail moments and events! Cheechable is actively seeking event partnerships and sponsors. If you are a tech or plant-based company, we want to talk to you!

Inquire at: hey@cheechable.com

Interface

Millions adopted Ai overnight with the launch of Midjourney and ChatGPT. We are starting to see trends in productivity, creator toolkits, and deeper comprehension of what machine learning is capable of. It also raises the question of who owns the output. Is Ai really a plagiarism generator with a finite range, or is there a deeper resonance we can anticipate? While the written and visual output is seemingly generic now, will humans learn to construct better queries for more dynamic results?

We visited the Gatherverse S.H.E. Conference in January, and our founder, Alicia Navarrette, was a guest on the Bias in Tech panel to talk about their experience as a fem presenting person in the tech industry. Striving for symbiosis in our organic and digital experiences was a common thread in our conversation; simply being aware of bias and the evolution of physical dependencies as it relates to digital interactions.

Foresight as a Concept

The theme for the Q2 edition of Cheechable is FORESIGHT. If you are talking about the future, you are too late. We know the only thing that matters is today and we are here to set you up for having the best days. We tapped into futurist, strategist, and visionary frameworks. The doors are officially open to taking a new approach to living and creating the future we want to see by making strategic moves today.

Our environment is becoming more dynamic each day. The more we are ingrained with digital tools to navigate space and manage time, the more opportunities arise for intention and purposeful creativity. It reminds me of an Augmented Reality project we were trying to make called, Space Trash. This essentially sold virtual real estate in actual spaces. We wanted to see how cluttered it would actually get with advertisements, abandoned objects, social experiments, etc. Then you could filter based on demographic, industry, and query-based searches. It was also nice because it created more opportunity for nature over billboards in the physical space.

We sit in the Post-Information Age, in the throes of Ai and Machine Learning, what is next for humanity? Moreover, what’s next for you? Will you tap into more channels to connect to nature’s cycles, or fully plug into “the matrix”? What if there were a way to achieve a dynamic existence and balance organic and digital technologies for the greatest quality of life for all species on the planet? We know this is all very possible if we create it into existence. We already have! Do you have a garden, and have you ever consulted the socials for advice? That’s dynamic! As simple as it sounds, it can be more challenging to discern when the spaces become marketing. You start living as you are sold and detach from instinct.

We have reached the point where there’s a car, home, appliances, clothing, food for every human body in existence. We have also reached peak graveyard and landfill. We are ready to move on to a more socially conscious existence and connect with the earth’s wisdom. In design terms, we can look at the period of time between the industrial revolution up to the COVID-19 pandemic onset as a “prototype” for the future of humanity. We see the flaws and the iterations of power dynamics at scale. We can see the failures clearly and many unintended consequences have played out enough to see the patterns, good or bad. Now we are equipped to democratize resources and educated enough to know possessions do not equal worth. We can build for symbiosis with confidence.

Battling Predatory Policies in Oregon

The Oregon cannabis industry filed a motion to pause Aspergillus testing for flower citing unjust and unscientific regulatory frameworks. This is a result of an anti-drug organization who funded a genomics testing company to lobby predatory policy to encourage more dependence upon testing equipment and remediation techniques, specifically radiation methods.

This newly required testing is asking the flower that consumers smoke be cleaner than the air anyone is breathing, even sterile hospital environments are not free from Aspergillus. Per the regulation you may test twice (using the testing company’s product), that way if you fail the first time you can remediate and try again. One of the biggest issues is the sample size. This framework asks farmers to test their product multiple times which cuts into their margins that are already razor thin. This disruption is causing operations to shrink or even shut down and a newly unemployed workforce compounded with an already struggling market.

Medicinal Genomics is the company responsible for increasing unemployment, closing down small businesses, and withholding access to medicine for patients in Oregon.

These consequences were funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse to lobby in favor of predatory policies in the Oregon cannabis market. This propaganda comes from this testing company who leads with death grips on wonky, unbased science and white papers to spread false rhetoric. Furthermore, they are attempting to steer the international market in the same way by influencing regulations that require more usage and sales of their equipment. 👀

Unfortunately, this is just one example of companies who take the opportunity to produce fear mongering propaganda for financial gain. They don’t contribute to the health and success of the people or products in this market. They only waste resources and decrease the overall quality of the segment guised in concern for consumer safety.

If you do want to read an unbiased paper on how Aspergillus and this science really impacts cannabis, check out the following contemporary data here:

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1192035/full#:~:text=Our%20findings%20indicate%20that%20TYM,build%2Dup%20of%20these%20microbes.

CANNABUZZ PODCAST AND SOCIAL PLATFORM

We popped on Cannabuzz to talk about the PDX Summer SESH and why community means so much for access to cannabis and other pressing issues. Check it out here! Thank you JR and Sam for