Sean
Braacx

A creative outlet

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Photo of Sean (sorry)
MoustacheA spinning moustache

Welcome to my creative outlet. A place to share ephemera I’ve collected online and offline,
along with some writing.

  • DIY Bag

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    Can a tote bag be manly? Does it matter?

    I’ve wanted to make a “manly” tote bag for a while, and finally got around to it earlier this year. With much help from my wife, and a modified design from Merchant & Mills, I cut, sewed and assembled this bag.

    I chose a waxed canvas for durability and water repellency, a sturdy leather for the handle, and inner pockets to hold a water bottle and smaller items. Overall I’m quite happy with the end product.

    Working on this I was reminded of two things. The first is that doing something yourself takes way longer than you expect (especially the first time), and makes little economic sense given the hours and the materials. The second is that designing and making something yourself (especially that you use frequently) is incredibly rewarding, and each time you use it you’ll smile knowing it wasn’t just ordered from Amazon.

    I write this for you and for me, as an encouragement and reminder that taking on the next project may be hard and frustrating, but totally worth it.

  • Slimes & Sludges

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    This is literally one of the “materials” listed in the Kitchenaid Mixer! At least they disclosed it though 🤷

  • Vintage ’26

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    Another fall means another grape harvest, and another attempt at making wine.

    This is the 3rd (or 4th?) year now, and although I still feel like I have no idea what I’m doing, I think I have less of no idea now 🙃

    This year I kept the vines pruned back, and thinned the grapes in an attempt to get better fruit. This worked, resulting in much more even and ripe grapes, but … way less of them. My red only yielded 2 bottles, so they better be good.

    Give it a year and we’ll see how it is – at least the colour is nice.

  • Alfred the AI Alligator

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    I promised my boys we would “do art” today. We decided to make a Zine.

    Making a Zine is a fun project that only requires a sheet of paper and some creativity. You can write a short story, or just do a bunch of random drawings – having it in a book format is way cooler.

    For my story, I started with the title and simply wrote as I went. For non-nerds, a cron job is a scheduled tasks that a computer runs (or is supposed to). It’s a bizarre story, but our modern world can be too.

    Without further ado, introducing my first short story: Alfred the AI Alligator. It is hopefully not my last nor my best 🙂

    1 / 5

  • Flying Lessons

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    You have to flap harder

    What do you do when there is no diving board? Get thrown in the pool of course!

  • Deep Mud

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    But how deep is it really?

    I haven’t posted a good photo of a sign in a while. This one is at a local lake, but there is something about the silhouette that doesn’t seem right. I think it should be a whole lot deeper to try dissuade anyone from proceeding.

  • Where Are You Looking?

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    Keep your eyes up!

    If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed.
    If you look within, you’ll be depressed.
    If you look at God, you’ll be at rest.

    Corrie Ten Boom

  • Fruits Need Roots

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    Sometimes it would be nice if it happened faster. But it doesn’t.

    Recently a flower was cut from our garden before blooming (not blaming any child) so I stuck it in a jar to see if it would open. At first nothing happened. Then, for a few weeks, roots began to grow longer and deeper. Finally, the flower grew and opened within a day or two.

    Our lives are like this too. For us to bear good fruit, or anything useful or beautiful, it requires nourishment and deep roots. But roots take time, and you don’t see them growing because it’s all happening under the soil of our lives. Yet, if you have patience, and remain in a place of nourishment (Jesus called it abiding) – there will be fruit in abundance.

    Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord.
    He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
    and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
    and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.

    Jeremiah 17:7-8 ESV

    “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

    John 15:5 ESV

  • Gone offline

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    I’ll be back … eventually

    I’m taking some time offline to enjoy screen free activities. In the meantime, wishing you a very Merry Christmas!

  • Consumption & Society

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    But the deals are so good!

    A society in which consumption has to be artificially stimulated in order to keep production going is a society founded on trash and waste, and such a society is a house built upon sand.

    Dorothy Sayers

    This feels like a fitting quote for Black Friday weekend.

    I’ve posted Dorothy Sayers before, but her writing contains much wisdom on work and life. Check out her essay Why Work? for more.

  • Embrace Mediocrity

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    Still better than 3 stars, right?

    I always laugh when I see the sign for this business. Perhaps they named it before every single business or transaction was rated out of 5 stars. Hopefully, it isn’t four out of ten!

  • Rainforest

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    Just watch out for the bears

    Living on the Pacific Northwest, we get a lot of rain (it is a temperate rainforest), especially in late fall. But if you put on your rain gear and get away from the city, it is always so beautiful and peaceful in the woods.

    hiking in the forest

  • Not idiotic

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    Impressive vocabulary for a 7 year old

    I was reviewing a bin of my old school work and found this gem. It was an acrostic poem based on my name, may not be the most elegant, but it is true 🙂

  • Dancey Beats

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    I’ve always loved electronic music, sadly now renamed EDM and often much worse (or I’m just old). A few years ago my son and I started playing around with Garage Band and made some fun beats – including this dancey one.

    Since then I picked up a PO-33 micro sampler and have played around here and there, but not enough to feel competent. Hopefully I’ll be posting some more music in the future. 🕺

  • No Climbing

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    Sometimes rules give you ideas

    Spotted in Washington, it was too good to pass up the photo opportunity.

  • Sleeping in

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    A Sabbath haiku.

    I love to sleep in
    Especially on Sunday
    Oh no, late for church

    Me

  • The Creative Gym

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    Go to the creative gym every day

    Jean Jullien

    I’ve recently read a few books by artists including Jean Jullien and one thing that stood out is the emphasis each of them placed on practice.

    Drawing has always been something I enjoy, but I haven’t had made the time to practice enough to improve or form a meaningful habit. This means the friction to get started was way too high.

    Finally a few weeks ago I broke the pattern and have started sketching almost daily. As a bonus, I find that when I draw, my boys are more inspired to draw too. I’m also finding that as I try drawing things I find harder (animals and people) I’m improving – though I still manage to make faces look weird 🙃

  • Where there’s a will

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    At least it wasn’t the propane tank

    I’m not one to be easily bested by a problem. In this case a friend was having a little summer hang out and asked if I could bring my fire pit. I was planning to bike, so this was the solution …

  • Word of the Day #7

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    like a blind dog in a meat market

    1. Going wild, out of control

    I don’t recall where I read this phrase, but it immediately stuck because of its strong visual description. I will use it to (somewhat accurately) describe my boys at times.

    I did some digging and it seems like it was in use for well over a century, but the origin is unknown.

  • Polite Notice

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    We are sorry for the discomfort this may cause

    When walking (or driving), I’m always on the lookout for interesting or funny signs. This one made me laugh, it’s like they didn’t want to offend anyone who was going to pee on their window – so Canadian 😂