Coming Attractions & Security Action

Greetings my brethren all! Now that my successor has been installed in the East at my lodge I have made the mode switch to my personal studies and research efforts. I have some "Coming Attractions" to share, one of which will explain some blocks I had to put on some member accounts here on the website this weekend.

First up, my writing projects:

I've sent my article regarding our membership issues and the evolution in our society and culture out for Peer Review. It's longer than I wanted it to be, but I felt I needed to support the positions I take. The thrust of the article is that membership is not our problem, it's an indicator of much larger problems that we need to address as a fraternity to help and guide our society. I hope to finish Peer Review and final edits this week and post the article on the website next weekend.

Once I finish the article, I will be putting my non-fiction efforts on hold, taking a hiatus as it were. I have finished Volume I of my short story series (short title is "Noah's Quest") and begun Volume II. I want to focus my writing on the fiction side for a while and see where it takes me. Volume I is back from Peer Review and I am doing final edits now. I am consulting with the publisher about options for going directly to print (which is my preferred path) first, then to the website.

Second up, I have to do some web maintenance and updates, so let's go there:

My web host notified me of member accounts they suspect were either fake or bot accounts. I did not delete them, but I did block them. If you try to access the page and are blocked contact me through FB with information to indicate you are a real user and I will lift the block. (NOTE: This is included here because there is no "member check" for this blog, plus I will be copying this post to my FB companion page "A Mason's Journey")

I've had several site maintenance tasks "on hold" for several months and it is time to turn some of my attention to these.

I still have hundreds of historic documents and books to upload into my Reference Library so I need to return some of my attention to that effort.

I need to modify the format of several of the pages. I've out grown the style and format for the pages where I store documents, so there needs to be some updating and reformatting.

Finally, and now because of the appearance of the fake accounts, I am going to experiment with "Membership Only" pages. I do not intend to charge a fee, but I will likely convert some of my pages to members only and require some type of validation.

Third and finally, I am co-hosting an MWSA Workshop titled "All Things West Gate" on Saturday, October 8, 2022. My co-host and our guest instructor Chris Williams will be providing instruction on how to do investigations on petitions, how to examine visitors, and how to conduct a ballot on a petition. The event is posted on my "Events" page, RSVP's desired, not required.

I've also been invited to speak at two local lodge functions, so I need to get to work on my material for that. Once the subjects are locked in I will be posting the evens on my website.

So yes, I've graduated from the east again, but no, I haven't really slowed down that much. I am working on some lodge projects such as a change to our bylaws, but I have been able to open more of my time for my personal interests - and here we are with both current writing projects at or past the "Peer Review" stage!

Brethren, please go in peace!

-BroBill