Brother Dudes! Sister Dudettes!

Remember me? :)

::: yes dear? :::

::: Well, I'm not that forgetable :::

:: Am I? :::

sigh

Yes the title says September newsletter and it's only August. But all the big guys do that. Magazines n stuff. I'm big,
right?

(Please keep the laughter to a dull roar. I'm trying to think here.)

Um... excuse me a sec...

::: Yes sir? Uh... it is September where you live? I see. :::

::: Um... well... ever thought about moving? Uh, huh. Uh huh. Ah hah. I see. Um... no need to get testy, my Brother.
:::

sniffle...

Ok, I'm back.

Sorry for the interuption. So much for big. :( Just ignore the tears. I'll be fine.

Ok, so shrinking... I mean... moving right along...

Anywho. I know, I know, it's been... it's been... whew. More than half a year since I've annoye... er, sent out my
marvelous newsletter. Hey, I'm olde'. I'm entitled. And I never promised to inundate you with junk. Just occasional
ju... fascinating articles!

::: Of course they're buying it, dear. You know, friend to friend and all that :::

Ok, so struggling on amidst all her laughter, most of you know that this newsletter isn't usually about deep Masonic
thoughts. More about... um... er... It's not usually about deep Masonic thoughts.

But I actually had one. (quota for the year has been reached)

::: please stop laughing dear. I can think. Albeit, rarely :::

I don't know if most of you visit my main page but if you scroll down to "Masonically Masonical", you'll find
"thoughts". I wrote a mini article about my thoughts about us.

Actually, you should hit the main page often. That's where all the money saving coupons are! But I digress.

So, for those of you who missed it, I'm inserting it below. Reason being, if I don't, then I got nothin' to add to this
newsletter and I'll have to think up more stuff. When I think I get headaches. So think of it like a self preservation
kind o' thing.

Ahem... so, without further ado... adew... add ewww... Sheesh. Ado is a strange word.
::: yes dear? We make a pair? ::: sigh

Here ya go...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What to do? What to do?

Yes our craft is dwindling. Most members are "over the hill". The "secret society" that isn't secret is slowly
disintegrating.

With all the good Freemasons do, it's hard to believe that very few have an interest in joining our ranks. But it's
true.

Is it because of us? I'm afraid it is. The Brethren themselves have become secretive. The most they do is wear a ring
that few notice. So the 2B1 Ask1 slogan, that for years has made us hold back, has held back many good men joining our
ranks.

Personally I agree with it. It was fun. Perhaps a matter of pride, in a sense. But times are changing. Much too often I
hear “I want to join but don’t know how”.

The Pennsylvania Grand Lodge recently dropped the requirement and PA members can now openly solicit new Brothers.
Hopefully this won't end up with some harassing friends and neighbors but I'm back to the “what to do?" in the title of
this little "blog", if you will.

Going back a few hundred years when Masons were literally Stone Masons it made sense. You had to be good at your craft
to join and joining wasn't easy. But in today’s world, our idea is to take good men and make them better. However, we
can't "take" them. They have to come to us. When you look at it that way, 2B1 Ask1 doesn't make much sense.

With all the anti-Masonry around us I don't think we have much choice. Search on line for Masonic and you get maybe one
or two accurate pages about Freemasons, but also hundreds of pages of anti-Masonic mis-information. So what are we to
do? I feel we have no choice but to solicit members openly. They need to know who we really are and where we come from.

Will I openly solicit? Uh... no. I'm old school. Set in my ways. Well, I won't go as far as to say I'm a "we never did
it that way" kind of Mason. But I do realize that old habits die hard. Of course, if I was that stolid about it I
wouldn't be offering Masonic regalia for our craft.

My whole idea of creating Masonic designs was/is to offer the ability for Brethren to kind of "advertise" us. If you
wear a shirt or cap, use a coffee mug, stick on a sticker, hang a little plaque or whatever, you have the ability to
create conversation about our craft. If we all "advertised" a bit more, perhaps the 2B1 Ask1 would have more punch.

But a “wearing of the S&C” brings a duty. We must be more vigilant in our ways. It can also be a curse to the craft. For
instance, if you have a Masonic bumper sticker and you cut off that guy trying to change lanes… he’s not going to like
you. He’s not going to like Freemasons. If you get too much change from the cashier and don’t notice, she may remember
you and your ring. She won’t like Masons.

But, we are all human. Things like this are inevitable. But it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t go out in public! We just need
to govern ourselves accordingly as best we can. We’ll make mistakes, but in the end, the good works that Brothers do
will be brought more to the forefront and maybe, just maybe, folks will realize what a great organization Freemasonry
actually is. Hopefully even entertain the thought of becoming one of us.

Display our symbol proudly, Brothers. The Craft needs you to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, so them's me thoughts n' I'm stuck with em.

Slipping back from serious to delirious, has anyone noticed that the year is just about shot? When did that happen?
Halloween just around the corner, Thangsiving... and then, and then... the biggie! Whew. Not to mention the heavy
birthday season around Octoberish. The mind boggles. Well, mine does. I'm easily boggled.

Take my dog, Leo. (please!) He's going to be 2 years old soon. Coton de Tulear. Cute as a button. Never barks. But won't
come when called. Unless he's on a long leash (figgers he has no choice in the matter) or you're holding a treat. No
leash, no treat = no puppy. sigh

So, got another Coton (Katie). Figgered she'd help him get the idea. So, she trained him to bark and he trained her not
to come. Perfect!

It really isn't easy being me. :/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey! Stumbled across this neat Masonic newsletter page in pdf form from Rural Lodge AF&AM in Massachusetts. But it has
info from Lodges world wide. Check it out if you get a chance. Brilliantly done. You can even subscribe if you like.
Tell em The Masonic Shop sent ya!

http://www.rurallodge.org/2NEWS/newsletter.htm

It actually got me thinkin. Then I went to bed with a headache. But when I awoke I said to myself... self? Why not
create this newsleddr in a pdf format? That way I can put in pretty pictures too!

(Cuz you all know I won't send this newsletter out in html format cuz of the dangers of html email. Not that I would
send anything dangerous, but I have my html shut off in my email program so I can't see it anyway.)

Anyway, self said to me, why not? I said, well self, it's a lot more work. Trying to keep up with 19 Masonic stores and
piles of custom design requests I is kinda busy. So it's on the back burner. Since The Masonic Shop V lets you customize
my stuff yourself, it's taken a load off my shoulders but I still get a ton of requests. But if you folks would rather
pretty pictures, let me know and I'll consider it.

Oh, and if you're from Texas, check out...
http://www.mastermason.com/STTM-Emag/

As the above, a lot of info from around the world. Also very well done!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh, and some may be wondering why on earth do I have 19 different shops. Well, these are various clearing houses that do
my printing and each have their own appeal and different products not found in the main shop. From skateboards to
lanyards to cutting boards to ties to jewelry to frosted beer mugs and more. A lot more.

For instance, the Masonic Shop V gives the ability to customize your own products, so lately I've been spending more
time updating that one. Latest designs are going there first to make it easy on you (and easy on me). Remember... I'm
kinda lazy. :)

::: yes dear, I know they know :::

For instance, if you like a design you see on a shirt, you can add your name, Lodge, whatever. But if you like the
design on a shirt but would rather a sweatshirt or hoodie... just make it a sweatshirt or hoodie by yourself. Want the
design on the back? You can do that too!

Same with mugs. Rather a frosted beer mug? Travel mug? Colored mug? Disappearing mug? Stein? Change it yourself. And add
text if you'd like.

Don't get me wrong. I love customizing for Brothers (and Sisters!) but it's just quicker and easier for both of us.
Check out the "how to" page for TMS V and have fun designing your own products! No obligation to order anything! Kind of
like playing with a video game but with a purpose. :) Little bit of a learning curve but it can be a blast! And you can
proudly say "I made this"! :)

http://gbp.net/masonicshop/TMS5howto.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ok, now for the kinda mostly deja vuey stuff...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you didn't notice, here's the page that lets you know why you signed up here...
http://gbp.net/masonicshop/newz.html

And here's newsletter archive in case you can't figure out what I'm talking about here. Ok, so you still may not be able
to figger it out but it's a shot. If you don't start from the first one, you'll probably be lost.
http://gbp.net/masonicshop/nooz.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Show off your own Lodge on line!!!
http://gbp.net/masonicshop/lodgeworld/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Other Brothers pages!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Links to other shops you may enjoy...
http://gbp.net/masonlinks/

rtj's Junqueyard. Everybody knows about good ol' Brother Dick's site...
http://gbp.net/rtj/ Unique Masonic coins, dogtags, lapel pins and more. Including Vietnam & Korean Vets coins and his
amazingly popular auto emblems!

Really rockin' Masonic Embroidery anyone? Good people that do good work!
THE MASONIC PATCH...
http://gbp.net/masonicpatch/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Don't forget to check out our wallpaper page. We still add to it once in a while. (and we do take requests)
http://www.gbp.net/valleylodge/graphics/WP/
Yep. There's phone wallpaper too!

Free Masonic graphics you can request for your web site.
http://gbp.net/valleylodge/art.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Oh! If you've never visited our "off the wall, non-Masonic section", check
it out and hopefully get a few laughs.
http://www.cafepress.com/masons/630484

They're "on loan" from the Eclectically Incorrect shop. If you follow the link that's there to
their shop, you'll find a bunch of other strange things! But a word of
warning... some can be a tad "risque".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, I'm outta here.

Keep it square! And support your local Lodge!
Not to mention the Shriners Hospitals... It's all about the kids.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Forward to a friend! You can forward this newsletter to anybody you like. We're not proud. We'll annoy anyone.

Did you receive this email from a friend? Don't let them annoy you with it. Let us do it! Uh... I mean...
If you like what you see (ROFL), please visit the URL below and fill out our "contact us" form to get on the list. (Ok,
I'll put it here too in case your monitor is too short to see all the way to the bottom -
http://www.themasonicshop.com) If they forget to send it to you, you won't get it! Get it? You can even read about why
you'd want to sign up! Or why you wouldn't want to. Err... I mean... who wouldn't want to? (Uh... that's a rhetorical
question. I really don't want to know, so please no emails with a list)

The Masonic Shop http://www.themasonicshop.com
To give us feedback, unsubscribe or whatever, just email us at
tms (at) themasonicshop (dot) com

````````````````````````````````````````````````````
PS - If you are bored, please tell seven friends, three strangers, and two enemies good things about us.

oK, bak two da nooz ledder paige hear