The Edmonton Freemasons Hall, located at 10433 83 Ave NW
Sunday September 10th
About a month ago, I wanted to do some Alex Jones style investigative journalism, so I looked into the Freemasons of Edmonton. There was a lodge, and actually some events taking place in the future – the Friday that just past. They were having some sort of dinner in downtown Edmonton at the Al Shamal Shrine Center, and they wanted an RSVP with tickets at $65, with cocktails starting at 6pm, and dinner by 7pm. By the time I got home from work though (after getting some foods), it was already like 9:30pm. Another thing is, I don’t think they would answer any of my questions, besides maybe the first two. I remember someone at a previous job, who was part of the society, did a presentation of the Freemasons (we had voluntary presentation set up where every Friday, a different person would make a presentation of a subject). When we asked questions, I don’t think they could give a direct answer to any of them! Anyway, here was my questionnaire:
- How active is the Freemason society in Edmonton? What kinds of things do you do?
- Are there ever activities that reach across cities, where more than one Lodge is involved in an event? What kind of events?
- According to a CBC article back from 2018, the masonic lodge has “…old texts, rich engravings and fraternity artifacts…”. Can you describe in more detail what kinds of texts and their significance, that are contained in the lodge?
- Does the organization have any political leanings? If so, which party? If no, does it have any leaning, left/right?
- What about on the other axis, does it believe in more centralized, authoritarian control, or a more laissez-faire, libertarian way of life?
- On a scale of 1-10, how useless do you think the people in government are? How involved in government affairs are the freemasons? Lobbyists?
- Are any secrets in the society worth being secrets, or is it mostly a hype to garner new members?
Another topic I want to write about: How stopping the consumption of alcohol has affected my life. The changes/foods, the habits, and the dreams…
I haven’t written about it, but I stopped drinking a little over 6 months ago. I actually stopped drinking while on vacation. I remember that it was a Tuesday, and that the Sunday and Monday nights before, I was on a huge bender (Anarchapulco was absolutely insane). But that is not the point of this thread. My point is moreso health related. Ever since stopping drinking, I have had more time and energy to focus on maximizing my health and vitality. Not only do I not waste time (and money) drinking – and unavoidably probably doing something stupid – but I also forgo the morning after hangover, which quite literally is a write off for the rest of the day (1/7 of the week, gone, just like that). So, we already have 4 benefits:
- Save money
- Save time not drinking, doing something more productive
- Not doing something stupid resulting in getting hurt and/or losing reputation (and if not, at least not faking it with liquid courage)
- Save an entire day, instead of being hungover, and do something productive (or take the day off, but still, not feel like trash)
That is just an introduction. A primary major benefit has been that cutting out something my body doesn’t like (alcohol) makes it easier to narrow down on foods my digestive tract may be sensitive or intolerant of. Everybody is different, but many people have food sensitivities, and ever since recently, I am now one of them (I used to be able to eat anything, even deodorant… I was a monster). Cutting out alcohol makes it easier to tell what I put in my body is/was the source of the violent diarrhea (for example). Not only am I omitting the alcohol, which makes the elimination process easier) but this gives me more time to think and research about the problem, from YT videos, to a food diary. An overall greater care of general health, is a major obvious change.
When it comes to habits, stopping drinking makes keeping habits much easier. I can’t say to myself oh, I feel like I’m going to die, I’m not going to go to the gym, or go buy healthy groceries, or cook a nutritious meal. I have no excuses for not keeping my habits, nor do I want those excuses. I feel good, and I am going to keep feeling gooder, and if someone wants to stop me from feeling gooder, they can fight me to the death (or get boosted). I gotta say, that’s a pretty good feeling.
To wrap things up, the dreams. Before I do, a little bit of context: I was never what one would typically consider an “alcoholic”, but I did drink on average about once or twice a week. Sometimes I took a couple weeks off, maybe a month or two, just so I didn’t become a debilitated alcoholic, but I would always come back to it, because I thought I enjoyed it. Since I’ve stopped, I realized I have a sensitivity – to some extent – to wheat/gluten. I am still figuring this part out, as it’s not that simple. Maybe there are other foods too, lectins, FODMAPs, time of day I eat, number of meals, size of meals… maybe it’s the American wheat with glyphosate? It goes on…
So anyway, since I’ve stopped drinking, I’ve had at least 4 dreams, where in the dream, I drank alcohol. In the first dream, I remember I spat it out, but in the others, for one reason or another, I swallowed. The dreams were always vivid, and it would always strike guilt into me in my waking lift, as if I gave it. I believe I should be able to control myself in my dreams, and the fact that I cannot, makes me disappointed. Alas, my last dream where I divulged in an unhealthy dietary habit? I did not drink, but ate a wheat flour pastry. It looks like I’m moving on…slowly but surely.
Also, before I finish, I have to give a shout out to Ryan McLoughlin who crashed with Jacob and I, while we were down in Acapulco. Without his inspiration, I’m not sure if I would have travelled down this amazing road. Thank you.
And for everyone else, Thanks for reading, now go fuck shit up! The new world disorder isn’t going to suicide itself; it needs your help! It’s in you to give!