Today is appraisal day and raining cats and dogs outside. I’ll be burying my head in assignments trying not to fret.

Sometimes I wonder if irony is truly a cosmic event or St. Louis is that damn small.

The site manager for the construction company who restored the building where the ballroom client is tackled me on the parking lot the other day.

They liked the work I did for the Ballroom and their way-finding program and asked if I would like to work on their next project: the restoration of the now abandoned Moolah Shriners Temple. The monstrous Byzantine-Revival structure, once they’re done, will house shi-shi apartments, a movie theater and a bowling alley.

Shriners are a sub-sect of the Masons which for lack of a better definition is something like a fraternal semi-secret-society. In order to become a Shriner, you need to become a Blue-Lodge Mason first. They’re most widely known for their hospitals and charity efforts for crippled children and driving around in little cars with fezzes on.

Here’s the ironic part… My uncle is a past grand master, (read as “ex-grand-poo-bah”) of the “Moolah Temple”. The organization moved to the county about a decade ago, leaving behind this super-camp structure.

My mom’s side of the family was heavy Masson… The better part of my teenage years, thanks in part to my uncle, were spent in the “Jr. Massons” – called “DeMolay”. Time well spent actually… While my peers who were in Boy Scouts / Explorers learning how to skin beavers and tie slip knots – I was learning about organization, practical leadership, persuasion and the fine art of bullshitting at a formative age.

The construction company was focusing on an outdoor structural sign during our meeting but I pointed out that’d be putting the cart before the horse without first developing an identity for the building first… The project manager simply smiled and said “You’re the man – do what you do”.

So – I’ve got a background beat on this project and I’m stoked because of the trippy pool of visual resources I can pull from now. Masonry in general, is steeped in mystical, anachronistic images and symbols.

Can’t blog – gotta research.

*Any monkeytiers out there have a beat on any fun (clean / updated) Lawrence of Arabia typefaces?