For some reason people are still friending this Live Journal. Please note that irenicspace is inactive and kept only for archival purposes. Should you wish to read my current writings, they can be found at actadiurna.

What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been!

I first initiated contact with the O.T.O. on October 31, 1991. So it seems somewhat fitting that I cease contact on October 31, 2004; thirteen years after I began. During this time I have grown tremendously. Sabazius stated that the two “goals” of the O.T.O. are the ritual and fraternity; I am fortunate enough to say I experienced both with great joy and pleasure. I have met, worked, partied, and struggled with some really fantastic people; people I am proud to call brothers, sisters and friends. It is these people that have made the hard times of the last thirteen years bearable. I owe then all a great deal. I want them all to know how much I appreciate their time and efforts on my behalf.

My first thank you goes to T Allen Greenfield. He has been my mentor and teacher, bishop, lodge master, and most important, friend. Allen, more than anyone else has helped me through the hardest times both in the O.T.O. and personally; I am a better person for knowing him. Next I thank Frater Superior Hymenaeus Beta and Grand Master General Sabazius. Both have been extremely kind and supportive to me over the years, even when I was not the most conciliatory. There are many, many others I would also like to thank:

A.Nance, Alex Baker, Amanda Millay, Angel Lorenz, April Del Campo, Ariana White, Ash Bowie, Ben Fernee, Bill Heidrick, Bob Stein, Brandy Williams, Breck Outland, Brent Bianci, Carl Abrahamson, CeCe Anderson, Chris Parker, Chris Surprise, Chuck Doebler, Cindy Weinstein, Content Knowles, Craig Berry, Dan De Ladge, Daniel Venn, Dathan Biberstein, Dave Hill, David Blakeley, David Jones, Dawn Davis, Doug Blake, Doug James, Elaine Collins, Elizabeth McBryde, Gerald Del Campo, Glenn Alcorn, Gregory Peters, Hank Handeed, Henrik Bogden, Henry Anderson, James Baker, James Wasserman, Jeff Gilbreath, Jeff Price, Jerry Cornelius, Jim Nobles, JoAnn Baker, Joel Verbist, John Nance, Karen James, Kat Sanborn, Keith Schuerholz, Kerry Kurowski, Kim @ SML, Kip Coddington, Kjetil, Arlid, and Bjorn in Norway, Leah Donaldson, LeRoy Lauer, Lisa Coffin, Lita Chapelle, Lon DuQuette, Loran Frazier, Lynette Reynolds, Lynn Scriven, M. Dionysus Rogers, Marcelle Lagendijk, Marcus Jungkurth, Margaret Barnes, Mark Freeman, Mark Stahl, Melissa McSween, Merrill Ward, Michael Kolson, Mick Taylor, Mike Ritz, Nancy Wasserman, Patrick Hartnet, Paul Hume, Peter Lagendijk, Rick Pearlstein, Robert Maiolo, Robin Bohumil, Rodney Orpheus, S. Boykin, Sallie Ann Glassman, Scott Barnes, Scott Coffin, Shannon DeLage, Sheila Greenfield, Stacie Hill, Stephania & Fabrizio of Kem Lodge, Steve Rice, Steven Ryan, Sulis, Tamir, Vere Chapelle, Vicki Brawner, and William Behun.

There are so many others, I apologize if I left your name off this list. Everyone’s kindness and helpfulness was given without any expectation of return. I truly appreciate the fraternity the O.T.O. members have shown over the years. I am fortunate to call many of these brothers and sisters close friends, and will consider them so regardless of my inactivity in the order; I hope they will do so too.

I am also proud of what I did accomplish during my 13 years:

Treasurer of four O.T.O. bodies: Eulis Lodge, Syntaxiss Lodge, Midnight Sun Camp, and Hagia Sophia R+C Chapter

Performed dozens of initiations, ordinations, baptisms and confirmations

USGL Corporate Agent for the State of Georgia

Bodymaster of Yggdrasil Camp

Helped unify four OTO bodies to create Dove & Serpent Oasis

Bodymaster Dove & Serpent Oasis

Handled printing & bulk mailing of USGL Materials

Created USGL Oasis Orator Handbook, and USGL Liber AL hardcover edition

Planned and coordinated Southeast Kaaba Colloquium, spring 2004

Took Agape from a 4 page newsletter with limited distribution, to a 8-12 page, nationally distributed newsletter

Editor of Agape

However, it has not been all fun & games. I am extremely disappointed with the current leadership and the direction they are taking the order, or more pointedly, lack of direction. USGL was founded 8 years ago and still lacks a codified vision and lacks goals to get us there. As an organization, what is its mission? Many people think it is many things, but neither USGL nor International Grand Lodge has yet to define it clearly and universally. Even if it were done so tomorrow, why has USGL taken 8+ years to do it? If it is a good idea now, why wasn’t it one in 1996? And why hasn’t the USGL leadership taken a look at the fact that its cadre of folks are really lacking in leadership and organizational planning. It is these and many other problems plus the O.T.O.’s lack of desire to rectify them, or even acknowledge them, as to why I feel it is time to close this chapter of my life.

This does not mean I am quitting the order, I feel my obligations do not allow this. However, I feel it is no longer positive for me or the order to continue with these type of messages, debates and discussions I engaged in previously. For the most part, the membership and leadership are not interested, and I have grown tired of trying. I will leave the fight in the hands of others; I would like to stay and continue, but the toll it takes on me is too heavy and ultimately I think it is fruitless. I also will not be attending any future OTO functions, locally or nationally; I just don’t feel it is where I should be. In essence, I will become “inactive.”

All the previous was regarding the fraternity, more or less. I want to thank the O.T.O. for the initiations and the Mass. Performing such complicated and elaborate rituals take a large group of people with the intent on doing the best ritual possible. I consider many of the initiations to be among the most significant events of my life. I am fortunate that many people took time out of their schedules to initiate me of the years, especially in the invitational degrees. Thank you.

I apologize to my brothers & sisters that in the future I will not be able to assist in the burden of the order and its development. However, I am sure there are many who will gladly take my place. I wish all my brothers and sisters good luck in their future endeavors and do hope the order changes and starts to address the many problems I have discussed over the previous months. Although I will not be around to enjoy them, the order as a whole disserves better. Anyone who wishes to reach me can email me at jcrow [at] Thelema [dot] nu.

To all those who are my brothers and sisters:
The Lord bless you.
The Lord enlighten your minds and comfort your hearts and sustain your bodies.
The Lord bring you to the accomplishment of your true Wills, the Great Work, the Summum Bonum, True Wisdom and Perfect Happiness.

[Note: I posted this yesterday but for some reason it was not showing up in LJs, including one of mine. So I am reposting it to redo the DB entry. If a few people will let me know if it shows up this time I'd appreciate it.]

Cliff Bostock recently wrote an essay for Creative Loafing called, Derrida and Dubya: Anti-intellectualism in America. It was very interesting. Some of his points made me immediately think of the OTO though. I read:

The anti-intellectual typically exhibits little curiosity about other perspectives and no skepticism about his own positions. When confronted, the absence of curiosity is often filled by hostility.
...
What matters in the world of the anti-intellectual is that he can wrap himself in a blind ideology that lays claim to the absolute truth even when it is undermined by fact and causes needless suffering.

And lastly,

There have been few recent attempts to explain anti-intellectualism in America, probably because its mention immediately earns one characterization as an "elitist."

Don't we see this often on LJ topics about the OTO? People failing to look at situations, acting in denyal, responding with hostility? A recent example was the heated debate about class. The constant denyal that class has nothing to do with the OTO. Is this due to anti-intellectualism? Is this a case of "blind ideology that lays claim to the absolute truth even when it is undermined by fact"? What about the name calling of elitist that often gets thrown at keith418 and even me sometimes. Is it a demonstration of anti-intellectualism? It is interesting to look at don't you think?

As an organization develops, it must take into account the members of the organization and the various level of competency within them. In general competency is defined as The state of being competent; fitness; ability; adequacy; power.¹ However in an organization context is means more. Whereas skills alone often imply tasks and activities for which someone can be trained, competencies flesh out the value of employees. They reflect the know-how, experience, acumen and interpersonal dynamics that complement skills. Going a step further, "core competencies" are those that refresh, enhance and sustain organizational performance and effectiveness.²

Competencies involve both individual levels and organization. Most enterprises define two types of competencies: organizational and work-specific. Organizational competencies, which are coarsely defined, shape cultural identity, define group values and guide development, retention and recruitment. By defining organizational competencies, the…organization begins to present and market itself both to the enterprise and to employees. Work-specific competencies, which are finely detailed, directly shape individual productivity; refer to a particular role and aptitude; progress through stages of supervision, scope and complexity; and help guide individual development. Work-specific competencies are defined by levels — for example, beginner, advanced and expert, or apprentice, journeyman and master. The number of levels depends on how rigorously an enterprise wants to manage the competencies, how clearly it can distinguish those levels and whether the competency can be applied in a repeatable fashion to certain roles.³

How do companies use competencies? Enterprises use organizational and work-specific competencies in numerous ways: to define culture, to recruit the right people, to anticipate sourcing strategies, to improve performance, to connect compensation and value, to shape professional development, to assess organizational exposure and to enhance organizational effectiveness. Although many enterprises apply competencies to short-term performance and training opportunities, larger opportunities lie in using both organizational and work-specific competencies to prepare the organization for its future.⁴

Lastly, [c]ompetency levels typically revolve around the degree of supervision a person either requires or provides; the simplicity or complexity of the work tackled; the scope of the work tackled; the type of decisions made; the risk associated with decisions; the confidence with which the individual fulfills high-profile roles; the type and level of people with whom the individual interacts; and the impact of the results achieved.⁵

Does any of this apply to the OTO? It is an interesting question to explore. The OTO certainly gives tasks to individuals it deems as capable. It also defines those tasks to some degree and has some level of supervision, more so on the lower levels. But competencies are more than that and even where those are apparent, they operate on the work-specific level. What is the sate of the organizational competencies? What is the OTO doing to shape group identity, the organizational culture, group values, retention, etc. Are these competencies clearly defined? If so are the universally applied? What about in the work specific areas. Is there a finely detailed environment directing the growth of individual and their competencies? If so, how effective is it? If not, should there be? Lastly are the existing competencies being used to improve the organization? Its members? If so how? How effective is it? If not, what is being done about it? Or do we even have a mechanism for examining these things and measuring them? Are the results all subjective? Or are there objective metrics to measure?

Looking at the members, their development in the organization as well as the development of the organization offers a great environment to examine these questions. Do we ask these kinds of questions? If so how often? If not, should we? What will our response to the answers be? Do we even have the means to answer them? If not maybe we should start looking at that too.

References:
1 http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=competency
2 http://gotsource.ky.gov/dsweb/Get/Document-2626/Why+Enterprises+Are+Talking+About+Competencies.htm [NOTE: The article is in particular about IS organizations but the questions have larger application.]
3 ibid
4 ibid
5 ibid

I picked up Cake's Pressure Chief this weekend. I am really enjoying it. You may have heard some of it as the song "No Phone" is getting air play. The sound is just like the rest of the previous albums, for good or bad.

It opens with the song Wheels which is a very catchy song and I would not be surprised if it was the second single from the album. Catchy or not, it is about a bad relationship. “So I had a plane to take me to a place so far away from you / Eventually we began to see that we could be completely free / And I could get away from you / And you could get away from me / And we could live each separately in our cities in the sun”
No Phone has a good beat and lyrics-“ No phone No phone I just want to be alone today “-everyone needs a break now and then, right? Especially if one is having a relationship problem.
Take It All Away laments about him realizing that it will never work with a relationship he has. “Go! Take your economy car and your suitcase; take your psycho little dolls; take it all away.”
Dime is a funny song about life from a dime’s perspective.
Carbon Monoxide is a popish little ditty protesting smoggy air.
The next song is an interesting cover of Bread’s The Guitar Man. A good version I think, although I have not heard the original in a very long time.
Waiting is an odd song about not being now but always looking for the next thing. “So we think that we're important / And we think that we make sense / And we think there's something better / on the other side of this fence.”
She’ll Hang the Baskets is a strange song that makes me think of relationships, beginning with lots of hope but ending is disappointment: “She'll hang the baskets on the walls / But I've seen it all before heard the slamming of the door / Come summer come fall come winter / There'll be baskets on the floor.”
End of the Movie is another odd, but typical Cake song. “People you hate will get their hooks into you / They'll pull you down / You'll frown / They'll tar you and drag you through town / But you still don't like to leave before the end of the movie.” I still have not figured out what this is about…if it is actually about something. IF anyone has heard it and has ideas, let me know.
Palm of Your Hand, another song about relationships. “How can you say the future is at your command? / How can you say the forever is in the palm of yuor hand?”
The last song, Tougher That It Is, ends with a comment many have said about relationships “Some people like to make life a little tougher than it is”.

It seems someone within Cake (probably John McCrea) has had a bad relationship or two and they have ended up in the lyrics of these songs. It is not your typical breakup album, but that should be expected with Cake. They continue their signature sound, trumpet, odd lyrics and offbeat singing. If you like Cake, you’ll probably like this album, I know I do.

Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
My Mac's hard drive died last night. I had known it was coming, but that did not make it any better. I had the means to backup the data, but I did not have disk space to backup the programs. So in the end it is a net loss. I had a 5 Gig HD laying around for I formatted that and installed an OS. I actually did purchase Microsoft Office for the Mac 2001 so reloaded that and was able to access my email archive that goes back to 1995 so that was good. I can also open up my word and excel files. However, Quark, illustrator, etc. All gone. I will have to make "arrangements" over the next week or so to "recover" those programs. It is all quite a bummer.

Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.

Michael Moore, you're a fucking moron!
Not Work Safe!

I am working this morning to pull together some statistics on web browser use. I found different kinds of warnings about the collection of browser statistics. I like the second one better:

1. Caution: statistics can mislead. Caching distorts raw data; each site attracts different audiences, with different demographics; each survey uses different methodologies; many surveys mis-identify certain browsers; short reporting periods and small sample sizes exaggerate fluctuations; and stats don't count those who stay away because their browsers are not supported.

2. "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please: facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable" — Mark Twain & "49% of all statistics are wrong" — Statistics Canada

One of our developers was discussiong the possability of using a wiki for internal documentation, collaboration and process communication. Does anyone out there reading this use a wiki in their office? How does it work? Please be as detailed as you can or care to be. Thanks!