We are pleased to announce that our May Arts & Culture Month is a FEATURED Secondlife Destination! Please check this blog and the London Gossip Group in world for updates about events and contests for May!
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Relay for Life Fundraiser Raises over 12,000Ls!!
Today London held a Relay for Life Fundraiser in Hyde Park. The fundraiser was a success and raised over 12,000L for Relay for Life, the official charity of the American Cancer Society! This event was part of our April Awareness month of events, as we held fundraisers for Japan Disaster Relief and Second Pride. In May we will have a fundraiser for War Child, a charity for children affected by wars. Our event kicked off at 10am with DJ Anakin filling the park with 77 avis, followed by DJ Sweetdizzy who kept the crowd going with her awesome tunage! A special appearance by the Second Life Cheerleading Squad capped a day of fun and fundraising for a great cause. Below are photos of this event:
Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.
Muse Tribute Band Concert Recap!
As part of our 14 HOUR Royal Wedding Celebration in Hyde Park, guests were treated to a FREE Muse Tribute Band Concert. Below are photos from this exciting event:
Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.
14 HOUR Royal Wedding Party Recap!
On Friday, April 29, 2011, there were huge celebrations in real life London, to celebrate the wedding of the now Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (Prince William and Kate Middleton)! The party in virtual London was just as huge, as we partied from 8 am to 10 pm slt, for a total of a 14 hour party with djs at every set, including contests! We also had a special 90 minute Muse Tribute Band Concert (look for photos in an upcoming blogpost)!
Our FEATURED Second Life Destination, Royal Wedding Exhibition, which will be left up so people can continue to enjoy the exhibition! Special thanks to all DJ's and Hosts who worked to make our event fun and a huge success and of course thanks to all of the people who partied with us, to give our sim a daily traffic of over 52,000! Luckily for us we are located on private sims so you can directly tp into our sims (supports 100 avis tping and walking around), without having to walk across bridges or do any other fancy maneuvering to enjoy our events. Below are photos from yesterday's record breaking and exciting day:
Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.
Our FEATURED Second Life Destination, Royal Wedding Exhibition, which will be left up so people can continue to enjoy the exhibition! Special thanks to all DJ's and Hosts who worked to make our event fun and a huge success and of course thanks to all of the people who partied with us, to give our sim a daily traffic of over 52,000! Luckily for us we are located on private sims so you can directly tp into our sims (supports 100 avis tping and walking around), without having to walk across bridges or do any other fancy maneuvering to enjoy our events. Below are photos from yesterday's record breaking and exciting day:
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Royal Wedding Day FREE Muse Tribute Band Concert!
Join us in London Friday, April 29, 2011 for a full day of events in Hyde Park, including a special FREE Muse Tribute Band Concert, starting at 12pm slt! Please continue to check our blogs and inworld notices in our London Gossip Group, for a complete listing of events on this very special day in real life England and check out our Royal Wedding Exhibition, a FEATURED Secondlife Destination!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Congrats to the 5th Avenue Photo Contest Winners!!
Congrats to the three winners of the split 10,000L 5th Avenue Photo Contest! The winners were: Jace Cazenove (First Place), Jase Uxlay (Second Place), and Kristy Deluxe (Third Place)! Continue to watch the 5th Avenue VIP Group for more information on our next photo contest and check out 5th Avenue as it hits Hyde Park this week!
DJ Croft's 3-Peat
Celebrate the Royal Wedding with our Free Royal Wedding Raffle!
Each day until the Royal Wedding takes place, one lucky person will win 100l in our daily Royal Wedding Raffle, which is located in our Royal Wedding Exhibition, a Secondlife FEATURED Destination! All you have to do is TP into the Royal Wedding Exhibition, find the raffle board, and touch it and follow the steps to enter. While you are at the Royal Wedding Exhibition, pick up the free Secondlife wedding freebies we have located inside, to make your own Secondlife wedding a very special day!
Weekend Wrapup #2-Easter Party in London!
To celebrate Easter Sunday, London had a huge party in Hyde Park. Kicking off the festivities was DJ Croft with Host Donna who filled the park with 86 people! Croft also had his 3 straight sim crash in Hyde Park (more to follow in a separate post). Following DJ Croft was DJ Crysis with Host Sammy who kept the crowd in a good and fun mood. All guests had their chance to enter our 6,000L Contest Board giveaway and to find a variety of eggs we had on the ground, including eggs that contained freebies and some which contained free lindens! Check out photos from this event:
Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.
Weekend Wrap #1-St. George's Day Party
With Saturday being St. George's Day, London had to naturally bring you a huge party for this special day in England! Parties kicked off in our normal clubs, Capital, Retrograde, and Coach & Horses; followed by a huge event in Hyde Park, with DJ Jester kicking things off, followed by a special 90 minute Evanescence Tribute Band Concert. Finishing up the night was DJ Anakin with Host Pagan, keeping everyone partying for 4 hours. One thing I can say is that I am glad we are on private sims, where our capacity is 100 avis and not on the mainland were capacity is 40 avis and we would have had to turn people away, particularly since this event packed in over 80 avis throughout the day! Check out a slideshow from this event:
Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Easter Bunny in London
It looks like we had a special visitor yesterday!
The Easter Bunny came and laid down lots of eggs for people to find.
I have been told that they were all over the park and regions of London.
I guess we all have to go out and see if we can find them?
The Easter Bunny came and laid down lots of eggs for people to find.
I have been told that they were all over the park and regions of London.
I guess we all have to go out and see if we can find them?
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Big St George's Day & Easter Weekend Party in London!
We are pleased to announce that we have a jam packed weekend for those of you who are looking for a St Gerorge's Day Party and of course an Easter bash! A special 90 minute Evanescence Tribute Band Concert will happen on Saturday, followed by a 4 HOUR bash on Easter Sunday! Check out the complete weekend schedule of events:
Saturday, April 23, 2011 (St. George's Day)
2pm to 340pm slt-DJ Jester with Host Roseanne
345pm to 530pm slt-FREE Evanescence Tribute Band Concert
530pm to 8pm slt-DJ Anakin with Host Kristin
**At each set there will be a contest board loaded with lindens, for you to win!**
Sunday, April 24, 2011 (Easter Sunday)
12pm to 4pm slt-DJ Croft with Host Donna **We will have not one but TWO contest boards each loaded with 3000L lindens each, for a total of 6000Ls, make sure you do not miss out on the free lindens**
London's Charity Auctions!
Check out the items we have on auction from some of your favorite merchants in London:
K-Code
Fenwitch & Co
Pear’s Computers
Body & Soul
Sa Rolig!
And a special giveaway from the Second Life Cheerleading Squad!
All proceeds will benefit Second Pride (Gay & LBGT), Japan Disaster Relief, War Child (Children displayed by war), and Relay for Life (American Cancer Society). Most bids start at 20L, so tp to our special Auction area and start bidding (**All bids are final!**):
Find information about our fundraisers and April Awareness (a FEATURED Second Life Destination, on our special London Awareness Blog. Click here to access the blog).
Monday, April 18, 2011
Mayhem Invasion of Hyde Park!
During this week, Mayhem Rock Club will be in Hyde Park, bringing you some of the best rock music in all of Second Life, starting at 2pm slt daily! Day 1 featured DJ Anakin with Host Fibi and a Wacky Hair event, followed by DJ Appletinny with Host Hazel, rounding out the second hour with a rousing rock 2 hour set! Check out photos from day one of the Mayhem Invasion of Hyde Park:
Kurt Cobain Returns....
On Sunday, London guests were treated to a special Nirvana Tribute Band Concert in Hyde Park! Guests in disbelief to see Kurt Cobain make a special heavenly like appearance. The music was of course awesome, after all it was Nirvana! DJ Sweetdizzy kicked off the day with a special 90 minute performance, followed by DJ Anakin, and late DJ Steph who kept the crowd dancing until 530pm slt! Below are photos of this event:
Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.
Japan Fundraiser Raises Over 19,000L's!!
We had a huge fundraiser over the weekend, in Hyde Park, for Japan Disaster relief, with London raising over 19,000Ls and all proceeds going to the American Red Cross! The event started off on Saturday with DJ Croft crashing Hyde Park, followed by DJ Steph packing the park and DJ Sweetdizzy breaking the park's record of 90 by having the awe inspiring number of 93 avis in Hyde Park! The Second Life Cheerleading Squad were also kind enough to make an appearance, to keep everyone in spirits! Below is a slideshow of our record breaking fundraising event:
Created with flickr slideshow from softsea.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Looking for a Fun and Exciting Job in Second Life?
London is currently hiring hosts and DJ's for its awesome clubs and pubs! Working as a host or DJ is a fun and exciting way to earn lindens in Second Life, not to mention be able to listen to some awesome music and meet new people! Please contact our friendly club and pub management in order to obtain information and to apply:
Coach & Horses: Mia Deluca & Aarons Resident
Retrograde: Croft Atolia & Donna Redrose
The Greyhound: Isobel Byron
Friday, April 15, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
ZZZZZzzzzzzz
President Barry gave a speech on the budget yesterday. He started yammering on at 1:05pm EST. Isn't that a weird time to give a speech that people might want to hear? Maybe not if you don't really have anything to say and you don't want a lot of people to hear you say nothing firsthand. Can I take this moment to mention that I'm tired of everything being done on East Coast time? One in the afternoon there was ten in the morning for me. I'm in no mood to listen to any President at ten in the morning. I'm barely awake. And I'm not the only one. Below we have video of Vice President Joe Biden at President Barry's speech. (If for some reason you can't view the video here, you can check it out over at Real Clear Politics.) Poor ol' Joe can barely keep his eyes open for at least a good thirty seconds there. Look, I know it's boring. It's boring as hell. I get that. But come on, man! You're the Vice President of the freaking United States! Can't you at least pretend to pay attention? He didn't talk for very long. He couldn't have held it together until he was done? Did he have a big lunch or something? It's not like that would excuse it or anything, but I'm just saying. If he tends to fall asleep after a large meal, perhaps only stick to a salad on speech day. I'm trying to be sensible and offer ideas here. For once.
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Japan Fundraiser Weekend!
This weekend, London will have its second fundraiser, as part of our featured Second Life Destination event, April Awareness! This weekend we will be raising money for Japan Tsunami and Earthquake relief efforts. All money from this fundraiser will be used to purchase specially created Japan Linden Lab Bears, which Linden Labs is donating all money from the sale of the bears to the Red Cross. We have an 8 hour party planned in Hyde Park for this event! The DJ lineup is:
8am to 10am-DJ Croft with Host Donna
10am to 12pm -DJ Steph with Host Tamara
12pm to 2pm-DJ Sweetdizzy with Host Wendy
**All times are slt**
At each event we will have a packed contest board, loaded with lindens, as well as a raffle board, every two hours. Do not miss out on this event as we raise money for a special cause.
RhoDeo 1115 Goldy Rhox 22
Hello, today the 22th post of GoldyRhox, classic pop rock. And once more an album that took it's time before becoming a in the a classic rock staple. Rock chicks were rare at the time, If not for the strength of their songs aswell as their assertiveness we might never have heard of the sisters responible for this album.
Most of the albums i 'll post made many millions for the music industry and a lot of what i intend to post still gets repackaged and remastered decades later, squeezing the last drop of profit out of bands that for the most part have ceased to exist long ago, although sometimes they get lured out of the mothballs to do a big bucks gig or tour. Now i'm not as naive to post this kinda music for all to see and have deleted, these will be a black box posts, i'm sorry for those on limited bandwidth but for most of you a gamble will get you a quality rip don't like it, deleting is just 2 clicks...That said i will try to accomodate somewhat and produce some cryptic info on the artist and or album.
Well todays mystery album isnt one of Rolling Stone Mag alltime greats, and it aint a Canadian band, allthough i always presumed it, or maybe it is, after all they lived and recorded in Vancouver, were screwed big time by a label Mushroom that tried to balloon from them. Anyway the band in question had gone to several lineups until two Californian sisters (Ann & Nancy) joined and that took up writing, singing and playing lead guitar, btw Nancy is still looking great at 56, they are still rocking and just released another succesful album "Red Velvet Car" this one however was their first one and sold more than a million, it scored overseas as well, mainland Europe and UK, subsequent albums and news probably got drowned out by the new music scene that was developping in the late seventies. Whatever it was, going on a cruise with Annie seemed like a great prospect in 76...
Goldy Rhox 22 93mb
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Most of the albums i 'll post made many millions for the music industry and a lot of what i intend to post still gets repackaged and remastered decades later, squeezing the last drop of profit out of bands that for the most part have ceased to exist long ago, although sometimes they get lured out of the mothballs to do a big bucks gig or tour. Now i'm not as naive to post this kinda music for all to see and have deleted, these will be a black box posts, i'm sorry for those on limited bandwidth but for most of you a gamble will get you a quality rip don't like it, deleting is just 2 clicks...That said i will try to accomodate somewhat and produce some cryptic info on the artist and or album.
Well todays mystery album isnt one of Rolling Stone Mag alltime greats, and it aint a Canadian band, allthough i always presumed it, or maybe it is, after all they lived and recorded in Vancouver, were screwed big time by a label Mushroom that tried to balloon from them. Anyway the band in question had gone to several lineups until two Californian sisters (Ann & Nancy) joined and that took up writing, singing and playing lead guitar, btw Nancy is still looking great at 56, they are still rocking and just released another succesful album "Red Velvet Car" this one however was their first one and sold more than a million, it scored overseas as well, mainland Europe and UK, subsequent albums and news probably got drowned out by the new music scene that was developping in the late seventies. Whatever it was, going on a cruise with Annie seemed like a great prospect in 76...Goldy Rhox 22 93mb
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Check Out Retrograde!
Retrograde, formerly The A-List, is managed by Croft Atolia and Donna Redrose. The club features a wide variety of music and contests by its awesome djs, including the choon master himself, Crofty! Retrograde is open daily from 12pm slt to 2pm slt. Please check out Retrograde in the Knightsbridge Sim.
Civil War Sesquitennial
Stan and I really wanted to go to Charleston, SC last Tuesday for the 150th anniversary of the first shot fired that started the War of Northern Aggression. But he had to work. We were so disappointed. But I found these photos on the Internet and used them to make a scrapbook layout of the Civil War Sesquitennial.
Carpetbaggers
I'm sure you've heard the term, "carpetbagger" but do you know where it came from and what it means?
Before "recycling" was cool, it was a necessity. Carpetbags were cheap luggage during the Reconstruction Era (after the War of Northern Aggression). It was recycled carpet made into bags. But the term, "carpetbaggers", came from Southerners who used the term to describe the opportunists from the North.
After the War of Northern Aggression, the devastated South was enemy occupied territory. Northern armies occupied the southern states and our state governments were forcibly changed. All of this was done, not for the betterment of former slaves or mankind, but for unscupulous people to take opportunity to make money off of us. Carpetbaggers saw money in the process and came down here to make their fortune off of us. It was used as a derogatory term, suggesting opportunism and exploitation by the outsiders. The relocated northerners often formed alliances with freed slaves and southern whites who were Republicans, who were nicknamed scalawags. Together they are said to have politically manipulated and controlled former Confederate states for varying periods for their own financial and power gains. The term carpetbaggers was also used to describe the white Northern Republican political appointees who came South, arriving with their travel carpetbags. They had no knowledge of, connections to or sympathy for the Southern area they were placed in charge of. And they had no intention of listening or cooperating. Southerners considered these Northern appointees ready to loot and plunder the defeated South and they generally did.
This term did not refer to abolitionists, reformers, missionaries and schoolteachers who really came South to try to help people. Most of the freed blacks had not had any education or experience in leadership so what could you expect but that they were led by the nose by the more sophisticated Northern carpetbaggers. But carpetbaggers were both white and black. The black carpetbaggers were, at the best, naive and easily led, and, at the worst, greedy as their white colleagues. To make money off of misery is the lowest of the low. Whether you make it off the backs of the poor slaves or you make it off the backs of the poor and defeated white Southerners. It shows that greed, selfishness, cruelty and evil are no respecter of persons.
The backlash of the Reconstruction Era corruption and carpetbagging politics came in the form of white supremacy groups like the infamous KKK. After the South somewhat stabilized then these groups began to form as the suppressed anger boiled to a boiling point. Wrath was taken out on those who were probably lowest on the totem pole... blacks. We had lost the Civil War and had no ability to start it up again so whites reached out against those they could get to... the blacks in their own communities.
A typical human response is misplaced anger. For instance, you get dumped on by your boss but you can't complain and yell at him so you come home and yell at your wife. If you yell at your boss, you get fired. The price is too high. But if you yell at your wife, she has to take it. So that's what you do. Whites couldn't retaliate against the U.S. government again so they jumped on the blacks who had no advocates or power.
All of it was so wrong, wrong, wrong. Slavery was wrong, mistreatment and abuse of slaves was wrong, trying to dominate the Southern states to the enrichment of Northerners was wrong, Abraham Lincoln starting the War of Northern Aggression was wrong, the politics and corruption of Reconstruction was wrong, the greed of carpetbaggers was wrong, white supremacy groups were wrong, civil rights abuses for whites or blacks are wrong. It just kept escalating like a snowball effect and so many have paid the price for it over several hundreds of years. Innocent people, whites and blacks, families, have paid dearly for these terrible injustices.
We are very blessed to live in a more enlightened time but don't ever think that we are more civilized today. Greed is still a great sin. Pride and power still drives. Selfishness runs rampant. Corruption is still practised. And we are doomed to repeat the vices of our forefathers unless we realize that all are sinners. We all sin and come short of the glory of God. None of us are good. We all have the potential for evil and we are born with an evil human nature.
What is the answer? Jesus Christ! He is the only way to be forgiven and saved. As long as we live we will have to contend with our human nature but once we are saved we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which works within us to grow our new spirit. If we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us then we can be better people. If we listen to God, we can do good things instead of bad. If we follow His Ways, we can do the right thing instead of the wrong thing.
Romans 8:6-13 (Contemporary English Version)
If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace.
Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God's laws.
If we follow our desires, we cannot please God.
You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God's Spirit, who lives in you. People who don't have the Spirit of Christ in them don't belong to him.
But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins.
Yet God raised Jesus to life! God's Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit.
My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires.
If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God's Spirit you say "No" to your desires.
Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are his children.
Before "recycling" was cool, it was a necessity. Carpetbags were cheap luggage during the Reconstruction Era (after the War of Northern Aggression). It was recycled carpet made into bags. But the term, "carpetbaggers", came from Southerners who used the term to describe the opportunists from the North.
After the War of Northern Aggression, the devastated South was enemy occupied territory. Northern armies occupied the southern states and our state governments were forcibly changed. All of this was done, not for the betterment of former slaves or mankind, but for unscupulous people to take opportunity to make money off of us. Carpetbaggers saw money in the process and came down here to make their fortune off of us. It was used as a derogatory term, suggesting opportunism and exploitation by the outsiders. The relocated northerners often formed alliances with freed slaves and southern whites who were Republicans, who were nicknamed scalawags. Together they are said to have politically manipulated and controlled former Confederate states for varying periods for their own financial and power gains. The term carpetbaggers was also used to describe the white Northern Republican political appointees who came South, arriving with their travel carpetbags. They had no knowledge of, connections to or sympathy for the Southern area they were placed in charge of. And they had no intention of listening or cooperating. Southerners considered these Northern appointees ready to loot and plunder the defeated South and they generally did.
This term did not refer to abolitionists, reformers, missionaries and schoolteachers who really came South to try to help people. Most of the freed blacks had not had any education or experience in leadership so what could you expect but that they were led by the nose by the more sophisticated Northern carpetbaggers. But carpetbaggers were both white and black. The black carpetbaggers were, at the best, naive and easily led, and, at the worst, greedy as their white colleagues. To make money off of misery is the lowest of the low. Whether you make it off the backs of the poor slaves or you make it off the backs of the poor and defeated white Southerners. It shows that greed, selfishness, cruelty and evil are no respecter of persons.
The backlash of the Reconstruction Era corruption and carpetbagging politics came in the form of white supremacy groups like the infamous KKK. After the South somewhat stabilized then these groups began to form as the suppressed anger boiled to a boiling point. Wrath was taken out on those who were probably lowest on the totem pole... blacks. We had lost the Civil War and had no ability to start it up again so whites reached out against those they could get to... the blacks in their own communities.
A typical human response is misplaced anger. For instance, you get dumped on by your boss but you can't complain and yell at him so you come home and yell at your wife. If you yell at your boss, you get fired. The price is too high. But if you yell at your wife, she has to take it. So that's what you do. Whites couldn't retaliate against the U.S. government again so they jumped on the blacks who had no advocates or power.
All of it was so wrong, wrong, wrong. Slavery was wrong, mistreatment and abuse of slaves was wrong, trying to dominate the Southern states to the enrichment of Northerners was wrong, Abraham Lincoln starting the War of Northern Aggression was wrong, the politics and corruption of Reconstruction was wrong, the greed of carpetbaggers was wrong, white supremacy groups were wrong, civil rights abuses for whites or blacks are wrong. It just kept escalating like a snowball effect and so many have paid the price for it over several hundreds of years. Innocent people, whites and blacks, families, have paid dearly for these terrible injustices.
We are very blessed to live in a more enlightened time but don't ever think that we are more civilized today. Greed is still a great sin. Pride and power still drives. Selfishness runs rampant. Corruption is still practised. And we are doomed to repeat the vices of our forefathers unless we realize that all are sinners. We all sin and come short of the glory of God. None of us are good. We all have the potential for evil and we are born with an evil human nature.
What is the answer? Jesus Christ! He is the only way to be forgiven and saved. As long as we live we will have to contend with our human nature but once we are saved we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit which works within us to grow our new spirit. If we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us then we can be better people. If we listen to God, we can do good things instead of bad. If we follow His Ways, we can do the right thing instead of the wrong thing.
Romans 8:6-13 (Contemporary English Version)
If our minds are ruled by our desires, we will die. But if our minds are ruled by the Spirit, we will have life and peace.
Our desires fight against God, because they do not and cannot obey God's laws.
If we follow our desires, we cannot please God.
You are no longer ruled by your desires, but by God's Spirit, who lives in you. People who don't have the Spirit of Christ in them don't belong to him.
But Christ lives in you. So you are alive because God has accepted you, even though your bodies must die because of your sins.
Yet God raised Jesus to life! God's Spirit now lives in you, and he will raise you to life by his Spirit.
My dear friends, we must not live to satisfy our desires.
If you do, you will die. But you will live, if by the help of God's Spirit you say "No" to your desires.
Only those people who are led by God's Spirit are his children.
Home Offices
"Office" stems from the Latin officium meaning "service", "(sense of) duty", "courtesy", "ceremony" and refers to the working room of an official of the government. There was also the scriptoriums where monks handcopied the scriptures. Scriptorium means "a place for writing" and is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the copying of biblical manuscripts. They would have been rooms off the library of the monastery. There weren't as many as we might think.
Chancery is a general term for a medieval writing office, responsible for the production of official documents. The medieval chancery was usually the place where most government letters were written and where laws were copied in the administration of a kingdom. The rooms of the chancery often had walls full of pigeonholes, constructed to hold rolled up pieces of parchment for safekeeping or ready reference, a precursor to the book shelf or filing cabinet.
The term "red tape" comes from the way solicitors used to file. They would gather all the documents for a case and stack them and tie them with red tape to keep them together. Remember this was before they had file folders, hanging files and file cabinets. They stored their files horizontally in flat files.
Roll top desks had all the little organizing cubby holes and flat file drawers that the office of the 19th century needed.
The offices of yesterday have shaped the offices of today but we have come a long way! The office was a place to do your work and store your necessary files. But they had less paper back then and so their methods of filing and organizing were very different than they are today. Cubby holes, flat filing were their way of organizing. And everything was in wood. Usually good hardwood like oak and walnut. This made them very heavy but since you can still find them, it means they were well made.
How would you like to sit in this all day long typing with the old timey typewriters. I learned on one and your fingers had to have strength to push those keys. Talk about carpal tunnel syndrome!?! And your timing had to be good or all those mechanical keys on legs would jam up. And you had to be meticulous because mistakes and typos were a pill to fix. Most of the time, you just had to rip out the paper and start over again!
Notice the typing desk? The typewriter is bolted on a flip shelf. When not in use, the typewriter flipped upside down which made the desk flat. When the typewriter was needed, you flipped it back over and it gave you the correct hand position. My parents had a desk just like this one at one time. We used it a lot but not with the typewriter. Also notice all the flat file drawers and cubby holes.
If you were a VIP or wealthy, you might have an office chair like this one.
The old wooden pieces can still be found and will function very well. If you luck up on a bargain antique desk or file cabinet, it's worth thinking outside the box!
With the Industrial Revolution, businesses grew astronomically and the availability of paper and the printing presses meant more and more bookkeepping. So offices in the business world required more and more clerical workers and managers to keep up with the paper work. Technology changed rapidly and soon the office had to change to accomodate the technology. For instance, everything used to have to be written by quill and ink. Then we got printing presses. Then more readily available paper. And pencils and ink pens. Then typewriters. Then carbon paper in order to make at least one copy of each typewritten page. The ballpoint pen came out in the 1930's. Then there were the electric typewriter. Then we jumped to dedicated word processors. Then big bulky computers and now the trim, flat screen computers. So for centuries mankind was using bird feathers and homemade inks on parchments that were handmade. The printing press was such a giant leap. But with the Industrial Revolution, within 150 years, we went from pencil and paper to emails and online conferencing. My Grandfather was born in 1898 and he would be 113 today. So within his, my parent's and my generation, we have gone from paper and pencil to computers and emails. That is a very rapid change considering the thousands of years before.
After the wooden office furniture, came the steel age. We had the old steel desks, filing cabinets, credenzas, steel office chairs, etc. The old steel office furniture is still available too. Made like tanks, they still work and function perfectly. Refurbishing vintage steel office furniture makes for some nice pieces that will still last you forever. It looks particularly attractive in modern decor. They are very heavy so the mobility is limited unless you have some very strong backs. But, once placed, they last forever. I mean, a desk you purchase today will be lucky to last a few years. The pressed wood under the laminate is not a particularly lasting material. And they are less attractive. The old steel desks are at least 50-60 years old and still going strong. Can you say that about the desk you buy today?
Go with the original patina or have them sandblasted and brought to a shiny steel or have them repainted in any color you want!
The real steel chair, not the cheap lookalikes.
A steel credenza
In my first home office, I used old steel filing cabinets like these with a countertop over them for my desk. It worked beautifully. This looks like a good idea for a kitchen too.
There was a swing back to wood and the dark walnut desks were in style.
I currently have one of these walnut executive desks and it's a jewel. Mine doesn't have the floating desktop. But it has a laminate desktop like this one which was smart as laminate doesn't get scratched up. It had the look of wood but the scratch resistance of laminate. These are heavy desks too.
Today, it's not just wealthy businessmen who need home offices. Everyone of us need a place to do our business and put in our computer time. If we are blessed, we have a separate room for a home office. But many have to think outside the box and make space for our home office. I did some Googling to find ideas for home offices. I tried to find ideas for those who have to carve a space out of another room and for those of us who have dedicated rooms. People are so creative and I found a lot of different styles to give you some ideas.
First you need to decide what you need an office for. What are you needs and interests. Will you be doing crafting in your office? Genealogy, like me? Do you keep a checkbook (the simple way) or do you keep detailed financial records like I do? Are you writing a book or writing in your journal? Is it research or school work? Are you using it to go through your mail and send cards and invitations? What do you need to store in your office? Will one file drawer be enough or do you need a bank of file cabinets? Decide what you need and what you need to store.
Then decide where your office will be. Will it be in a closet? A corner of the den? Will you use the 3rd bedroom for an office? Will you use the breakfast room or have a kitchen desk? Will you use the sitting area in your master bedroom? The bonus room? Maybe you don't use a formal dining room but you would use an office every day... then maybe you should use the dining room as your office. Maybe you need total privacy to work at home so you may consider buying a separate storage shed and insulating it and turning it into an office. Remodel a garden shed or separate garage. Or finish a basement or attic room for an office. I use our sunroom for an office. Originally it was a sun porch with large windows, skylights, plant shelf and tile floor. But I don't need a sunroom. So it made a perfect office.
Keep in mind that it needs to work for you! It needs to be functioning first and foremost. Then it needs to be organized and efficient. And, finally, it needs to appeal to you. It should be attractive in your eyes. You don't want it to be a place you dread to go to, but a retreat where you can get things done. It doesn't have to be magazine perfect. In fact, if it is, you won't want to "mess it up" by doing work there. But it does need to be funtioning.
For me I need a TV in my office. This makes it homey for me. I watch my soaps while I'm working on a project or updating my finances. But maybe you like music or quiet is conducive to your work. Some people like having a window with a view. Some young mothers need a corner for a playpen or a children's play center. Some need bookshelves and others need storage shelves, etc. Some people like having a plant in their office or some family photos, others like the minimalist look. It must function and appeal to you! The chairs you sit in for any length of time should be comfortable! And some people need dual work stations. For instance a desk for the husband and a desk for the wife or two children or you and your assistant. You want good lighting and you need plenty of electrical outlets.
Now here are the ones I found on the Internet. Thanks for the great ideas!
Notice how the round table can scoot back to the desks and used as part of the desk!
Office Ideas
