If I’d known it was No Pants Day I would have prepar… oh, wait…

I’m always prepared.

Disregard. I’m cool (and surprisingly well ventilated!).

This scrolled across one of my social tickers and I had to scramble hard to copy/paste it before it was gone.

“Um, it exploded”
“What do you mean, ‘exploded’..”
“Well, I poked it, and it blew up”
“Things don’t just blow up when you poke them”
“They do if you poke them hard”
“Well did you?”
“Did I …”

This made me laugh a lot more in a morning than I’m used to – so I’d like to thank whoever wrote it.
If you know the origins – please tell me so I can attribute and know who to thank.

Update: Alright – it took a while but I think I found the right source. “Experimental Film” by LuckyVegetable over at redbubble.

Again, bravo – coffee came out my nose, sir.

Part of my 90/10 rule.

It’s an official 5 oz. Rawlings RPBX (Rawlings Practice League Ball).

I have a Yankees “signed” (read: stamped) souvenir ball enclosed in a plastic shell on another shelf in the office.

The practice ball is for stress relief (no, not throwing through windows – just tossing in the air) and helps my repetitive stress syndrome (typing, mouse, playing keyboards). It sits proudly under my monitor perched atop a Sandmaster hackey sack.

Nancy Baughman wrote a nice article entitled “Add a little vintage to your home office.”

It resonates with me because I have recently started overhauling my home office, too. I’ve leaned a bit in the “antique” styling direction, too. It’s good to read about the style getting some respect – especially since so many of us home-office jockeys, by necessity, have computers, phones, faxes, printers, and various other gadgets that tend to make everything seem so sterile.

For me, I have spent the last 10 years in a home office that was drab, grey, white, and clearly favoring the blinking lights of the electronics. I hadn’t realized how much it was sapping my energy until I had a reason to change desks. Once I got rid of the large, grey, melamine, wraparound desk I was using and went with an upright, wooden, mission-style hutch desk – the snowball just got bigger and bigger as it rolled.

I lived with this for too long:

I finally am working my way up in this direction:

I also brought in an antique radio/record player (1951 Philco Model 1730). I used to listen to 78′s and 45′s (that’s old school talk for records) of big-band music on this thing when it was in the living room of my grandmother’s house. At the time it was one of those models that could actually pick up the car-to-car radio traffic of the local police department. Now, this wonderful gem graces a corner of my office but also functionally serves as a printer stand.

I also have an old, small table… not sure what it is? I used to keep my cigar and pipe tobacco humidors on it with my pipes. Now, I keep my shortwave radio receiver on it.

If I could – I’d “steampunk” my entire computer case, printer, monitor, mouse, and keyboard. I just love some of the stuff I’m seeing in that area.

Not that I exactly need the extra light, per se, but the overhead lighting casts shadows exactly where I would be working. However, extra lamps around the room improve that shortcoming but they also add nice ambiance.

The above lamp is just an inexpensive swing-arm number (lamp is several inches off-center of the base) and it sits over the printer. It lights a corner that needed some life.

In the end, and the point of all of this (in my mind) is that I had absolutely no idea how exhausting it was being in my old office! I hadn’t realized, until I started swapping out furniture and furnishings, that my office didn’t just have to be a practical work space but could also be a creative and enjoyable one at that.

I spend so many hours a day in my office that it was taking a toll on me – the dread of spending time in it – especially when I clock so many hours in that space. Now, however, I wake up enthusiastic to go in and it’s not just because it’s different it’s because it’s warm, inviting, clean, and a strong sense of earth tones, wood, brass, and lighting with interest.

There was a degree of pragmatism to the overhaul, too, but it was coincidental in the timing. I have been working on my own as well as outside projects that require me to be either videoed or on webcam. I knew I really required a space that had dimension and warmth to it. I wanted to be able to also control the night time lighting and not have to rely on outside sunlight. I also didn’t want an ugly backdrop behind me and, depending on the project, I might have multiple cameras on me at any time so at least 3/4 of the office had to be “film worthy” and not totally ugly. I only have one off-camera area and it’s getting a bit of treatment now too (the closet and entry door).

So, although I’m not really living in a movie set (far, far from it) I’m in a functional office that feels great to be in, has done wonders for my state of mind, and serves some practical purposes. It’s been a powerful change so I encourage you to be adventurous if you’ve been thinking about an overhaul, too. All told, it’s been pretty cheap for me as I’ve had many things in storage or given to me (like my desk – thanks mom!). I suspect, if you look around your house or online, you can pimp your office inexpensively too. If you’re like me – you just have to quit thinking inside the box and open your mind to new ideas.