Hello and welcome, readers, to the once-a-year treat known as
Strangercrombie Fulfillment Week, wherein all the
Stranger-related items from the annual Strangercrombie holiday
auction—from “Put Whatever You Want on the Cover” to “Be Savage
Love’s Guest Expert”—are crammed into one strange and glorious
issue. This year’s Strangercrombie auction raised a dazzling
$60,000 for FareStart, $486 of which came from the
sweet, smart folks at Office Nomads (www.officenomads.com), who purchased
the right to custom-order the content of this week’s Last
Days. Hurrah!
MONDAY, JANUARY 14 This week of fiscally mandated yet
fundamentally sincere good ink kicks off in the Capitol Hill residence
of Office Nomads, the brand-new coworking
space situated on the second floor of the Heath Printers
building, near the northwest corner of Pine Street and Boylston
Avenue—1617 Boylston Avenue, Suite 200, to be
precise, not far from Hot Mama’s Pizza, Linda’s Tavern, and that weird
but generally effective convenience store. What is “coworking”?
According to the Office Nomads’ website, coworking is “[similar
to] cohousing… When you come to work at
Office Nomads you’ll find a work space with all the tools of a modern
office shared by a cadre of independent workers (contractors, business
owners, freelancers) like yourself but none of the soul-crushing
corporate values.” Today, Last Days made our inaugural visit to the
Office Nomads office, where we were greeted by co-owners Jacob
Sayles and Susan Evans, affable and
attractive citizens with a shared passion for “individuality without
isolation.” “The digital revolution gave people an incredible amount of
independence in being able to get work done from home, or anywhere,”
says Jacob. “But that independence can be isolating, and you see people
starving for community. That’s what we offer here—full office
amenities in a shared, communal setting.” “It’s about the work-life
balance,” adds Susan. “Anyone who’s worked from home can tell you how
blurry the boundaries can get. A coworking space can help you
compartmentalize your life. Your home can be home again—someplace
you go when you’re done working and ready to relax.” As someone who
routinely works cross-legged on a bed until our lower extremities
scream from the restricted blood flow, Last Days understands. Let’s
continue.
TUESDAY, JANUARY 15 Today, Last Days returned to Office
Nomads for further investigation and a preliminary experiment in
coworking. (If that phrase sometimes looks like “cow orking” to you,
you’re not alone.) Generally speaking, the Office Nomads space consists
of one large, sunny-when-the-sun’s-out space stocked with desks and
chairs and power outlets, one nearly-as-large space filled with work
tables and humongous dry-erase boards, three conference rooms, a men’s
room, a ladies’ room, and a kitchen. Among the “full office amenities”
supplied by Office Nomads are high-speed wireless internet,
complimentary print/copy/fax services, free use of the conference
rooms, and complimentary coffee and tea. (There’s usually some beer in
the fridge, too.) As for the clientele: As of now, it’s a politely
laid-back collection of freelance writers, web developers, and other
such independently employed types. Use of the Office Nomads space is
granted two ways: $25 gets you a daily membership with full privileges,
while $475 gets monthly membership with special privileges, including a
dedicated desk and 24/7 access to the space. Office Nomads’ goal: a
roster of 40 monthly members, who’ll engage with owners Jacob and Susan
to shape the space into what they want it to be. “We’ve kept the space
something of a blank slate because we want to build it with the
community,” says Susan. She’s not kidding about Office Nomads’ devotion
to community building: Last night’s after-hours activities included a
meeting of Sustainable Capitol Hill and the first-ever Office Nomads
game night.
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 16 Speaking of community: Today we
returned to Office Nomads for the weekly Wednesday
lunch, wherein any and all interested Office Nomads workers
gather in the friendliest conference room with Tupperware and take-out
to eat together and gab. Among today’s attendees were co-owners Susan
and Jacob, and coworkers Chris (freelance writer), Ryan (web
developer), Tim (web programmer), and Eric (circuit provisioner).
(Among the discussion topics: car crashes, broken jaws, Britney Spears,
antigay bigotry, the video game Rock Band, and the possible
installation of a treadmill in a soundproof room for Office Nomads
workers who like to pace while talking on the phone.) Everyone was
nice, and it was very fun.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 17 The week continues with an
actual old-school Last Days item, courtesy of
Hot Tipper Danielle. “It can be difficult to fully
appreciate the horror of the public-grooming incidents described in this column until one occurs right in front of you,”
writes Danielle, wisely. “This morning, I was sitting in the back of
the number 21 express Metro from West Seattle to
downtown. Seated across from me was an average-looking, clean-cut man
who was flossing his teeth. I can still hear the
twanging of the floss as he went to work. A few minutes later, he
stripped off his shoe and sock and applied some kind of
ointment to his big toe. On behalf of my fellow bus
passengers, thank you for the opportunity to share our tale of
violation at the hands of yet another public groomer.” Dear Danielle:
You’re welcome, and your pain is shared by Office Nomads owners Susan
and Jacob, to whom we put the question, “What would you do if an Office
Nomads coworker indulged in some of the more heinous public-grooming
possibilities, such as nail clipping, leg waxing, and zit popping? “We
would kindly direct them to our luxurious restroom facilities, which
include a men’s room, a ladies’ room, and a full shower,” said Susan
and Jacob in unison. (In addition to co-owners, Jacob and Susan are
co-janitors.)
•• Also: Tonight brought the inaugural Office
Nomads conference-room clothing swap, wherein co-owner Susan
and a couple dozen girlfriends met with bottles of wine and piles of
clothes, from which Susan escaped with some new ski gear and a
hilarious hot-pink shrug.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 18 “Dear Last Days,” writes Hot
Tipper Doug. “I work in an office downtown, and our break room
overlooks Sixth and Union. All week long, these big-ass buses have been
circling the block, just driving round and round. I looked up the URL
posted on the side of the buses and learned they were advertising a
travel convention in town. Making things ridiculous: The big sign on
the back of each bus claiming polar bears and penguins love their buses
because they bought some carbon deferments.” (“The use of carbon
deferments comes from a good place,” says Office Nomads’ Susan, who
also works as an environmental consultant. “But it can be easily
manipulated.”)
SATURDAY, JANUARY 19 Nothing happened today, unless you
count Susan’s Crystal Mountain daytrip with
friends visiting from D.C., and Jacob’s thorough cleaning of the Office
Nomads’ attic.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 20 The week ends with a final check-in with
Office Nomads, to whom Last Days put a final question: What would you
tell people who are curious about coworking? “We’d tell ’em to come
check us out,” says Jacob. “The people that this space fits with know
it in an instant. So just come in and hang out—we offer one free
day for new users. You’ll know if it’s what you want.”
Next week: An overdue report on Joseph Skillings. In the
meantime, send Hot Tips to
lastdays@thestranger.com.
