Every year The Stranger does what they call “one nice thing” when they hold an auction called Strangercrombie. During the month of December, they auction off all sorts of items from various retailers and service providers around Seattle and donate all the money raised to a local charitable organization. They also auction off various items in one issue of the paper. You can buy Savage Love, the cover, or a music review… that kind of thing.

Jacob and Susan, in their ever-present good-heartedness, bought Last Days this year, (which I think is the best part of The Stranger) and this is our week!

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.

The rest of David Schmader’s coverage is great too. You should read the whole thing.

Thanks to The Stranger for the opportunity and for doing a good thing. (This year Strangercrombie brought in $60,000 for the good folks at Fare Start.)Thanks also to David for doing such a kick-ass job on the column this week (and always). We really appreciate you coming in, checking out the space and getting to know us and the people that work here. We hope you’ll come back.

Thank God for Mother Jones. The wise, old magazine (and now of course Web site) published a good-sized piece on coworking this week.

Personally, I find it to be one of the best I’ve read on the subject. First, it is well written and an entertaining read. But what really makes this look at the coworking movement compelling is that Kiera Butler, the author, takes a closer look than most at the idea that independent workers crave community and seeks to understand that desire rather than just accepting it.

As shocking as it may sound, we may actually need the office, despite its reputation as a soul-sucking pit of conformity and monotony. In a recent analysis of 40 years of research, Stephen Humphrey, a professor of management at Florida State University’s business school, found a strong correlation between the level of social interaction at work and job satisfaction and productivity. He also found that this correlation has strengthened over time—that now more than ever, the office has become a refuge of sorts. “It used to be that everyone could hang out around the water cooler—now we telecommute or spend two hours in our cars on the way to work,” he says. “We suddenly start to realize, we miss socializing—and we need it.”

Even better, I’m pretty sure Butler must have used the synergistic benefits of coworking at Citizen Space in San Francisco to fine tune her angle.

I wanted my share of spontaneous collaboration, too, so I announced that I had to brainstorm story ideas. I braced for a roomful of annoyed glares, but my fellow coworkers stopped what they were doing and began playfully tossing suggestions my way—as if it were a game, not work. It was very unofficelike, in a good way.

In the end, she concludes, simply: “Sometimes the least important thing about going to work is, well, work.”

Thanks for the picture go to factoryjoe at Flickr.

Last week was a week of many events at Office Nomads.

On Monday we had two things happening in the space after normal working hours (whatever those are).

On the very unofficial side of things, Chris, Tim, Eric, and Jacob all got together to play board games and drink. I was going to go too, but came down with a really annoying cold (that has yet to pass completely). Apparently the boys had a really good time (except for an unfortunate run in with Mille Bornes which they all hate) because they were still talking about it two days later when I got back to the office.

According to a new note on our blackboard, Board Game Night is bow every first Monday of the month.

Also on Monday night, Office Nomads played host to Sustainable Capitol Hill’s monthly general meeting. Unfortunately they don’t yet have a web site so I can’t link to them. Susan is involved however and gave me a run down of the organization to share with you all. Basically, they’re working to make Capitol Hill the kind of clean, green and community-oriented neighborhood we know it can be. Oh heck, let me just quote the draft mission statement she sent:

Sustainable Capitol Hill is a network of neighbors, businesses and community groups dedicated to making Capitol Hill a sustainable community. We are working to create a vital neighborhood — one with strong connections between people, place, and the local ecosystem. Through education, organizing, and action we can make our neighborhood a model for a sustainable future.

According to Matt at 8 Block Walk, Sustainable Capitol Hill is an email list (sustcaphill@gmail.com) and a lot of meetings. There are monthly meetings, and committee meetings. I know they’ve put on a few events in their time, including the rad-sounding Tank Tops to Totes that I wrote about on Seattlest a few weeks ago. There’s a lot more stuff they want to do from what I hear, so if you’re interested, drop a line and see what you can do.

Wednesday, Susan and Jacob hosted the first-ever Office Nomads Wednesday Lunch which promises to become a weekly event according to ye olde blackboard.

Basically, everyone who working in the office sits down in one of the conference rooms and eats together. Last week we were going to talk about the space and what we all want from it. But it really was just an opportunity to take advantage of our intentional community and eat lunch with people, not computers. Almost all of us were there and really, it was just a bunch of people eating lunch together. Mostly a lot of joking and really a lot of fun. Feel free to drop in and have lunch with us at noon on Wednesdays.

Thursday night at Office Nomads, Susan hosted a woman-only clothing swap. I’ve heard about these kinds of events before and lemme tell ya, I’d love to go if only they’d have me cause I love free clothes. No dice though so it’s back to Goodwill for me (I found some awesome t-shirts this weekend). Anyway, Susan says the women all had a great time and she is now thinking of hosting a more public clothing swap in the near future. Stay tuned.

Coming weeks hold the promise of more events in the space including the monthly Sustainable Capitol Hill meeting which all are invited to attend, possibly an art show and who knows what else. Of course, I’ll let you know when I know, but you can also check out our Events Calendar if you want to be on the cutting edge.