How do you stay inspired during uninspiring times?

[AmateisGal]

No kidding! Architecture from the 60's forward was just bad. There wasn't really much built in the 40's due to the war, but what does survive was usually pretty utilitarian, from what I've seen. And the 50's saw a massive boom in residential development, but most of the architecture I've seen with those are pretty plain - in other words, nothing to grumble about. At least in the US, I should add.

With the integration of central heating and cooling, as well as more electric lighting, buildings in the 60's and forward, (until probably the early 90's) were built to look like these evil, monolithic giants with tiny windows and crazy, blocky shapes. Can't stand it.

Give me something from the 10's! Lots of brickwork, huge windows and wood floors! Ahhh, drool...

I am very fortunate to work in an office building that was built in 1927. The lobby is gorgeous, and although the offices themselves are all updated (cubicles - UGH), it's still fun to work in.

 

[Feraud]

I am always thrilled to make periodic visits to the Art Deco Fred French Building in NYC. The place has a stunning interior.

 

[Angus Forbes]

I thought that Nebraska wasn't built until 1927 (just kidding, just kidding!)

 

[AmateisGal]

I thought that Nebraska wasn't built until 1927 (just kidding, just kidding!)

Hey! lol

Seriously, I think there are people who still think we travel in covered wagons out here and live in sod houses...

 

[Undertow]

I thought that Nebraska wasn't built until 1927 (just kidding, just kidding!)

lol

 

[Undertow]

Hey! lol

Seriously, I think there are people who still think we travel in covered wagons out here and live in sod houses...

Nope, they must be looking over the IA border - that's us.

You're lucky to work in a 1927 building. We tear ours down in Des Moines just willy nilly.

 

[AmateisGal]

Nope, they must be looking over the IA border - that's us.

You're lucky to work in a 1927 building. We tear ours down in Des Moines just willy nilly.

We are fortunate to have a lot of old buildings still standing and still being used in our downtown area. I hope it continues to stay this way.

And you just have cornfields in Iowa and nothing else, right?

 

[Flicka]

I have a set of blogs I read that do wonders for my inspiration. They remind me that there are people out there who are both kind, creative and have a sense of humour. They almost make up for all the bitterness, hostility and rudeness I have to deal with on a daily basis.

I'm feeling a little fragile at the moment. Does anyone have tips for kind, warm, fuzzy things?

ETA: I made cookies and curled up outside with coffee and candles in that weird twilight that passes as night here these days and listened to Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell. It worked wonders.

 

[Undertow]

We are fortunate to have a lot of old buildings still standing and still being used in our downtown area. I hope it continues to stay this way.

And you just have cornfields in Iowa and nothing else, right?

This is true. I actually work in a barn next to a silo. lol More like a glass horseshoe, actually.

The bummer about Des Moines architecture is that we had TONS of really neat, really historical stuff, but Des Moines was specifically a coal producer and railroad hub, with very little else. When we ran out of coal in the 1910's, we had the railroads to fall back on. Rail traffic slowed after the interstate system was finished, so we tried to be the insurance capitol. Once Hartford, CT took that from us, we stagnated quite a bit.

During the 1980's recession, Des Moines started tearing old buildings down and leaving empty lots with no one to repurpose them. We lost all kinds of really interesting history that way.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Hey! lol

Seriously, I think there are people who still think we travel in covered wagons out here and live in sod houses...

You don't???

 

[AmateisGal]

You don't???

Not since I was a kid. I used to pick up buffalo chips for our wood-burning stove, but we recently upgraded.

 

[AmateisGal]

I'm feeling a little fragile at the moment. Does anyone have tips for kind, warm, fuzzy things?

ETA: I made cookies and curled up outside with coffee and candles in that weird twilight that passes as night here these days and listened to Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell. It worked wonders.

I find that baking while listening to some good music is wonderful. Alternatively, just sitting down with a good book with classical music playing the background, my kitties snuggled beside me, and a warm chocolate chip cookie straight from the oven and a cold glass of milk sets the world aright again. Simple pleasures.

 

[bunnyb.gal]

I have a set of blogs I read that do wonders for my inspiration. They remind me that there are people out there who are both kind, creative and have a sense of humour. They almost make up for all the bitterness, hostility and rudeness I have to deal with on a daily basis.

I'm feeling a little fragile at the moment. Does anyone have tips for kind, warm, fuzzy things?

ETA: I made cookies and curled up outside with coffee and candles in that weird twilight that passes as night here these days and listened to Mark Lanegan & Isobel Campbell. It worked wonders.

That's why I make a daily visit to the Lounge, Flicka, even if these days I've been doing more "lurking" than "chiming in". More often than not when I walk out the front door I feel more like an observer from another planet than an active part of the society of the beings around me (but given the way I see so many people behave, misbehave rather, I'd prefer to not "go with the flow"), and can't wait to get back to my Art Deco cocoon and back to my...

I find that baking while listening to some good music is wonderful. Alternatively, just sitting down with a good book with classical music playing the background, my kitties snuggled beside me, and a warm chocolate chip cookie straight from the oven and a cold glass of milk sets the world aright again. Simple pleasures.

...greyhounds and lurcher, who remind me that life isn't so bad when you've got someone to snuggle up to and play squeaky games with! They keep me sane. Mostly.

 

[AmateisGal]

Found this floating around on Facebook and thought I'd share.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I shared this on Facebook the other day. Ain't it the truth?

Found this floating around on Facebook and thought I'd share.

 

[dnjan]

Seriously, I think there are people who still think we travel in covered wagons out here and live in sod houses...

A sod house would probably have been cooler this past week ...

 

[AmateisGal]

A sod house would probably have been cooler this past week ...

You're probably right!

 

[Grizzly Adams]

I read this board often, but rarely comment. However, I found this thread to be very interesting and enlightening in terms of this community. While it is common for older folks (seasoned citizen) like myself to miss the world of our youth, and to feel the lose of those "vintage values" (interesting term), I guess I am surprised that younger people, many who have no first hand memory of those times, or values, could also feel the lose! The fact that you are "there" in terms of a mind set and appreciation of those values is encouraging. I hope some of you are instilling these values in your children.

That said, let me add that, while there was much to admire and love about the era, there was also a very dark side. I am reminded of a conversation I had a a boy with my Grandfather. I had remarked that things were not like "the good old days," to which he responded, "No boy, they certainly are not. Things are a whole lot better!"

That's a good point. I think that those women running a household and staying home to raise the children were highly respected - probably more so than the women who worked in offices alongside men. Unfortunately, this also started a war between women themselves that continues today: who is better? The woman who stays home or the woman who works? Instead of embracing both as worthy endeavors, one side likes to put down the other.

Women - we are our own worst enemy in a lot of ways.

Sad, but true. The old saying, that "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world," is still as true today as ever. To look down on the "home maker and mother" is as sad as putting down the young women who wants to dedicate her life and energy to a vocation or career. There is need for both, and both have great worth.

I love your idea for a thread, and I do think about this rather often. I stick to vintage clothing and a general neat/sharp appearance because I find it motivating. It's far harder to lounge around in a suit and tie than in casual wear, and not just because lying down in a tie is a tad uncomfortable! I'm dressed nicely today, my one day off from work this week, just so I can get more cleaning and organizing done at home. It's worked; I've never cleaned a neglected e-mail inbox so quickly as in a favorite fedora, vest, and tie, as seen below. I'm sure I wouldn't have gotten as much done in a T-shirt and jeans.

At work (a scenic railway) I find even more place to let the vintage values inside me out, and even expose others to them. In the spirit of hard work and knowing one's trade well, I worked extra hard to learn the route I conduct over, and its history for giving informative talks and relating everything back to our lives today. Another thing I find vital to a vintage personality is having the strength to take responsibility for yourself (unlike our lawsuit-happy blame culture of today). So, between knowing my route and believing in personal responsibility, I won't yell at a passenger if they lean out of the train a bit in a place I know they're safe. I tell them not to in the areas I know are risky, and I caution them to pay attention to trees and such. But I let them have their fun, and I don't believe in compromising the fun atmosphere of my trains out of fear of someone suing someday. I caution and control everyone enough to make passenger injury risk negligible, and I extend the legalistic, anything-in-the-name-of-security work ethic no further than that.

More than those, though, I try to exude optimism, willingness to be a hardworking small cog in a bigger machine, love of vintage culture, and all-around respect everywhere. The more modern standards decline, the more I feel challenged (and motivated) to stand strong and be myself. At the end of the day, the possibility that I made someone else look at the good things of the past and see their value makes up for not fitting in with the world today.


-Steven

:eusa_clapYou're one of the good guys that we need more of. Good to see such splendid behavior in one so young. That's compliment from one who sees so many young folks who show little evidence of any positive values!

Getting a chance to drink a few top notch beers and chatting with friends can help.

As a final item to try to remember that where ever I am and what ever is happening - chances are I am exactly where God wants me to be at that time.

+1 Wasn't it B Franklin who said, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy."? My apologies to Ben if I misquoted him..... In any case, we should all keep in mind, that whatever the perils and stress of modern times, we are all where God wants us to be - it is up to us to recognize that, and make the best of it, for ourselves, and for others.

My regards to all.

 

[Deleted member 16736]

One of my favourite escapes is to read The Complete Sherlock Holmes or to watch the excellent Granada Holmes series with Jeremy Brett, of which I have all the episodes on my computer.

I avoid reading or watching the news because frankly modern media is horrendously inaccurate anyways, so why bother?

I read and re-read the Jeeves stories by P.G. Wodehouse. Not only is it period-perfect, it's funny and light as a feather. When you read those stories, you can't help but be happy. Be warned, though: the stories can be so similar that you may find yourself halfway through one book until you realize you've already read it. But I just keep reading it (re-reading it) anyway.

I recently bought The Complete Sherlock Holmes and I am looking forward to finishing it.

On "the news": yes, the news is depressing, but the news was always depressing, and some of the more lurid contemporary news items were simply not reported in the old days. Also, governments in the 20th Century killed 100 million people. I wonder how the Loungers would have reacted to the news of those mass killings. WWII was no picnic. As one old-timer said, "Times are hard now. They were always hard."

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

On "the news": yes, the news is depressing, but the news was always depressing, and some of the more lurid contemporary news items were simply not reported in the old days.

And what's not helpful is the level of today's constant media saturation, the likes of which didn't quite exist in the old days, which makes almost any news unbearable. While there's an old media saying that if it bleeds it leads, nowadays, not only must it bleed but it must be coughing up chunks of its own innards before it would warrant even the slightest media attention.