At times, I feel like I am at war with the 21st century.  I prize my old books with old leather and yellow pages.  I love rooms filled with old clutter:  old pictures in gilt frames, old silver, squeaky stairs, Moser cranberry goblets, Derby sheep, Louis XVI canapes, Persian rugs, old leather cases, hanging crystal chandeliers, Florentine leather boxes,  display cabinets filled with 18th century porcelain, and early miniatures on ivory.  I have sensitive eyes which shutter when they are challenged with too much “modern” BLASTS  which are intended to stimulate creativity.  I understand that Bach would probably be a computer junky today–I understand the entire discussion.  But, I have enough age to have seen a lot pass by, leaving behind a few gems while the majority has ended up in the trash bin.  Daily, I am confronted with five children who are as “modern” as they come.  My son tells me he is adding a floor on top of our 1856 Victorian office building with lots of glass, overlooking all the old roof tops of our pioneer western town.  He tells me he is going to rip off the plaster walls to reach the original pioneer soft brick.  He tells me he has great plans for our own Prairie-style house when Mrs. Moore and I are gone.  My youngest child is a “modern” architect who designs houses that look like space ships and who invents such things as ROCK BANDS.   Sometimes, I feel like I am whirling in a windstorm with all this kind of talk.  I do like modern settings, but only as far as I feel “permanence.”  I feel very uncomfortable in houses where a decorator stuffs the setting with new furniture and catalog bric-a-brac with no regard for the individuality of the people living there.  An office space that looks like a space station, I suppose, could be creative for some, but it would make my blood run cold.  Goodness, give me a desk piled with books, lots of papers, tons of family pictures, pens and more pens from years past, and lots of old leather note pads.  Well, GOOGLE has new offices in London.  I love Google, but they would have to let me work at home!  These are photos of their new London offices, designed to be creative spaces.  GOOGLE, I am sticking with you, but I will do it from home!  Good luck in your new London building.

Thomas Moore   email:  TMooreSr@me.com    Telephone:  801.791.9918

http://www.londonconnection.com