In Neil Gaiman's wonderful fantasy novel Neverwhere, our protagonist-turned-hero begins as a disenchanted office worker with a troll curse. After he received one of those tiny toys with the fuzzy neon afros as a gift, co-workers besieged him with the little buggers until he had a veritable army on his computer monitor. Don't let this happen to you. Claim and style your workspace with trinkets that are distinctly you—a latex vulture, a "Horrified B-Movie Victim," or a pair of hopping, yodeling lederhosen, for starters. Made famous by its patented rubber "Devil Duckies," Archie McPhee's Ballard warehouse is a trash-or-treasure trove of stuff you don't need but can't resist. My own mother hauls around three monster finger puppets procured here, taking photos of them under cocktail umbrellas at the beach for her "grandchildren" scrapbook. Those are the kind of lovable nuts who frequent McPhee's. If you work with one, give 'em a unicorn vs. narwhal set, or a piece of windup sushi, or a fighting nun, or . . . whatever it is, it'll be more unique than those graphic-designer-approved vinyl bears, for sure.—Rachel Shimp 2428 N.W. Market St., 297-0240, www.mcphee.com.