Is this a messy desk contest?
Is this a ‘messy desk’ contest? I may have the winning entry.
In truth, I’m not crazy about having a messy desk; it doesn’t quite keep me awake at night, but I’d much prefer an ordered, symmetrically (my math background) organized workspace, files here, references there, phone in the charger where it belongs. Instead, my desk reflects my current projects and my hectic schedule. That’s it in – well, certainly not a nutshell – though, on second thought, nutshell might be appropriate.
My current projects are: deadline on a feature article for Building Stone Magazine; entries to five contests for books and magazine feature articles and poetry published in 2009; a house that we’re building; end of year accounts for the four houses we own (this is crazy – one is definitely up for sale when I get around to that project); hosting and preparing food for end of year/ beginning of year dinner parties that I didn’t get to in the autumn because I was traveling too much (6 down and only 2 to go); and little things like thank you notes, notes to family (My elder daughter is floating down the Amazon with a bunch of other nutty professors as I write this. “Please keep out of the water, the fish are murder.”) and notes to writer friends; and the tree in the back garden that toppled in the wind last week and is currently in my neighbor’s yard. He’s really not fond of that tree. It’s horizontal.
I do everything from this tiny, crazy space, and rarely one thing at a time in an organized fashion. I write, but then the phone rings and I answer questions. I write, but then I need the answer to a question, so I’m on the phone again trying to contact a quarry or an editor. I write, but then it’s time to put the bread in the oven. Writing is my joy, my passion, but it’s never my only occupation. Never.
So what do I have in this space? Computer, of course. Files. Paperwork. Reference books.
Calendar. The ubiquitous phone. Sam. I love Sam; couldn’t work without Sam underfoot. Oh, and a stuffed dog over there by the Orvis fly-fishing certificate – my muse, Jane A.
This is my desk; this is my room; this is my life. Clutter, deadlines, and the occasional bit of poetry. In all honesty, I haven’t a clue where poetry exists, in which strata it develops or how it rises to the surface. I usually recognize the better bits when they appear, or at least I hope I do. I’m paying invoices or kneading the odd loaf and suddenly Miss Molly Mop with the 7s on Top or Peter Pattern are there with me and we’re sharing meter and rhyme and I’m immersed in the joy of composing. Helps to ease the mind and clear the clutter.
Now, the contractor wants to know which rooms will have subfloor heating and I have this deadline….
Tags: poetry
January 5th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Kay,
Just checking my blog — did it really post — and the photos — thank you Debbie — and I noticed our best buddies, our dogs. Your’s is much tidier than mine. Is this a clue to our existence???
January 7th, 2010 at 12:01 pm
“The first thing I do with my writing,” I tell kids at schools, “is read it aloud to my dog. We both benefit. She wags her tail, glad to be communicating. I hear any overlong sentences, repetitive words, cliches, and the flat-out stupid spots in my draft.”
Marianne - I’ve always had dogs, often poodles. My husband and I showed Chessapeake Bay Retrievers and competed in Obedience. I taught dog training classes for years. This pit bull is the sweetest, brightest, most honest dog I’ve ever known. A pit bull! Astonishing to me, still.
I love the hidden extra clues to our existances that show up in these photos. Does anyboidy else write with dogs? Cats? Iguanas?
January 7th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Kay — sad that pit bulls have gotten such a horrid reputation. I can vouch for yours; she is a bundle of sweetness.
Sam’s only thought on writing is to take advantage of every second that I’m not writing. When the phone rings, he immediately begins to nudge my free hand. “Thank heavens you’ve stopped pounding that keyboard. Time to scratch my ear!”
January 7th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
Sam is very cute. And I love your desk, mess and all!