*This is a companion piece to a similarly-themed article on Karen’s site which, all things being equal, should be published at roughly the same time.*
Here is my desk. It’s an Ikea Jerker that I bought about 14 months ago, when we moved into this house.
(Yes, the PNG is transparent, so you can overlay it on the JPG if you so desire).
1. Three boxes. One contains AC adapters, one contains receipts, and one is labelled “Misc crap” and contains all those little things that you don’t have a real home for. Mounted on the underside of the shelf below these boxes is a little OSRAM LED lamp.
2. Red Dwarf videos. I’m currently going through a bit of a Red Dwarf phase, reliving my teenage years. One, or more, of these VHS tapes may have been acquired at a reduced rate by switching price labels in WHSmiths. Such a rebel, I was.
3. Camera box. Nikon D40. Haven’t quite got round to putting this box in the garage or loft or wherever. On top of it is my camera case.
4. Books. One that I’m reading, one that I’m yet to read, and my 2005-06 and 2006-07 diaries. Older diaries are kept in a storage box in the garage, but I like having my last two to hand, just in case.
5. My pyro box. Lighters, matches, and an ancient pack of Golden Virginia.
6. Audio cassettes. All the live recordings, taped rehearsals, and early albums by my old band. On top of this little box is my bank statement book, and in front of it are my watches.
7. Pile of Terror. One of these boxes is also labelled “Misc crap”. Everything in this pile has no home, but hopefully I will rectify this one day. It’s a low-priority thing, and to be honest, most of this stuff could probably be thrown away, and I would never notice.
8. Postcards that Karen brings me.
9. Keyboard. It’s a Casio CTK-671.
10. Monitor. It’s a Sony. It’s a good monitor, but still… Sony. Ugh. Sorry. Tucked beneath it is a hefty reusable plastic bag. In front, a notepad with a comb on it, and to the right of that is the magnet that opens the drawers down to the side of the desk.
11. Man bag.
12. 8 track. It’s a Yamaha MD-8. I don’t use this much any more, so it now lives under here, and can be slid out if/when I need it.
13. Keyboard. It’s a Microsoft. It’s a good keyboard, but still… Microsoft. Ugh. Sorry. Behind it is a cheap plastic toy that my dad brought back from China. Its purpose is to spin round, light up, and play the Crazy Frog theme. It worked twice, then broke. So sad.
14. Photo of Karen. Whenever Bernard sees this, he points and says “Mama” about thirty times in quick succession.
15. Margarine tub containing a secret project that I’m working on. In front of it are my two coasters, by Marcus Gray.
16. Backup CDs and burned Linux ISOs.
17. A4 paper for the printer. To the left, empty CD spindles.
18. Printer. HP Laserjet 4L.
19. Some old envelopes for the recycling box. I just left them here while I took the photo to make the place look untidy. I am smart like that.
20. Second camera. Pentax Optio S30. Again, it doesn’t normally live here, but it gatecrashed the photo shoot. Behind it, an empty CD spindle. In front of it, the lens cap for my camera.
What else is on the shelf with the monitor?
* Two speakers (Harman Kardon Soundsticks II, the woofer is down there on the floor, glowing blue).
* Letter rack, containing things to file, things to do something about, and envelopes.
* A little pile with some post-it notes and Carmex lip balm on top.
* Pen pots
* Camera manual
* Some more pieces of paper to deal with
* Spindle containing blank CDs.
* Desk lamp.
* On the wall, some photos.
How has my desk changed in the last year?
14 months ago, it looked like this. Those two shelves at the top used to contain a lot of junk, so I moved one of them down to act as a monitor shelf. This gives me more space to work with at keyboard level, and also allows me to raise the speakers by six inches, out of Bernard’s reach (he likes grabbing them and playing with them. I can understand why – they are quite lovely). And the 8-track, as I previously mentioned, is now underneath that shelf.
You can also see that I’ve installed the second side-shelf, and used it to make a nifty little keyboard stand (the other end of the keyboard rests on my bass amp). This has been in place for quite a long time now.
And finally, here’s a photo of my desk at the previous house. It’s only six months older, so much of the hardware is the same.
11 replies on “Stuff on my desk”
Are your desks in the same room? I’ve posted this comment on both sites to ensure consistency and to continue the theme of the post..
Yep, they are exactly opposite each other. Observe the curtains.
I have those same coasters, and that postcard, oh and that secret project? Nuh-uh, not so secret.
It’s number 19 where I nearly lost the will to live. My desk looks like Karen’s before the picture. But much, much, MUCH worse.
Are your coasters naughty too?
And why doesn’t Karen have a useful comments feed too? (I’m asking you since I know you’re the blogmeister).
Yes, my coasters are by the same naughty artist as Karen’s. Google Marcus Gray if you want to know more.
Karen has the same useful comments feeds as me. There’s a feed for each blog post (eg this one) and a comments feed for the entire site (undocumented, but you can get it here).
Oh dear, was I supposed to be this detailed? And Pete, have you got one of the pics of just the desk, that would show more detail, for example, of the Fireman Shot? I wonder if you would be kind enough to insert that at the bottom of my post?
You are, as rr says, the Blogmeister. And so much more.
> Oh dear, was I supposed to be this detailed?
No, you were supposed to be as detailed or non-specific as you saw fit.
> And Pete, have you got one of the pics of just the desk…
If you want me to do this for you, it will have to be tonight.
Presumably you are not posting comments whilst sitting back to back at your desks? One hopes anyway 🙂
How did you do the outline picture. Iis it something in one of those photoshop menus I’m too scared to mess about with?
I’d say your desk was too cluttered for me, but then I’ve just looked around at my desk and had a small despaired moment. Aaagh, the wires!
> How did you do the outline picture?
Low-tech method (well, as low-tech as you can get whilst using a computer). Create a new layer, set the background opacity to about 70%, and then draw the outlines by hand. When it’s done, hide the background layer altogether, and export the visible layers to a PNG. Edge-detect filters are all but useless in this scenario.
I’ve previously explained my thoughts on clutteredness of desks.
You two are too funny. Love it.
No, Paul, we are not commenting to each other while sitting in the same room. Pete is at work, where he shouldn’t be commenting at all. I am sitting at the illustrated desk, though. It is less tidy than it was when photographed, but not disastrously so. Oh, and the black notebook has moved from the pile on the left to the pile on the right, and there is an empty mug, which once contained tea, on the naughty coaster. I hope that’s okay.
Not that we haven’t ever chatted to each other online while sitting in the same room.