On my desk right now is:
A small Padres hat, an empty orange juice glass, a fake banana split, a video camera, a Trevor Hoffman clock, a Hank Blalock bobblehead, a plastic donut, a day planner, a ton of paper clips, a rolodex, a bunch of flash drives, Tigress from Kung Fu Panda, a plastic dog and kitty, an unopened iPod Shuffle, a bunch of sticky note pads, a stapler, a beer stein, a Beanie Baby stuffed cardinal, a bag of water balloons, an old race car and a bunch of other crap.
Don't believe me?
See for yourself.
(By the way - I hate these thumbnail images. If anyone can tell me how to post full-size photos in typepad, I'd be much appreciative.)
What does your desk look like?
Jeff
Besides my iMac and printer, I've got a near empty coffee cup from the Mystery Lovers Bookshop that says "Take a Mystery Author to Bed Tonight"; a pile of bills; file folders marked "accountant" and "research"; two makeshift pencil holders that are plastic Red Sox cups (one has my old pica pole from the old days of newspaper page layout in it); one of those spiky purple stress balls; an empty box of Kleenex; a broken stapler; a broken Rolodex; a plastic container that has paper clips in it, and a pile of my galley fixes that I'm going to be faxing to my editor this afternoon.
This makes me realize I need to clean this crap up.
Posted by: Karen Olson | July 10, 2008 at 11:35 AM
An amazon credit card, a gun lighter (memento), a book on a famous mental hospital, stapler, tape, pen, printer, computer, iced tea, makeshift pencil holder, a camera (just downloaded some pics), a book on what was popular in every year of the last 100 years, a lamp, a penny, crumbs from eating a breadstick, a flashdrive, a desk-sized fan, a dictionary to prop my laptop on, a nicely shaped stone, a rubbery rooster to squeeze for inspiration.
Posted by: Patti Abbott | July 10, 2008 at 01:58 PM
OK,
Some reference books including The Death Investigator's Handbook, a lucite obelisk from the Republican Party proclaiming me 2005's Businessman of the Year, a baseball signed by Brooks Robinson, a toy turtle, a windup chicken, a jade plant named Jade, a yellow submarine, a blue meanie, a small coffin of Death Mints, an Iwo Jima Memorial, a globe from 1983, a napkin from John's Grill in San Francisco, and a ceramic cat made by my daughter when she was 7.
Along with pens, pencils (Black Warrior #1s), two phones, a calendar, Kleenex, assorted papers, magazines and a coffee cup.
Posted by: David Terrenoire | July 10, 2008 at 02:24 PM
My computer, keyboard, and mouse, a printer with a small desk lamp perched on top, with a dream catcher hanging from the post, a phone book buried beneath a file with the car and boat titles, an invoice from when I had to take my Ford into the repair shop AGAIN, a flashdrive, a phone, a picture taped to the top of my monitor so I remember what's really important in my life every time I sit down, a sign taped to my double layered "catch all" which says, "Everything I know about life I learned from porn", an impossible yoga pose picture on the other side which I WILL figure out how to do some day, a pen/pencil/shit collector plastered with buttons, my favorites being "I do it demon style" and "Got Sex?" (romance writers are far more generous with the giveaway items than mystery authors) a paperclip holder, a glass of water, a bottle of hand sanitizer, a camera case, a strip of paint samples, a stack of unopened bills, a stack of CD's I stole back from my teenagers, a sample pair of contacts, pens, more pens, post it pads, post it notes everywhere, a shell turtle, a stained glass butterfly my youngest made me, a tiny beaded lizard my oldest daughter made years ago, a tiny coiled rubber snake my middle daughter gave me (reminding me to face my fears every day) a miniature long handled sauce pan (joke gift courtesy of Judy Bobalik)three foam wrist protectors because my marble desk top is freakin' cold, a bottle of lotion and a deck of cards that are prize giveaways for my alterego's week long contest celebrating my new release this week, and a notebook with all my passwords for all the various sites I visit that I never remember...
And a beer...
(Umm, Mr. LGA, if you're reading this, aren't you supposed to be working too? The beer is cold, you should come home :)
Posted by: Lori G. Armstrong | July 10, 2008 at 04:02 PM
You have a picture of alcohol taped to the top of your monitor? That's nice.
Posted by: Jeff Shelby | July 10, 2008 at 04:06 PM
Ooh, snap, Shelby.
Going to my happy place, where insults bounce off...mmm...Bud Light lime...
Posted by: Lori G. Armstrong | July 10, 2008 at 04:07 PM
Work highly overrated. see ya in a few minutes honey........
Posted by: Mr. LGA | July 10, 2008 at 04:45 PM
Your desk is way too neat. Something is seriously wrong.
Posted by: patty smiley | July 10, 2008 at 07:46 PM
Pics of the family, computer, stack o' papers I don't wanna know what they are... Pics of my dad and grandfather in their offices, for inspiration.
Posted by: AlisonGaylin | July 10, 2008 at 09:21 PM
My pen/pencil holder which is an antique teabox that belonged to my grandmother, a phone, iHome, a stuffed tyrannosaurus rex surrounded by a fake lei, a postal scale, binder clips, a stack of inbox thingies, filled to overflowing, a couple of borders/B&N gift cards, stories and a cover that need to be copied for my short stories students and distributed at our midsummer pizza and critique session, six unopened boxes of pencils, my son's address book/assignment calendar from his high school, a coffee carafe and my distance glasses.
Posted by: Jen of a2eatwrite | July 11, 2008 at 09:48 AM
When you load the photo, you can click custom and it will allow you to make the photo any size you would like.
Posted by: Keith Raffel | July 15, 2008 at 12:36 AM
Mr. Raffel to the rescue! Thanks!
Posted by: Jeff Shelby | July 15, 2008 at 08:26 AM