I spent my lunch hour…Googling pictures of people’s desks.
Yep, I did. And it was FASCINATING.
You have to remember, I have this thing about seeing into people’s lives. I love to look into people’s homes to see how they decorate, look into women’s purses to see just what everyone is carrying around with them, and I even like it when celebrities show you the inside of their fridge on MTV Cribs.
No really, I do.
I don’t know why, but stuff like that fascinates me. Awhile ago, I’d mentioned to my SIL that I was going to do a post on my desk. Or maybe she’d seen the pictures I posted of my desk so many desks ago at my old job. Either way, she did a post on her desk, which you can see here. She did a great job!
I’ve been seriously slacking lately, so no post yet on my desk. Yesterday I moved offices (okay, cubicles) at work, so I figured it was a good time to write the desk post. Below are several pictures of random desks, both messy and clean, as well as my current desk (well, until yesterday), a former desk, and some random other stuff.
First let me say this – I have a thing about desks. My desk has to be clean; I put everything away at the end of the day, and quite often it looks like I don’t have anything to do. This is not true, however; I simply keep ONLY what I’m working on on my desk. Your desktop is not to be used as storage, so I keep my pens, scissors, tape, etc., in my desk drawers (plus, people used to steal my pens). (Disclaimer – I think there is much more stuff on my desk than usual in the following photos, because I don’t have much drawer space).
HOWEVER – a messy desk is like a car accident. You can’t help but stare at it, try to see what’s in those piles, and wonder how anyone can work in that environment. I love to look at messy desks and a) wonder about the person who sits there, and b) just take in the sheer amount of crap.
I don't know why I love that this is Al Gore's desk, but I do. I wonder what his secretary does? Clearly, she doesn't file.
This picture can be found on the Productive Coder website. Sadly, this looks like a lot of home offices. Not only does it store the computer and every single scrap of paper that a person might want to save, but it's a dumping ground for anything and everything else.
This horrific office was found on the Get Your Biz Savvy website. See, it's like a car accident - you can't stop staring.
This is a before picture of a messy home office, organized by Heartwork.org.
This is the after picture of the above office. I don't think it's any better. Sure, the papers are in a crate, and some of the mess is gone, but the post-its are still randomly stuck to the desk and there is crap everywhere. Horrible, horrible after shot.
Finally, a shot of my desk. (Click on the photos of my desk(s) below to see the text I so cleverly inserted...) Well, this is my old desk at my last department. Yep, I had a computer desk, no drawers, and I shared a computer lab with many, many other people. Yet, I loved it, because the building was great, parking was free, and I wasn't in the main war room with people who had a desk but no computer.
Okay, don't laugh - I have a stapler collection on display. I don't have a lot of decoration at my desk, but each of these has a special meaning. Oh, I do have another electric stapler on my desk that I actually use - Swingline electric stapler...BEST thing ever invented.
Yes, that is an Easy Button.
And finally, the rest of my desk (okay, there's another entire tabletop behind me, but it's just workspace...nothing on it). I've taken a few things down because it got to be too much, but this is the general idea.
As I was researching today, I came upon a website called whereiwrite.org, which is a photographic project showing science fiction writers and their offices. It's an interesting project by photographer Kyle Cassidy, who documents American culture.
I visited the site and got so excited - this is what I want to do! This is my job, to DOCUMENT AMERICAN CULTURE!!! A perfectly legitimate way to peer into people's lives, document it, and learn a little something during the process. I like photography, so it's perfect. Now, how to get started...I need some people willing to let me photograph their lives and interview them about it. Who's interested in being a star!?
What a lunch hour - great photos, interesting websites, and the discovery of my life's work.
