Tuesday 20 April 2010

On My Desk

Haribo Tangfastics

These are bad things that shouldn’t be on my desk, but they are as I got suckered in the Sweet Tunnel of Death that is the W.H. Smith’s queue for the till. I only went in for a magazine, and came out carrying half my body weight in discounted chocolate and sugary goo. At some point in the day I will make the bad mistake of reaching for a Haribo ‘tangfastic’, and get a little sweet/sour sugar rush. Ooo, I will think, blood racing, let’s go for another one. And there, my friends, is the moment where my tongue will fizz over and I will retreat, whimpering, until another day.

Tissues

The Spring Cold of Doom is upon me, cried the Jayne of Shalott. Sadly it is so – I have one of those pesky colds which foist upon their host a pathetic cough and the look of a crumpled Kleenex.

Mini muffins

Ah yes. How did they get there? Life, such mysteries.

Mobile (or rather, swooshy photo thing)

My iPhone no longer lives in a white tennis sock. My friend, after laughing quite hard I must admit, said there was no way I could go around fishing my mobile out of a sock so gave me a proper one. It is black with a diamante skull and crossbones design. Much more grown up.

Tatty hair band

To accompany the tatty hair. Oh I am so cruel to myself. It is not tatty really. It is free-range.

Pen

Someone else’s chewed bic. Don’t you just love inheriting pens? Memo to self. Don’t chew.

Work diary

I am a bit lost without a work diary. Important work stuff goes in here (labelled of course Important Work Stuff). Also I try and schedule evenings that are just for writing – this week Thursday and Friday evening, and Saturday (day) are sort of set aside, and I will be redrafting chapter 21. Oh yes.

Coconut Water carton

I read somewhere it is healthy. Not sure that a gallon of it is healthy though, especially if used to swig down mini muffins.

Mug

Mugs go quicker than gold dust around this office, so I will cling onto this one and slowly layer it with coffee.

Pre-Raphaelite postcard (John William Waterhouse, Miranda)

Miranda gazes wistfully off into the middle distance, waiting for her ship to come in. Metaphor, what metaphor?

What is on your desk?

25 comments:

Private said...

Oh, now I want a mini muffin!

My desk is displaying these things:
-A book on personality psychology
-An iPod
-My cell
-My diary; Debretts ladies diary in mulberry :)
-A vase with roses
-Some incesce, so the whole room smells like fresia. Mmmm...
-My Italian leather messenger bag
-My laptop.

Rose said...

phone- not iphone which I want

mug

hUUGGEee water bottle

many post it notes

work diary- am like you with that

jiffy bag with perfume samples kindly sent by a company this morning- a little light of happiness in a day when I am a bit of a sog with the tinterweb!

many files in a nice neat pile

my watch ( I hate the way it hits the keyboard so it sits in front of me looking good- much nicer to check than computer clock)

Old Kitty said...

coconut water carton?!?! Haribo Tangfastics.

Those sweet counters lining the bit where you queue to pay for your stuff ARE EVIL!!

LOL!!!

Have you tried the new marmite oat cereal bars?!?!?! HEAVEN!!

On my work desk (apart from the pc and phone!) is a plastic mug full of bombay mix (filched from a big bag of it in the tea room!), Coconut and Almond lotion, my disney aladdin mug (NO-ONE touches my mug!), TISSUES (I feel for your pesky cold, I really do) and lots of things labelled "to do", "have done", "don't know what to do with"!

:-)

Have a lovely Tuesday too and good luck with your Chapter 21 - yay!!!

Take care
x

Stina said...

Junk. Pens. Post-it notes. Tons of Post-it notes. Pictures my daughter drew for me. Empty can of diet coke.

Susan Fields said...

Thank you so much for letting me know I wasn't following you yet - I'm always excited to find new bloggy friends to keep up with! You might want to check your profile and make sure your blog link is included, because when I click on your follower picture, it doesn't come up with your blog link (which is why I haven't found you until now). I could be wrong about why it's not coming up, but I had mine that way for a while and then when I went in and added it to my profile, it started showing up.

I wish I had a work desk, but because of my dog (it's a long story) I write on the easy chair in the living room. Beside me I have my warm fleece blanket, my box of tissues, my wip notes, and my coffee mug and pot.

Love your blog - I'm looking forward to many happy returns! :)

Aubrie said...

I have some ratty hair ties on my desk, too! And tissues. Also, lots of little notes, three journals, a picture of Jack from POTC and a fairy statue.

Karen Jones Gowen said...

Well, I have so many desks I'm not sure where to start. My son accuses me of taking over the house and well, I guess I do! But yes, any desk of mine will have pens (my favorite inanimate, nonfood object!), and kleenex/tissues, and random paperwork relating to my life that has not yet been filed and never will be. It will just stay on my desk until it's outdated,then tossed away.

Laura S. said...

I just love writers' desks!

My office desk is home to these things:
~ H2O in a colorful Fiesta glass
~ zebra mug filled with pencils
~ Hawaii mug filled with pens
~ homemade mug (pics of me and my BFF on it) filled with highlighters, Sharpies, and colored pens
~ 2 notebooks
~ zebra notepad
~ 2 post-it pads
~ orange lamp
~ zebra bowl filled with chocolates
~ orange iPod
~ pink cell phone
~ Leonardo the Laptop

And then there's my desk in the living room! But that one is a lot smaller, and is home to more notebooks and my craft books on writing.

Happy Tuesday!

Talli Roland said...

Haribo, yum! I try to keep my desk clutter to a minimum but I usually have a pile of papers, a pen with stand from Egypt and a glass full of pens that don't work!

Wendy Ramer, Author said...

On my desk? Too many things to count. Worth mentioning?

Two-inch round scented candle - Madagascar - whose lid I lift whenever I need a bit of aromatherapy. Not sure what the scents are, but they soothe me.

Photos of my babies, who aren't really babies any more ;-(

And most importantly, Lindor truffles, dark chocolate. My drug of choice.

Fran Hill said...

DVD waiting to be watched. Is going to be waiting a while.

'The Archers' jug with pens in.

A teddy dressed in a graduation ceremony gown.

Some pink post-its.

My mobile phone contract ready for me to go and BLAST them in the shop about why they're not doing what they said they'd do.

An empty mug.

An empty chocolate wrapper.

Pamela Terry and Edward said...

Let's see....

..This morning's NYTimes crossword puzzle
..Two balls of yarn
..A pompom maker, for those two balls of yarn
..A birthday card that sings when I open it and makes me laugh out loud every time
..stamps, pencils, notebooks, and one popsicle stick that is red on one end because I only like the cherry ones.

Mise said...

I giggled so at this, and was glad that your hair was free-range. Your thoughts are also free-range, bless them. Would you sweep all that food into the wastebasket and start afresh with some vodka to help chapter 21 along?

Joanne said...

Sorry about your cold, hope you're feeling better soon. My desk is filled with journals and reference books, as well as the proposal I'm currently working on. Oh, and an inspirational knick-knack beside my lamp, too!

Linda said...

Can't believe you have a picture of Miranda on your desk - its one of my fav pictures and hangs in large print in my living room. I think its so atomspheric and inspiring.

My desk is currently covered with kids homework and paraphernalia. The fact that it is supposed to be my desk alone didn't last very long.

Hope the cold goes away soon. Good luck with Chapter 21.

Unknown said...

What a fun post! I was cracking up. On my desk is a horrible mess. Papers stacked (not neatly), Rolodex, sunny yellow coffee mug, a digital camera, my son's Lego robot, two plants (note to self: they need water), old ink cartridges (another note: recycle those today), and...yikes...more clutter than I care to admit :P

Looking forward to reading more from you!

Lydia Kang said...

I'm writing at my kitchen table, and it's so messy you don't want to know. I'll start with cookie crumbs, and end with laptop.
I love this post!

Carol Kilgore said...

Oh - Free Range Hair.

I have Hair From Hell. Free Range sounds delightful and lovely!

Gigi Thibodeau said...

Free-range hair! Mine, too!!!

Anything on my desk has cat-tooth marks or has been completely torn to shreds by my cat Scout. She's an unholy terror. Needless to say, I don't keep any ms printouts on the desk! Like an earlier commenter, I now type mostly with my laptop on my lap on the sofa. Sigh.

Jayne said...

Alexandra, I like the sound of your desk! I can almost smell the roses... and the incense! Love the sound of your Italian bag as well.

~~~

Hi Rose - I also usually have a huge water bottle. I buy one on Monday and refill it all week in the bid to get as much water down me as possible. And like your watch, I will take off rings, bracelet - I used to lose so many rings that way, luckily in the day when the majority cost £3 and were from a stall in Camden. :)

Jayne said...

Hi Old Kitty! WH Smith's is the worst - it really is running the gauntlet. And marmite cereal bars... hm, not sure that's for me, I'm a bit of a 'hate it' when it comes to marmite (although oddly enough, not when I have marmite and salt and vinegar crisp sandwiches). Love your labelling, especially 'don't know what to do with!'

~~~

Hi Stina. Do you stick your post it notes around the computer monitor? When I use them I always end up with multi-coloured flapping squares everywhere - and then someone will open the office window and all with be sent into chaos!

~~~

Hello Susan. Thank you so much for telling me this - Jackee also pointed it out, and I had no idea my profile wasn't linked. I have now gone back in and fiddled with it, but it seems tempremental - sometimes it shows, sometimes it doesn't! I cannot see how to properly change it either. Hopefully now I have added my blog link though. I always think of the phrase 'spanner in the works' when I head into the blog settings!

I'm intrigued with your long story about your dog, but love the sound of the warm fleece blanket within reach. And thank you! I do hope you like it here. :)

Jayne said...

Hi Aubrie. Love the sound of your desk - esp the picture of Jack! And the fairy statue... sounds like my sort of desk.

~~~

Hi Karen - I am so going to have to come for a writer's retreat at your house with all those desks!

~~~

Hi Laura. I take it you rather like zebras? Although your blog and header could perhaps give that away... I especially like the zebra bowl filled with chocolates. :)

~~~

Hi Talli - I am now over (way over) my haribo phase, at least til next Wednesday. I also have a collection of pens that don't work. You'd think I'd throw them... but no!

Jayne said...

Hi Wendy. I think I need some soothing scents! Instead at home I throw open the windows to coax in some air. Those truffles sound delicious!

~~~

Hi Fran. Love the ending on the empty chocolate wrapper, very nice. I hope you blasted the mobile phone company and got what you wanted! Threaten to leave, they hate it.

~~~

Hi Pamela. Pompoms! I haven't made pompoms since I was a kiddie, and now I really want to make some again. If only I could remember how... I seem to recall there was a circular piece of cardboard with a hole in the middle and you wind the yarn around and then cut the outside. Or the inside. Hm - best look up how to do it before I attempt it again! Love the popsicle detail.

~~~

Hi Mise. Glad it made you giggle, and thank you! And oh yes, vodka would no doubt give chapter 21 a helping hand. But in what direction? I'd hate to come back tomorrow and find chapter 21 has been locked up on account of being drunk and disorderly.

Jayne said...

Hi Joanne. I am now very curious about your inspirational knick-knack! I’m not sure you’ll see this reply as I am so late with my comments, but I’d love to know what it is! I think I am suffering for the lack of inspirational knick-knacks, although I use Miranda as inspiration!

~~~

Hi Linda. Oh that is a coincidence, but I wonder if we have the same one? Waterhouse did two renderings of Miranda, the early one is blonde (1875), and the latter one is red haired (1916). I loved the red-haired version (as that wild hair is like mine!) but had never seen the blonde until I went to a retrospective exhibition on Waterhouse last year, and that is the one currently on my desk. The blonde I would say is more patient and wistful, the red-haired more stormy and temptuous. Both wonderful, and as you say, atmospheric and inspiring.

Jayne said...

Hi Nicole. Glad you liked it! I think every desk needs a lego robot, actually. My own would benefit greatly from it! And a plant... there is a distinct lack of plants here at work. Although I have conkers from autumn still!

~~~

Hi Lydia. If I worked from my kitchen table I would spend most of my time at either the kettle or the fridge! Or the cookie tin. I’m not sure I’d get an awful lot of work done!

~~~

Hi Carol. Free-range hair covers a multitude of sins!

~~~

Hi Gigi. Aw... I am completely soppy over cats, even unholy terrors. My cats like to attack the printer but luckily do not tear anything to bits!