Cow Hampshire

“A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world,” it has been written.*

I've been asked to share a photograph of my workspace by Colleen at “The Oracle of OMcHodoy.” She wrote an article about her extensive photograph scanning and archiving accomplishments.  I, meanwhile, can only drool over her neatness (subliminal: where did I put my bib?) and daydream that I too may someday have such a spotless desk and work area.

I blink, and I am knocked clean out of my daydream. The reality of where I compute on a daily basis quickly sets in.  Oh, my work space IS technically clean.  (subliminal: No food or drink allowed. I wouldn't want anything strange to grow on my keyboard). Neat, however, it is not.  

You wouldn't know by looking at my desk that I'm a huge fan of “How Clean is Your House?”  I sigh wistfully at Kim and Aggie's lovely accents, zippy personalities and breathtaking scrubbing talents. 

Perhaps my computer desk is possessed. Piles seem to spontaneously sprout from the top of the desktop, and from other nearby surfaces.  To my own credit, I have a vague idea of the types of documents, photographs and books in each of them.

My desk IS indeed a dangerous place from which to watch the world.  (subliminal: You never know when something is going to fall over and knock me out).  If you don't hear from me for a few days, now you will know what happened.

I can make excuses until doomsday about my desk's condition. (subliminal: and at this rate it would take as long to neaten things up).  And so, instead of posting a photograph of my own desk, I have posted a photograph of a workspace that is neater than mine.   Look at the photograph at the top of this article, and you get a general idea of what mine looks like.

And to whom does that workspace belong?  Click here to see a larger version of the photograph, and to find out, before you read further.

There.  Now I'm feeling very superior about this “clean desk” business.  Mine is not and it never will be.  And that is just fine with me.

Janice

*Note: The quotation in the first sentence is from the book “The Honourable Schoolboy,” by John LeCarre.