- A glass of wine
- A lighter and cigarettes
- The light to my bicycle
- A stack of photocopies of absurd suggestions that a friend and I have been putting into the suggestion box at work
- The postcard I got through the metafilter postcard swap
- 3 DVDs my girlfriend brought over last night: Blood Simple, The Hustler, and The Big Lebowski
- A classy French container for coffee that has been unceremoniously converted into a disgustingly overstuffed ashtray, and makes me feel guilty every time I look at it because my mother gave it to me
- My (mostly unused) sketchbook
- A pocket watercolor set
- A capo
- A bag of wasabi peas
- A quill pen
- A beautiful typewriter from the 1930s, in its box, unused lately
- Two nibs, one used
- A fork
- Nail clippers for my cat, Boing
- A computer speaker
- A package of those little pills that you put in water, and when the gelatin dissolves, little sponge airplanes grow in the glass
- An empty beer bottle
- A check book
- The cardboard box my checks came in, which has in it the silver pocketwatch my dad gave me
- An espresso cup that I use for watercoloring
- The computer and its keyboard, which looks like shit because there's ink all over it

Believe it or not, it's relatively clean, as this desk goes.

a phone
pens
pencils
change
tweezers
alarm clock
mentholatum
chip clips
q-tips
movie ticket stubs
san andreas cheat codes written on the back of ticket stubs
colibri lighter
2 twang beer salts
scotch tape
diet coke cans
2 shot glasses
peppermints
eye drops
several butane lighters
tv remote
sweet-heart candies
deep heating rub
face lotion
AA batteries
perfect glue 1
rolling papers
zippo flints
sudafed
whataburger ketchup
zippo
earbuds
x-acto knife
unpayed bills

I live off of my desk.

-unfinished paperwork
-speakers and a subwoofer
-more unfinished work in another pile
-an amber ring from latvia that gives me acne like spots so can't wear it all the time
-my cat
-modem
-x-acto knife and related bits
-a couple binders full of medium format negatives (debating about heading into the darkroom for the night)
-my (broken) yashicamat camera that needs to be taken in for repair
-my holga
-even more unfinished paperwork
-an empty polaroid type 669 pack for the land camera I have
-tiny elephant used to hold incense
-a copy of CIVI Conquests

Wallet
2 wireless phones
2 cell phones
3 headsets (2 phone, 1 music)
21-inch monitor
Speakers
An icy cold beer
Montclair spring water
Spool of thread and needle
Prescription sunglasses
About 100 envelopes of mail I’ve yet to open (90 will be credit card offers)
Post it notes
2 AA batteries
150 year old Russian Icon
Indian made brass stamp box
Tiny Sponge Bob, Homer and Japanese lucky cat
8 cds of different versions of Linux
a tin shaped like a choo choo train with rockets candy in it
a king Pez dispenser
a candle
a Canadian silver dollar from 1962
a watch
a statue of Ganish
an oriental lamp
two pill bottles
a cartoon drawn for me by the writer of the “Sally Forth” cartoon
a set of wings from NWA airlines
about 20 cd blanks
a stuffed puppy that barks when squeezed
a match book sized digital camera
a box with several hundred business cards
tons of scribbled notes
odd pens, paper, push pins, paper clips, a few bucks in change, and highlighters
a skinny black kitty cat named Kitty making murmal noises
(hey it’s a big desk)

I have a statue of Ganish on my monitor, which is on my desk. Ganish is where its at.

At this moment, aside from the usual computer-related paraphernalia (speakers, mouse, etc.):

*one can of Fresca
*a miniature statue of Hotei (sometimes called the laughing Buddha)
*my cell phone
*the remote control to my cable box
*the two-volume 1984 World Book encyclopedia dictionary (it's holding up my computer monitor)

BTW mudpuppie, onions are supposed to be good luck. :)

A glass of iced water
2 slightly soggy tennis balls that belong to my dogs
1 bottle Byzance perfume
1 500gm bag of size 16 rubber bands

It will be interesting to eventually find out what's under the mounds of paper work that I should be finishing instead of visiting MetaChat.

I just moved, so my "desk" is on the floor, and I've been laying in front of my monitor and keyboard. It's not so bad except the whole craning-neck-upwards thing.

I love tech-intensive desks, especially those weird messy ones that just seem to have grown there. I love the fact that the further time goes on, the more my desk starts to look like something from an old John Brunner or Philip K. Dick novel - ala Bladerunner, or *cough* even the meatspace parts of The Matrix.

Normally, my desk would be something like this:

One or two keyboards. One is a no-name but nicely laid out "enhanced" keyboard with a gizillion useful shortcut keys, cut/copy/paste keys, scrollwheel, navigation keys, media player keys, etc. The other one is an oldschool metal IBM clicky-board - suitable for fending off home invasion robbers, terrorists, or pretending to be leet or BOFH. 3M microtextured mouse pad, big ass gel keyboard rest.

One or two mice.

Two or Three CRT monitors, 13.5", 15", and 17".

Two laptops. Normal CPU case is off-desk.

Various external drives, depending on what I'm doing. USB 2 hubs and cables. Disconnected hard drives, peripherals, other.

Wireless/wired combo router/hub plus cabling.

(Note: None of these systems or hardware is cutting edge, almost all of it is free/refurbished. I tie them all together into a system that exceeds the sum of it's parts with Win2VNC and other tools.)

Kludged-together PalmIIIXE for reading electronic texts and playing Dopewars.

Usually there's a layer of screws, small parts, plastic bits, components, batteries, LEDs and such.

Tools: Pliers, snips/cutters, scissors, screwdrivers - machinists/jewelers and regular, hex keys, soldering iron(s), Dremel, multifunction headlamp, flashlights, superglue, glue stick, self adhesive velcro, duct tape, clear tape, zip ties, wire, cat5, pocket knife, multitools.

Batteries, rechargable and otherwise, and chargers.

Digital Cameras: Old Ricoh 300z, Nikon Coolpix, Mini Webcam 3-n-1 thingy, multi card reader.

Film Camera: Nikon FE2, Velborn 'mini' tripod. (Full featured, metal, standard friction flip-head, about 35" high fully extended)

Old MP3 player/recorder. Sometimes there's either a small radio or pocket TV, but I doubt that they'll be out as much now that I've moved out of earthquake country.

Compact binoculars.

Garmin eMap GPS.

Speakers, sometimes two different pairs, one pair with a sub on the floor. Various audio/video cables, patches, interconnects, adaptors.

Pens, papers, post-its, whiteboard. Various papers, receipts, notes, cards.

CDs and blank cd-r spindle, sharpies and labels. CD box(es). Install/wares CDs. Knoppix cds. Windows CDs. USB thumbdrive. 3.5" floppies that still get used occasionally.

Art printouts, sample pieces.

Books, sometimes references for writing, sometimes tech references, oftentimes fiction, sci-fi, anthologies, philosophy, pop science, art/design references. Most/all analog reading occurs away from the desk. If I'm at the computer and the internet is on, I've got too much other stuff going on to be distracted by to be able to read a book. (I read a lot, regardless, and own a ton of books.)

Rolling tobacco and papers, ashtray(s), pipe - and hopefully something to put in it. Plus the to-be-expected layer(s) of fine ash, often along with a fine layer of loose tobacco. (guh. It seems like my solution to this is to just let my desk be chaotic, then I don't see it. But I usually know exactly where everything is. Do *not* ever turn my keyboard upside down and shake it unless you have a shopvac handy.)

Ever-present coffee, usually in a plastic snap-shut commuter mug for portability and anti-spill. Beer, wine glass, shotglass, or martini glass, depending. Water bottle. Food is usually *not* present, eating and snacking is done elsewhere, preferably laying down with a book.

Various toys and blinky things, astro jax, yo-yo, one of those battery powered foam disc shooters to pester the cats with, homemade toys, lights and gadgets.

Candle(s), usually just tea lights in glass holders. Sometimes incense and/or wild dried white sage, whole leafed and personally collected. Artifacts, rocks, bits of ceramics, other.

Occasionally, there are two totally cute but totally insane and now quite large brown rats running amok. I've just now put them away because they were driving me crazy and trying to chew bad things like wires and my toes and constantly walking on the keyboard. The two cats in the house tend to stay away, mainly because there's no place large enough for them to sit or lay down.

Unsurprisingly, I'm probably missing some stuff. I haven't unpacked yet.

-watches x2
-wallet
-box of Marlboro Lights w/ lighter
-half-empty Diet Snapple (Lemonade Iced Tea)
-Stack of random bills/junk mail/work-related junk
-4 blank DVD+R discs
-Black Sharpie
-Assorted pens & pencils in pencil holder
-Calculator
-Pack of Kleenex
-Keys to truck
-Mobile phone
-Digital camera w/ case
-Stack of old receipts, including tonight's bar tab
-Callaway baseball cap
-Old headphones
-Sample pack of premium photo paper
-My feet

ooh. These kinds of minutiae threads make me unreasonably happy!

• Two 17-inch monitors, keyboard, speakers, modem, tablet w/stylus
• Green glass bankers lamp
• eyeglasses
• Two strange rocks my husband brought me
• small silver pocket compass
• silver egg-timer
• a Blue Willow saucer
• silver ashtray
• cup of cappucino
• a cd
• small aluminum covered box with nothing in it
• silver pocket knife with wooden inlay
• wedding ring
• small antique carved ivory ball
• small wooden box with tarot cards inside
• a small superball that looks like it has a fish swimming inside of it (part of a package from Shane)
• two business cards
• small silver elephant (trunk up)
• small rabbit carved from agate
• small gold-framed drawing of sun/clouds/stars
• cigarettes and brass special-edition zippo
• terra cotta pencil holder
• 50 euro bill

I won't go through the side desk, but it does have a nice brass kaleidoscope on it.

two 17" monitors, one 19" monitor, 2 keyboards, 2 mice, mouse pad
4 CD-Rs
iPod
headphones with mic
cordless phone
speakers
black BIC pen
pottery cup with 7 pens, 2 markers, 1 highlighter
Plastic cup with markers and scissors
12" metal ruler
miniature zen rock garden
speaker
calendar
phone card
three RAM cards
drum head tune up oil
wrench

Desktop and stuff
Laptop and stuff
camera
another camera
headphones
lamp
pink section of the Chronicle
ashtray snarked from Paris cafe with earrings and two pennies
business card from favorite restaurant in Venice

That's it. I'm going through a tidy phase. Y'all have such interesting stuff on your desks.

• Computer (tower, monitor, speakers, external floppy drive, mouse and pad)
• Various mysterious piles of mail which my wife assures me are organized in some manner or another, including bills, junk mail, etc.
• CDs that I ripped for a lecture series I gave about two months ago
• CDs waiting to be reviewed (a much smaller pile)
• CD I received in today’s mail from a swap I’m participating in
• Spindle of blank CDs
• A couple of Netflix envelopes
• TV remote
• Various pens and pencils in an old peanut butter jar
• Assorted cute animal pictures, including a “get well soon” card from my mother-in-law’s cat to our cat from when he was feeling poorly last month
• A fine layer of cat hair
• A cocktail (bourbon and water, for those of you scoring at home)
• Four different bird identification books (we have several feeders outside the window)
• A small brass statue of Ganesh (I’m sensing a trend here)
• An empty scotch tape dispenser
• A 35-year-old alarm clock that still runs
• Phone and answering machine

Ha, loquacious, I have a rat running around my desk, too. But he's a wild, disease ridden flea-host who belongs in the yard. (Sweet jeesus I need a cat.)

Matchbox truck
SpongeBob Doll
Jack Chick Comix
Fats Waller & Dead CDs
Model sheets
old dictionary
glass of cheap wine
xerox's of husband's Irv Spence collection
lot of cables & coloring books
spare change

And here's a harmonica and songbook from Hohner circa 1971. If I keep digging, I may find the mysterious medical records of Sean Gunn.

Computer monitor and the gadgetry that goes with it
Computer text books
Computer games
Map of the world
Japanese Temple Ornament that doubles as a mirror to watch tv
Postcards
Small candles
Calculator
Screwdriver set
iPod battery charger
Wine glass

*Glances around computer, notices there's no candy to munch on*

I don't have a desk.

No have computer desk. Just have laptop and lap.

wild, disease ridden flea-host who belongs in the yard. (Sweet jeesus I need a cat.)

i had three of those last year. Mr. Wimple got caught in a toilet paper tube and set free, and looked like a bug in mammal form. Fernando died and ugly poop filled trap death. Rodriego disappeared and has not been heard from since.

i'm not sure if you can call an appropriated door a desk but if i tried to catalogue everything in front of me, at least i know the 1500 word mark bug has been fixed.
i'll let them dribble out if you like:
a hello kitty to do pad and pen holder that is older than most of you
an anatomically incorrect skeleton
one inch smiling ghosty candles
dead d batteries and what looks like orange flavored rolling papers--

great, now i found something totally alien to me and i'm afraid--
*pulls out flamethrower*

a yellow balloon (leftover from a birthday party which i havent had the heart to kill..yet)
a magnetic ('floating') pen
some books: quicksilver, spiderwebs and silk, the i ching, nonparametric statistics text book, lonely planet australia, assorted spider field guides
a golf ball, that i found on the lawn next door
some journal articles
a mini whiteboard
a box containg stuff for my experiments.
newspapers
pile of New Scientist magazines

dodgy, can you describe the items on your lap?

eth, door desks are the best!

ethylene, are you suggesting that if I name him, he'll leave?
Cuz I really don't want to kill a fellow mammal, but damn! (A trap filled with poop? That worked?)

what's weirder are the things i have that other people have
now i'm just waiting to see what doesn't get check off the just me list

sorry, mary, but now i'm just giggling (partially dodger's fault). my finger slipped on a d for an ugly. i didn't set it and he caused the poop. death ain't pretty.
i named them because people kept questioning their existence and whether there was really more than one. plus i just do that.
there was a nearby infestation that caused it so, besides a very old box of gourmet cookies i didn't know they found, their lives and deaths had very little to do with me.
it's wasn't like some australian mouse flood (god i wish i had that footage)

an australian mouse flood in my kitchen would be a delight right about now. (they're trying to chew through the pipes, little bastards. God, I need a cat.)

It's been very dry out here, so I can't blame them. But not in my house, you tiny cheesefuckers! There's nothing here! But do they listen?

speaking of cheesefuckers: i hear they really like the pricy havarti, but love peanut butter reliably. I'm all pro cat but those "have a heart" traps might work.
i may kill mosquitos in hopes they are dead relatives but don't feel too bad if you do have to do the deed. if it likes your place, it may come back if you just release it and we are talking about not only mystery poop but really expensive damage you might not know about yet.

i too have an i ching and envelopes.
drumsticks. invoices. apocathery jars. silver enamel spray paint. pretty little sample perfume atomizers. something i'm calling bob.

drumsticks? Musical or Kentucky Fried?

really old wooden drumsticks
but now i want chicken in a biscuit.

really expensive nail polish i didn't pay for.
a stapler painted with really cheap nail polish i paid for.
two amazon cards from burger king someone gave me.
an old sony cybershot.
wow. i should never look around under all the papers or maybe clean once in a while.

there's something both odd and reassuring in that someone else has a dremel and a wrench close by and i think i have dhruva's tape and no dispenser

lots of CDs, a jar of ink, speakers, a stapler, a label from a pair of jeans, Lichtenberg and the Little Flower Girl, a pad of paper, four Christmas Crackers (the pamphlets), a cell phone, nail clipper, wallet, keys, keycard, Latin dictionary, pens, a tape of people speaking in tongues, a bend fork, sealing wax and a seal, checks, a dictionary, a binder with paid bills and such, envelopes, a hole punch, two pennies, a mouse, a keyboard, kleenex, a screwdriver.

BTW mudpuppie, onions are supposed to be good luck. :)
posted by LeeJay 02 July | 01:51

In that case, I'm headed out to the yard with a trowel....

- 3 DVDs my girlfriend brought over last night: Blood Simple, The Hustler, and The Big Lebowski

Interrobang, when you and your girlfriend break up, give her my number!

I'm thinking I need a Ganesh.

Lessons to be learned here: Your desk needs a cat, a Ganish and an onion.

20" television, two 19" CRTs, monitor speakers, compact Model M keyboard, three trackballs, two gamepads, KVM switch, IR receiver, webcam, digicam, PDA (in cradle), library-related mousepads, turntable, CD changer, receiver.

Post-it pads, a few old VCR parts, screwdrivers, pliers, a small pile of 50-cent and dollar coins, Sharpies, pens, binder clips, paper clips, several candles, Zippo fireplace lighter, regular lighter, bottle opener, a few small toys, generic night-time aspirin, vitamins B, C and E and beta carotene, Desert Essence deodorant, Burt's Bees deodorant.

DJ Shadow's Diminishing Returns and the 'You Can't Go Home Again' single, M.I.A.'s Piracy Funds Terrorism, Favela Booty Beats, John Coltrane's Coltrane Jazz, Coltrane Plays the Blues and My Favorite Things and Dr. Dre's Chronic 2001 Instrumentals. Also the Freaks and Geeks DVD box and several burnt discs.

2 monitors
Cordless keyboard & mouse
speakers (subwoofer under desk, where it belongs)
iPod being charged
Simpsons mouse pad
Pile of paperwork currently being "processed" - mainly to do with rolling all my superannuation funds into one
Pile of paperwork awaiting filing
Scanner
Dead CD used as coaster
Coffee cup
6-in-1 card reader
Pen holder made by daughter #2 out of paddlepop sticks and pipe cleaners
Layer of dust
Pile of pirate back-up CDs containing kids' computer games awaiting labelling and boxing

wow. messy MeCha desks.

dead cell phone
case of cassette tapes (!) with music from the 80's
change holder half-full of quarters
reading glasses
leather change pouch, also half-full
bookmark "Canada and the Circumpolar World"
shallow cardboard box full of change
kleenex box, full
8" fan
pad of post-it notes
2 bus tickets
Sony Walkman, with AM/FM radio (from 1986)
case of 3 1/2" disks, full
box set: Six Feet Under
video game: Vampire, Masquerade: Bloodlines
Ikea lamp, white, conical
film canister containing pup's baby teeth
Carmex lip balm
cd: soundtrack to the movie Akira
pack of photos from last year (!), including the infamous "half-naked mohawk with snake" shot
pack of ear plugs
cheapo plastic digital cam
computer case and all it contains
flat screen monitor
power bar and many connections
modem; router
phone card
spare pens and scraps of paper galore
naked girlfriend (she was passing by -- convinced her to perch for a mo. :) "what are you doing? why did you ask me to sit there? you suck!" heh.

My desk is at work, and is lacking in personal items (wine, cat, rocks, etc).

-Computer, monitor, mouse.
-Stacks of neglected paperwork.
-Roll of engineering drawings.
-Eight boxes of tea. (Peppermint, Good Earth, Bengal Spice, decaffeinated green tea.)
-Headset for cell phone.
-Cell phone.
-Skin Trip lotion.
-Glasses case.
-Various stickies reminding me of all sorts of stuff.
-Hole punch, tape, stapler, stapler remover, tissues. Wait a minute, my stapler's not here! Oooh shit there's gonna be hell to pay when I find out who took it! These idiots are always taking shit off my desk!
-Four standing racks of papers and files.
-Rubberbands.
-Cup with pens, scissors, and nail files.
-Big blue mug with peppermint tea.
-Small pink mug with decaffeinated Earl Gray tea.
-Paper cup of water.
-Broken doorbell.
-Pass key.
-Toy bumblebee with spring antennas that make an awesome twanging noise. I just found my stapler, it was buried under some papers.
-Paring knife.
-Packing tape gun.
-Staples box containing many Sharpies, a new mouse for my boss, two boxes of thumbtacks, and a printer cartridge.
-Sunglasses.
-Small box of keys.
-Big black scarf.
-Small spiral notebook.
-Black satchel.
-Big box of Kelly Moore paint chips.
-Inbox.

I love threads like this one.

- 19 inch monitor
- monitor stand
- headphones hanging from side of monitor
- mouse
- keyboard
- wrist pad
- Coca-cola daily calendar
- Scorch the Beanie Baby dragon
- three gargoyles
- mini Buddha (possibly the same one LeeJay has)
- wooden mini Buddha stand
- metal EverQuest keychain (Shaman)
- two Post-it note pads (yellow and fuschia)
- plastic purple basket holding four prescription bottles (Effexor, Wellbutrin, metformin, glyburide)
- bottle of diet Coke
- Sun/Java coaster
- tube of Burt's Bees lip balm
- one book (The Overseer by Jonathan Rabb)
- bottle of vitamins
- six Fig Newtons in a Ziploc bag
- two chocolate chip cookies from Subway
- two Subway napkins (one crumpled, one not)
- pad of note paper

Note: computer "desk" is actually the kitchen table in the RV I am currently living in (yes, I am truly trailer trash). Next to me (or on the bench across from me) because it doesn't fit on the "desk" are:

- computer tower
- printer
- two binders (one holding EQ maps, the other holding spells for different toons)
- note pad
- book (EverQuest Player's Guide)
- book (EverQuest Manual)
- square canvas "basket" holding more shit than I want to go through