Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Step into my office, if you please

During my usual mid-afternoon procrastination journey through Google Reader, I happened on the latest post at Contractually Obligated to Like Books, in which she gives us a tour of her writing space. This led me to examine my editing space (hey, editors have spaces, too!). And THAT led me to just completely hijack Jam's idea.

I spend a lot of time here in my little cubbyhole, so I thought maybe you might like to see it? Come along with me on a journey of magic and merriment.

Here's the whole shebang: the cozy little corner where split infinitives and dangling modifiers regularly meet their bloody end, on a desk from IKEA.


Now I shall zoom in on some key features for your edification and general amusement.


I've mentioned that Sleeping Beauty is my alter ego (never mind that I look nothing like her and prefer blue to pink . . . we agree on the things that matter: the virtues of sleeping a lot and the joys of dancing barefoot in the forest). I've also mentioned that my husband is a Superman fan boy. Well, in this particular rendering, Prince Phillip appears to be playing the part of Superman, which caused me to SQUEE when I saw it. Plus, it was an anniversary gift from my mom (thanks, Mommy!).

Those lovely books Aurora and Phillip are propping up are some of my favorites, which is why they have a place of honor at my right hand. I found Return of the Native in Sydney, Australia. The three volumes of Les Miserables are from my first visit to The Last Bookstore in Los Angeles, which immediately thereafter became my favorite place in ALL of Southern California. The Mill on the Floss and Silas Marner are from Devonport, New Zealand.

Directly above the pretties is this monstrous stack of textbooks.


These are SOME of the fruits of my editing labor. I keep them to remind me that the seemingly inauspicious Word document I'm editing at any given time will eventually be transformed into a tome of intellectual magnificence on some topic or other. Glancing at that stack helps me on the days when my role in the publishing assembly line seems especially insignificant (which is pretty much every day . . . one of the side-effects of working in a corner).

And this is what hovers just above my head.


That is my grandma's Woodstock typewriter, which my mom thinks MAY be the one she first learned to type on? I actually had to bid on this at my grandparents' estate auction. I was terrified I wouldn't get it, so I loitered next to it all day and glared at everyone who wandered too close. Maybe that's why no one bid against me? One woman DID get a little catty and asked if I was planning to disassemble it to make jewelry. As you can see, snarky auction lady, Woodstock is NOT jewelry, and he's happy here with me, his rightful owner . . . and another Sleeping Beauty and those books from my childhood.


This is a finger painting my dear husband gave me a couple of years ago. I kind of want to put it in a drawer somewhere, but being a wife sometimes means proudly displaying heinous works of art. I guess, in that sense, being a wife is not so different from being the mother of a small child.


This is the actual editing portion of the editing cave, complete with tax registration certificate (stupid city of Los Angeles and your stupid requirements for the self-employed). This part is boring. Let's move along.

Oh, here's what's behind me . . . part of what makes up the room known as "my office."


This is by far the most gorgeous chair I've ever owned. It's not at all comfortable and rarely has an actual person on it . . . BUT PRETTY. And those crazy paintings are courtesy of my mom. She whipped those up for me when she last visited because I needed art to go above my couch. If I remember correctly, those particular pieces were created in a hotel bathroom (perhaps one of the few good things ever to happen in a hotel bathroom).

And last but not least on this tour of my workspace is my pride and joy and one GIANT obstacle between me and getting any work done ever again.


My precioussssssssssss.

25 comments:

  1. May I just generally say, COOL! To all of it, basically! I loooove the typewriter though (may have had to bid against you for it... Just sayin!) I would do a post like this on my 'workspace' except that it would just be of my bed so... yeah. I'll spare everyone that.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would have had to resort to violent measures if you tried to outbid me on that typewriter. But I still love you.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I want more pictures of that giant bookshelf!

    And now I can imagine the space you occupy when we're spinning tunes in tt :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Knowing the story, I absolutely wouldn't have done it, but if I'd been a random auction goer, I would have been allll over it! But I wouldn't do that to you!

    ReplyDelete
  5. It looks more giant in the picture than it really is...maybe because I have it tilted in a corner. If we get an earthquake, that thing is going down for sure.

    YES! This is also my TT space...perfect for music-ing. : )

    ReplyDelete
  6. I hope that you've properly stabilized that tower of textbooks... I would hate to find out that you were put in a coma by falling hardbacks.

    Also, I think we were meant to be blog-friends because you have a Woodstock typewriter and I live nearby the town of Woodstock.  Fate works in mysterious ways... 

    ReplyDelete
  7. Well, now that you said that, I can't stop glancing nervously up at the stack of books that could do me in at any moment. Not a bad way to go though: death by books.

    Our Woodstock connection is just one of the many ways fate has brought us together. Thanks, Fate!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Now that you've shown that The Last Bookstore sells antique books, I think I might be able to finagle a trip there if I'm in Downtown.

    I envy your neat bookshelves. Mine will like be a mass of flying projectiles when the big one hits

    ReplyDelete
  9. I can't believe you play the drums. I mean, well, I CAN, but still.

    Also that typewriter is awesome. AWESOME. And your glaring was completely justified. And WHY of the eight (eight?) George Eliots do you have those two? EXPLAIN YOURSELF.

    ReplyDelete
  10. So my favorite part might be the finger painting your husband did because really? Amazing.

    And congrats on creeping people out so they wouldn't try to outbid you for that typewriter. Good work!

    ReplyDelete
  11. You have renewed my faith in the structural stability of IKEA furniture, especially with your pile of horizontally stacked textbooks!  That being said, I could never be organized enough to own IKEA furniture.

    ReplyDelete
  12. But it's SO CHEAP. True, it comes in a million pieces, and the directions consist of a cartoon man engaging in various activities...but it's so cheap. And sturdy, as you pointed out.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I was about to tell him that you appreciated his finger painting, but then I realized he might wonder what his finger painting is doing on the Internet. So let's just keep that between us for the time being.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I can't believe YOU SING OPERA. I don't know anyone else who sings opera, and this makes you pretty much the coolest person I know.

    I have more George novels...I really do. I have Adam Bede, but it's a paperback and not from a bookstore in an exotic locale. I HAD Middlemarch, but my mom borrowed it and never gave it back and doesn't know where she put it. Am I forgiven?

    ReplyDelete
  15. The Last Bookstore is like a GIANT ROOM full of vintage books. There are more old books than new ones there, and they are priced really reasonably. Get thee hence!

    The entire bookshelf will probably tip over in the event of an earthquake, and the neatness won't matter very much after that. ; )

    ReplyDelete
  16. ...yes. Although you need another copy of Middlemarch.

    Have you read Adam Bede? Because ADAM/DINAH 4VR.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Also, I'm immensely fond of this default glasses icon, as I do wear glasses (I'm just rarely photographed in them) and these are rather spiffy in a '50s government employee sort of way.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I DO need another Middlemarch...I saw one for $1 the other day, but I didn't have $1 at the time. Woe is me.

    I...haven't read Adam Bede yet don't hit me.

    ReplyDelete
  19. YES. I'm so glad you like. It's a loose thematic continuation of the dog-in-glasses header. I put a lot of thought into it.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Why I oughta...

    ReplyDelete
  21.  My dad insisted on an earthquake strap for mine, but I've got hardcovers and hefty resin bookends on the top I should really move to the smaller bookcase.

    There used to be a shop in Downtown Riverside that more than half was vintage antique books, and higher quality used books.  But it closed while I was away at school. That's where I learned about abridgement.

    Now I'll probably be trying to see if I can work in a trip to The Last Bookstore after the Festival of Books.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I DID buy another copy of Middlemarch! I didn't see it right away because it was fraternizing with the modern fiction instead of hanging out with the other Eliot novels. It WOULD be the rebel in the bunch...

    FRIENDS AGAIN.

    ReplyDelete
  23. The Festival of Books!! I'll be there on of those days...probably Sunday. : )

    ReplyDelete
  24. See, if I had read this post all the way through the first time around instead of just looking at the pretty pictures, I would have known before your comment on my blog this morning that you are also an editor.  *ducks head in shame*  but that is most definitely a kick-ass office!

    ReplyDelete
  25. We all get distracted by colorful pictures from time to time. Don't be ashamed. *pats you on the head*

    ReplyDelete