I’m sitting beside a large pile of pages that constitute the manuscript I’m working on. I’ve got only the notes and bibliography left to proof (about 60 pages of tiny text), and I should be working on them, but I can’t help but want to be here instead, composing a wonderful post, something creative and brilliant. I should also be Christmas shopping and walking Lucy with Colin on the snow-covered, Christmas-lighted streets. Unfortunately, there’s only one of me.
With so much going on before my parents arrive next week—working at the clinic as usual, having to finish the proofread, getting the Christmas shopping done, etc.—I’m feeling rushed and out of sorts. Remember that post I recently wrote about that and about reprioritizing? (What do you do when they all have equal precedence?)
Sometimes when I feel this way, and when I can, I make a purchase. It takes my mind off things and of course is fun because I love acquiring new stuff, like a book or a handbag or, say, a desk. I’ve needed a good desk for a long time. A proper “editor’s desk,” preferably a rolltop one. I’ve been convinced that getting a “real desk” would help me with my work, and I’ve had an idea of what I’d like for about two years now. After much searching, I haven’t been able to find anything just right and I was ready to settle for IKEA’s rolltop this February for my birthday, even though it’s not really what I had in mind.
And then…look what I found a couple of weeks ago on kijiji! Totally by accident: I wasn’t even looking (which is usually how it happens for everything, isn’t it?). It’s handmade in Java with no powertools, this beauty, in solid teak wood. With the drawers stashed with dark chocolate, ginger candies, pens and sharpened pencils and erasers, even secret money; with a cherished sheepskin and cozy lamp by my armchair with the soft heated blanket, too, how could I not feel just a little more focused while I work, or, at least, a little less likely to want to leave the room?
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PS. I actually kicked that sheepskin up to include it in the photo. Otherwise, my computer chair is there and the sheepskin is behind me, in front of my armchair, where I also sit and proof. And that candle is no longer there. One that matches is there instead.
Aww, Steph, it’s beautiful! It reminds me vaguely of a chinese puzzle cabinet my parents have (authentic one purchased in a market in Singapore if they’re to be believed). Perhaps because said cabinet has the most drawers and shelves of anything I’ve yet encountered in person.
I hope your lovely desk helps to take some of the stress of a hectic holiday season off your shoulders and encourage the creativity all fiction writers share in common.
And P.S. I like the teddy bears… And the brown tree and owl. ^_~
Oooh, Chinese puzzle cabinet?! I have to google that. Better yet, send me a pic! I want one, and I’ve never even seen one, I don’t think!
PS. The teddy bears have got to go. But the brown tree and owl will stay. It’s a painting I got for my birthday a few years ago done by my friend Lara. She didn’t know I love owls. And better yet, the owl has a little thought bubble that reads, “Follow your bliss.”
Oh, I love the bubble! Follow your bliss. How appropriate!
As far as teddy bears go, well I have on I’ve owned since the day of my birth, long before I could remember receiving it. I suppose it’s a bit of a soft spot so I don’t think the ones on the wall look that bad. =p I do, however, understand why one might want to replace the wall papering in an office with a teddy bear motif. *Wink*
And as for the puzzle cabinet, I’ll try and get a picture and mail it your way. It’s quite similar to a rolltop desk in all the bonus compartments it has. But yes, I’ll try to get a picture your way. =)
It’s beautiful! Congrats on the great purchase. I’m very jealous