“A desk is a dangerous place from which to watch the world”

January 15, 2008 2:55 PM

The post from a couple of days ago is great, but really made me wonder where the MeFites make their magic.

It'll be like MeFi Gras - Show us your desks!

posted by absalom to MetaFilter-Related at 2:55 PM (208 comments total)

I MeFi from two desks. One desk is my work desk, which has confidential stuff on it that people aren't allowed to see. The other is my home desk, which has so much stuff on it that people can't see the desk.

I guess what I'm saying is, great idea, but in my case I kinda can't.
posted by Effigy2000 at 3:11 PM on January 15, 2008

Here's my desk (with this thread in Firefox)
posted by mathowie (staff) at 3:12 PM on January 15, 2008

Here's my studio.
posted by fandango_matt at 3:13 PM on January 15, 2008

Perversely enough, this is the only shot I have of my dayjob workspace. Sums it up pretty well, though.

I'll try and get a shot of my home space this afternoon.
posted by cortex (staff) at 3:28 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

here's mine, taken with a cell camera. On it, you can see a bevy of photo sets to be logged, a couple letters to be typed, about ten CDs to be listened to and reviewed, a coffe cup, headphones, a bunch of ID packets being processed, oh, and Metafilter on the screen of the computer.
posted by klangklangston at 3:30 PM on January 15, 2008

Here's my desk a couple days a week. (and mathowie taking that photo.)
posted by pb (staff) at 3:37 PM on January 15, 2008

Man, Mathowie's desk is clean! Am too embarrassed to post mine now, at least not til I wipe up the mystery gunk I've been working round for the last week or so.
posted by shelleycat at 3:47 PM on January 15, 2008

A photo of me at my desk. Note the judicious use of underutilized textbooks as counterweights for my makeshift FedEx-envelope-mouse-tray, and several copies of my lab's annual report to raise my monitor (the first known useful application of these reports). Also the innovative visual filing system and Airobic quill mouse.
posted by grouse at 3:58 PM on January 15, 2008

Man, PB, that shot of your desk really makes it clear who the boss is.
posted by klangklangston at 4:01 PM on January 15, 2008 [6 favorites]

I'm freelance with contracts that come and go. These are not my current work spaces, but you get the idea. It usually looks something like that. Sometimes messier, sometimes neater. My home office desk is too messy to share with the big bad world.
posted by typewriter at 4:04 PM on January 15, 2008

This is where I am now. This and this is where I am when the weather is nicer (if I'm indoors). This is an actual desk that I pretend is my desk but really I never do anything there.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 4:05 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

heh, true kk, but at least I don't have to use the OLPC sitting there.
posted by pb (staff) at 4:06 PM on January 15, 2008

God God, Jessamyn is that neat Scotch in that glass? Is that what we drive you to?
posted by oh pollo! at 4:16 PM on January 15, 2008

This is me.
posted by chrismear at 4:21 PM on January 15, 2008

My laptop goes everywhere, home and cube, so here is me in the cube farm being guarded by St. Posh.

Warning: this link contains granny sweater from the 8th grade and unbrushed bangs.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 4:40 PM on January 15, 2008

I'm going for the "crappiest desk" award.
posted by The corpse in the library at 4:42 PM on January 15, 2008

Klangklangston, I expected your desk to look like the office equivalent of Hunter S. Thompson's car. I'm sadly disappointed that it doesn't at least look like the naked mannequin tables in the Milk Bar scene from A Clockwork Orange.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 4:43 PM on January 15, 2008

Old desk, cleaned up for one of the times we did this on MetaChat. The grey laptops are long retired, but the desktop lives on with new innards. Also, I have more computers distributed across more space, and do more remote/virtual/network desktop stuff.

I currently don't have a desk. I have a chair with my desktop CPU next to it, with a monitor atop that. It's unergonomic as hell, but I also have a newer laptop, which helps lots.
posted by loquacious at 4:44 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

Cortex: mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm donuts.
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 4:45 PM on January 15, 2008

I don't use a desk, I use my bed. And that's a little too risque to show you all.
posted by liquorice at 4:46 PM on January 15, 2008

liquorice: Haha, I use my bed too!
posted by divabat at 4:47 PM on January 15, 2008

This is my desk at home. I don't have web access at work.
posted by jonmc at 4:50 PM on January 15, 2008

Here's my home station.
posted by cortex (staff) at 4:51 PM on January 15, 2008

I rarely make my magic on the desk. I'm not saying never... But rarely.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 4:53 PM on January 15, 2008

My work and home desk also have too much confidential material them. They're both unremarkable, though.

I guess the work desk is kind of big, but it's not so big that you're missing anything.
posted by "Tex" Connor and the Wily Roundup Boys at 4:55 PM on January 15, 2008

Here's my desk at the Foneshow offices on lovely Exchange Street in Portland Maine.
posted by nicwolff at 5:01 PM on January 15, 2008

This is why I don't use my desk.
posted by liquorice at 5:07 PM on January 15, 2008 [4 favorites]

My basement workspace, the closest thing to an office that I have. Work table, part of the shelving. I wish I was in the middle of a big project so it would look like I'm super productive.
posted by padraigin at 5:11 PM on January 15, 2008

Here's mine. And that wooden frame thing is part of my bed, which is decidedly not risque but unsatisfyingly close to the ceiling.
posted by DMan at 5:13 PM on January 15, 2008

Heheh at Top Gear downloads on Matt's desktop.
posted by bonaldi at 5:13 PM on January 15, 2008

My desk.
posted by maxwelton at 5:27 PM on January 15, 2008

After seeing all these clean, uncluttered desks, I'm too embarrassed to post mine. I probably shouldn't mention that I have a (small) overflow desk covered with paper too.
posted by ssg at 5:31 PM on January 15, 2008

My desk is awesome.
posted by blasdelf at 5:32 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

my basement-dungeon-lair desk
posted by localhuman at 5:46 PM on January 15, 2008 [11 favorites]

My corner of the sky (taken during room painting- the walls are blue now, not pink).
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 5:58 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

That's extremely cool, localhuman.
posted by "Tex" Connor and the Wily Roundup Boys at 6:08 PM on January 15, 2008

Localhuman you have the best batcave ever.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 6:15 PM on January 15, 2008

Before I got a laptop.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 6:16 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

Oh, and here's me sitting there, ungroomed, hungover and probably stoned. And here's my nerdariffc laptop.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 6:32 PM on January 15, 2008

And here's the place *I* spend too much of my time.
posted by iguanapolitico at 6:46 PM on January 15, 2008

Unfortunately, I'm a "professional" now (read: I need healthcare). Soon the batcave will be a memory in operational terms. But it has served its purpose well-
posted by localhuman at 6:53 PM on January 15, 2008

Ok, here's mine.
posted by pjern at 7:07 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

Here is an old one from an old place I lived in, it was one of those old marbled kitchen tables, there was nothing but an ashtray on the right side. I'll get a good one tomorrow from work. At home my current desk is a place to hold things. I do my computer use from the kitchen table/couch/bed.

I always like looking at pictures of desks.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:07 PM on January 15, 2008

Mine!
posted by deborah at 7:25 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

I don't see any oscilloscopes.
posted by Chuckles at 7:27 PM on January 15, 2008

This thread has shamed me into cleaning my desk.
posted by LobsterMitten at 7:31 PM on January 15, 2008 [2 favorites]

Mine at work from last spring, before I rearranged my office. But it's still orange!
posted by mygothlaundry at 7:42 PM on January 15, 2008

Excellent! In the interest of full disclosure, I guess:

My Desk: Annotated

Full rez pic.
posted by absalom at 7:43 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

Compare and contrast. Both my daughter's desk and my kinda desk are in the living room of the apartment. She has more real estate. I think she needs to pay rent.
posted by The Deej at 7:53 PM on January 15, 2008

My current work office. If you turn right from that view you see my plants, a couple of red leather guest chairs, and some big windows. If you turn left, you see a wall of built-in shelves, not pictured. My home office.
posted by monju_bosatsu at 8:03 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

This desk actually got cleaned last weekend, but entropy will win in the end. It always does.

(Two monitors because one of these days, I'll actually hook up the second one. Two mugs of tea because I have two hands. Two earrings because I have two ears. Four mice because only 0.75 of them work at any given time.)
posted by maudlin at 8:05 PM on January 15, 2008

OoooOOOOoo here's mine!
posted by gomichild at 8:06 PM on January 15, 2008

And here is my U.S. Government day-job desk. I'm surrounded by some of my day-job designed posters to remind me what I do for a living.
posted by The Deej at 8:06 PM on January 15, 2008

Pssst maudlin I don't have permission to view yours it seems....
posted by gomichild at 8:10 PM on January 15, 2008

(Whoops! Fixed.)
posted by maudlin at 8:12 PM on January 15, 2008

Here's my old one. The new one's kinda similar, but I now have an awesome view of the Sydney CBD. I'd publish a photo of it, but it would make it too easy for stalkers to locate me (due to an obvious landmark or two).
posted by UbuRoivas at 8:52 PM on January 15, 2008

maudlin: there are five mice on my desk, three of them currently connected, one wirelessly.

My excuse? I jam scrollwheels easily, I can't play TF2 with a mighty mouse, and I have to test sensitivity level preferences to make sure they're in an acceptable range for all the mice we have deployed.
posted by blasdelf at 8:55 PM on January 15, 2008

My old walking desk didn't move with me to my new place, but I still stand up. Both pictures obviously taken just after assembling the desks and prior to actually doing any work. Desk at office is so messy people are starting to tell me so.
posted by misterbisson at 8:57 PM on January 15, 2008

I figured out a way round the desk gunk issue. Link a photo taken just after we moved in while everything was still clean. It doesn't look like that now. The laptop and right-hand computer is mine (I like to use both at once for no real reason) and the left-hand computer plus junk is the boyfriend's.

This is my desk at work. Again taken just after moving in. It's still that clean and tidy but there are about four times as many journal articles now, plus a pile of folders and lab books containing my data. I also have a lab bay, but I've been travelling and haven't used it for about 18 months so it's empty.
posted by shelleycat at 9:04 PM on January 15, 2008

Finally, an oscilloscope!

blasdelf, love the T-Amp!

maudlin, that is a lot of mice :)
posted by Chuckles at 9:10 PM on January 15, 2008

In this comment, I will pathetically comment that TPS's dog is making me want one extremely bad.

I can haz dog? : ( do WANT.

Liquorice: Awesome, your desk looks like mine at home!
posted by Unicorn on the cob at 9:33 PM on January 15, 2008

Everything but the lardass in the seat.
posted by carsonb at 9:34 PM on January 15, 2008

Despite the fact that my desk looks just like everyone else's desk, I feel the need to participate.

My two desks. The one without the computer is shared with my girlfriend and has trash cans on top of it because otherwise the dog will pull stuff out of them. The one with the computer has been recently cleaned (though it's not as clean as it appears) and is bowed in the middle due to three years of carrying a much heavier monitor than it currently bears. Much work actually happens here, however.

(The dog picture was added for Unicorn on the Cob's sake. I failed to resist.)
posted by ErWenn at 9:51 PM on January 15, 2008

At home
At work

Just to provide a larger sample size! :-D
posted by xorry at 9:51 PM on January 15, 2008

I can deal with blasdelf having more mice and Chuckles having more fluid ounces of tea, but what's breaking my heart is seeing the acres of posterage above The Deej's desk at his day job. I'm tired of writing code.
posted by maudlin at 10:00 PM on January 15, 2008

Chuckles I have my oscilloscope next to my desk.
posted by sailormouth at 10:40 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

My camera isn't big enough to capture the televisions that are mounted from the ceiling around me (with full cable access at a finger's touch), but here's my desk at work.

Suck it, nerds!
posted by dhammond at 10:40 PM on January 15, 2008

My desk. It sort of always looks like this, except more dishes.
posted by hermitosis at 10:43 PM on January 15, 2008

My desk at work. Where I never post or comment on anything on MeFi during work hours.
posted by dw at 11:10 PM on January 15, 2008

My desk, with twice as many monitors as it usually has. On that particular day, I was using them all.
posted by chrisamiller at 11:29 PM on January 15, 2008

Mods: is there any way to turn pics on, just for this thread?
posted by jtron at 11:56 PM on January 15, 2008 [1 favorite]

Inline images live! (greasemonkey script)
posted by carsonb at 12:01 AM on January 16, 2008

Oh, I guess that's not Greasemonkey, but a whole separate FF add-on.
posted by carsonb at 12:02 AM on January 16, 2008

Eh, it gets some. Not the flicker stuff though.
posted by carsonb at 12:05 AM on January 16, 2008

Working on the laptop with one of my principal collaborators.
posted by Abiezer at 12:16 AM on January 16, 2008

I no longer have a desk; I now have a kitchen table. (Actually, I do have one... I just don't use it very much.)

Here was my home desk until a few months ago when we moved. It had an awesome view.
posted by taz at 12:45 AM on January 16, 2008

I'm in bed browsing from a laptop perched on top of my big round belly. Pics to follow.
posted by Jofus at 12:46 AM on January 16, 2008

Desk
posted by Joseph Gurl at 2:09 AM on January 16, 2008

In my old apartment
posted by Joseph Gurl at 2:10 AM on January 16, 2008

So am I the only one who sits in the floor?
posted by woodblock100 at 5:20 AM on January 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

Where I rock
posted by armoured-ant at 5:27 AM on January 16, 2008

Oooo woodblock100 that kotatsu set up looks toasty warm.
posted by gomichild at 5:56 AM on January 16, 2008

I have no desk. I work in a large room with nine other people and four tables and we move around from table to table once a month. We share computers. Yes, I am aware this makes me sound like a professional kindergartener.
posted by JanetLand at 7:10 AM on January 16, 2008 [3 favorites]

Hey, armoured-ant, are those Tapco monitors? What do you think of them?
posted by uncleozzy at 7:28 AM on January 16, 2008

Yes, I am aware this makes me sound like a professional kindergartener.

Hey, last time I did that kindergarten gig it was an unpaid position. I'd say you're doing okay.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:43 AM on January 16, 2008

I anticipated this thread nearly three years ago.

And my desk hasn't changed much since then.
posted by Koko at 7:50 AM on January 16, 2008

Cool thread. This is part of my boring, generic desk, which fits snugly inside the tiny cubicle I made for myself. I hide inside it like a hermit in a cave. Posted mainly so grumblebee can see my fab little desktop fountain, which I told him about. I love the soothing sound of the water trickling down the pebbles. Luckily, it doesn't make me want to pee constantly.

I was happy to see that a couple of people have flowers or plants around their work areas! I knew taz would. They're mood elevators. I like to have some nature to look at while I toil away in my cave.
posted by iconomy at 7:54 AM on January 16, 2008

Photographing my desk gave me an excuse to tidy up.
posted by The White Hat at 9:33 AM on January 16, 2008

All these clean desks make me sad I didn't go for my original header quote: "If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what does a clean desk signify?"
posted by absalom at 9:39 AM on January 16, 2008

Dear AskMeFi - what's the term for desk envy?

My blah, at-work desk and what keeps me sane.
posted by fijiwriter at 9:41 AM on January 16, 2008

iconomy: where's your desktop background from?
posted by vacapinta at 9:53 AM on January 16, 2008

Here's my other desk where I work when I'm not in the shadow of mathowie's monitor.
posted by pb (staff) at 9:57 AM on January 16, 2008

My old cube, slacking at work. But see where it got me? You can't see it in the picture, but that's a window office, baby.
posted by tizzie at 10:09 AM on January 16, 2008

Excellent thread! I have actually gotten dressed, for the first time in days, just for these photos. Dilya decided to stay in her PJs.

Meatbomb's Kabul command centre.
Meatbomb POV.

Hey, while I am here: you heard about that big bomb in Kabul? I heard it from my command centre, literally! Dilya heard it too, because it happened 100 metres behind her, on her way home from work - golden lucky day!
posted by Meatbomb at 10:15 AM on January 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

vacapinta, my background is from MiraRuido's deviant art gallery. His name is Joseba Elorza. Here's his website.
posted by iconomy at 10:23 AM on January 16, 2008 [2 favorites]

This is fun.

My desk at home. Used when I work from home, which is 90% of the time nowadays.
My desk at work. Depressingly dungeon-like. And cameras are banned, so this is an illicit shot.
posted by smackfu at 10:26 AM on January 16, 2008

My desk is the top of a blue tool cabinet with a laptop, next to a pin router and drill press table, behind the machine controller.
posted by prostyle at 10:27 AM on January 16, 2008 [2 favorites]

All these clean desks make me sad I didn't go for my original header quote: "If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what does a clean desk signify?"

When I was a kid I got to meet Dick de Bartolo, writer for Mad Magazine and Match Game PM. On his (extremely cluttered) desk was a sign saying "A Clean Desk Is A Sign Of A Sick Mind."
posted by jtron at 10:32 AM on January 16, 2008

Oh man, I love this.

This is my desk, where I do my art. Sometimes, I get out Mr. Boy's MacBook and use the internerds here, if he's working on the desktop or asleep or something. My space is in a corner of the living room, and his desk is in the bedroom.

This is Mr. Boy's desk, and where I do most of my internetting. He's in the running for King of Minimalism. Absolutely nothing was removed (or added) when I took this photo.

(And in a testament to my new found organizational abilities, that can actually be said about both pictures.)
posted by grapefruitmoon at 11:01 AM on January 16, 2008

not that anyone knows me, but as an excuse to take a break from the paper mess you see within: desk.

and if anyone knows what verb sunekerasato (imagine greek characters, and all epsilons, no etas) comes from, I'd be glad to close that lexicon.
posted by felix grundy at 11:16 AM on January 16, 2008

Um okay, so this is my home desk. I need some organizational help. I'm actually rarely at the desk, usually moving into the kitchen or bedroom with the laptop.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 11:16 AM on January 16, 2008

The angle is everything. From here: orderly, clean, cheerful. But from this angle - is that an ironing board?
posted by tiny crocodile at 11:19 AM on January 16, 2008

Home desk.
posted by ericb at 11:35 AM on January 16, 2008

My dusty, messy, geektastic desk. Yes, I do have rather a lot of tabs open in Opera.

The monitor to the right is normally unused, it's not just really dim. What you don't see: desk to the right, piled with crap (and a computer under it, natch). Desk to the left, also piled with crap. Small cabinet to the left with laptop on it. Aeron chair in front. Second computer under desk, third computer in cupboard, Mac Mini behind pile of CD/DVD's and month old beer bottles (ahem).

The boxy transparent looking thing under monitor 2 is a Bathsheba laser-etched galaxy.
posted by Freaky at 11:38 AM on January 16, 2008

Also, that PSU box poking out from the back is holding up a portable antenna for my DVB-T card. It's not messy, it's functional recycling!
posted by Freaky at 11:41 AM on January 16, 2008

My desktop - which also happens to be the TV, and where I am sitting right now - at home. Note the xmas centrepiece that hasn't yet made its way back to the cupboard.
posted by goo at 11:54 AM on January 16, 2008

This thread is classic- I love the notes on the Flickr pix, some of them are hilarious!
posted by pjern at 12:11 PM on January 16, 2008

I also have a desk.

Also an unfortunate looking office at the moment. And I totally just noticed that the rails are installed backwards on that drive.
posted by tracert at 12:16 PM on January 16, 2008

This is my home desk.
posted by Lucinda at 12:17 PM on January 16, 2008

This is why I don't use my desk.

I'm so showing that to my coworkers the next time they give me shit for how messy my desk is.
posted by jmd82 at 12:25 PM on January 16, 2008

Hello, delightful thread!
my desk (the "cockpit"). It's an old IKEA model called JERKER. Haha
at work a couple years back.
long, long time ago: my funnest desk ever...

posted by yoHighness at 12:26 PM on January 16, 2008

My desk at home I made in grad school.
posted by machaus at 12:47 PM on January 16, 2008

A copy of 'Today's Parent' and a pack of Marlboro... doh.
posted by Frasermoo at 1:58 PM on January 16, 2008

Sometimes I also post from work.
posted by absalom at 2:36 PM on January 16, 2008

I'm so showing that to my coworkers the next time they give me shit for how messy my desk is.

Now I feel bad, I didn't think it was that terrible, but clearly it's time for some spring cleaning. Eh, who am I kidding, it will continue to pile-up for another year until the desk collapses under the pressure.
posted by liquorice at 2:41 PM on January 16, 2008

Now I feel bad, I didn't think it was that terrible

Well, really, it is that terrible which is exactly why it rocks so much!

And since all the cool kids are doing it, my home desk. Too bad I have no idea how to get rid of the white screen or to prevent the flash from washing out the screen.
posted by jmd82 at 3:12 PM on January 16, 2008

Yeah I have to go with the person who said they don't really have a desk.

I have a laptop which I carry all around the house, often the kitchen table. Sometimes a bar.
posted by vacapinta at 3:22 PM on January 16, 2008

Thanks people. The easiest coffee table photography book I ever assembled.

KA-CHING.
posted by fire&wings at 3:26 PM on January 16, 2008

The man room. I am all about the bang for the buck, thus the old-school 19" CRT, 59 dollar laser printer, 9 dollar speakers, free keyboard, 7 dollar mouse, and homebuilt franken PC. I was able to stick to a silver and black theme which doesnt look too ghetto. Christ I'm cheap.
posted by damn dirty ape at 4:02 PM on January 16, 2008

My desk at work. Vive la difference, I guess.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 4:04 PM on January 16, 2008

My work desk, which is much tidier than my home desk. There's a lab bench behind it, which is why there's a microscope and stuff in the background.
posted by penguinliz at 4:25 PM on January 16, 2008

Here's my home desk. The laptop footprint was too big, so I propped it up on a shoe box, and secured with bungee cord and duct tape. I didn't even plan for it to line up with the monitor so well.

The other desk is mostly used for media of various types and ostensively belongs to my girlfriend.
posted by friedrice at 5:08 PM on January 16, 2008

My workspace.
posted by ColdChef at 5:21 PM on January 16, 2008 [1 favorite]

My very corporate desk, with scope for Chuckles's enjoyment.
posted by Argyle at 5:28 PM on January 16, 2008

ColdChef: LSU? I am ashamed I once respected you.
posted by absalom at 5:45 PM on January 16, 2008

Here we are, then. Notable features include: the corner of my drawing desk, a straightrazor, a harmonica, a package to an ex-girlfriend that I still haven't gotten around to sending, a package of cassette tapes, and a chart tacked to the wall that tells me how long a tube needs to be in order to produce a certain note.
posted by Greg Nog at 6:04 PM on January 16, 2008

ColdChef: LSU? I am ashamed I once respected you.

What can I say? I went for the drinking and stayed for the football.
posted by ColdChef at 6:33 PM on January 16, 2008

And for god's sake. Why would anyone respect me?
posted by ColdChef at 6:34 PM on January 16, 2008

Ooh ooh, I wanna play.
posted by danb at 6:51 PM on January 16, 2008

furtive's desk.
posted by furtive at 7:11 PM on January 16, 2008

I can see my Ikea fetish is shared by many. Namaste brothers.
posted by oxford blue at 8:13 PM on January 16, 2008

My First Flickr Picture (aka my desk)

Photo taken by my iphone, as I just sold my rebel so I am in camera limbo for a bit.
posted by mrzarquon at 10:08 PM on January 16, 2008

You can see that I have a messy desk both at home and at work. There's no hope for me.
posted by Lynsey at 11:22 PM on January 16, 2008

I found an old pic of my desk at IBM in Cherry Hill, NJ circa 1990. The Internets back then ran in square tubez!
posted by pjern at 1:23 AM on January 17, 2008 [1 favorite]

Wow, solopsist, that photo looks like an IBM ad from those days.
posted by grouse at 1:28 AM on January 17, 2008

Everyone knows it's what's under the desk that really counts. And I think I got ya'll beat there.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 1:41 AM on January 17, 2008

Also...

"If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what does a clean desk signify?"

Something to hide. My entire office at work is comprised of a desk, a computer, and acres of empty desk space interrupted by a single notepad--the same one I've had for two years running. I use it solely for meetings where I need to look like I'm paying attention. The desk drawers--all ten of them--are completely empty. The hutch? Empty. We have part-time contractors working for us with more stuff in their cubicles. Hell, the bathroom has more stuff in it then my office.

On the plus side, it's a great place to assemble large systems for home. See above.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:01 AM on January 17, 2008

Sweet! I had just written a blog post about my desk to show off my new laptop stand.

Basically, I can connect my tablet PC and my desktop so I'm only using the one mouse and keyboard for both. I'm pleased with it.
posted by JDHarper at 6:14 AM on January 17, 2008

My desk is where I work, study and play. It also doubles as a bookshelf.
posted by aldurtregi at 6:23 AM on January 17, 2008

I have no color sense at all: almond, beige, khaki and tan.
posted by klarck at 6:35 AM on January 17, 2008

machaus, your chair on a track is awesome.
posted by iconomy at 7:18 AM on January 17, 2008

jessamyn, you should really get that laptop off the cloth thingy and get some airflow!
posted by Mikey-San at 7:41 AM on January 17, 2008

Hey, armoured-ant, are those Tapco monitors? What do you think of them?

Yep, they're Tapcos (Tapco's? Tapcoes?). They're great, actually. My only qualm is actually with the Edirol interface I'm putting into them, which doesn't have separate outs for the headphones vs the monitors, so I'm constantly leaning round the back of the Tapcos to turn them off, individually.
posted by armoured-ant at 7:44 AM on January 17, 2008

My turn. I was going to wait until I got home to post it, so that I could post a picture of my desk at home, before I remembered that I don't actually have a desk at home. My laptop lives on the coffee table by the couch.
posted by bassjump at 8:00 AM on January 17, 2008

Civil_Disobedient, taken out of context your photo looked like it was the wall of an entire room, and those were HUGE MACHINES. I was in temporary WTF land. Thanks for the mind bending madness. :)
posted by iguanapolitico at 9:15 AM on January 17, 2008

Check out my lunch!
posted by Jofus at 9:54 AM on January 17, 2008

Here's mine. It doesn't always look quite so neat, but we're trying.
posted by adamrice at 12:23 PM on January 17, 2008

This is mine. I tidied it today. Sooner or later I'll throw everything into a box and start again.
posted by le morte de bea arthur at 12:36 PM on January 17, 2008

This silly thread has made me want to rearrange my desk...
posted by DMan at 12:51 PM on January 17, 2008

This is where my magic happens at home. By which I mean my SO's home. :)
posted by halonine at 1:09 PM on January 17, 2008

adamrice, your walls look just like my walls! (Though not in my pic, since I didn't use the flash so all the colors are off.) The paint wouldn't be called grass cloth, would it? :)

/pointless
posted by iguanapolitico at 1:22 PM on January 17, 2008

At work, At Home.

Actually they've moved me around a bit, and I switch off days at my job. I have a few other pictures on flickr that are desks I've been at at work (plus the one from home)
posted by delmoi at 1:28 PM on January 17, 2008

a friend's desk.
posted by delmoi at 1:29 PM on January 17, 2008

my desk
posted by rmd1023 at 4:49 PM on January 17, 2008

As always, late to the party. This is the place where I pull most of my all-nighters. I had to be a complete douchebag for a day to keep a desk by the window last time we reorganized, I've made amends.
posted by Dr. Curare at 5:36 PM on January 17, 2008

My current desk which is very comfortable!
posted by ugf at 6:09 PM on January 17, 2008

Aww, don't you just want to hug adamrice?
posted by oxford blue at 6:40 PM on January 17, 2008

taken out of context your photo looked like it was the wall of an entire room, and those were HUGE MACHINES

The one on the left is huge, but not that huge. I wish I had an action shot when the system is testing the I/O of the array, though. It's enough to instill fear in epileptics.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:47 PM on January 17, 2008

Work, "work" (that is, personal projects, but when I'd like to concentrate and get some work done) and play ("internet snacking", replace that notepad with a notebook).

Mefi occurs in all three states.
posted by the cydonian at 12:39 AM on January 18, 2008

my new desk is in a pile of walmart-fresh pieces on my floor, but here's my old desk, with a couple of scopes for chuckles' benefit.
posted by sergeant sandwich at 2:00 AM on January 18, 2008 [1 favorite]

One of the desks I work at. There is actually a scope behind the large brown box, but I don't expect to be believed. Might put another pic on tomorrow, with scopetacular details.
posted by Luddite at 6:47 AM on January 18, 2008

sergeant sandwich wins in my book.
posted by smackfu at 7:15 AM on January 18, 2008

Here is mine. So very exciting.
posted by BrodieShadeTree at 8:56 AM on January 18, 2008

Kinda late the the party, but: How I see work. How work sees me. Da' Crib.
posted by Cyrano at 11:45 AM on January 18, 2008

Home (taken two years ago; now you can't see the surface of the desk)
Work (here you see the sysadmin in his natural habitat..)
posted by mrbill at 1:10 PM on January 18, 2008

I forgot to post my office photo. I'm surprised it hasn't already been done.
posted by furtive at 4:31 PM on January 18, 2008

As someone with a near fetish for these types of pics, the links here have given me goosebumps! Here's my home setup.
posted by jperkins at 5:38 PM on January 18, 2008

My old home desk with compatriots.
posted by MarvinTheCat at 6:08 PM on January 18, 2008 [1 favorite]

Current home desk, with Crate and Barrel unpacking fun.
posted by MarvinTheCat at 6:14 PM on January 18, 2008

Here's my desk, although these days I use my Macbook a lot more and work from anywhere.
posted by davem at 9:02 PM on January 18, 2008 [1 favorite]

This be my desk
posted by kryptos at 9:12 PM on January 18, 2008

I pretend to work here.
posted by annaramma at 10:37 PM on January 18, 2008

Behold The Desk Of Brautigan!
posted by brautigan at 5:31 AM on January 19, 2008 [1 favorite]

Desk? I like to drink beer and take pictures of my cock! This is my desk.
posted by srboisvert at 8:36 AM on January 19, 2008

Moi. Definitely cluttered.
posted by donpedro at 11:36 AM on January 19, 2008

My desk has now been enhanced with Flickr style CSS image maps (via) - and more tea!
posted by Chuckles at 2:40 PM on January 19, 2008 [1 favorite]

My office desk where I waste my time.
This is where I actually do work stuff. Sometimes I lie on my belly on the table & put the laptop on the face crest.
posted by goshling at 7:31 PM on January 20, 2008

A picture of my messy desk taken especially for this thread.
posted by hjo3 at 9:03 PM on January 20, 2008

A shot of my actual desk, rather than my cute dog. Not sure it's an improvement, but what-the-hell.
posted by maxwelton at 9:41 PM on January 20, 2008

The angled shot is my work desk-- I share an office with 6 TA's. The straight-on shot is my desk at home. desks!
posted by exlotuseater at 4:39 AM on January 21, 2008

it's pretty much what you'd expect, no?
posted by es_de_bah at 10:07 AM on January 22, 2008

Well, it's not the Spanish Inquistion, I'll give you that.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:12 AM on January 22, 2008

Here's my desk at work. Sorry it's late, sir.
posted by nthdegx at 11:11 AM on January 22, 2008

My workspace.
posted by gigbutt at 12:53 PM on January 22, 2008

Here's mine. Late, as usual.
posted by IronLizard at 2:33 PM on January 22, 2008

Current workspace. Better late than never.
posted by jjb at 8:10 PM on January 22, 2008

Daytime Desk. Nighttime Desk.
posted by iamkimiam at 9:50 AM on January 23, 2008

I'm later than most, but this is still fun! Work Desk. Home Desk.
posted by gemmy at 5:07 PM on January 23, 2008

My home desk. (Husband in the background.)
posted by croutonsupafreak at 7:21 PM on January 23, 2008

My Workspace two.5 years ago, when I still lived in my parents basement in Delaware. I work in more of a nice walk in closet now, which is just about the right size to motivate me to keep it clean.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 12:35 PM on January 24, 2008

Work. Home.
posted by milquetoast at 6:23 PM on January 25, 2008

My super-recursive desk.

My very un-ergonomic laptop workstation.
posted by Extopalopaketle at 9:10 PM on January 26, 2008

It's dead :( Two drives is too much..
posted by Chuckles at 11:02 PM on January 28, 2008

This is the view from my desk.

You can probably extrapolate what my desk looks like.
posted by bokeh at 7:25 AM on January 29, 2008

Congratulations for getting this far in the thread. You are now rewarded with shots of my Home Desk and Work Desk.
posted by quibx at 11:14 AM on January 29, 2008

my desk
posted by InkaLomax at 12:22 PM on January 29, 2008 [1 favorite]

Hey quibx, I love your light box. :)
posted by oxford blue at 2:52 AM on January 30, 2008

currently, my desk fits in a bag and goes with my to the nearest wifi spot.
posted by mikeo2 at 6:40 PM on January 31, 2008

desk |desk|
noun
a piece of furniture with a flat or sloped surface and typically with drawers, at which one can read, write, or do other work.
…

One wonders how big your bag is, mikeo2. Do you have a sherpa?
posted by oxford blue at 3:17 AM on February 1, 2008

InkaLomax, where do your knees go?
posted by furtive at 6:55 PM on February 3, 2008

It has a pull-out shelf for the key board under the desk top
posted by InkaLomax at 2:14 PM on February 4, 2008

My desk at work for online editing.
posted by phirleh at 3:25 PM on February 4, 2008

My desk of infinite happiness.
posted by Mach5 at 6:51 AM on February 7, 2008

Mine, after a half hour of cleaning.

I know I'm late to the party here, but would anyone be interested in a 'clean desk club'? We could share photos of our desks once a week, and encourage one another to keep them organized. Applicable to those of us who want cleaner desks than we tend to keep.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 6:20 AM on February 13, 2008

Sounds good. As long as you don't make me take pictures of the floor next to the desk as well.
posted by chrismear at 10:19 AM on February 13, 2008

Clean floor club is the next thread over. (Having a roomba means I need to keep the floor clean - or build a little barrier out of handweights.)
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 10:38 AM on February 13, 2008

Excellent! The illusion of a tidy life is a mere cropped photo away!
posted by chrismear at 2:52 AM on February 14, 2008

My desk, at the moment.
posted by kumazemi at 10:11 PM on February 14, 2008