We're ramping up to my blog's 20th anniversary on Sunday! I'll post a list of twenty things every day between now and Sunday and it will culminate, anticlimactically, on Sunday. Today let's take a look at random crap in my office.
If I'm completely honest with you, most everything in my work office is shit Bestest Friend bought for me. I limited myself to what I'm showing you, but you should know that her stuff is just everywhere.
1) Green rhino - Do you know whose favorite animal is a rhino? I'll give you one guess and it rhymes with Festest Briend.
2) Green boot - Did I need a green boot? No. Do I love this green boot? Yes.
3)
Collection of random rabbits - I do not care for
rabbits at all. And yet somehow I keep getting representations of rabbits.
4)
Footless doll - Hey, does anyone want to hazard a guess as to why I have a creep ceramic doll with a foot missing in my office? I don't know either, Festest Briend.
5)
Pigs - I actually really do like pigs and my collection of tiny pigs pleases me very much.
6)
Constitution - Every political scientists needs a pocket Constitution,
doesn't don't they? (You GUYS. No one called me on the "doesn't they" and I'm mortified.)
7)
The Logic of Congressional Action (x2) - Because I have no place other than my office to store them, my books from grad school live in a shelf in my office. I honestly rarely, if ever, have looked at these books since grad school and should probably toss/donate them. BUT. The real mystery of these books is why I have two copies of R. Douglas Arnold's book
The Logic of Congressional Action (1992), especially since one is brand new with exactly zero marginalia and the other is a used copy with notes someone else wrote. I am pretty sure I never read a word of this book. But I have TWO copies. Anyone need one?
8)
Painted rocks -
Kim sent me a couple of rocks she painted. I did hide two more, but I can't bear to part with these two.
9) Postcards - I have a pretty large postcard collection and every time someone sends me a new on, I add it to my bulletin board.
10)
Crayon art - The day Birchie, Anne, and I went to
House on the Rock, we went to a lunch place and they had a vending machine where you could pay $1 (maybe $2? I don't remember) and get a piece of art. This was the art that came out for me.
11) Fossil - I took a Geology class in college. I sort of hated it, but I learned a lot and now have an appreciation for fossils. When my students bitch about having to take science classes, I show them this fossil and talk about the benefits of a well-rounded liberal arts education and learning perseverance through hard classes.
12) Blue bowl - I wanted a bowl like this for my office and I was telling my MIL about it and she mentioned that she had one in her basement just like I was describing and she just gave it to me! And now I think about her whenever I'm digging out a pen from its depths.
13) TCHS band mug - I was in marching band for all four years of high school and all I got was this stupid mug. LOL. Just kidding. I love this mug and have used it on my desk every since I received it when I was sixteen years-old.
14) LEGO - In a pre-COVID world, we would spend every President's Day with my husband's brother and his family. Somehow we always ended up getting LEGO figurines.
15)
Purple stone - I found this in our yard one day. I use it as a worry stone when I'm fretting in my office.
16)
Spiderman sticker - I had to have some
stitches removed and I was joking with the nurse who was doing it that I was a brave girl and deserved a reward for not crying or biting anyone. She then gave me this sticker. I like it as a reminder that I can do hard things and be good-natured about it.
17)
Spare shoes - I keep an old pair of flip flops at the office in case it's raining when I'm wearing my leather sandals. And the booties are permanent office fixtures.
18)
Random UWW swag - Sometimes I get swag and I throw it in my office.
19) Dog park calendar - Hannah was an April model.
20)
Heated desk pad - I use my heated desk pad even in summer because my fingers get so cold. See the red light on the white box? - it was on as I took this photo in August.
What's something fun in your work space?
.png)
How do I get Rex onto a calendar, that's what I want to know!
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot of random things in your office. What instrument did you play in marching band?
I have shelves in my office that have many random things - two wooden moose that my sons made in woodworking class in junior high, photos, little beads and malas from former students, some sculptures and paintings, a tiny tiny tiny copy of Poky Little Puppy, and, probably the funniest of all, a bowling trophy that my husband won in 1978.
Our county dog park does a calendar every year as a fundraiser. You just send in a photo of your gorgeous dog and they make it in the calendar. Of course every dog owner wants a calendar with their dog in it, so it's a fabulous fundraiser.
DeleteHa ha ha! I love a bowling trophy from 1978. Such memories!
i have the same question as Nicole- I feel like I should know this, but I can't remember what instrument you played (clarinet?)
ReplyDeleteMy work space is sadly bland and not fun or personal at all... I make it for it with 1000 pieces of random crap in my house though.
Yes, I "played" clarinet. I mean, I was a source of knowledge like note names and fingerings, but I was sort of terrible and tone deaf, so I didn't do a ton of actually playing.
DeleteI feel like I want my work space to be homey for when students come in because they're not always here for fun happy times and I like to relax them a little and show some of personality. But I get that not every work place is amenable to hominess.
I think the one thing that currently makes me happiest in my office are the plants. For the longest time I had an office without windows and now that we do have windows they grow
ReplyDeleteThere is no window in my office. *sad face* I keep saying I'm going to get a grow lamp and put a hardy plant in here, but I haven't done that yet. Someday soon!
DeleteIt might not be surprising that I'm not a knickknack kind of girl, but my KIDS are and I think the reason I'm not is I don't have any good place to display it. You're making me rethink my minimal choices, Engie.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE that there is a vending machine that spits out art. How amazing. And the sticker from the nurse is adorable!!
I think I need to get one of those heated pads. You know I'm always frozen - especially in the winter in my office. It looks promising. Christmas wish list, perhaps??
I got my heated pad as a Christmas present last year, so I think it's a great gift idea! It really did help my fingers/hands when it was so cold last year. And I think it helped my ezcema, too.
DeleteWhat is this heated desk pad thing????? it sounds magical.
ReplyDeleteMy desk has various bits and bobs left over from various shows that I chuck on my desk thinking, "I'll put that in the prop cabinet when I get a chance." And I never do. Like a life-sized stuffed cat that was used in an opera about American Democracy. (The show was set in the 1800s, but maybe they could have also used a copy of The Logic of Congressional Action in that show as well?). I also think it's hilarious that the US Constitution has a sticker that says "FREE REVIEW COPY" as if it's still in the proofing stages.
There's an Amazon link if you click on the heated desk pad above! It is magical and so far it's lasted about two years without malfunctioning.
DeleteHey, if you ever need a copy of The Logic of Congressional Action for a show, I'm happy to send one of mine!
I love how you're personalized your space! With help, of course. I always wanted to have a few things on my desk that would give me a little dimension to others, if that makes sense. Now that I'm working from home, my desk is more utilitarian, but I have plenty of things on my walls that make me smile, so when I need to look away from something irritating, that helps.
ReplyDeleteMy home desk has nothing except my laptop on it. It's very spartan. It's interesting how I want my work office to feel like me, but I want my home office to be all business.
DeleteYou are certainly getting a lot of mileage out of this milestone.
ReplyDeleteI have a container of cat food and an almost empty can of Diet Coke to my left. To my right is my phone, a pen, and sticky notes. On the shelf above by the scanner is a bag of cat treats. There is also a fly swatter for the little moths that zoom about and that I have never hit.
Just a few more days of this 20th anniversary bs and you'll never hear about it again, I promise.
DeleteI don't even think we own a fly swatter, so that's cool that there's one nearby for you.
What a fun tour! I am honored my rocks are there!
ReplyDeleteI have the "taking care of yourself is productive" rock on hand in case one of my students reallllly needs it. Until that time comes, it's a good reminder for myself!
DeleteAll of this just made me love you more, even though we clearly are not built to exist in the same world - you use a heated mouse pad in summer, I use a fan in winter.
ReplyDeleteThe green boot! I need to send my bestest friend some weird shit for her law office.
I don't really have a workspace that's just mine, but I could probably add a couple of things in each place, the other librarians wouldn't mind.
It's funny about the rabbits and the pigs - my MIL loved pigs, so obviously I love that you love pigs. My friend Dani had a terrible bunny-related incident that I don't even want to relay here, and consequently all of her friends bombarded her with bunnies. Friends are terrible, are they not?
Yeah, I bet I will be singing a different story about how cold/hot it is when menopause strikes.
DeleteEveryone should have a best friend who sends them weird shit for their fancy office. And creep footless ceramic dolls.
I have SO MUCH WEIRD STUFF because I moved into my office in 2009 and plan to stay there until **I** have to be removed. Maybe the Sojourner Truth magnet finger puppet? That's pretty weird. Or a framed space shuttle Challenger poster?
ReplyDeleteWeird stuff has a way of accumulating, doesn't it? I don't know what I'll do with all this stuff when I have to leave this office!
DeleteYes you NEED the green boot!
ReplyDeleteMy desk trinket collection is: a Rubix cube, a lapel pin from my payroll certification (all I need is a lapel and I could wear it), a desk clock from an old boss, an electronic photo frame with pictures of fam and adventures, my FLW business card holder (though I haven't had business cards since my last in-office job), and a rule that looks like a dollar bill.
Birchie! I'll send you one of my business cards and you can put it in the business card holder. Then you can have something in there!
DeleteLove your collection of tchotchkes! (Except for the doll with the missing foot, maybe.) My favorite has got to be Hannah (because Hannah!) and your fossil (because of the way you work it into your student-facing conversations!). Most of my collections are elephant or bird themed.... But I love the toy bus my bestie gave me from her visit to the Center for Civil and Human Rights Museum in Atlanta--it has tiny photographs of dozens of freedom riders on it!!
ReplyDeleteTypos are part of blog culture! I catch them on my posts all the time... but if it would make you feel better later, you could fix, "Every political scientists needs a pocket Constitution..."
Most of the items do somehow work their way into student conversations - maybe not the footless doll, though. The fossil and the taking care of yourself is productive rock are probably the most used, but I also talk about my postcards and how some of them are from friends I met in college and the connections you make in college are more important than the academics, etc. It's all very important! LOLOLOLOL
DeleteIn my home office I have a mug that says love you mom that my son gave me. I use it to store one of my many pairs of scissors and random pens and things. I also have a glass covered in hearts that Suzanne sent to me which I also use to store pens. I love both of these things so much and I smile every time I see them.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, you NEED that boot.
I'm starting to think all bloggers need a green boot. I'm going to start looking in thrift stores for them and sending them to people.
DeleteI never knew there was such a thing as a heated desk pad! That seems like a handy thing. I obviously don't have a desk at the moment, but I used to be very minimal, and had...a water bottle, a coffee cup and a stapler! I had a drawer with snacks, and one with paperwork, and definitely a pair of work shoes because I walked to work in my sneakers and changed once I got there.
ReplyDeleteYou know what? I don't have a stapler or a tape dispenser in my office. I don't need them in 2024 and if I do find myself wanting them, I just go into the copier room and use them there! Minimalist office supplies!
DeleteYou have so many cool and fun things!! I love all that kind of stuff. I'm especially in love with your art from the vending machine. I've heard about those, but I've never seen one. I have Knickknacks galore, and I swap them out seasonally. I got out my fall decorations over the weekend and I'm very happy!
ReplyDeleteI'd never even heard of one of those vending machines, but I could not resist it! I like the crayons!
DeleteI'm in denial about the approach of fall, so I have not gotten out any fall decorations. I bet they'll start appearing soon, though.
I have never herd of a heated desk pad either but that sounds lovely especially since so many offices are WAY TOO COLD. I'm impressed by how many personal effects you have at work. I've been in the same cube for 9 years and I have very few things! I have framed pictures of the boys, a framed quote about motherhood, and few toiletry items (deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste) but beyond that I really don't have anything! It's a very lifeless cube in other words. Ha!
ReplyDeleteI require my office to reflect me, Lisa. I think we have very different work environments! I'd probably go crazy with a lifeless cube.
DeleteYou have a lot of random things at your office :) I don't think I could come up with 20 interesting things.
ReplyDeleteBut, you HATED geology in college? I know a lot of people who took a geology class for GE (including Jon with me when I was there as an exchange student) and everybody I talked to loved it. They didn't know what they were missing out on :)
I don't know how interesting some of those things are, San.
DeleteI did hate geology. The professor lectured FROM THE BOOK. I hate that because I read the book beforehand, so I didn't need the lecture. I had to be there, though, because he took attendance. But there was a guy who sat next to me who always wondered how I got As (answer: I did the reading) and he always made me origami animals out of paper I would pass his way, so I do have some good memories from the class.
A heated desk pad sounds amazing!! What a great idea, especially for cold offices.
ReplyDeleteMy "office" is now a small corner of my living room and I don't have anything too random since I don't have a lot of space. I do have a couple of Kim rocks, too, though!
All I think about when I see this is that in my line of work you don't want too much stuff in your office because you want to be able to get out quickly if they lay you off. I mean, wtf is that about? Having said that, I used to keep a bunch of stuff in my cubicle when I had one. Mostly I wanted it to be pretty, so I would buy art prints and put them up, and pictures of my family. I've worked from home for so long now, and my desk is in my bedroom. Not ideal.
ReplyDelete