“You have nothing better to do on a Saturday night?”
I was at my desk in the newsroom, where I work my day job, and my honest answer was “no.”
I’d just spent the day with a dear friend I hadn’t seen in over a year—got lunch, talked for hours, caught a movie, exchanged critical reviews of the movie—and then I needed time to sort myself, as I do every day, before returning, as it were that night, to my sister’s house to play with my niece until we all got so tired nothing made sense anymore.
I’ve realized recently a flat surface is perhaps my top priority in any space, no matter what that space might look like—whether van or campsite, motel or someone’s home or yard. My first question upon arrival is always “where is the flat surface where I can set up and work?” Sometimes the response is the wooden lapdesk I bought a year or two ago that can be (and has been) used virtually anywhere—passenger seat of a car, a couch that is not my own, a folding chair, a wooden chair, a camp chair.
I have created workspaces in so many places, among so many surroundings—among animals and children, in forests and newsrooms and libraries and other people’s kitchens, at a borrowed casita and campground picnic tables. It’s where I sort myself and, in so many ways, find some of my greatest peace and joy and fulfillment.
DAYS OF DESK
I started documenting my workspaces years ago, because they change so frequently, either by location or by how I’m using the space. You can see some of those spaces here.
DAD’S WORKSPACE / MY WORKSPACE
I snapped this photo of my dad’s dining room table the morning after he died. Only later did I realize, well, here I am now … sitting at his table, in his chair, just me and my notes, into the night—the next generation, I guess, with this strange compulsion to write everything down. He was an outcast in his own way, because every outcast is.
What do you need more of in your life? Less of?
What are the themes you're currently working with / through?
What makes your heart sing?
What does your perfect excursion look like?
✦ If you count by hours (not days), Pittsburgh is the cloudiest city in the US.
✦ Also: two tornadoes have come through Pittsburgh in the short time I’ve been here.
✦ Do you ever feel like when you’re having a conversation with someone, your eyes are having another conversation? I think we are always exchanging information.
✦ The Maryland welcome sign says “Leave no one behind” and the Pennsylvania welcome sign says “Pursue your happiness” and it feels personal
✦ There’s a “Barber School” sign on a tree in the middle of the forest on I-79
✦ This narrow boat house …
✦ Sometimes I think I like the idea of tea more than tea
✦ “You cannot create, you can only align.”
✦ Very much enjoying
by✦ Cotton Jones, revisited … “I Am The Changer”
Welcome to Gemini Season!
writing
ebooks + zines
astrology readings
postcards
•••
9701 Montgomery N.E. #1057, Albuquerque, NM 87111
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I really admire your ability to set up shop anywhere. The older I get, the more fussy I find myself getting about my workspace. When I was in high school, I could sit anywhere with my laptop (the other kids called me Laptop Boy because this was 1999-2003) and get my essays done. Now I need a comfy chair, a huge desktop monitor or dual monitors, and a full keyboard if I want to write more than a one-sentence email. It was a slow transition for me to get to this point, but I've come to accept there's no going back to doing serious writing from a sofa with a screen on my lap.
Well, Laptop Boy, at least you know what you want.