But I bet you know where everything is!

Actually, I do!

Mostly.

Kind of.

I'm kind of a pen nut, so that's the first thing my eyes lit on. An eclectic selection.

Also, I'm a little curious about the shoe.

I understand the question, but I fail to see the problem.

I found it!

Right there - just to the bottom right of the mug, below the yellow marker, and to the left of the red pen.

How on earth can you miss it?

Although, seriously Amy. The empty plate does belong in the kitchen.

charles, I'm hoping to some day have a butler.

I've always believed that a clean desk is the first sign of a misguided career . . .

I disagree Railmeat. When my desk gets dirty I can't tell what started the fire. But most people don't have half build 10W power supplies on their desks.

Funny story about desk organization. We built a house ten years ago; the general contractor walked off about two-thirds of the way through and left a mess of shoddy work, work that was billed but not completed, and a string of unpaid subs. We had to take over as our own GC to get the house finished, which meant I had to deal with all of the city building department permits and paperwork (a rather amazing experience, in several ways). At one point, whilst reviewing sub permits, I discovered that one of the subs had not paid the use tax on the materials he used. Per the law here, that would have left me having to pay thousands before I could get a certificate of occupancy, and since we were stretching to get subs paid off, I didn't have it. So I went to the city fire marshal's office (the fire marshal is over all building inspection here) to see what could be done. I didn't have an appointment -- I had been told that it was impossible to get an appointment in advance, and that I needed to just come down to city hall and see if he was in.

when I walked into the fire marshal's office, I was astounded at the amount of stuff piled up on his desk. We're talking piles several feet high. He had cleared out a gap in the middle so he could see across his desk. I sat down and began my tale of woe, hoping that I could get the city to agree on a payment plan. After about a minute, he shushed me. He picked up a paper from the very top of the tallest pile. I could see briefly that it was written on city stationary, and had our GC's name in the title. He paged through it for a few minutes, silently. Then he told me that the city would waive the use tax. I was floored. He thanked me for being diligent to the issue, and I walked out. To this day I can't believe that that one item about our GC me was the very top thing on his desk, when he didn't know I was coming.

Only difference between your desk and mine is a cat. She loves to mix the piles up and tear off the corners of pages.

We had to take over as our own GC to get the house finished, which meant I had to deal with all of the city building department permits and paperwork (a rather amazing experience, in several ways).

Quick! Check Cousin Dave's IP address, and make sure he's not posting from an insane asylum!

Darth, you think you're joking, but... We took to referring to those moments as our "civics lessons".

Dave B, dog is in my lap in a little plush bed.

And hah, I R A.

Ah, the shoe!

I'm copying in a bit I sent to my agent this morning, because I sent her this picture (really to show her my use of the fabulous Mr. Coffee coffee warmer, but I guess it also gives her the idea that I'm surfing my document rather than the waves (or otherwise at the beach).

That red plastic shoe in the background is a tape dispenser from twins researcher Nancy Segal. My boyfriend wanted to throw me a bday party a few years back, and I didn't want it to seem like a gift grab. So I said on the invite that gifts were extremely optional, but if you really wanted to give me something, that I had registered at the 99-Cent store, the yard sale next door, and crap you find on your closet floor. I got THE best presents from people, like that shoe tape dispenser, a used candle made out of praying hands, and a Pepsi can with Nancy Segal's face on it that's on my shelf. Every time I look at them, they remind me of my friends

It looks like mine, even to the taller piles being on the left, away from the computer. I can find most things. I use a temporal filing system: Things I worked on longer ago are further down in the stack.

"So I said on the invite that gifts were extremely optional, but if you really wanted to give me something, that I had registered at the 99-Cent store, the yard sale next door, and crap you find on your closet floor."

WOW! What a great idea. I'm so doing that the next time folks insist on getting me gifts.

Thanks for the idea. (Oh, and I'll lend you a butler after I hire one for my place)

It's in there somewhere. Good luck!

That red plastic shoe in the background is a tape dispenser

Cool.