February 17, 2007: Magnolia Branches and Where I’m From
There’s another installment of A Not So Hidden life here.
And if you’re so inclined, how about posting on your blog a picture of your favorite place to write — or a description of it? Leave a link in the comments section below when you’ve done it. Be warned, if there are no responses to this request, I’m going to start tagging people, or showing up at your house with a camera.
Nosily yours,
BL
(And have a lovely Chinese New Year today, okay?)
Bloglily, I would LOVE for you to show up at my house with a camera!!
P.S. Here is my favorite writing spot: it’s not in my house.
http://readingwritingliving.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/the-magic-writing-spot/
Susan — that’s a great post, and a really terrific writing spot. As for showing up at your house, aren’t you having a party in April?? xo
I’m with Susan – I can think of nothing nicer than you arriving for afternoon tea. I’ll post a picture of my writing space next weekend because I need computer support to do that kind of technologically clever thing!
You know I also have never managed to find the right moment to say congratuations on getting into 9rules. This is still not quite the right moment (in my mental image there were balloons) but better now than never. I never doubted for a second that you would get in, but it’s just another vote for the general wonderfulness of your site.
BL — go take a peek at what I just posted. I hadn’t checked your site today.
Bloglily, your wish is my command! I’ve posted pictures of my workspace here:
http://katesbookblog.blogspot.com/2007/02/my-writing-spaces.html
Litlove, that is so sweet. I’m enjoying all the energy over at 9rules. For a while before I started posting again on my blog, posting tiny little notes and comments over there was about all I was up for and it was a fun way to get back into the swing of things. As for showing up at your house, be careful what you ask for. Do you really want a woman to come marching into your house, a bunch of mint stuffed into her handbag, a glass teapot in one hand, a camera in the other, shouting, “Let’s see your desk, Litlove. On the double!”
I thought not.
Cam, You’re a mindreader! I love your post. Seeing out your window was a special bonus.
That’s a marvelous space Kate. It’s so serene and orderly. Just like you. And I really like your typewriter. It sounds like that might have arrived while I was away. I’m going to have to go & see if I can find out its origins.
xo, BL
Ms. BL, I’ll head to my favorite cafes this week and take pics, and will take more pics of my workspace at home as well. Meanwhile, happy new year to you, too! My dad was born in the year of the Pig, so this is an especially good year for our family.
yrs,
w
the described wonderful computer spot (ridden with dust bunnies, halfused tissues and all) in your previous spot is my writing spot. i have not the luxury of a good writing spot because i need the computer for my best writing. and my best writing is usually hindered by hours and hours of “internet breaks”.
and thank you for the cny wishes, it’s lovely staying in town where the traffic is so clear because everybody else has gone back to their hometowns. and strangely, it rained yesterday, the first day of cny. never in my life has the first day of cny had rain. it’s an ominous sign for the weather and its changes due to global warming.
Sulz, I thought your description of your writing spot was utterly masterful. It made me laugh, and it made me remember what it was like to be a student. The rain IS ominous. We’ve been having weird weather here too. But, as you know, in the US, that’s just some kind of divine intervention thing, not a scientific issue.
Oh, W, that would be so terrific! I’d love to see that. It’s going to be a good year, even if the weather has gone all weird on us.
There are many days when writing is a slog, when I’m dragging myself out of bed before work…but these days I find myself (re)enthralled by writing and the accompanying solitude. I’m so thankful for aplace to dedicate to the pleasure, frustration and work of writing. Happy Lunar New Year, Bloglily.
I love your picture of the flower arrangement. I’ve been living in Tokyo for years now, and we’re just at the peak of the plum blossom season – soon the magnolia and then the entire city will burst forth into the magnificent bloom of the cherry. It is always a very special time of year here, with outdoor parties and celebrations to herald the arrival of spring. Sorry I can’t send you a picture – for the moment, I’m not even set up with my own blogsite because I have no confidence that I’d have the time to keep it up-to-date, though this is one of the things I intend to do “when I retire”. Meanwhile, I really enjoy reading your blog along with a few others as time allows; it makes me feel that I am keeping in contact with the best of the English-speaking world while I am over here.
Kate and w — last night I spent a wonderful couple of hours looking at your sites — w, I must have been away when you posted a while ago about your office, both at home and after, and also before and after. It was so fun to see what that’s like!
And Kate, your typewriter sent me on a hours-long search through the internet on the subject of pre-war manual typewriters. How fun. Right here in Berkeley there are THREE typewriter repairs shops, all of which sell refurbished manual typewriters. I think to celebrate the anniversary of blogging, I’m going to think about acquiring one. The novel I’ll be starting pretty soon has a character who does a lot of typing. What better way to channel her than to write the scenes that are from her point of view with a typewriter she might have used?
Bora, Your writing spot is great. Thank you so much for posting about it. Happy writing!
Dear Del, I am so glad you come by and leave comments. Your description of Tokyo is so lovely. When you do set up that blog, please be sure to let me know. But until then, words do quite nicely to conjure up Tokyo in the spring.
Bloglily, I’m so glad you asked us to show where we work. How great it is to see everybody’s special, inspiring spots. Here’s the link to mine: http://www.sandishelton.com/blog/2007/02/19/where-i-work-mostly/. The best part of this is how it got me thinking about what it is that makes a spot good. I find that lately I avoid my official desk because it’s in a dark part of the house, and I’d rather be next to the window, even though the cold air comes in. But last week I couldn’t get a lick o’ work done here and had to be out in the world–in an armchair in the sunny corner at Starbucks, where, when I felt like procrastinating, I would then remember that I’m not at home. So today I loved being at home with the dog, both of us doing our work: me writing my characters into a fight scene, and him tearing up his stuffed snowman. Very companionly. Neither of us talked.
[...] routine for me works for some time, then I grow bored, shake it off and move to another. So, when Bloglily asked everyone about one’s favourite writing space, I discovered that her question was more [...]
Without knowing about your post (Welcome back Lily – I hope all is well) I posted a picture of my favourite place to write a day or 2 ago.
Welcome in my Cafe:
http://www.thegirlinthecafe.com/photoblog/125-a-cup-of-tea-and-my-notebook-in-the-cafe
I was going to do a show-me-your-favourite-cafe thing, but I better wait a while now
I’m busy working until the end of the week but I want to do this! If I haven’t played along by Sunday evening, please show up on my porch. It’s a long drive out here, but pretty. Make sure your snow tires are on.
Hello, Bloglily. It took me a while to evict the dust bunnies that I was too embarrassed to reveal to the general world. And I decided that I couldn’t just post a picture of my computer work station, I included another aspect of my life as well. Tomorrow I will take on the diary of my not so hidden life thing. You can see my place here: http://healingmagichands.wordpress.com/2007/02/21/where-i-work/
Hi, I’ve been checking out your site for a while now. I hope you don’t mind that I borrowed your “Writing Spaces” idea. Here is mine: http://tarakuanyin.blog-city.com/
I just posted as well: http://jseliger.wordpress.com/2007/02/22/writing-space. I do notice that you, Kate of Kate’s Book Blog, and I all use Mac laptops.
[...] Bloglily has sent out a request for pictures of people’s favourite places to write. I don’t have much choice about where I write. If I did have a favourite place, it might be in a lovely cafe in a bookshop, a bottomless cup of tea in front of me and cool music playing in the background. Nowadays, though, any trip I make to a cafe is with a small sidekick in tow, who is hellbent on spludging handies into drinks and smearing the milk froth on the shinest surfaces he can find. Which does not create an inspiring atmosphere for writing. [...]
Hello, Bloglily, I have posted my photo . It is not very inspiring, I’m afraid!
Bloglily, you don’t want to see my space, it’s a mess. But, I do have a magazine photo of a new design I am going to try, and I will post a photo then.
Take care, stay warm.
I’ve had a lovely time touring all these great writing spaces! Here’s mine: http://sherrydramsey.blogspot.com/2007/02/writing-space.html The photo is a little out of date as there are new projects on my drawing board now and the desk itself is staggering under the mess of my novel rewrite…but it’s close enough.
[...] For some time I’ve wanted to respond to Bloglily’s call to her readers to share their writing spots. I keep meaning to bring my camera, keep forgetting, so for now let’s do without pictures. [...]
Okay, here’s my link: http://novaren.wordpress.com/2007/02/25/my-writing-spots/). No photos as of yet… I love seeing everyone else’s writing spots!
I figured out how to get the picture into the computer– there had been an issue with the sony imagemixer software, finally fixed. Picture of the cluttered little desk at Marymom . . .
[...] @ 1:19 pm So many people have posted pictures of their beautiful, neat working spaces following Bloglily’s call, that I felt I ought to represent the other side. This is my hideously messy writing area. I [...]
Bloglily, I will have you know that I felt so guilty for posting a link to a photo that was really “cheating” on the assignnment – I don’t really write there anymore, and it’s not in my house. But I felt like I couldn’t post a photo of my totally cluttered messed up writing room at home. Last night, I said to myself, I am CLEANING so I can post a photo for Bloglily! Thank you for that “push” you didn’t even know you gave me. I’d say it’s about 2/3 done. Photos by next week, I promise!
Nigel Beale just posted the same request you did. My updated response is here.