FROM THE DESK OF...
Meet the editors of Jelly Squid

This is the neatest my desk has been in weeks, and the neatest it probably ever will be – in about nine days I’m moving out of Bellingham (where I've lived for the last three years, give or take) forever, so this desk will only exist as it is now for a very brief moment in time. I’ve always thought of a desk as an essential item, which makes basically no sense because I do almost everything in bed. Still, I think the desk is necessary; it serves as kind of a halfway space that I can’t function without. 

Though I do tend to write in bed, I do a lot of art-making at my desk, so it’s covered in little splotches of paint and chunks of clay and scratches from an x-acto knife. This desk is one of the only pieces of furniture I own that was bought new, so one would think I’d be more careful with it, but being careful would go against the very nature of the desk’s usefulness. The desk serves as a kind of endlessly transforming junk drawer – whatever I’m holding in my hands that doesn’t have a permanent resting place goes in or on the desk. Right now, since a lot of my things have been packed up for my move, all that remains are art supplies, random objects (little bunny candles, a shallow jar of seashells, etc.), and a couple of books (several overdue from the library). 

My desk is a space I tend to keep as clean as possible. I can’t let the desk build up with too many extra materials. This is a space for me to ponder and concentrate if anything. I’m largely doing nothing at my desk except writing, eating, and staring off into space. Having a desk is a place of conjuring and workshopping, and eventually the completion of a thought. For quainter notions, the desk is also a great place for me to drink a coffee.

The left-hand side is for my laptop, the middle for my placemat, and the right for my notebooks. Towards the wall is my calendar I bought from Daiso where I cross out each day after it passes. Small processes like this are also home to my desk. I have a drawing of a vase of flowers displayed in the middle of the desk along with a sheet of Pokémon stickers drawn by a friend. I don’t ever change this art set-up as keeping it the same is ideal for me. I don’t seek to promote or emphasize order or maintenance as an ideal method for the workspace, but I recognize that it clearly fuels my interest in sitting down here. The space is structured in a simplistic manner overall.