41 Comments on “Probably the Worst It’s Been”

1. Holy Crap!

   You need help. Seriously, there has to be some show on the Discovery Channel that would come in and make sense of your mess.

2. Krissy will deal with it. Harshly.

3. Yikes!

   My apartment suddenly looks less cluttered than it did before I saw that…

   (I was apologizing to a friend about how bad my place would look if she stopped by, and she replied “I’m not visiting your house.” Wise woman, that.

4. Amateur. My apartment is at least three times more cluttered than that! I win! Wait a minute, I have no idea what I’m so proud about.

   How about this, John, I aspire to live as neatly and as clutter-free as the above picute.

5. Or picture, that is.

6. Wow.

   The previous assumptions I had about you were completely wrong.

   Do you really work out of that office?

7. Holy shit, dude. I don’t know what you’re freaking out about — that’s what my apartment looked like until about six months ago.

8. Mr. Scalzi? I tip my hat to you sir! That disaster is the stuff of legend. The only thing you could do to put it over the top would be too tilt all the picture frames you have hanging on your walls.

   Then, you’d truly be working in a war zone.

9. A clean desk (or office) is a sign of a sick mind.

   If you can find stuff when you need it, then what are you concerned about?

10. Dear John,

    May I recommend shelving. It’s cheap (or can be), easy to put up (usually), and solve all sorts of space issues. Please look into buying some. Lots and lots and lots of them.

    Yours in clutter,
    Kaf

11. Do you drink Coke Zero warm? Or do mice build their homes in those empty(?) boxes? Cause every picture I’ve seen has those refridgerator fit soda containers in it.

12. Wow. I’d just move if I was you.

13. Looking at your space, I can safely say I’m neat enough to be a bestselling writer.

14. I surrender. I thought I had the messiest office in the world.

15. I love that the bulk of what seems to be taking up space is piles of your own published work. Any writer who criticizes this clutter is just jealous.

16. So tallness is a side effect of so much Coke Zero?

17. This looks like a job for Super Krissy. Dude, I don’t think your Mac died, I think it committed seppuku.

    Hey look, there’s Forever War on top. That’s book two down on my guilt pile.

18. What is it with writers and insanely cluttered ‘work’ spaces, anyway? All the writers I know are like that.

    (Of course, if functioning in this level of clutter was all it took be be a writer I could do it, but sadly most publishers insist on actual wordcount, and even *gasp!* talent.)

    Also, I’m impressed by your cunning placement of your computer behind the monitor. I’d never have thought of that. *files away for future ‘organisation’ ideas*

19. Wow! Thanks for that. Makes me feel good about our office now. Didn’t think that was possible.

20. CBS Sunday Morning actually had a bit on cluttered desks. Here’s a link to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32S2fmiy1E8

21. I have that same space heater next to my desk. It keeps me toasty.

    So, what were you standing on when you took the picture? The only empty spot in the room? ;)

22. Gina Black:

    I was actually standing on the loveseat in the corner.

23. So normally I wouldn’t mention the good friend of mine who could help you with this, because he lives several hundred miles away. But in your case, I think it might be worth springing for the airfare on top of his normal rates. Vaya con dios, man. Just remember, you don’t want to become this person.

24. My whole apartment looked a lot like that until this weekend.

25. Good Grief!

    How can you concentrate?

26. Well, see.

27. My living room is worse, but I oddly enough feel better. Thanks for the warm fuzzy.

28. I like that the chair faces toward the coke zero and away from the screen (aka work). Either that or someone hit the “husband/dad” eject/summon button, sending Senor Scalzi hurtling out of the room with a “boing!” or maybe “shhwoomp!” noise . . .

29. Mess… *hah* That’s not a mess! Look at that luxurious, utterly clear path of carpet leading to the chair!

30. Oh look, I can see his chair…no wait, I can see his cat. Or is that his cat sitting on the chair. Hang on, is that a car transmission in the corner? My goodness John, you might want to start slowly, like just dusting.

31. A cross stitch saw in one artist friend’s house:

    “Boring people have immaculate houses”

32. Or excellent housekeepers.

33. Thnak you for improving my self-esteem. My office space is marginally less cluttered. Of course, that’s AFTER I cleaned it up for the annual in-law invasion….

34. That’s the worst its been? Wimp. That’s nothing.

35. I would have exchanged ‘my brain’ for ‘our government’, personally.

36. Holy Cats! Is your last name really Collyer?!

    The cases of Coke Zero in the office for easy consumption really bespeak some deep… issues.

    But if it helps you write da wordz, can I send you a truckload?

37. *Twitches*

    I couldn’t do it.

    I just…

    Have no words.

38. My lovely wife would have a bone to pick with me if I let my workspace get to that point of… information density. (And it *used* to, until we moved to our snug little space in Vermont, and my workspace is now part of the living room.)

    Moreover, she would use that bone to beat me over the head if I actually posted a photo of it for everybody to see. ;)

39. Oh my……. your mess is as bad as mine…Ü

40. I should print this out to show John B. the next time he gives me grief about MY office. On the other hand, I’ve no prayer of matching your “after” photo.

41. Does this mean you’re actually going to read Forever War?