Workspace Wednesday (or the Meme Revenge)

So, here's my idea for a Meme, which I will now inaugurate as Workspace Wednesday. It's inspired by a fascinating article at the Guardian Books website, highlighted by Josie. The article is a gallery of well-known writers' offices and workspaces, with a note from each author on the things scattered around them. Anyway, I thought us less well-known writers could have a bash. There are only a few guidelines:

1) You must take a photo of your workspace and post it to your blog.
2) You must provide a few words about it.
3) You must NOT tidy, clean or otherwise stage the workspace - it must be EXACTLY as it usually is (you can see that I followed this rule religiously).
4) (Optional) You can nominate as many or as few others as you wish.

So, here's my mess (click to enlarge):



As you can see, tidiness is not high on my list of priorities. When I bought my house, having a good sized room for an office was key. This is actually a double bedroom, and as well as hosting my desk and computer-type stuff, it also houses my guitars and books at the opposite end. The pics on the walls are all movie related, including posters for Get Carter (best British movie ever), Withnail & I (a wonderful drawing by Ralph Steadman) and City of God. You'll also see I always have a guitar close to hand, along with various bits of audio equipment. The desk (or rather, misappropriated kitchen table) holds various picks, capos, slides, harmonicas, pens, notepads, books, a bottle opener and a Belfast street atlas (useful for figuring out how you'd avoid the cops if you were up to no good). And I know exactly where everything is. Honest.

So, my nominees are:

Betsy, McKoala, and because it needs another guy (and therefore bound to be as messy), Chris. And Josie too, if she hasn't deserted Blog land yet. :)

Tagged for a Meme - Damn you, Josie!

So, Josie went and tagged me for the latest Meme that's been doing the rounds. Sigh. I'm only doing this, 'cause I've got a Meme challenge of my own coming later in the week. Anyway, the rules of this Meme are:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing ten years ago?

As it happens, my driving license is about to hit its ten year expiry, and I was just looking at the photo of the more youthful me:



On this evidence, it seem that whatever I was doing ten years ago involved (a) being much thinner, and (b) having more hair. I was also working in a guitar shop, trying to break my way into writing music for film (I did a little, including a low budget feature - it's a tough racket), and clinging to the belief that at any minute David Coverdale would phone and ask me to be the new guitarist in Whitesnake. I also dreamed up ideas for books. Funny how things work out.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?

Seeing as it's evening time, this is a mix of things I will do, and have done:

1) Went to the bank
2) Cancelled an appointment with my accountant at the last minute because...
3) Had a major crisis with one of my biggest clients at work. Very stressful.
4) Shortly, I shall make some dinner.
5) Finally, I will get cracking on some minor revisions to the novel.

What are some snacks you enjoy?

Savoury foods are my weakness, rather than sweet. High on the list is Tayto Cheese'n'Onion crisps (the best crisps in the world). Any form of chicken, but have a real weakness for KFC - only allow myself it once a month. And that's it - I lke my food (a lot), but I tend not to snack so much as gorge at meal times.

What would you do if you were a billionaire?

Have Van Halen, AC/DC and ZZ Top to play a private concert for me and some friends. Buy an Aston Martin. Invest in alternative fuel. Pay George Bush and Gordon Brown to go away.

What are five places where you have lived?

1) Born and raised in Armagh.
2) Salford, Manchester.
3) Cheetham Hill, Manchester.
4) Middleton, Manchester (okay, I'm stretching the point with those three).
5) And back to Armagh.

What are five jobs you have had?

1) General dogsbody at a large bakery (I still have one burn scar).
2) Guitar teacher.
3) Film extra (hated, hated, hated it).
4) Music shop guitar guy.
5) Self-employed web developer.

What were the last five books you read?

1) Just finishing up on Jason Pinter's The Mark.
2) The Road by Cormac McCarthy (scroll down for my thoughts on that).
3) Rain Fall by Barry Eisler (a Nat Sobel client - I wanted to see a first novel that he took on).
4) Clandestine by James Ellroy (his second novel - interesting to read a book where his voice was still developing).
5) The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski (I wasn't thrilled with it).

Note - these may not be the actual last five I read, but they're the most recent I remember.

What are five web sites you visit daily (in no particular order)?

I won't include blogging friends in this list.

1) VHLinks.com
2) news.bbc.co.uk
3) ebay.co.uk
4) blu-ray.com
5) icanhascheezburger.com

And that's yer lot. I won't tag anyone else as I think everyone else has been done already. But I will be tagging some with my cunning Meme idea...

Oh, and by the way, my website for THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST is now online!