A messy impromptu desk thrown into a living room with piles of paper on the floor, clothes hanging on the couch, a kids doodles on a whiteboard, papers and books strewn everywhere, a laundry basket sitting out. mess on the counters in the background
Replied to Background by Kate Bowles (Music for Deckchairs)
Make sure the background is clean and generic, and make sure to remove any family photographs, or anything that might be a distraction. I try not to write much about the place where I work, but thi…
Kate’s excellent piece reminds of this apt New Yorker cartoon from a week or so back, although it features a well-dressed man in a tie.

New Yorker cartoon featuring a man neatly dressed in a cute corner on a computer conference call while chaos and mess reigns everywhere else in the room that the camera doesn't see.
Zoom in on reality.

We all know there’s mess everywhere for everyone, otherwise the “joke” wouldn’t land. The sad reality is that the “joke” is our daily harried existence. We definitely don’t need the added pressure of having to performatively pretend otherwise on top of it all.

Perhaps to help out with the nonsense we ought to all post the dual views of the “fantasy” and the “reality”?

Here’s mine which features an impromptu Ikea table crammed into the living room and just feet from the bathroom, the tiny laundry closet, and the kitchen because the “home office” is overly occupied. Notice the hats/shirts/sweaters for days on which self-care has been neglected and I need to throw on something vaguely presentable to appear on camera for a minute or two. (Note: munchkin removed for privacy, but you can see her work six inches from mine.)

A tidy and cutely arranged bookshelf and lamp in a bright corner. A messy impromptu desk thrown into a living room with piles of paper on the floor, clothes hanging on the couch, a kids doodles on a whiteboard, papers and books strewn everywhere, a laundry basket sitting out. mess on the counters in the background

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Chris Aldrich

I'm a biomedical and electrical engineer with interests in information theory, complexity, evolution, genetics, signal processing, IndieWeb, theoretical mathematics, and big history. I'm also a talent manager-producer-publisher in the entertainment industry with expertise in representation, distribution, finance, production, content delivery, and new media.

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      1. Love it! Thanks. Hope the e-version comes with the pictures. Let me know if not & I’ll mail you a copy–there are quite a few lying around here. (I bought up the last of the Aust distributors’ copies–after bargaining them down 😂.)


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