October 18, 2006

Late October deskscape.

I've been working way too hard these last few weeks, and I finally feel some sense of space in the schedule, enough to take my old one-hour drive this morning to listen to "Theme Time Radio Hour with Bob Dylan" -- theme: guns! -- and enough to glance over to the part of the desk where things I eventually need to do accumulate... and enough to stop and photograph it and write a blog post about it.

Now, this is a bit of a test for you.

Deskscape

What did you focus on and think about?

I know all too well that some of you are all ooohhhh, the USNews survey, oh, noooo, Althouse is a USNews survey recipient, oh, pleeeeease, don't you think my school is "Outstanding" or at least "Strong"? Don't call me "Marginal"! Don't say you "Don't Know"!

But, my friends, how the hell am I supposed to know about all the schools? I'm supposed to judge based on my familiarity with "all the factors that contribute to or give evidence of the excellence of the school's J.D. program, for example, curriculum, record of scholarship, quality of faculty and graduates." How many schools do you think I have a properly based opinion about? How many people fill out this survey honestly? How many people are just drawing on what they have absorbed from reading USNews over the years? And, yes, I will fill it out honestly, which means the vast majority of ratings will be "Don't Know," and I'm not going to rate any schools based on my sense that they are competing with my school for rank. But I severely doubt that everyone else is doing this.

But maybe something else caught your eye. Was it "Blue Flame"? Was it the iClicker equipment? Was it the bronze sculpture? Was it -- boring! -- the "Expanding Knowledge and Serving Our Community" blue droplet brochure for the Association of American Law Schools meeting? Was it the tiny remote control sticking to the side of the iMac? Was it my CivPro notes? Are you trying to read my CivPro notes?

20 comments:

MadisonMan said...

What is the blue thing next to the Matchbox car?

There's dust behind your monitor -- and why are you still getting printed pay stubs (Isn't that what that blue sheet of paper is underneath the three drawers?) I thought the University stopped those.

Brian Doyle said...

The black gadget with the antenna. Iclicker, you say?

Ann Althouse said...

The blue thing and the black thing are part of the same system. I'm going to try to use it in class today. Students get a remote, and I pick up a signal on my computer, displaying graphs, a la "Ask the Audience" on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire."

And yeah, it is a Matchbox car. The flame is red, though it's outlined in blue.

And that's not a pay stub, it's some kind of ballot for some insurance something or other. Not worth the time to decipher. Self-disenfranchisement, as usual.

Anthony said...

I got stuck on the little car. "Ann? A NASCAR freak? Can't be."

But then, I have a bunch of Jack In The Box antenna balls on my desk and I never eat there, sooooooo. . . .

Palladian said...

The little white chest of drawers! I can't stop thinking about it! What is in the little white chest of drawers?!


"Until this moment, I had no idea you used a Mac. *shudder*"

Superiority does make one tingle in awe, doesn't it?

Sissy Willis said...

Did you shoot the scene as a "found object" or move things around for artistic effect? It does have that classic "Althouse Moment" look.

Ann Althouse said...

I absolutely did not move anything except the camera.

Anonymous said...

I like the mighty mouse.

American Liberal Elite said...

"[A]n easy-to-use radio frequency classroom response system that facilitates teaching rather than impeding it."

I always hated those hard-to-use radio frequency response systems. They impeded teaching rather than facilitating it.

KCFleming said...

I noticed only the dog that did not bark.

Sniggy said...

The first thing that caught my eye was the Apple mouse. And I thought, "Cool, she's a Mac user. She can't be all that bad." ;)

bearing said...

I'm just impressed that you can take a picture of the stuff on your desk, and it still makes a great photograph.

So I guess you could say that I noticed the composition.

Susan said...

The bronze sculpture. What is the figure on the left contemplating?

Ruth Anne Adams said...

I noticed the mouse. And something about it reminds me of something that rhymes with "Delores".

Didn't you blog that mouse when it was new?

Ruth Anne Adams said...

Aaaaaah! Here it is.

Sissy Willis said...

The good eye doesn't need to move things for artistic effect. It discovers beauty in unexpected places. Wonderful, wonderful.

Ann Althouse said...

Ruth Anne: ha ha.

Randy said...

My thought: "Whose business card is that?" (But, I was too lazy to check the larger version to see if I could figure it out.)

chuck b. said...

I wanted your SSN so I could steal your identity.

amba said...

The word "iclicker." I was like, does that say "icelicker?" Telltale sign of a word freak -- eyes drawn to a word rather than a thing.