What's on Adam's Desk? (January 2021)

In the spirit of capturing this year before it gets away from me, I’ve decided to provide a snapshot of my desk at the moment. I’ve included a brief description of my recent tools (not my Sticking With Its) and a few words about the books and music in my head this month.

I’ve spent the entire month writing in my Field Notes Snowy Evening edition. In fact, I’ve finished the one in the pic and I’m onto my second Snowy Evening. I have yet to fall behind on my Standard Memorandum for 2021. All four members of my family have a diary for the year and we’ve been writing a few lines at dinner.

I’ve used only pencil in both of those notebooks, almost exclusively this Caran d’Ache Swiss Wood unless it’s missing. The Squire is always on my home desk and the Mastermind Week Pad is a new addition; I had been missing the one in my office.

I expect Frequently Borrowed From My Wife to be a recurring category. The frosted coconut Kaweco Sport ballpoint is hers.

Last week I finished reading Valentino and Sagittarius, a short but satisfying book. Two novellas set in postwar Italy, both packed a lot of story into a short number of pages.

I listen to film scores while I work. Alexandre Desplat and Johnny Greenwood are my evergreen favorite film composers. This month I keep going back to Ludwig Göransson’s scores for The Mandolorian.

Also on the iPad is an eBook of A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, in which George Saunders takes the Russian short story class he’s been teaching for decades and captures the lessons in this book, which includes seven stories from Russian masters. A third of my Field Notes is filled with quotes from this book and I’ve only read half of it. I plan to buy a copy to reread and add notes to the margins, which is something I rarely have any desire to do. (Here’s an interesting, less-enthralled review of the book.)

Let me know if you have any questions. I’ve only just realized we may have never turned comments on in two years of the podcast/website. But I’ve turned them on now. Leave a comment if it works.