Scene of the Blog Featuring Tom of The 2 R's!

Once again a shout-out on Twitter has helped me meet book bloggers from around the world. Here I was, looking for participants for the month of January, and Tom, a relatively new book blogger in the UK, volunteered to be a guest and asked more about this feature.

Of course, I accepted his offer and headed right on over to his blog, The 2 R's, to take a look. I like it. A lot!

Tom is an assistant manager of a pub, and although he'd someday like to be a journalist/ book reviewer, he wants to see a bit of the world first, so...he's saving money for a ticket on the Trans-Siberian Railway. (I love that idea!)

Since Tom hasn't been blogging all that long, I doubt if many of you have seen his blog, so please take the time to head on over to The 2 R's to take a look. Don't forget to say hi while you're there-- and I wouldn't be at all surprised if you subscribe, just like I did!

Let's take a look at where Tom does his blogging. Click on the photos if you'd like to see any of them full size.

This is a general shot of the area where I work. I am not sure where the desk came from, it has been in our family for yonks. It still bears a few paint stains as evidence of earlier interests of mine. The same goes for the chair. It is well worn and gives a friendly creak whenever I lean back in it. The computer is the hub of the space and the rest is organised around it. 

On the left you can see my record player, I love listening to music while I read/write. At the time of writing this, I have just got the new LP's by Dylan LeBlanc and Sparrow and the Workshop. On the left hand side of the desk area is a stack of DVD's as I usually watch something when I get in from work. Recently, I have been watching Sharpe, One Tree Hill and the Tv version of Brideshead Revisited. 

On the right of the monitor you can see a pile of books waiting to be read. What you cannot see is two identical stacks behind the monitor. In front of those is my desk tidy, which does not seem to have helped. The only interesting thing about that are the two metal animals on top. There is a rhinoceros and a duck-billed platypus. After my grandparents' house was sold,each of the grandchildren was allowed to choose a memento of the house. Those are mine. 

There is also a mass of papers; these are waiting to be stuck on the wall behind the computer. On the right hand side of the desk are the books I am currently reading. In this picture, Gide's If It Die and The Essential Neruda. 

The book case on the left is suitably close for me to look things up when I need to. I prefer to look things up this way rather than use the internet. I do not know why, I am just much more at home with paper and ink. I love books as objects as well as for their words. Just peeping into the picture is a bottle of Dalwhinnie, which can be essential after a long day.

This is a photo of the wall behind my desk where I stick reminders and anything I like the look of. There are some quotes by authors up there, family photos (including the grandparents who the metal animals came to me from), pictures from papers and magazines. Just anything I like. There are a few beer mats. I collect these in a haphazard way. Any time I see one I like in a pub, it goes in my pocket, then on my wall. 

The picture top right is some photos of my sister's artwork. She is doing a fine art degree at the moment. This particular artwork involved pouring concrete onto books. Sacrilege but it looks pretty cool. 

There are addresses of bookshops to check out and a reminder of when the beer I am brewing will be ready. My degree is also up there. I always decorate my walls like this and every time I move I take everything down and keep it in a box. By the way, I know everything is wonky and that is fine by me.

This is just a close up of the part of my desk which doubles as my bedside table. My bedroom is my sanctuary in the house. People do not tend to come up here. Although, it does help that I am mostly in there when the rest of the family is in bed. Working in catering makes you keep funny hours.

All the essentials right at hand. I like that. I also have a tendency to check my reference books rather than the internet, but I think that has more to do with me being a contemporary of Fred and Wilma Flintstone when it comes to computers!

The photo showing items that Tom has on the wall above his desk reminds me of when I did the same thing. Well, I still do, but everything's on a big bulletin board now. As I took a look at that wall, my eyes seemed to focus on the bookshop addresses. Northamptonshire isn't all that far away from where Denis and I stay in Bedfordshire when we're in the UK visiting family, and I've heard that there are some marvelous bookshops there. I'll just bet Tom can steer me to the best of them!

Thanks so much for letting us see where you do your blogging, Tom. It certainly looks like a comfortable book blogger's haven!

Stop by next Wednesday to see whose blogging spaces are being featured on Scene of the Blog. See you then!