It was the figurines, toys, and other collectibles atop, in front of, and beside my DVDs, CDs, and videotapes. My bookshelves, on the other hand, don't have much on them other than books. Two little action figures — Capt. Kirk and Mr. Spock — and a small stuffed penguin. But the video shelves ... that's another story.
Here's the list:
- Smiling stone skull wearing a bow tie
- Metal skull with snake curled around it, and many tiny skulls at its base, as it bites its fingernails (I know — I wasn't aware skeletons had fingernails, either)
- Cemetery gate with skeleton leaning over it, and a raven in front sitting on a skull
- Plastic Centrosaurus dinosaur
- Ceramic white longhair kitty (what's THAT doing in there?)
- 3 smallish stone gargoyles
- A little yellow glow-in-the-dark alien
- Benji, a ceramic, glazed little critter that looks like it's bashful, made in an arts & crafts class by a friend when we were kids. I think it's probably the only thing I still have from childhood other than books (we moved a lot and things got lost)
- 2 cute little stone donkeys I gave my mother when I was a teen
- 3 Hot Wheels cars, including a VW bug and a Mustang
- A ceramic lizard with missing toes (they're delicate and I'm a klutz)
- A medium-sized metal toonish cat with springy legs
- A BIG gargoyle, about a foot high. (See photo above, and there are more photos of it with bothmy cats Ally & Buffy in CatWorld on my website)
- And, last but not least, a big, glass snowglobe on top of a ceramic castle, with a wizard inside the globe. The castle plays music if you wind up the key on the bottom. I forget what song it plays.
That's not weird, right?
Stop staring.
Look at it this way — I'm a writer who has written about gargoyles and zombies and aliens and creatures that munch on Santa, so my collection could be considered necessary items for inspiration, couldn't they?
And you probably have lots of unusual stuff on your shelves or desks, surrounding you as you write. Or, you know, some. A few? Come on, humor me, before I get a complex.
Never mind. Truthfully, I enjoy my peculiar collection. And I'll probably add to it right after Halloween, when the coolest strange items go on sale. I'll let you know what I find.
So what's on your shelves or your desk? Things that inspire creativity, childhood nostalgia, family memories? Items unique & strange, or cute-as-a-button? Or are your shelves and desk and living quarters neat & business-like and doodad-free?
Now, THAT would be weird. ;-}