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Recently I launched a household campaign for a new laptop.  I'd sigh and close my weak little netbook and say, woefully, "The battery is dead. Anyway, the screen is so small I can't even see what I'm doing. And it's just so slow." My husband would raise an eyebrow. "You're angling for a MacBook, aren't you?" And I'd dutifully respond, "WHAT! No! Of course not! I mean, it WOULD make me a better a writer, and a better Internetter and probably a happier person, but what, no, it's fine!"

 Okay, maybe it's not actually true that the right tools can make a person more creative, but I know I'm not the only one who suspects that the perfect combination of things will make any project easier, and maybe even make working a bit more fun.  Which is what makes this site The Set Up so very appealing. Creative types from all different fields share the tools of their trades: SNL writer Paula Pell swears by Apple products, sharp No. 2 pencils, and Hersheys bars with almonds;  music producer Chris Zane favors high-tech gadgets with mystical sounding names like "The Nocturne;" illustrator Amy Jean Porter is addicted to gouache; vegan cook Isa Chandra Moskowitz loves Canon cameras, her Nintendo DS, and Le Creuset cookware. It is fascinating to scroll through the diverse list of interviews, and everyone from the techie to the luddite can find some inspiration here. What do you use to do your work? How could your own set up be working better? How could YOU be working better?


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