This chair makes me happy

Here's my new desk chair at home.


According to the product literature, this chair "is ergonomic in design for maximum comfort. Induces proper blood circulation and the durable rubber spring support allows optimum ventilation."

Reading avalanche

These books are stacked up, waiting to be read or waiting to fall:

A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Saving Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser
A Million Little Pieces by James Frey
Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

New kitchen floor or flat screen TV?

I lust. I drool. The very name ... Sony ... makes my pants pound. But I have so many questions about flat screen televisions. Jeremy at Best Buy answered these for me:

Q. Where do the wires go when you mount a flat screen TV to the wall?
A. They drill holes in your wall and fish the wires down and out to connect to your cable box and other stuff. For an extra $500 (!) they will install your TV for you. For $100 they will come to your house first to see if hiding the wires inside the wall of your house will work. Then they'll deduct the $100 from the installation fee.

Q. What are the best brands?
A. (Duh.) Sony is #1. Then Toshiba. There's not much difference in price but Toshiba goes on sale more often.

Q. What is the most popular size?
A. They sell a lot of 32-inch models but 26-inch is a close second. The price difference between the sizes is about $400. The bigger models work better in bigger rooms.

Q. How much? (I know, if you've gotta ask ... you can't afford it.)
A. Between $1,300 and $2,000. Then there's the installation ($500), and the mounting bracket (another $80 to $200, depending on what you choose).

Q. Will they get cheaper?
A. Don't count on it.

Q. Should we get one?
A. Do YOU have one? What would you recommend?

The one about how the movie was sold out

Like everyone else on the planet, I wanted to see how Johnny Depp took Capt. Jack Sparrow to new heights (depths?) in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

Aaarrgghhh mateys, it was not to be so.

Every screen within driving distance of my house was sold out until after 10 p.m. last night.

Yes, I know, if I'd planned ahead I could have purchased tickets online (this internet thing has really caught on) and saved myself some disappointment. But, dear readers, your beloved Dott loves the spontaneous and she couldn't be bothered. [Sigh]