Y’all, I finally gave up and ordered a new TV. And because I would very much like this TV to last as long as the one it’s replacing (which I bought the summer I moved in with Tammy in Dublin–1998?), I spent some cash on it. It was on sale, there was free shipping, but it’s still got “Sony” on the box and cost about as much as I had hoped to be spending on a puppy this summer.

It’s a 40″ LCD with the trimmings. HD. HDMI cables. You know. All that stuff. And take a good look, because it is unlikely that this image will ever appear on my screen once it’s hooked up.

Unless I wind up hosting a Super Bowl party or something, but, in the event that someone who cares about football does not step forward, I will relinquish the remote and reserve my attention, as I do with any football-focused event, for the munchies.

What I’m most excited about, aside from being able to view programming and movies without extra pink or green tinting in the upper left quadrant, is hooking up my laptop and using this monster as a monitor.

I’m expecting this to be particularly useful, now that my company’s education and training database, which I can access online, anywhere, at any time, now offers the COMPLETE ROSETTA STONE COLLECTION. Instead of watching Law & Order reruns, I could now learn to converse with the world.

If it comes down to Emma or a Spanish lesson, though, I think we all know I’m going to pick the Jane Austen flick. I mean, really.