In my life I have written in many countries, upon many surfaces and upon my own belly. However, the place I've most commonly written from has been my home. For over Eleven Years I've written for the online world via Ain't It Cool News and in all that time I've never had a proper desk.

Oh sure, I've written from desks in hotel rooms before. I've written from Gene Siskel's desk from Siskel & Ebert's offices before. I've even composed an entry from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's desk. But I have never written from a desk of my very own.

At home - from 1997-2004 I was writing from a common, junky cheap wooden TV tray. I spent some time after one of my accidents writing from a bedside nightstand at an Extended Stay Hotel. Then when Patricia and I found our first house to live in, I spent a year writing from our Living Room Space Age Table. Then, for the last year and a half - it was a black oak TV tray. In recent months, I realized the tray was getting wobbily - and I do have spares here at the house. (Seriously) However, I couldn't organize anything - and one of my Grandmother's antique gold plush chairs was a depository for all the stuff that would ordinarily go into a desk.

About a week ago, I wondered out loud to my sweetums, "Honey, I think I should replace the TV Tray and the Gold Chair with a proper desk."

So Sunday - we went on a quest to find the desk. Now - you may not know this about me, but I love antiques. I love the way the wood glows, I like the aura of its past. I prefer the craftsmanship to bygone eras and ultimately just the class of it all. Oh sure, I've joked for years about how my desk would be a reproduction of the MCP desk/computer/monitor from WarGames - but frankly, it just isn't practical.

We hit two antique malls and one City Wide Garage Sale - and it was the last stop at the Roller Rink Antique Mall where I found my Desk. The desk I wound up with turned out to be the first one I saw there. A lovely 1930's Walnut & Oak handmade desk with seven drawers and two pull out writing slabs.

I was looking for something under a thousand, but that was nice and this one came in at $450. But I wanted to see what else they had.

We continued to search about the Antique Mall - wandering into another area - where suddenly two desks leapt out for consideration. Both in the same price range. The first was one that was solid Oak, made in the late 60s and was very functional. It had a built in shelf along one side. But frankly it had no style to it - and 60's office furniture had begun to become a conduit for soul sucking as the corporate era came into its imposing modern hell.

The second desk was really sweet. It had was white marble topped. The marble was carved and had a "headboard" in an art deco set of lines. Technically it wasn't quite a desk, but a table in the 20s where you'd have a wash basin, some towels and you'd use it to clean up before and after dinners. It had a single small drawer and I could totally see it working out for me. It was nice. However, it wasn't quite practical.

Then as I was going through the middle aisle with my wife, I saw THE DESK. It was magnificent. I asked her to check the price, and this serious look hit her face as she glanced at the tag, shaking her head... "No." This instantly piqued my interest further, so I said, "How Much?" - A slight grin hit her face, "$1900.00" - UGH! Technically, I could afford it, but I just wasn't looking to spend that much on it.

So we went back for a second look at the first Desk, which I had a sneaking suspicion was the one. Upon closer inspection it had the whole 7 drawer thing going for it, including two incredibly deep drawers. I liked the idea of the two pull out writing tablets. I could pull those out to either side of me for my antique command station.

I liked this desk.

When the desk arrived yesterday and I began to set it up - I realized... This is my Desk. This is a piece of furniture that I will spend a great deal of time pondering at, dreaming at, composing at. I'll doodle from it, wrap presents upon it, plan vacations, events and watch films from. This isn't some flimsy piece of pre-fabricated Target purchased cheapness - this is a proper desk, the last piece of equipment that I've kept from myself - I just have this incredible urge to write. To put my energy into this beautiful birthplace of phrases and metaphors. From here on, this is where I write - and I like that... alot.