Haha, right you are about the price. The lens I really wanted is the Nikon AF-S FX 14-24mm f/2.8G IF-ED but it's $2,000. And also, it's an FX lens on a DX body. Alternately, the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G is $900.
I do photojournalism, and often my subjects are close to me so that's why I wanted a wide field of view, but it's certainly not the only reason. I like the 35mm a lot, but like I said, when you're shooting for a newspaper you're sometimes in these confined spaces where that lens doesn't cut it. The 18-55 works but the f3.5 starting point can be challenging for indoor lighting.
I do make large prints with my photos sometimes, but nothing larger than 5x8 for a magazine-style cover shot on our newspaper. Most of the photos inside the paper will be three or four inches at the most. That's part of the reason I got a D3100 because I don't need the extra megapixels.
Anyway, thanks for the chat. If I come into cash in the near future maybe I can get the 10-24mm lens. Any personal experience with that one?