Sofas
 

It looks like something that works best in front of a panel window overlooking Central Park. Nice, though it's more modern that when I'm used to.

We recently bought a sofa, and ended up decided to go with a sectional from Pottery Barn.
http://a451.g.akamai.net/7/451/1713/...011/img62l.jpg
It's a different look, certainly, but it's comfortable and that it's held up to the punishment from the Gaplets tells me that it's pretty well-constructed.

Sofas
 

I like the chaise part, but I don't like sectionals. Although that's more of a couch + chaise than a sectional.

Sofas
 

I bought the sofa in my study (and a large chair that I swear is the most comfortable chair in the world) after months of searching from Quatrine (http://www.quatrine.com, but you probably want to go to one of their showrooms to pick out styles and fabrics). When the denim sofa in my living room dies, I will probably go back to them and get their Manhatten style sofa. Aside from the comfort, I really like that their slip covers a) don't look like slip covers and b) are washable, so the grubby hand issue is sort of taken care of. The slip covers also mean that if I get bored with my sofa, it's not going to be as expensive to make a change, though the slip covers from the store run probably a good $500-800, depending on the fabric. I have an angle on a guy, though, that can make them for me for half that.

If you aren't prone to dying of sticker-shock, you might want to look over at Roche-Bobois (http://www.roche-bobois.com/home.htm, the site is sort of a pain in the ass to navigate). Also, my old standby of Design Within Reach is also a good place to start (http://www.dwr.com). A friend of mine just decorated his house through Cantoni (http://www.cantoni.com/) dunno if there are any in your area.

In my sofa-quest two years ago, I checked out Pottery Barn, Crate & Barrel and Restoration Hardware, but I didn't find anything at those places that competed with the sofa that I ended up with. Crate & Barrel had the largest selection of sofas, so you might want to check them out and see if they have anything you like. I know quite a few people who have liked what they've purchased from Z Gallarie, so you might want to check them out too.

Leather: Be prepared for leather to get weathered a bit. I'd highly recommend against white leather; it shows a lot more wear and tear than other colors. My parents have had some green leather couches for coming close to 15 years that still look really good, even with the scuff marks. They're really comfortable couches.

Mayor Barry---
 

So, Mr Bunny informed me to add to the calendar a black tie fundraiser for a well-known D.C. non-profit that feeds homeless. Then he reminded me of a funny anecdote (that seemed appropriate given Mayor Barry's return yet again to public life) from the event a few years ago. One of Mr. Bunny's friends who is a white-shoe D.C. socialite type got up from the table to get a drink and ran into a friend of hers and didn't return from some time. During that time, the other guests at the table got up (the event was winding down for the night) and when she returned to the table she found no one there, and she grabbed her hand bag and headed out. The dining area was largely vacant at that time. On her way home, she reached into her bag to get something out and found a used crack pipe (with resin in it). Mayor Barry had been sitting at a nearby table and to this day, certain attendees still suspect a certain someone stashed the crack pipe in the bag. I wish she'd kept it and had in fingerprinted. Has anyone else ever gone to a black tie dinner and had a used crack pipe stashed in their handbag, and in the dining room, no less!

Sofas
 

Yes, Quatrine makes incredibly comfortable chairs. I sat down in one once and almost bought it despite total lack of space for it, just because it was so comfortable. I have a Crate & Barrel couch (actually in the process of selling it and the chair/ottoman that accompany it due to lack of space for it) and it has held up quite well for the last 5 years or so. Mr Man's couch/chair is leather and we like it quite a lot. Our main reason for getting leather products going forward is the lack of dust mites in leather, but we might worry more about that sort of thing than others do.*


*we also have all mattresses, comforters, pillows etc. wrapped with dust mite-proof stuff, and have dust mite killer for the carpets, etc.

Sofas
 

Quatrine in Houston is right next door to the coffee house I used to study for the bar. They gave two chairs to the coffee house as a sort of product placement. I literally would spend 12-15 hours sitting in those chairs studying for the bar every day for nearly four weeks, and I never got uncomfortable. I bought one as soon as I could afford it.

For ncs
 

http://www.aaaai.org/images/photolib...w-dustmite.jpg

Run!!! It's a dust mite!!! Arghhhhhhhhhhhh!

For ncs
 

Hey, if you enjoy living with their excrement, more power to you. The reason for the dust mite-proofing here is allergies, but I have to say I'm not disappointed to be rid of them. We both now get allergies in hotel rooms whenever we travel due to our lowered dust mite tolerence. Quite gross if you think about it.

For ncs
 

Just thinking about how much jizz has been on hotel sheets is much grosser.

For ncs
 

True, but I think you'll find if you stop patronizing the hourly ones, the quality of the linens improves.

For ncs
 

So, it's a richer guy's jizz on the high-quality linens?

Jizzest fuck!

For ncs
 

Oh, come on. How much jizz can a tiny dust mite possibly generate?

At lunch, a guy in a white convertible, wearing dark sunglasses, talking on a call phone and smoking a largish cigar drove in front of me. I wanted to jump in front of his car and, when he (hopefully) screeched to a stop before hitting me, yell: "How do you expect anyone to take you seriously as a human being?"

But I didn't do that.

For ncs
 

Depends on how long he's been saving up.

Taxwonk- Switch to Vibrate only
 

http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/waiwai/040...ringtones.html
One of the most-downloaded ring tones in Japan today promises to have therapeudic effects.

Of course for the really flat chested Japanese woman, there is a Zen dilemma here:

To get her phone to start ringing, she need only get her phone to start ringing!

Sofas
 

Spill some root bear and sharpie on it and hide a baseball, a bowl of cereal and a few dozen M&Ms under the cushions and it will fit right into my house.