On New York and Couches
– March 9th, 2010I‘ve always looked at buying a couch as one of the final milestones of “becoming an adult.” Not a futon or a foam couch that sinks half a foot lower when you sit on it, but a good and proper single-purpose couch that weighs more than one person can carry. A couch that hasn’t been inherited or picked up off the street signifies both permanence and a living situation that includes more than one room[1].
The boy and I finally took the couch plunge in Vancouver, settling on a brown sectional great for reading, playing video games, and aggressive napping. After six months in Boulder and four years in Japan, Vancouver was home; maybe not permanently but at least for a good while; definitely long enough to buy a couch.
That was, until Darwin Deez rolled through Vancouver. They arrived in a mini-van equipped with a VHS player, blazed through an awesome set at The Media Club, and blazed a bit more back at our apartment. Less than 24 hours later the band, and the VHS player, headed south to Seattle, but the damage had been done. The boy, who for the last five years had adamantly refused to live in the States, promptly announced he could live in New York City. And when the boy makes up his mind, the boy makes up his mind. A little over four weeks later a couple of stoned movers wrapped up the couch in ten rolls of cling-wrap, and we headed to the airport for a day of traveling and migraine-inducing margaritas.
The couch, of course, came with us. Maybe it means New York will be our home for a good while, or maybe it just means we really like the couch. Maybe it’s both or neither, but there is something about New York that heightens the writing itch, and after a year of relative silence I am once again writing, from the comfort of the brown couch.
New York, 2010.
- A brief history of my couches after Oberlin: Chapel Hill – a hand-me-down from my grandmother; Boulder – a futon frame & mattress; Japan – a couch cobbled together from a bed frame and covered with pillows. [↩]
pnts 
I love that couch. And you guys!