Dan's Papers - October 5, 2007

With the exception of gas guzzling trucks and the Stars & Stripes, there may not be a more uniquely American image than that of a weary working man plopping down into his favorite chair. It becomes a sanctuary, a place of quiet contemplation and relaxation. A place where one can sip from a glass of happy juice and drown out their dilemmas, anxieties and other complexities that plague our daily lives. For others the couch is a meeting place, a cozy seat to chat with others about the absurdities of the work week and the sheepish gossip of the neighborhood. For some it's even a bed, a delicate change when sleepless nights on the same ole bed are wearing you thin. After all where are you supposed to go after you've counted 10,000 bottles of beer on the wall?

While some may choose handcrafted antique furniture, or modern art deco chairs that look like they belong in a sculpture museum, recent homeowner Matthew Furney of Jackson, Wyoming chose a mixture of classic style and youthful comfort. Mr. Furney, a 26 year old stone mason, bartender and professional ski-bum, moved into his Jackson Hole ski home six months ago and knew the first thing he had to do was equip it with comfortable couches. "If I learned one thing in college it's that any decent house has at least two comfortable couches. It doesn't matter if the springs are busted out or if there are tears in the leather, the only thing that matters is if you can seamlessly slip into a deep sleep while relaxing on the sofa."

When it came time for Matt to accessorize his new home, he chose to take out a little extra money on his homeowner's loan to purchase some living room accoutrements. Matt chose a large leather couch by Broyhill and a Western patterned knit fabric love-seat/ottoman combination also by Broyhill.

But who needs name-brand luxuries when we all know that the best things in life are free. True is the case of the all-encompassing couch that links the luxuries of a Jackson starter home with the simplistic thrift store approach of a homey college slum. Matt's roommate who goes by "Cuz" was working on a swanky home in the Teton Village, located at the base of the Jackson Hole Mountain Resort. After gutting the basement, Cuz, a scruffy faced East Coast transplant in search of perfect pow, noticed an abandoned set of living room furniture. Two near mint condition greenish grey couches, large enough to sit a Samoan gathering. On his last days of work an 18-wheeler pulled up with new furnishings for the home. Cuz backed his beaten down Toyota Tacoma up to the lonely couches and in a matter of minutes the living rooms missing link had vanished. The room was complete. They weren't thrift store throwaways either, but rather plush sofas able to brave the barrage of beer guzzling ski bums plopping on its oh so broken in frame.

The reason I chose to profile Mr. Furney's living room furniture is because of his deep seeded commitment to the process of both sitting and laying. In fact, Mr. Furney has been sitting for years and has done so on a plethora of sofas, chairs and couches across the country. While at St. Lawrence University Matthew petitioned the Dean of Academics to let him Minor in Couch Sitting, which he described as "an alternative to couch surfing." His paperwork was denied and eventually used as a handkerchief by the Dean. While living together in Vermont last year Matt took time out of his busy schedule to take me to the recycled furniture barn, help me pick out a clean and comfortable mattress and even volunteered to strap them to the back of his truck. Pure humanitarian you may think. Hardly. No, the truth is he was just sick of me sleeping on his couch. Not to say I can't blame him (and we both won out in the end. He got his required 6 hours of couch sitting and I got my own bed).

Needless to say couches are rather important. After all, where else would you eat your TV dinners, discuss your day and plop down your rear in front of the TV? Definitely not on the floor.