Returned to Superhero Heaven in the Tenderloin today, to move the 50s style sofa out of my friend's studio to create more space for his books. He was away for the weekend, so gave me keys to get in. He has had this sofa for several years now, and has kept it in perfect condition, even using the special soaps that I supplied with it. I never expected to own this gleaming piece of furniture again – not after giving it away – but it has come back home to roost.
When I emailed my daughter that I was bringing the leather sofa back into my own domestic life, but also retaining the lumpy one that has served faithfully at Spencer Alley forever, she replied "I can see a conversational nook with the two sofas working well – as different as they are. Perhaps it will be like Diana and Fergie in the days when they were friends, the plump funny-looking comfortable one lending some levity to the ridiculously beautiful sleek one (as you can tell I am finishing Diana book you sent, started on airplane on way home from Maine – agree it is astonishingly readable)."
Yes, I did send my daughter Tina Brown's recent biography marking the tenth anniversary of the death of the Princess of Wales.
And after the sofa was all installed, I trekked back down to the Tenderloin to tidy up the apartment I took it out of. My friend had removed some framed pictures from the short hallway at the entrance, in case the movers should knock them off the wall. As I rehung them, it came to me that they ought to be photographed too, so they could join their superhero wall-neighbors.
Below, two small works by Micah LeBrun.
