That is, indeed, me today.  Though as I’ve gotten to nap for hours, have consumed my bodyweight in chicken soup, and have been excellently taken care of (thank you Jessie!), I think I’m coming out ahead.

“Being ill is one of the greatest pleasures of life, provided one is not too ill and is not obliged to work until one is better.” – Samuel Butler

The degree to which this Venn diagram (and, really, all Venn diagrams) makes me happy is a pretty good indication that I fall somewhere on it:

Buddha told a parable in sutra:

One day, walking through the wilderness, a man stumbled upon a sleeping tiger. As he tried to sneak past, the tiger awoke, and began to give chase.

The man took flight, running as fast as he could until he found himself at the edge of a high cliff. Desperate, he climbed down a vine and dangled over the jagged precipice. As he hung there, two mice, one white and one black, appeared from a hole in the cliff and began gnawing on the vine.

Suddenly, the man noticed a plump wild strawberry on the vine. He plucked it and popped it in his mouth. It was incredibly delicious!

I love this guy:

My favorite part of the video is the slow progression of the girlfriend’s reactions, from mildly annoyed, to deeply so, to finally starting to find his shtick funny herself.

Genius.

Jess and her colleagues (plus me as web-design intern and fabric-carrying gopher) just launched Dobbin’s Spring / Summer ’15 line.

They’ve built a hugely loyal customer-base, and have been growing quickly from one season to the next. If you want to try them out, head on over today; shipping is free both ways, and popular sizes sell out fast.

Kortnie Coles, taking things seriously as ever at the Dobbin Clothing Spring ’15 photo shoot.

I couldn’t be prouder of Jess and her colleagues; the new line should be up for sale in the next few weeks.

Over their first two years, Jess’ company Dobbin  has built an unusually loyal customer base.  

In a lot of ways, the company is a response to ‘fast fashion’ brands like Zara and H&M, which get trend right, but don’t pay much attention to their quality of fabric, construction or fit.  Sure, it’s easy to copy an idea from a Prada dress; but unless you use the same fabric, the same factories, and the same extensive fit process, you end up with something that looks great on the rack, but not nearly so great when it’s actually worn.

Hence Dobbin, which, not surprisingly, uses the same fabrics and mills, the same factories here in NYC, and the same long and laborious fit process as the high-end brands you’ll find in Bergdorf Goodman.  Then, by cutting out the many layers of middlemen and mark-ups in the fashion world, they sell directly online at 1/4 or 1/3 the price.

They have free shipping both ways, so you can try it out without risk. And as their return customer rate is extremely high, it seems people really love what they buy. They’re running a 35% off Black Friday sale right now, so go buy something!