Last week, Seattle Weekly ran a long feature about couches--yes, couches. "We here at the Weekly are fascinated by (if not obsessed with) the couch," the editors wrote. This special feature section was called, simply, "Couch."

Why would any publication devote 11 pages--11!--to a piece of furniture? We asked an intern to look into it, and during her research she found the smoking gun--or guns, plural. All of the couch stories in the Weekly's Couch Issue was surrounded by ads filled with couches! Even for Seattle Weekly--home of the "Spring Fashion" issue, the "Fall Bridal Issue," and the "Best of [Our Advertisers in] Seattle" issue--this was a depressing new low. Curious about how the editorial process works when the advertising department is calling the shots, we went on a Dumpster-diving run behind the offices of Seattle Weekly. In the Weekly's recycling bin we found an early version of their "Couch" feature covered with Post-It notes. The Post-It notes appeared to be covered with Weekly editor Audrey Van Buskirk's handwritten comments. What you're about to read may shock you. Or, hell, it may not.