April 21, 2005

Article profiles Partial Comfort Productions, Off Off Broadway theater company formed by actors Molly Pearson, 25, and Chad Beckim, 31; company, founded in 2001, has staged Beckim's play, ...A Matter of Choice; its history chronicled; photos (M)

The requirements for a quality start are simple: at least six innings pitched, no more than three earned runs allowed. It does not tell the whole story, and baseball does not officially tabulate it. But it is useful enough as a tool to gauge the general effectiveness of a starter. For anyone wondering why the Yankees have stumbled through April, it was worth noting that they had no quality starts in their previous 11 games. Carl Pavano changed that Wednesday night.

IT'S an exhausting thing, being a luxury-home owner. You have the 42,000-square-foot house; so does the guy next door. You have the dedicated home theater; so does the guy next door. Which is why, according to the head of sales of Cuvée Storage Systems, a builder of custom wine cellars, old growth timber that has been lying at the bottom of a lake for 100 years or more has been such a boon.

THE headlines this morning will shout that the Nets completed a furious run to the playoffs. They beat Boston last night and snatched the final Eastern Conference playoff berth from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The reality is the victory was part season-ending gift, part hard effort. The Celtics didn't try to lose this game, but they didn't do everything to win, either. It fell into a gray area of pro sports where you take a rest when you can get it.

MILD or diffident are words that might describe Elizabeth Huey, an artist in her 30's who was combing the racks at Saks Fifth Avenue last Saturday. Just don't get her going on the subject of style. ''I'm tired of all those tight little skirts and pants I have to keep pulling up to get them to cover my rear,'' Ms. Huey said as she held up several alternatives she considered more compelling. They were breezy, colorful skirts redolent of Woodstock, midnight hayrides and prom nights: the sort of thing that she once could find only at vintage stores. ''Now they're everywhere,'' she said. ''It's exciting.'' Leping Pu, a 40-year-old doctor shopping at the store, was also drawn to fuller skirts. ''Designer clothes have been so tight you can't put them on,'' muttered Dr. Pu, who wore a floral-patterned skirt that swirled around her calves. ''I like something free enough to give you space to move.''