In which The Gay Recluse updates his informal but rather telling quantitative analysis of Modern Love, the weekly Style Section (of The Times) column in which openly gay writers almost never appear, and even less frequently describe a romantic relationship.
This week’s piece: A Wedding Invitation for a Mom Long Gone by Julie Buxbaum
Subject: As a [...]

In which The Gay Recluse presents a gay/impressionistic alternative to this week’s Modern Love offering in The Times. Those looking for our quantitative analysis should click here.
By JULIE BUXBAUM and THE GAY RECLUSE
Published: May 11, 2008

SEVEN months ago, I was married in an ivory lace dress to a woman in a gray suit on [...]

In which The Gay Recluse asks a reader to think more conceptually.
In response to our recent Franco Harris Hot Gay Statue submission, Reader Queerunity writes:
all football players wear spandex, why is this gay?
We’re posting this comment — and thanks for bringing this up, Queerunity — because we think it raises an interesting point about the [...]

In which The Gay Recluse is entranced by the lowly marigold.
Time/Location: Sunday afternoon at the Green Valley Nursery in Westchester.

Yellow marigolds.

Red marigolds.

Orange marigolds.

In which The Gay Recluse updates his informal but rather telling quantitative analysis of Modern Love, the weekly Style Section (of The Times) column in which openly gay writers almost never appear, and even less frequently describe a romantic relationship.
This week’s piece: Want To Be My Boyfriend? Please Define
by Marguerite Fields
Subject: In the first [...]

In which The Gay Recluse hopes that a young woman will not succumb to the more conventional pressures that sadly ooze from this week’s Modern Love offering in The Times. Those looking for our quantitative analysis should click here.
Want To Be My Girlfriend? Please Don’t Define
By MARGUERITE FIELDS and THE GAY RECLUSE
RECENTLY my mother asked [...]

In which The Gay Recluse retires to our garden in Washington Heights.
Date of photograph: April 28, 2008, around 6:30pm

It’s hardly a secret that sometimes the spring garden looks better in the rain.

Today was one of those days…

One of our favorite plants is the creeping yellow groundcover, which we bought a few years ago at [...]

In which The Gay Recluse holds a contest. Sort of.
Today we received two unofficial entries for the contest, “unofficial” because 1) the first statue is in Europe and we are primarily interested in locating the hottest gay statues in the U.S., and 2) the second statue doesn’t exist except in someone’s photoshopallucination! Yet we still [...]

In which The Gay Recluse updates his informal but rather telling quantitative analysis of Modern Love, the weekly Style Section (of The Times) column in which openly gay writers almost never appear, and even less frequently describe a romantic relationship.
This week’s piece: Was I on a Date or Baby-Sitting?
Subject: For some reason a “Scary Sadshaw” [...]

In which Dante and Zephyr take over The Gay Recluse.

Friends! We have spoken on this subject before, but feel that it bears repeating. Discard your assumptions and stereotypes! Open your mind to new experience! And — most of all — remember: not every cat is a lolcat!

In which Dante and Zephyr take over The Gay Recluse.

Friends, consider this! While it is incontestable that there are many cats around the world who are happily (or not!) photographed and displayed in a staggering array of sizes, colors and dispositions, it is important to be sensitive to diversity and henceforth be mindful of the following fact: not every cat is lolcat!

In which Dante and Zephyr take over The Gay Recluse.

Friends! Let’s be perfectly clear: not every cat is a lolcat!

In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times.
Maureen Dowd/Eggheads and Cheese Balls
The Short Version: Obama and Hillary are both floundering.
In her words: “At match points, when Hillary fights like a cornered raccoon, Obama retreats into law professor mode.”
Score: B- (Basic)
This column doesn’t break any new ground as Dowd trots out the usual reasons why [...]

In which The Gay Recluse again laments the suffocation of the gay voice in American literature.
If you’re like us, when you scanned through the list of books included in New York Magazine’s recent “New York City Canon 1968-2008,” you had one reaction: wtf! where are the gays? In every other format, gays are represented [...]

In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times.
Frank Rich/Tet Happened, and No One Cared
The Short Version: McCain is a big fucking idiot.
In his words: “The sum total of his public record suggests that he could well prolong the war for another century — not because he’s the crazed militarist portrayed by [...]

In which The Gay Recluse updates his informal but rather telling quantitative analysis of Modern Love, the weekly Style Section (of The Times) column in which openly gay writers almost never appear, and even less frequently describe a romantic relationship.
This week’s piece: When The Chutney’s Gone
Subject: A very frightening woman describes a soulless marriage [...]

In which The Gay Recluse provides a gay alternative to this week’s Modern Love offering in The Times. Those looking for our quantitative analysis should click here.
When The Chutney’s Gone (or Before I Came Out as a Lesbian, I Was the Worst Kind of Scary Sadshaw)
By SUZANNE FINNAMORE and THE GAY RECLUSE
Published: April 5, 2008
As [...]

In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times.
David Brooks/Pitching with Purpose
The Short Version: The key to life (and baseball) is mental discipline.
In his words: “Not long ago, Americans saw the rise of a therapeutic culture that placed great emphasis on self-discovery, self-awareness and self-expression.”
Score: D (Destroyed)
Although we are almost never inclined to [...]

In which The Gay Recluse holds a contest. Sort of.
Last week our newest correspondent The Blind Architect filed this report:
You may be interested in this statue of George Washington I saw last week in Seattle. No musculature, but he does have a big sword. I have been watching the HBO John Adams series, and George [...]

In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times.
Frank Rich/Hillary’s St. Patrick’s Day Massacre
The Short Version: Why is Hillary such a lying liar? To cover up her Iraq vote, of course!
In his words: “Incredible as it seems, the professionals around Mrs. Clinton — though surely knowing her story was false — thought [...]