Archive for May, 2008
In which The Gay Recluse suggests a link. The most beautiful ads are always for dead companies. Like this one we recently took on 35th Street between 5th and 6th Avenue. Does this company still exist? We hope not, because we don’t want to have to think about buying anything. New York City is filled […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Conspiracy, Decay, Disease, Dissonance, Dream, Gay, Graffiti, Health, History, Infrastructure, Landscape, Longing, Memory, New York City, Obsession, Pessimism, Photography, Quotes, Ruins, Search, Sickness, The Gay Recluse | 2 Comments
Tags: AIDS, Apple, Dead Companies, Gay Blogs, General Electric, Google, HIV, Microsoft
In which The Gay Recluse documents the sunset of a dream. Today the tide seemed to finally turn against Hillary Clinton. We felt bad about it, but mostly on behalf of our mother. She’s in her seventies now and really wanted Hillary to win. She’s spent the better part of four decades fighting for women’s […]
Filed under: Dissonance, Dream, Gay, Government, GWB Project, Landscape, Language, Memory, Nostalgia, Pessimism, The Gay Recluse | 4 Comments
Tags: Hillary Clinton, Mothers, Orchids, Ronald Reagan, Sunsets
On the Opinion Page: May 7, 2008
In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. Thomas Friedman/The Democratic Recession The Short Version: Thanks, oil! You’ve caused democratic government to wane around the world. In his words: “I’ve long argued that the price of oil and the pace of freedom operate in an inverse correlation — which I call: “The […]
Filed under: Drivel, Government, Politicians, The Gay Recluse, The Times | Leave a Comment
Tags: Maureen Dowd, Oil, The New York Times, Thomas Friedman
In which The Gay Recluse takes a trip to the suburbs. Last weekend we went flower shopping and on the way back stopped into a brand new Home Depot that was recently built somewhere in Westchester, which is this large land mass north of New York City; sometimes desolate and sometimes beautiful, it is criss-crossed […]
Filed under: Architecture, Conspiracy, Flatware, Not Every Cat a Lolcat, Retail, Search, Sickness, Technology | 3 Comments
Tags: Ardsley, Bagpipe Manuevers, Design, Drain, Endorsements, Home Depot, Manhole Covers, Scarsdale, Westchester
In which The Gay Recluse contemplates an uncommissioned masterpiece from the walls of an uptown subway station. Consider the old panels on the subway platform wall, and observe the finely wrought precision with which each strip of peeling paint has by the hands of time been distressed in the subtlest shades of gold and silver, […]
Filed under: Infrastructure, Obsession, Photography, Ruins, Subway, Technology, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: 163rd Street, Abstract Expressionism, MTA
In which The Gay Recluse thinks about taking a seat. Time/Location: Recently, around 34th Street. We walk by these benches all the time, but have never had the time or inclination to sit.
Filed under: Architecture, City Pattern Project, New York City, Photography, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: 34th Street, Manhattan, Park Bench, Sitting Still
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge. Time/Date: May 4, around 8pm-ish. I, too, have an obsession with the George Washington Bridge. However, mine involves a nagging compulsion to complete a football pass from the deck of the bridge to a buddy on the ground below. –Ryan Pissed and […]
Filed under: Architecture, GWB Project, Infrastructure, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Football, May, Sunset, The George Washington Bridge
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.
Filed under: City Pattern Project, Dissonance, Photography, Retail, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Spring Garden | Leave a Comment
Tags: Green Valley, Marigold, Westchester
In which The Gay Recluse plays Abstract Jeopardy. Readers! Welcome to our new feature, Abstract Jeopardy, in which we pose one possible solution but leave the question open to debate. Let’s get started, shall we? Today’s possible solution: 50,000 red geraniums. So what’s the question? A few possibilities: What is 100,000 geraniums minus 50,000 geraniums? […]
Filed under: Abstract Jeopardy, Landscape, Photography, Search, The Gay Recluse | 2 Comments
Tags: Dreams, Flowers, Geraniums, Quanza Hut
In which The Gay Recluse is small. Time/Location of Pictures: 35th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenue, some night last week. It’s not exactly a revelation to say that the city is filled with infinite borders, many of which are strictly maintained. But there’s something comforting in the utility of a nicely designed fence. As […]
Filed under: Architecture, City Pattern Project, Gentrification, Memory, New York City, Obsession, Photography, Search, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Borders, Fences, Madison Avenue, Midtown, Wrought Iron
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 […]
Filed under: Architecture, Search, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Times | 3 Comments
Tags: Angst, Conventions, Daniel Jones, Long-Term Relationships, Marguerite Fields, Modern Love, The New York Times
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 […]
Filed under: Gay, Landscape, Language, Longing, New York City, Search, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Times | Leave a Comment
Tags: Conventions, Gay Modern Love, Marguerite Fields, Modern Love, The New York Times
The Gay Recluse 