Archive for the ‘Conspiracy’ Category

In which The Gay Recluse goes to Broadway. Ohai, so did anyone else see these crazy new storefronts in Washington Heights, on Broadway between 160 and 161? (We didn’t think so.) They went in a few weeks ago — during the middle of the night — and there’s still no signage or anything else to […]


In which The Gay Recluse loves orchids, yet feels ambivalent about teevee. This week we’ve been catching up on Season Two of Mad Men. We’re not here to criticize the show, which is srsly one of the best on teevee these days. It’s basically everything you want in a drama: three-dimensional characters, interesting stories, good […]


In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with naps. Lately we’ve had trouble sleeping, so have begun to rely on naps. Sometimes the best place to sleep is on a crowded subway train. (If you can get a seat!) Especially on the A or D between 59th and 125th Streets, a trip that during […]


In which The Gay Recluse loves Carson McCullers. Not long ago we finished reading The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers. Published in 1940, the book — as the jacket tells us — made McCullers (only 23 at the time!) a literary star. In the book, which is set in a small town […]


In which The Gay Recluse walks through the mist of a Sunday morning. Saturday nights can be particularly trying in Washington Heights. Especially now that it’s getting cool out, and you want to keep the windows open. But somehow a cool breeze at one in the morning just isn’t the same when it brings with […]


In which The Gay Recluse bemoans the state of the union. For as long as we can remember, our mother has (like us) been a bleeding-heart liberal, while our father has been a Republican asshole. They’ve been married almost 55 years. But then a few months ago, she told us that he was supporting Obama. […]


In which The Gay Recluse is still morose. Today we felt so completely trapped. By our neighborhood, our job, our possessions. Oh and our stupid country. Our life felt completely artless. But then we came home and watched The Hills. And played with the cats. Soon we’ll go to bed. We wonder what it would […]


In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with campanula. Before we bought this variety, we always wondered why it was called a bellflower. Campanula is Latin for “little bell.” —Wikipedia


In which The Gay Recluse enjoys the fruits of his labor. Spread the word, Alex! No pesticides and seedless, too! GR:s last posts proves my argument even further, it’s all about ATTENTION, AH THE SWEET ATTENTION! Is it worth hurting other “normal” gay men and women by spreading out the overly proud super-queer stereotype for […]


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: How My Husband Won Back My Vote by Andrea Neighbours Subject: A […]


In which The Gay Recluse introduces the pitcher plants. This is the first year for our new pitcher plants (Sarracenia). Flies, we have one message for you: beware! The pitcher plant will eat you for breakfast, lunch and dinner. And dessert, too.


In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with The George Washington Bridge. Time of Photographs: June 17, 2008, sunset. Today some guy called us a “pansy” on Curbed. Our feelings were hurt! Lol. We’re still kind of weak, but living in Washington Heights for ten years has toughened us up. The Gay Recluse is […]


In which The Gay Recluse compares and contrasts.   Recently we stumbled across a review of The Curtain, Milan Kundera’s 2007 collection of essays about the art of the novel. We found the review notable 1) for its pretentious language and 2) for its failure to acknowledge what is really a rather shockingly homophobic passage in the book. Let’s start with the […]


In which The Gay Recluse asks The Central Park Conservancy to rethink its mailing-list purchases. So a few days ago we received a personal note from Douglas Blonsky, President, Central Park Conservancy and Central Park Administrator. Here it is, with our favorite excerpts! Dear Matthew: I imagine you treasure Central Park for the oasis that […]


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: As a Father, I Was Hardly A Perfect Fit by Tim Elhajj […]


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: Let’s Not Get To Know Each Other Better by Joel Walkowski Subject: […]


In which The Gay Recluse presents a gay alternative to this week’s Modern Love offering in The Times. Those looking for our quantitative analysis should click here. Gay Modern Love Let’s Not Get to Know Each Other Better, Let’s Just Fuck By JOEL WALKOWSKI and THE GAY RECLUSE Published: June 7, 2008 A FEW months […]


In which The Gay Recluse is rather perturbed. Hey, apparently all it takes to win a Lambda Literary Award for Men’s Fiction — even if you’re not gay! — is to write a seriously homophobic treatment of a teen romance, get a bunch of testimonials from important straights, and put a smokin’ hot cover on […]


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: My Dropout Boyfriend Kept Dropping In by Lee Conell Subject: A college […]


In which The Gay Recluse is nonplussed. From our subway station at 163rd Street: We’re all for organ donation, but we find this advertisement rather too exuberant. Is this woman giving or receiving? Oh and another weird thing: someone graffiti numbered all the people in this poster. Seriously: creepy. “Awesome! I’m 24!” We’ve never seen […]