Archive for the ‘Language’ Category
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 […]
Filed under: Conspiracy, Dissonance, Drivel, Language, Literature, Pessimism, The Gay Recluse, Writers-French | 14 Comments
Tags: Critics, Homophobia, Milan Kundera, The Curtain
In which The Gay Recluse is like wtf. Ok, The Times has been on board with gay marriage for a couple of years now. Great! What’s not so great, however, is their continuing use of the term “longtime companion” to describe long-term gay relationships, e.g., the following quote in an article about Russell T Davies […]
Filed under: Drivel, Gay, Language, Sickness, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Times | 4 Comments
Tags: Longtime Companion, Relationship Partner, Russell T Davies, Spouse, The New York Times, Torchwood
On The First Time I Met Frank O’Hara and a Few Thoughts on Whether Gay Culture Is Really Dead
In which The Gay Recluse files a book report and rambles on. Recently we finished The First Time I Met Frank O’Hara by Rick Whitaker, a collection of essays about gay writers culled from the past 150 years or so of American/English literature, ranging from titans such as Melville, Wilde and Dickinson to the more […]
Filed under: Gay, Language, Literature, Pessimism, Philosophers, Search, Sickness, Stereotypes, Writers-American | 2 Comments
Tags: Book Reports, Gay Culture, Rich Whitaker
In which The Jane Austen Watch reports on the intersection of two centuries. Today we heard from our newest correspondent, The Jane Austen Watch, who filed the following report: The roses in Astoria are in bloom, and all the local inhabitants are basing the horticulture of their small front gardens on the assumption that they […]
Filed under: Landscape, Language, Literature, Longing, The Gay Recluse, The Jane Austen Watch, Writers-British | Leave a Comment
Tags: Astoria, Blooms, England, Jane Austen, Persuasion, Pink, Roses
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: […]
Filed under: Conspiracy, Drivel, Language, Search, Sickness, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Times | Leave a Comment
Tags: Conformity, Daniel Jones, Homophobia, Modern Love
On How Incredibly Fucked Up: Book of Closet Cases Wins Lambda Literary Award for Men’s Fiction
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 […]
Filed under: Competitions, Conspiracy, Drivel, Gay, Language, Sickness, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, Writers-American | 4 Comments
Tags: Andre Aciman, Gay Voice, Homophobia, Lamda Literary Awards
In which The Gay Recluse tries to convey some semblance of the truth, as opposed to this obituary, written by Michael Kimmelman, one of the most notoriously oblivious critics at The Times. By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN and THE GAY RECLUSE Published: May 14, 2008 Robert Rauschenberg, the irrepressibly prolific American gay artist and rather typically homophobic queen who […]
Filed under: Drivel, Gay, Language, Search, Sickness, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Times | 3 Comments
Tags: Gay, Homophobia, Obituaries, Robert Rauschenberg, The New York Times
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: […]
Filed under: Gay, Language, Search, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Times | Leave a Comment
Tags: Animals, Daniel Jones, Gay Modern Love, Julie Buxbaum, Modern Love, The New York Times, Zoos
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 […]
Filed under: Athletes, Conspiracy, Gay, Hot Gay Statues, Language, Letters, Literature, Photography, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Football, Franco Harris, Gay, Hot Gay Statues, Spandex
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
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
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 […]
Filed under: GWB Project, Language, Longing, Memory, New York City, Obsession, Pessimism, Photography, Pleasure, Resignation, Ruins, Search, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Spring Garden, Washington Heights, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: Alpines, Chasing Amy, Creeping Jenny, Green Markets, Groundcover, Lesbian Conversions, Lysimachia nummularia, Perennials, Rain, Rocks, Sighs, Union Square, Washington Heights
In which The Gay Recluse leaves New York. Last month we went to Pittsburgh for a few days. Even though we “grew up” there, it was almost like visiting a new (as in unfamiliar) city. We always lived in the suburbs, and almost never went into the city except to see the Penguins! This time […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Decay, Dissonance, Gay, Gentrification, Infrastructure, Landscape, Language, Memory, Nostalgia, Television, The Gay Recluse, Travel | 7 Comments
Tags: Altar, Bridges, Chuck Noll, City of Champions, Discos, Gay Clubs, Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh, Primanti's, Queer As Folk, The Penguins, The Pennsylvanian, The Steelers, The Strip, Wholey's
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 […]
Filed under: Disease, Language, Pessimism, Search, Sickness, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Times | Leave a Comment
Tags: Bad Prose, Daniel Jones, Gay Modern Love, Homophobia, Modern Love, The New York Times
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: […]
Filed under: Addiction, Dissonance, Drivel, Food, Gay, Language, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Times | Leave a Comment
Tags: Coming Out, Daniel Jones, Divorce, Gay Modern Love, Lesbian, Scary Sadshaw, Suzanne Finnamore, The New York Times
In which Deirdre’s Terrain checks in with The Gay Recluse. Today we received this startling news report and follow-up analysis from our Manhattan correspondent Deirdre’s Terrain: ieeww I hate people who post picts & videos of their KIDS at the beach taking a bath etc etc… playing with their iPhone.. YUCK! why do parents post […]
Filed under: Animals, Conspiracy, Deirdre's Terrain, Dissonance, Gay, Health, Landscape, Language, Photography, The Gay Recluse | 2 Comments
Tags: Baths, Beach, Children, iPhone, Mundane, Pets, Redactions
In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Gail Collins/A Black Hole Rating System The Short Version: Well, these are not exactly the best of times. In her words: “Let’s prioritize. Rank all your causes for concern on a scale of: ! (unfortunate development) to !!!!! (Large Hadron Collider has a […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Communism, Drivel, Government, Language, The Gay Recluse, The Times | Leave a Comment
Tags: Black Holes, China, France, Gail Collins, Hadron Collider, McLympics, Nicholas Kristof, Roger Cohen, The New York Times, Tibet
The Gay Recluse 
On Our Own Method of Diluting the Homophobosphere
In which The Gay Recluse attempts to reconcile his traffic-whoring impulses with a desire to flee the crazies. In March, as part of a new traffic-whoring initiative, we opened up The Gay Recluse to commenters. By and large we’ve been very pleased with the results, not only in terms of traffic but in terms of the many […]
Filed under: Drivel, Gay, Hot Gay Statues, Infrastructure, Knockbusters, Language, Letters, The Gay Recluse | 4 Comments
Tags: Commenters, Dilution, Homophobosphere, Traffic Whoring