Archive for the ‘Memory’ Category
In which The Gay Recluse remembers his grandparents. Of our four grandparents, the only one we knew at all was our grandmother. And even she died when we were very young. Our evil uncle stole almost everything she owned, but our father managed to keep a few things, including this blue vase, which he in […]
Filed under: Addiction, Animals, History, Longing, Memory, Small Pleasure Project, Stereotypes | 2 Comments
Tags: Blue Vase, Chameleons, Drunks, Ft. Lauderdale, Grandfathers, Grandmothers, McCain, Nixon, Republican Assholes
On Dreams of Flowers
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with dreams. The years passed, and not always quickly. Many nights we dreamed of roses. When they finally arrived, we could not believe our luck! Then a question: what will we dream of now?
Filed under: Dissonance, Dream, Longing, Memory, The Autumn Garden | Leave a Comment
Tags: Dreams, Flowers, Rosed
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with bricks. According to CNN, both candidates “exceeded expectations.” (That’s a relief, in a way.) But mostly, it makes us remember when we ran for vice-president of our junior high school. And how we wrote a speech and delivered it very earnestly. Who knows what we said: […]
Filed under: Competitions, Memory, The Autumn Garden | Leave a Comment
Tags: Bricks, Elections, Junior High, Moss, Vice President
In which The Gay Recluse remembers tenth grade. Like a million other kids in 1984 we were obsessed with Murmur, by R.E.M. Our friend Tom owned the LP and we used to go down to his room to listen to it — this was at boarding school — and then we made a tape. (That […]
Filed under: Bad Rock, Death Culture at Sea, Good Rock, Language, Longing, Memory, Nostalgia, Obsession, The Gay Recluse | 2 Comments
Tags: Boarding School, Michael Stipe, Murmur, Perfect Circle, R.E.M., Tenth Grade
On My Bloody Valentine
In which The Gay Recluse passes up the chance of a lifetime. Did you hear? Tonight My Bloody Valentine is playing at Roseland. They’ve always been one of our favorite bands. Loveless is a masterpiece; dissonant, propulsive and melodic, it changed rock, or least provided an important delineation. The way great pieces of art will […]
Filed under: Decay, Dissonance, Dream, Faith, Good Rock, Longing, Memory, Nostalgia | 1 Comment
Tags: Irving Plaza, Loveless, Mission of Burma, My Bloody Valentine, Reunions, Roseland
On Death Culture at Sea
In which The Gay Recluse starts a new band. So we decided to start a new band: Death Culture at Sea. We googled it and nothing came up, so we’re assuming it’s fair game. We’ve always loved Echo and the Bunnymen, so we decided to start things off by covering one of their best songs. […]
Filed under: Bad Rock, Death Culture at Sea, Good Rock, Longing, Memory, Nostalgia | Leave a Comment
Tags: 1980s, Bands, Death Culture at Sea, Echo & the Bunnymen, The Killing Moon
In which The Gay Recluse is officially one year old. So guess what! We made it through an entire year. For us, that meant 696 posts, 549 comments, 95 categories, 2,617 tags and 96,339 total views. It’s true that we were a traffic whore at times. Which we don’t regret, but lately we haven’t had […]
Filed under: Architecture, Dissonance, Health, History, Longing, Memory, Ruins, Search, The Gay Recluse | 6 Comments
Tags: Birthdays, Cities, Orchids, Solitude
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with birds. For a while after college, we worked watering plants in corporate office buildings in downtown Manhattan. We worked in law firms, investment banks and other companies who generally could be said to rule the world. It was poisonous work to the extent that we were […]
Filed under: Animals, Capitalism, Communism, Government, GWB Project, Infrastructure, Memory, New York City | 2 Comments
Tags: $85 Billion, AIG, Bailouts, Corporate Welfare, Greed, Plant Watering, Rich Assholes
In which The Gay Recluse ponders the Hills and the empty rooms of his past. So tonight we watched the most recent episode of the Hills. The first part was about Audrina. She had to help promote some horrible band for her job. She invited Lauren, who — now that they are on better terms […]
Filed under: Dissonance, Dream, History, Longing, Memory, Television | 2 Comments
Tags: Audrina, Couches, Empty Rooms, Fans, Heidi, Lauren, Lo, Spencer, The Hills
In which The Gay Recluse considers a Palin administration and shudders. One difference between George W. Bush (and McCain) and Sarah Palin is that Palin is genuine to a degree Bush or McCain is/was not. Watching Bush (as much as we prefer not to) we get the sense that he — a Connecticut blue blood […]
Filed under: Addiction, Capitalism, City Pattern Project, Government, History, Memory, Pessimism, Politicians, Ruins, Washington Heights | 5 Comments
Tags: Demagogues, Sarah Palin, Thugs
In which The Gay Recluse loves bamboo and The Hills. So we just watched the most recent episode of The Hills. It was a lot better than the Las Vegas episode. We’re never interested in any of the dumb guys, especially when they end up in jail. But fortunately that wasn’t a plot line in […]
Filed under: Gay, Longing, Memory, Nostalgia, Pessimism, Television | Leave a Comment
Tags: Audrina, Bamboo, Gossip Girl, Lauren, The Hills
On the George Washington Bridge Project: Special Welcome Hanna and Neil Young Remembrance Edition
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge. The drainpipe was rattling on the house today and we had to tie it down. One thing hurricanes make us think about is that Neil Young song, “Like a Hurricane.” (Hmm, wonder why? Lol.) When we were in high school, we were […]
Filed under: Architecture, Good Rock, GWB Project, Landscape, Memory, Nostalgia | Leave a Comment
Tags: Jimi Hendrix, Like a Hurrican, Neil Young, Rockin' Out, The George Washington Bridge, Time Capsules, Tropical Storm Hanna
In which The Gay Recluse loves the Manhattan Times. Hey, New York Times! Instead of David Brooks, William Kristol, Maureen Dowd and so on (Zzzzzz), maybe you should turn the column over to a new generation of writers, who aren’t afraid to tell it like it is, and moreover, know how to entertain! We suggest […]
Filed under: Gay, Longing, Memory, Nostalgia, The Times, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Manhattan Times, Opinions, School, Work
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge. Actually, this was yesterday. (We were so much younger then, we’re older than that now.) 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 […]
Filed under: Addiction, Architecture, Bad Rock, Good Rock, GWB Project, Infrastructure, Memory, New York City, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: August, Football, Reverse Bob Dylan, The George Washington Bridge
In which The Gay Recluse remains hidden in the summer garden. “[I]n the end we could choose only between the bleak and the bleaker – that was the extent of our freedom.” –Peter Nadas, A Book of Memories
Filed under: GWB Project, Memory, Pessimism, Quotes, The Gay Recluse, The Summer Garden | Leave a Comment
Tags: Botany, Fuscia, Peter Nadas
The Gay Recluse 