Archive for the ‘Memory’ Category
In which The Gay Recluse retreats to the summer garden. The European white birch has always been the focal point of our garden in Washington Heights. Each leaf, of course, represents a day in our past, and for this reason might seem more valuable if there weren’t so many. –The Gay Recluse, November 13, 2007
Filed under: GWB Project, Landscape, Memory, The Gay Recluse, The Summer Garden | Leave a Comment
Tags: Days, European White Birch, Leaves
On Proof that the Sun Sets Magnificently, Even Over New Jersey: A Story of (Sub)Urban Despair
In which The Gay Recluse contemplates life, on the subway. Today on the subway — this, during the evening rush — we sat down next to a woman, perhaps 25 or so, with long, thin arms and straight blond hair. We noticed because a few seconds later, she leaned over and yelled “Dad!” And it […]
Filed under: Gay, Infrastructure, Memory, Resignation, Search, Sickness, Subway, The Gay Recluse | 3 Comments
Tags: Daughters, Fathers, John Grisham, MTA, Psychology, Sads, Sons, Tom Clancy
In which The Gay Recluse remembers sitting at the airport. Just last week we were sitting at the airport. At the time it seemed painfully boring, but now we kind of miss it. Even though we know that if we went back we’d be painfully bored again. This is also why George Bush was elected […]
Filed under: History, Memory, Nostalgia, Pessimism, Philosophers, Politicians, The Gay Recluse, Writers-German | Leave a Comment
Tags: Airports, George Bush, Ronald Reagan, Walter Benjamin
On Gay Modern Love: My Father’s Nostalgia for the Past Blinds Him to the Reality of the Present
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. I grew up without my “real” — by which I mean biological — father, who lived in New York City. One summer I made the mistake of mentioning […]
Filed under: Gay, Longing, Memory, New York City, Nostalgia, The Gay Recluse, The Times | Leave a Comment
Tags: Gay Modern Love, Gay Sons, Modern Love, Oblivious Fathers, The New York Times, Tim Elhajj
In which The Gay Recluse describes a trip to hell the gym. And speaking of music, we’ve already described our general aversion to the inexplicably horrendous 1970s AOR rock our gym sometimes plays, but today marked a special occasion: yes! they played “Stairway To Heaven.” Which might not have been so bad under different circumstances; […]
Filed under: Athletes, Bad Rock, Dissonance, Gay, Memory, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Arena Rock, Babes, Gyms, Hell, Led Zeppelin, Stairway To Heaven, Stereo, Zoso
In which The Gay Recluse relives his past as an indie rocker. Hey everyone, Saturnine is the WMBR “Breakfast of Champions” band of the week, which means you should tune into the legendary MIT station and rock out to some classic Saturnine! For more info: http://wmbr.org/shows/boc/BotW.php
Filed under: Good Rock, Infrastructure, Memory, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: MIT, Saturnine, WMBR
In which The Gay Recluse hears a song from another life. Yesterday we turned on the stereo in our basement. We hadn’t played it in years. Miraculously, it worked! The receiver and speakers are from ninth grade. Hey computers! Sometimes bigger analog speakers still sound better! More miraculous was that a CD was already in […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Decay, Dream, Good Rock, Memory, Obsession, Photography, The Gay Recluse, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: Compilation, Hamish Kilgour, Rent Control, Rocks, Sky, Soho, The Clean, West Broadway
In which The Gay Recluse rejoices over the end of gentrification in Washington Heights. Rejoice, kind and courageous foes of gentrification! For those many of you who have added your voice to the cause — i.e., our allies in lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and other gentrified neighborhoods around the city who have never ceased to warn us […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Communism, Drivel, Gentrification, Infrastructure, Longing, Memory, Nostalgia, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 6 Comments
Tags: Coffee, Deaths, Patries, The OC Bakery and Cafe
In which The Gay Recluse says goodbye to Berlin. Before we went to Berlin, we were kind of dreading it. After all, it was a work trip, which means we had to do some work. Plus, German is not our strongest language. And this eagle was not exactly welcoming, either! But then we saw how […]
Filed under: GWB Project, Landscape, Memory, Nostalgia, The Gay Recluse, Travel | Leave a Comment
Tags: Berlin, Birch Trees, Bullet Talons, Eagles, Manhole Covers, Rhododendron, Tiergarten, Work
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 […]
Filed under: Dissonance, Dream, Gay, Longing, Memory, Search, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Times | Leave a Comment
Tags: Bridal Showers, Death, Dresses, Gay Modern Love, Julie Buxbaum, Lace, The New York Times, Weddings
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
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 attempts to use a new “macro” lens. So yeah: The Globularia stygia we bought last year at Stonecrop Gardens is in bloom. These first two pix we took with the regular lens. Then we took some drugs tried out a new macro lens. We are reminded of a record cover […]
Filed under: GWB Project, Longing, Memory, Photography, The Spring Garden, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Globurlaria Stygia, Loveless, Lush, My Bloody Valentine, Pale Saints, Ride, Shoegazer Rock, Stonecrop Gardens
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 invites readers to get drunk enjoy art in person. Reader John Anthony Frederick sent us the following flier today for his photo exhibition in Albany: To all of our readers in Albany: Hey, we think you should go! The tree photos look extremely cool: distant, distorted and contemplative. (Why not […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Letters, Memory, Photography, The Gay Recluse | 1 Comment
Tags: Albany, Art Openings, David Paterson, Gay Dates, Hot Singles, John Anthony Frederick, Trees
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 contemplates an old friend. Date of Picture: April 24, 2008 Location: Our garden in Washington Heights. Even as a child in Pittsburgh, we loved this table. All winter it would sit out on the porch as we stared longingly at it. Every May, when it was finally warm enough (this […]
Filed under: City Pattern Project, Dissonance, Landscape, Longing, Memory, Ruins, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: 1970s, Chores, Porch Furniture, Porches, Spring Cleaning, Suburbs, Tables, Wrought Iron
The Gay Recluse 