Archive for the ‘Pessimism’ Category
On Day for Night
In which The Gay Recluse loves Truffaut. So tonight we watched Day for Night, Francois Truffaut’s 1973 movie about movie-making. Although “day for night” apparently (because what do we know?) refers to a film technique by which a day shot is made to look like the night, it also — at least in the English […]
Filed under: Animals, Film, Gay, Pessimism, Philosophers | 2 Comments
Tags: 1973, Day for Night, Francois Truffaut, Great hair, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Léaud, La Nuit Americaine, Lolcats
In which The Gay Recluse is interviewed on the BBC (but not credited) and then adds a backing track. [Note! Update appended below or click here.] Ha, so today we got an e-mail from “BBC World Service Request” with the following message: I work for a programme called World Have Your Say which broadcasts on […]
Filed under: Bad Rock, Death Culture at Sea, Gay, Government, History, Pessimism, Stereotypes, Technology, The Gay Recluse | 3 Comments
Tags: BBC, Netiquette, Obama, Quid Pro Quo, World Have Your Say
In which The Gay Recluse listens with admiration to the new record by The New Year. Recently we went to see The New Year in Williamsburg. It was a great show until we went back to our car and discovered that some frat boy asshole had broken off our side mirror on the car. Goodbye […]
Filed under: Brooklyn, Dissonance, Good Rock, History, Memory, Pessimism, Philosophers, Quotes, Resignation, Retail | Leave a Comment
Tags: Bedhead, CBGBs, Huysmans, Indie Rock, Kim's, Pascal, Rawk Criticism, Shows, Texas, The New York, Williamsburg
In which The Gay Recluse is like, srsly, wtf? There’s really nothing we can say about Proposition 8 that hasn’t already been said, but we’re going to add our two cents anyway, just because it’s the right thing to do. (Oh and supposedly we’ll be eligible for a $50 gift certificate on Amazon.) Obvs there […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Communism, Competitions, Disease, Dissonance, Gay, Law, Pessimism, Sickness | 3 Comments
Tags: Bloggers, California, Fifty Dollars, Gift Certificates, Haters, Homophobia, John McCain, Proposition 8, Sarah Palin, Vote No on Prop 8
In which The Gay Recluse is always late. This morning we reluctantly got out of bed at 7:15 am — instead of our usual 7:30 — so that we would have enough time to do everything we needed to do and catch the 8:20 train instead of the 8:30, because we had an important 9:00 […]
Filed under: Animals, Architecture, Dissonance, Fashion, GWB Project, Health, Obsession, Pessimism, Subway | 2 Comments
Tags: Breakfast, Cats, Delays, Floss, Mint Flavors, Pills, Procrastination, Rituals, Seagulls, Shower, Toothpaste
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 […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Conspiracy, Decay, Dissonance, History, Landscape, Pessimism, Resignation, Ruins, Search, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 1 Comment
Tags: Cars, Columnar Pin Oaks, Day, Facades, Night, Noise, Stereos, Streets, Townhouses
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
On David Foster Wallace
In which The Gay Recluse remembers David Foster Wallace. When we turned 28 or 29, our friend Marla gave us a copy of Infinite Jest. We spent the next month or so locked in our room reading it, pretending to be sick and not going to work. To say it was Pynchonesque doesn’t really do […]
Filed under: Addiction, Pessimism, Ruins, Search, Sickness, Writers-American | 5 Comments
Tags: David Foster Wallace, Death, Heroes, Infinite Jest
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
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 […]
Filed under: Architecture, City Pattern Project, Conspiracy, Dream, Government, Landscape, Pessimism | Leave a Comment
Tags: John McCain, Morose, Sarah Palin
In which The Gay Recluse questions the kind of man who berates a 75-year old woman for being pro-choice. Our mother — who lives near Pittsburgh in the “swing-state” of Pennsylvania — has been going to physical therapy lately because she hurt her foot. She goes during the day, when a lot of the other […]
Filed under: Gay, Government, Health, Landscape, Law, Pessimism, Politicians | Leave a Comment
Tags: Abortion, John McCain, Physical Therapy, Pro-Choice, Republican Assholes, Sarah Palin, Schopenhauer
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with birds. With the addition of Sarah Palin to the Republican ticket, the choice in the 2008 election is even more clear: it is those who embody the ethos of the city — the metropolis — versus the graceless, who are too afraid to doubt. We are […]
Filed under: Government, GWB Project, History, Pessimism, Politicians, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Birds, Democrats, Republicans, Sarah Palin
On The Hills: Episode 1
In which The Gay Recluse loves the weeping blue atlas cedar and the first episode of The Hills. We finally saw the first episode of The Hills. Lo was really mean! (But so was Audrina.) We’re never interested in Heidi and Spencer. Mostly we watch for Lauren. There’s something heartbreaking about her idealism. We can’t […]
Filed under: Architecture, Nostalgia, Pessimism, Television, The Gay Recluse, The Summer Garden | 2 Comments
Tags: Audrina, Frank Lloyd Wright, Heidi, Lauren, Lo, Spencer, The Hills, Weeping Blue Atlas Cedar
In which Dante and Zephyr take over The Gay Recluse. Empty shell + stray kitten = daily heartache. Friends, not every cat is a lolcat…
Filed under: Animals, Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Longing, New York City, Not Every Cat a Lolcat, Pessimism, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 6 Comments
Tags: Cats, Heartaches, Kittens, Lolcats, Strays
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
In which The Gay Recluse takes what he can get. Summer is by far the worst season in Washington Heights. Stereos are constantly blaring, there’s trash everywhere, the elevators and street corners are filled with macho-man drunks. When a woman walks down the street and these geniuses make a big production of staring at her […]
Filed under: Gay, Pessimism, Pleasure, Search, Sickness, Small Pleasure Project, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights, Weather | 8 Comments
Tags: Corner Huggers, Drunks, Faggot, Losers, N-word, Shadows, Shower Curtains, Summer, Trash
The Gay Recluse 