Archive for the ‘Politicians’ Category
In which The Gay Recluse enjoys a game of “Would You Rather,” the elementary school game in which you must choose one of two offered alternatives and explain why. The Set-up: You are at the gym over lunch, about to get on to the treadmill for fifteen minutes when you realize — fucking-shit! — that […]
Filed under: Dissonance, Government, Memory, Pessimism, Politicians, Television, Would You Rather | Leave a Comment
Tags: 38-Special, Bethel Park, Bruce Springsteen, Charlie Rose, Condileeza Rice, Dead Battery, iPod, John McCain, Pittsburgh, Republicans, The Allman Brothers, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, WDVE
On the Rainbow Room
In which The Gay Recluse writes metaphorically about life. Let’s say you were invited to a cocktail reception in the Rainbow Room, hosted by ____ and featuring a talk by _____, a political hero of yours who now works at a prestigious law firm. And even though it was a corporate event, which is never […]
Filed under: Dissonance, Government, Longing, Memory, Politicians, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Crab Cakes, Law Firms, Midtown Manhattan, Rockefeller Center, Suits, The Rainbow Room, Ties, Wine
In which The Gay Recluse documents the exceedingly beautiful ruins of Washington Heights. Location: Audubon Terrace Address: Broadway between 155th and 156th Streets Remarks: Of all the exceedingly beautiful ruins in Washington Heights, perhaps none is more heartbreaking than Audubon Terrace. Not quite dead, it is like a great whale stranded on a beach; as […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Decay, Government, New York City, Politicians, Resignation, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: American Geographical Society, Anna Hyatt Huntington, Archer Milton Huntington, Audubon Terrace, Beaux Arts, Dominican Neighborhoods, The American Academy of Arts and Letters, The American Numismatic Society, The Hispanic Society, The Museum of the American Indian, The Smiths, Washington Heights
In which The Gay Recluse ponders a sampling of recent search terms used to find the very pages you are now reading. Note: All search terms listed are in the exact form provided by WordPress.com, which is the host (at least for a while) of this blog. Hyperlinks to relevant posts included. Search: disaster + […]
Filed under: Architecture, Gay, Politicians, Search, Stereotypes, Technology, The Gay Recluse, The Times, Writers-American, Writers-French | Leave a Comment
Tags: Andrew Sullivan, Baudelaire, Bully, Cascadilla, Cornell, Cuties, Daniel Jones, Dead City, Disaster Footage, Don McLean, ESPN, Fiction, Gay Bears, Gaydar, Herbert Muschamp, Huckabee, Modern Love, Pottery, Spacemen 3, Spleen, Suicide, sweeties, Terry Bradshaw, Toothpaste
Yesterday as we approached Ft. Tryon Park for our weekly promenade in Washington Heights‘ most beautiful cliff-side heather garden, we were confronted by a small regiment of bagpipe players, apparently rehearsing for an upcoming event. We sat for a few minutes on one of the adjacent benches and observed these maneuvers, in which the band […]
Filed under: Government, New York City, Politicians, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: 2008 Presidential Campaign, Bagpipes, Bette Midler, Ft. Tryon Park, Heather Gardens, Parade Maneuvers
Recently we arranged a visit to the doctor, who in frantic tones described the many maladies he had encountered just that morning in his other patients. “One young man just contracted ____, which means he will probably not live more than _____; meanwhile the drugs I prescribed for Ms. _____are not exactly helping with the […]
Filed under: Capitalism, History, Politicians, Sickness, Writers-French | Leave a Comment
Tags: Baudelaire, Medicine, Spleen, Symbolism, United States
To our dear friends, the realtors and developers of Washington Heights: thank you so much for inviting us to your delightful open house! As happy as we were to learn that you had bought the vacant “shell” on St. Nicholas and 157th Street for $1 (and don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone about the $500k […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Gentrification, New York City, Politicians, Washington Heights | 1 Comment
Tags: Developers, Flipping Out, Graft, HPD, Jeff Lewis, Price Gauging, Real Estate, Realtors
It already seems years away, those hours spent sweeping up the golden leaves of the European white birch, which 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. And […]
Filed under: Decay, Memory, Politicians, The Autumn Garden, The Gay Recluse, Travel, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Betula Pendula, European White Birch, Gardens, Italy, Travel, Venice, Wisteria
On Norma
Yesterday — what luck! — a final dress rehearsal for Norma at the Metropolitan Opera. The first thing we note, incredibly enough, is that the audience on average is even older than the one into which we immersed ourselves the other night at Aida. Can you imagine it? What a rare oasis from capitalism! How […]
Filed under: Good Rock, Longing, Opera, Pessimism, Politicians | Leave a Comment
Tags: , Bellini, Bernard Kerik, Dolora Zajick, Hasmik Papian, Hillary Clinton, Huma Abedin, Norma, Rudy Giuliani, The Metropolitan Opera, The Odyssey
Is there any doubt that one did not lead directly to the other, that our collective misery in Bush’s incapable but malevolent hands is only slightly more extreme than it was twenty years ago when we were in the same situation with Reagan? Those who defend Reagan but criticize Bush display a disregard of history […]
Filed under: Drivel, Gay, History, Philosophers, Politicians, Writers-French | Leave a Comment
Tags: Andrew Sullivan, Arthur Schopenhauer, George W. Bush, Jean-Jaques Rousseau, Ronald Reagan
As part of our ongoing series this primary season, we met with Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, who came all the way up to Washington Heights to discuss one of his favorite topics: correct service for the formal and informal table. —————————– The Gay Recluse: Rudy, as mayor you were associated with a hard-nosed approach […]
Filed under: Drag Queens, Politicians, The Autumn Garden, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Abortion, Gay, Giuliani, Guns, Interviews, NYC, Right To Marry, Washington Heights
Poets, pundits, philosophers and politicians, take note! This is not the story of nations or other one-hit wonders, nor is it the story of religion, for which so many millions have died in futile anger and delusion. It is certainly not the history of capital, although this too has been a scourge; no, friends, these […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Infrastructure, Obsession, Philosophers, Poets, Politicians | Leave a Comment
Tags: Capital, Civilization, History, Meat Puppets II, Nationalism, Religion, The Cannanes, The City, Walter Benjamin
The Gay Recluse 