Archive for the ‘Resignation’ Category
In which The Gay Recluse needs a nap. We’re not sure why, but this has been the longest week in history. The election, the economy, the daylight-savings extension: all of it has left us utterly exhausted. (Or maybe it was the ten beers we had last night?) Today when we couldn’t handle it anymore, we […]
Filed under: Addiction, City Pattern Project, Resignation | Leave a Comment
Tags: Blue, Posters, Yellow, Zoning Out
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with birds. Recently one of our oldest friends from high school got in touch. He moved to the city and found our address in the alumni directory. We haven’t seen him since our ten-year reunion, which was — ouch — twelve years ago. It’s strange how someone […]
Filed under: Animals, Architecture, Athletes, Competitions, Disease, Dissonance, GWB Project, Health, Longing, Memory, Resignation, Ruins | 2 Comments
Tags: Bastages, Birds, Demons, Friends, High school, Hockey, Junior Varsity, Varsity
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 reflects on those who died on 9/10 and 9/12. Every year on 9/11, our thoughts inevitably drift to those who died on 9/10 and 9/12. And whether their deaths were any more or less tragic than those so aggressively memorialized. Those who try to elevate themselves on the shoulders of […]
Filed under: Animals, Disease, Dissonance, Government, Longing, Quotes, Resignation | 3 Comments
Tags: 9/11, Death, Mozart
In which The Gay Recluse braces for the inevitable. This past week has been very depressing to us. You just get the feeling that the election is already slipping away. It’s not like we think Obama is going to save us or anything. But when was the last time we had a major candidate who […]
Filed under: Capitalism, City Pattern Project, Communism, Dissonance, Government, Landscape, Longing, Resignation | 2 Comments
Tags: Andy Warhol, God, Manhole Covers
In which Dante hates pigeons and windows. Friends! We are literally confronted by this thing we hate — we would kill it in a second if given even the slightest opportunity! — yet must resign ourselves to our inability to do anything about it. (Also: not every cat is a lolcat.)
Filed under: Animals, Not Every Cat a Lolcat, Resignation, The Gay Recluse, The Russian Blue | 2 Comments
Tags: Birds, Enemies, Lolcats, Not Every Cat a Lolcat, Pigeons, Schopenhauer
In which The Gay Recluse retreats to the summer garden. Remember that post we did on that stupid Nike ad? Huge traffic whores that we are, we immediately sent it to Queerty and Towleroad, and they picked it up. And then JoeMyGod and Gawker did pieces, too! And a bunch of other sites we never […]
Filed under: Addiction, Drivel, Gay, Language, Resignation, Ruins, Sickness, The Gay Recluse, The Summer Garden, Traffic | 5 Comments
Tags: Arthur C. Clarke, Feelings, Homophobia, Lilies, Lolz, Nike, Retirement, Traffic, Whores
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge. Sometimes even the bridge seems small and far away under the tumult of the sky; once crushed with regret and longing, we are inspired by its patience. The Gay Recluse is a pansy. It took him until he was fucking 31 to […]
Filed under: Architecture, Gay, Infrastructure, Longing, Resignation, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 2 Comments
Tags: Pansy, Sky, The George Washington Bridge, Tumult
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
On a Sudden Yet Completely Explicable Desire To Tell the Central Park Conservancy To Shut Up
In which The Gay Recluse asks The Central Park Conservancy to rethink its mailing-list purchases. So a few days ago we received a personal note from Douglas Blonsky, President, Central Park Conservancy and Central Park Administrator. Here it is, with our favorite excerpts! Dear Matthew: I imagine you treasure Central Park for the oasis that […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Conspiracy, Dissonance, Drivel, New York City, Resignation, Ruins, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 4 Comments
Tags: Central Park Conservancy, Douglas Blonsky, Fundraising
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with The George Washington Bridge. Time and date of photographs: June 6, 2008, sunset. Supposedly tomorrow’s going to be a thousand degrees. But the bridge doesn’t care: It looks great in any weather! Even though it hasn’t even arrived, we’re kind of dreading summer. We say that […]
Filed under: Architecture, GWB Project, Resignation, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights, Weather | 1 Comment
Tags: Dread, Heat, June, Spring, Summer, Sunsets, The George Washington Bridge
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 works in the garden. Time of Photographs: April 20, 2008, afternoon (ish) Today, a first in the garden! We heard an opera singer. She was doing scales in a nearby apartment. Her window was definitely open. She was loud! And she was struggling to hit her high notes. (She was […]
Filed under: Architecture, Memory, Opera, Resignation, Ruins, The Gay Recluse, The Spring Garden, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Frank Lloyd Wright, Garden Statues, Hinoki Cypress, Mezzo, Opera, Scottish Broom, Singing
In which The Gay Recluse provides a somewhat more pessimistic alternative to this week’s Modern Love offering in The Times. Those looking for our quantitative analysis should click here. By TORIE OSBORN and THE GAY RECLUSE Published: April 20, 2008 GAY marriage was never my issue — until I actually tried it. A little more […]
Filed under: Gay, Pessimism, Resignation, The Gay Recluse, The Times | 1 Comment
Tags: Daniel Jones, Gay Marriage, Gay Modern Love, The New York Times, Torie Osborn
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with The George Washington Bridge. Time and date of photographs: April 3, 2008, wheneverness. Work was difficult this week. It was hard to concentrate. Life felt very distant. We wished we could take a nap. Somehow it never ends. “I, too am obsessed with the George Washington Bridge, […]
Filed under: Dissonance, Dream, Gay, GWB Project, History, Photography, Quotes, Resignation, Ruins, Technology, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: George Washington Bridge, Sunsets, Work
In which The Gay Recluse is momentarily disturbed. Of all the natural vistas we have encountered — desert landscapes, arctic tundra, the badlands — the rooftops of Washington Heights remain one of the most tranquil and undisturbed. Originally carved from the bedrock some 10,000 years ago by the retreating glaciers, the surreal beauty of these […]
Filed under: Architecture, Conspiracy, Dissonance, Dream, Landscape, New York City, Resignation, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Artic Tundra, Badlands, Birds, Desert, Glaciers, Ice Age, Palisades, Rooftops
On Notes from a True Gay Recluse
In which The Gay Recluse corresponds with Harry, an 80-year-old autistic gay man. Herewith, for those who asked (and for those who did not): March 24: It is none my business to know, but! My curiosity is tweaked. Who are you? Have you posted something somewhere to give a more detailed bio? or do I […]
Filed under: Gay, Letters, Memory, Pessimism, Philosophers, Resignation, Ruins, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Asperger Syndrome, Autism, Birthdays, Cherry Grove, Fort Lauderdale, Gay, Gay Seniors, George Washington Bridge, Little Red Lighthouse, Riverside Drive, Saab
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with The George Washington Bridge. Time and date of photographs: April 1, 2008, 7:00 – 8:00 pm (ish). The sunset sky — even this tone of blue — is perhaps not as promising as we’d like to believe. (We think of someone we recently overheard describing her […]
Filed under: Architecture, Dream, GWB Project, Longing, Resignation, Ruins, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: April, George Washington Bridge, Sunsets, Waiting
In which The Gay Recluse turns forty. Today we received the following note from Harry, a reader in Washington Heights: Subj: YOU Mess: It is none my business to know, but! My curiosity is tweaked. Who are you? Have you posted something somewhere to give a more detailed bio? or do I have to continue […]
Filed under: Architecture, Decay, Dissonance, Gay, Landscape, New York City, Resignation, Ruins, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 1 Comment
Tags: Aries, Autism, Birthdays, Fort Tryon Park, Forty, Galaxie 500, Inwood Hill Park, Lampposts, The Minutemen, Upper Manhattan
The Gay Recluse 