Archive for the ‘The Gay Recluse’ Category

In which The Gay Recluse again laments the suffocation of the gay voice in American literature. If you’re like us, when you scanned through the list of books included in New York Magazine‘s recent “New York City Canon 1968-2008,” you had one reaction: wtf! where are the gays? In every other format, gays are represented […]


In which The Gay Recluse is graced by our most cantankerous correspondent, The Blind Architect. Today, in response to our recent post on shipwrecks in Washington Heights, we received the following report from The Blind Architect: [A]s usual, any noteworthy thing you can find in Washington Heights has already been done to death in the real Manhattan a few miles […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. Bob Herbert/A Different Kind of Election The Short Version: Even racist Democrats might vote for Obama given how much they hate Bush! In his words: “The table is set for the Democrats.” Score: B- (Basic) Nothing here to disagree with, but nothing you haven’t heard […]


In which The Gay Recluse ponders random acts of beauty garbage. So yesterday we wrote about a giant-tote-bag-and-broken-sawhorse installation on 35th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues. Today we are happy to report that not only has the installation survived, but that it has grown! This is facing west. We like the way the new […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinions in The Times. Paul Krugman/Grains Gone Wild The Short Version: Add soaring costs of food to the list of ways in which we are completely fucked. In his words: “Oh, and in case you’re wondering: all the remaining presidential contenders are terrible on this issue.” Score: D+ […]


In which The Gay Recluse admires random acts of beauty garbage. If you’re like us, you’ve long wondered what would happen if you took the world’s largest (and Con Edison branded!) tote, propped it open with a broken sawhorse and left it for a week on 35th Street and 5th Avenue. Would anyone move it? […]


In which The Gay Recluse photographs shipwrecks lining the Hudson north of the George Washington Bridge. Time and date of photographs: March 30, 2008 (afternoon) As usual, there were those who did not survive the winter. We tend to look at the wreckage with some disdain: “That could never happen to us!” Yet! There is […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Frank Rich/Tet Happened, and No One Cared The Short Version: McCain is a big fucking idiot. In his words: “The sum total of his public record suggests that he could well prolong the war for another century — not because he’s the crazed […]


In which The Gay Recluse updates his informal but rather telling quantitative analysis of Modern Love, the weekly Style Section (of The Times) column in which openly gay writers almost never appear, and even less frequently describe a romantic relationship. This week’s piece: When The Chutney’s Gone Subject: A very frightening woman describes a soulless […]


In which The Gay Recluse provides a gay alternative to this week’s Modern Love offering in The Times. Those looking for our quantitative analysis should click here. When The Chutney’s Gone (or Before I Came Out as a Lesbian, I Was the Worst Kind of Scary Sadshaw) By SUZANNE FINNAMORE and THE GAY RECLUSE Published: […]


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, […]


In which The Gay Recluse holds a contest. Sort of. Today reader Will wrote with the following update: I was just in New Orleans and got some more photos for your Hottest Gay Statues contest. They’re from the Mardi Gras World museum (http://www.mardigrasworld.com/). Laissez les bons temps rouler! Let’s see what New Orleans has to […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Paul Krugman/Voodoo Health Economics The Short Version: The Maverick is an idiot. In her words: “[T]he McCain health plan — actually a set of bullet points on the campaign’s Web site — is entirely based on blind faith that competition among private insurers […]


In which The Gay Recluse rather quickly gets lung cancer. Time and date of photographs: March 26, 10am (ish). [We would have posted earlier but had a backlog of hot gay statues to attend to. (Plus we had to go to Pittsburgh for the weekend for a celebration.)] We’ve repeatedly documented the monstrous plumes of […]


In which The Gay Recluse rather quickly gets lung cancer. Time and date of photographs: April 2, 2008, 7pm (ish) Although the worst offender seems to have abated after we called 311 a few weeks ago, there are regular emissions of nasty-looking black smoke from almost all of the rooftops. At least when it gets […]


In which The Gay Recluse contemplates an uncommissioned masterpiece from the walls of an uptown subway station. Consider the old panels on the subway platform wall, and observe the finely wrought precision with which each strip of peeling paint has by the hands of time been distressed in the subtlest shades of gold and silver, […]


In which Deirdre’s Terrain checks in with The Gay Recluse. Today we received this startling news report and follow-up analysis from our Manhattan correspondent Deirdre’s Terrain: ieeww I hate people who post picts & videos of their KIDS at the beach taking a bath etc etc… playing with their iPhone.. YUCK! why do parents post […]


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 […]


In which The Gay Recluse contemplates human conception from a safe distance. Today we introduce our newest correspondent The Jessica Watch, who has expressed a willingness to satisfy our admittedly perverse voyeuristic impulses and keep us apprised as she moves ever closer to having a kid. TJW reports: I just had a barrage of tests, […]


In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times. Gail Collins/A Black Hole Rating System The Short Version: Well, these are not exactly the best of times. In her words: “Let’s prioritize. Rank all your causes for concern on a scale of: ! (unfortunate development) to !!!!! (Large Hadron Collider has a […]