Archive for the ‘Washington Heights’ Category
On March Light for Spring Phlox
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the spring garden. Though undeniably bright, there is a stark quality to the March sun that makes the phlox (and the sempervivum) seem — oddly — both luminous and bedraggled. The silver veins of the surrounding rocks add to this quality, and for a second I […]
Filed under: Dissonance, Dream, Landscape, New York City, The Spring Garden, Washington Heights, Weather | 1 Comment
Tags: Labyrinth, March, Phlox, Queens, Riverdale, Sempervivum
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with spring. The Weeping Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens ‘the blues’) is one of the bluest of conifers. Blue conifers are true beauties. –Andy Warhol
Filed under: GWB Project, Quotes, The Spring Garden, The Winter Garden, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Andy Warhol, Blue Conifers, Colorado Blue Spruce, Picea Pungens
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge. There is a pastel hue to the sky today that I haven’t seen since ____, which makes me think that summer is approaching. It reminds me of the sky I saw not too long ago in Vienna, although there the tones were […]
Filed under: Architecture, GWB Project, Washington Heights, Weather | 3 Comments
Tags: Foreshadowing, Pastels, Summer, The George Washington Bridge, Vienna
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge. It’s often said that as you get older, time moves faster. This is undoubtedly true, except for when it moves more slowly than it once did. I’m reading a book by Richard Rorty,* who — unlike Plato/Kant/Schopenhauer/Freud/Jung — argues that there is […]
Filed under: Architecture, GWB Project, Health, Washington Heights, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: Dark, Light, Literary Criticism, Richard Rorty, Truth
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with bamboo. We planted bamboo a few years ago in a cement planter we constructed along the back of our garden. The concept is that it’ll grow about 100 feet tall and block out the apartment buildings behind us. It’s also hardy to Zone 4, which means […]
Filed under: City Pattern Project, Gay, The Winter Garden, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Bamboo, Laughter, Snow, Views, Zone 4
In which The Gay Recluse wins an Oscar. Recently we learned from US Magazine that “[a] few weeks after signing the lease on a $60 million Long Island mansion, [Angelina Jolie], 33, was spotted checking out a nice building in Manhattan’s uptown Washington Heights neighborhood Tuesday afternoon.” It makes us wonder how it came about […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Communism, Conspiracy, Decay, Film, Gentrification, Resignation, Ruins, Search, Washington Heights | 25 Comments
Tags: Anjelina Jolie, Ghosts, Real Estate, Shopping, US Magazine
In which The Gay Recluse watches teevee. There are times when we cannot believe how long we’ve been alive, and concurrently, how long — assuming a regular life span — we still have to go. Though admittedly it’s a thought that most often arrives during an afternoon meeting at work, it also crosses our mind […]
Filed under: Conspiracy, Decay, Dissonance, Dream, Drivel, Landscape, Ruins, Search, Sickness, The Winter Garden, Washington Heights, Weather | 6 Comments
Tags: Cats, Depression, Fears, February, Layoff, Meetings, Recession, Snow, Tedium, Teevee, Work
On the Wahi Knockbusters Report: Why Did the City Tear Down Our Only Luxury Condominium Development?
In which The Gay Recluse remembers 2k6. In this weekend’s City Section of The Times, we learned that the city recently tore down the only luxury condominium development in Washington Heights, located on an undeveloped patch of land under the George Washington Bridge overpass. Nestled in the trees and rock formations, the site had promised […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Conspiracy, Gentrification, Infrastructure, Knockbusters, Landscape, The Times, Washington Heights | 4 Comments
Tags: City Section, Columbia Medical, Hooverville, Luxury Condominiums, The George Washington Bridge
In which The Gay Recluse ponders Junot Diaz and the purpose of novels. Today we finished The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. For obv reasons — namely, the book won every award last year — our expectations were high, and but for the most part were met. In case we’re only the second-to-last […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Decay, Dream, Literature, Pessimism, Washington Heights, Writers-American | 3 Comments
Tags: Dictators, Entertainment, Junot Diaz, Novels, Oscar Wao, Rafael Trujillo, Truth
On the George Washington Breathing Project: Good Steam Versus Bad Steam Edition (Includes Roundup!)
In which The Gay Recluse rather quickly dies of lung cancer. Some winter mornings, we wake up and consider the rooftops of Washington Heights, where — thanks to the sumptuous pre-war architecture, the expansive breadth of the Hudson and the gentle rise of the Palisades — we are charmed by the wisps of steam that […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, GWB Project, Health, Pessimism, Politicians, Science, Technology, Washington Heights | 1 Comment
Tags: Asthma, Boilers, Ghettos, Lung Cancer, Slumlords, Smoke
In which The Gay Recluse goes abroad. We’ve always loved stencils (especially of Andy Warhol), so when we were in Vienna, we spent a lot of time checking out the graffiti stencils. Some of it was maybe really cute? Except does anyone know what this means, or why this girl is laughing, or why 2×3=4? […]
Filed under: Architecture, Dissonance, Graffiti, Infrastructure, Landscape, Politicians, Stereotypes, Travel, Washington Heights | 1 Comment
Tags: Pippi Longstocking
On Les Vacances
In which The Gay Recluse goes abroad. Dear readers, we are off to “the Europe” through New Year’s, and so will not be posting here until 2009. During this time, we encourage you to read (gay) novels, watch Visconti, take long walks in Washington Heights and send us as many smokin’ hot statues as you […]
Filed under: Animals, Science, Technology, Travel, Video, Washington Heights | 1 Comment
In which The Gay Recluse maybe becomes slightly more technically adept. Yesterday we took some footage of the snowstorm — or actually the aftermath — and made two vidoes with commentary. We had some technical diffs, though, so wanted to post them again in case anyway tried to click through and was harshly rebuffed! 1) […]
Filed under: Architecture, Subway, Technology, The Winter Garden, Video, Washington Heights, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: Housekeeping, Snowstorms, Technical Diffs, Vlogging
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with birds (and vlogs about it). Today we decided to go on a walk with our video camera. The streets were slushy and frozen after the snow; the magic of the previous night had dissipated with the sullen day. We trudged along, not really thinking about anything […]
Filed under: Animals, Gay, Graffiti, New York City, Traffic, Video, Washington Heights, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: Birds, Geese, Snow, Vlogging, Walks
In which The Gay Recluse vlogs. It’s been almost a year since we posted any video, but we decided to give it another shot: after all, we now have a Powerbook, which we were planning to use for all sorts of clever and witty entertainment. As you’ll see, we still have a long way to […]
Filed under: Obsession, Technology, The Winter Garden, Video, Washington Heights, Weather | 2 Comments
Tags: December, Ice, Snow, Trees, Vlogging
In which The Gay Recluse writes a book report. Just as the snow began, we finished Among Other Things, I’ve Taken Up Smoking, a 2007 debut novel by Aoibheann Sweeney. The book is about a girl — Miranda — who grows up with her father on a tiny island off the coast of Maine; her […]
Filed under: Gay, History, Literature, New York City, Washington Heights, Writers-American | 2 Comments
Tags: Aoibheann Sweeney, Gay Voice, Ovid, Shakespeare, Snow, Virginia Woolf, Willa Cather
In which The Gay Recluse reads a book of signs. One strange thing about growing up in Pittsburgh was that even before we lived anywhere else, we used to say that it — i.e., Pittsburgh — was haunted. But when people would ask us why, we were at a loss to explain: either you got […]
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Communism, Disease, Dissonance, Dream, Faith, Knockbusters, Landscape, Obsession, The Times, Washington Heights | 4 Comments
Tags: Books, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Signs Project, Pop Culture, Signs, Walter Benjamin
In which The Gay Recluse holds a competition. Sort of. Remember how we said that one good reason to move to Washington Heights is that it’s home to the hottest gay statues? While this remains undoubtedly true, we have some groundbreaking news for our gay lady friends! This just in from Reader Roberta: Hi TGR, […]
Filed under: Capitalism, Gay, Hot Gay Statues, New York City, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Hot Lesbian Statues, Lady Couples, Lesbians, Tight Jeans
In which The Gay Recluse considers a southern exposure. Admittedly, we have often cursed the apartment buildings that face the southern side of our garden. In addition to casting a shadow, they are sometimes the source of crushingly loud (and bad) music and garbage thrown from their windows. Also, it’s hard to escape the feeling […]
Filed under: Capitalism, City Pattern Project, Communism, Conspiracy, History, Knockbusters, Washington Heights, Weather | 1 Comment
Tags: Apartment Buildings, Clotheslines, Gardens, Hate, Shadows, Southern Exposures, Sun, Urban vistas
The Gay Recluse 
On Some Thoughts on Milk (Reader Comments)
In which The Gay Recluse turns to the mail bag. Chances are if you’re geigh, you’ve heard about this movie called MILK! You might even feel guilty if, like us, you haven’t gone to see it yet because you’re gay and it’s about someone who’s gay and you should be eternally grateful that Hollywood would deign […]
Filed under: Film, Gay, Letters, Politicians, Washington Heights | 3 Comments
Tags: Comments, Dark Ages, David Letterman, Ghettos, Homophobia, Milk, Polvo, Rage