In which The Gay Recluse exalts in the ruins of a scalloped pediment and self-referentially quotes an earlier post.
This is where John McCain will be staying when he comes to Washington Heights next week. Lol.
In Washington Heights we live among extremes of material decadence and breathtaking neglect, apparent in the crumbling cornices of Ft. Washington Avenue and eroding limestone facades of St. Nicholas, not to mention the tiled mosaics in the entrance foyers of the apartment palaces of upper Broadway — grand, tessellated spaces reminiscent of The Alhumbra — through which uncountable millions of apathetic feet have passed in the decades since their painstaking construction. Only here among the ruins can we permit ourselves the indulgence of a certain wistful nostalgia for the past, knowing it is one that we can never hope to regain.
–The Gay Recluse, September 2007
Filed under: Architecture, Decay, Infrastructure, Landscape, New York City, Ruins, Search, Sickness, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Dormers, John McCain, Pediments, Scalloped Pediments, Scallops, Windows
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge.
Step 1. The radar’s kickin.
Step 2. New Jersey goes insane.
Step 3. The bridge is serene.
I, too, have an obsession with the George Washington Bridge. However, mine involves a nagging compulsion to complete a football pass from the deck of the bridge to a buddy on the ground below.
Filed under: Architecture, GWB Project, New York City, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: Green Sky, Insane, The George Washington Bridge, Tornado Watch
In which The Gay Recluse succumbs to annuals.
Now that it’s cooled off a little, we’re starting to get some blooms. You could probably read a lot into that, and we’re not stopping you.
For a cheerful alternative to morning glories, give black-eyed Susan vine a try.
Filed under: GWB Project, The Gay Recluse, The Summer Garden, Washington Heights, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: Black-Eyed Susan Vines, Cool, Heat, Metaphors, Summer
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge.
Do you remember what the sky looked like on August 11? We don’t either, but this photograph has given us a clue.
“The George Washington Bridge over the Hudson is the most beautiful bridge in the world. Made of cables and steel beams, it gleams in the sky like a reversed arch. It is blessed. It is the only seat of grace in the disordered city. It is painted an aluminum color and, between water and sky, you see nothing but the bent cord supported by two steel towers. When your car moves up the ramp the two towers rise so high that it brings you happiness; their structure is so pure, so resolute, so regular that here, finally, steel architecture seems to laugh. The car reaches an unexpectedly wide apron; the second tower is very far away; innumerable vertical cables, gleaming against the sky, are suspended from the magisterial curve which swings down and then up. The rose-colored towers of New York appear, a vision whose harshness is mitigated by distance.”
– Le Corbusier, When the Cathedrals Were White, 1947.
Filed under: Architecture, GWB Project, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | 2 Comments
Tags: August 11, Clues, The George Washington Bridge
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with Japanese maples.
Hey there, Eskimo Sunset (Acer pseudoplatanus)! You’re actually a combination between a maple and a sycamore; we also read somewhere that you’re the most variegated plant in the world! As with all of our City Pattern Projects, we dream of the day that you are painted on the walls of offices and conference rooms throughout Manhattan.
Eskimo Sunset is a stunning maple! It’s spring leaves emerge orange-pink and settle into a leaf that is green splashed with cream and pink coloring. And incredibly the underside of the leaf is purple!
Filed under: Capitalism, City Pattern Project, Communism, The Gay Recluse, The Summer Garden | 1 Comment
Tags: Acer pseudoplatanus, Eskimo Sunset, Japanese Maple, Sycamore
In which The Gay Recluse goes for laffs. Sort of.
So get ready, this just in from our Albany Correspondent:
The framed statute is a hot gay statute: it is the pen (one of the pens) with which Gov. Pataki signed the Gay Rights Bill (SONDA for those in the know) back in 2002 and hangs proudly in my office. The other statutes in the waste basket are neither hot, nor gay.
Forget Pataki — we’re still in love with Paterson!
Yes, these are petty damn sad. Plus: Zzzzz. Let’s hope they recycled these seriously unhot and not-even-gay statutes!
Thanks, Albany Correspondent! You’re seriously making the best of it up there. (We wish every other city could say the same!)
- Rules and Guidelines
- Dan Savage Endorsement
- Washington Heights (New York City)
- Washington, DC
- The London Eye Clarifies an Important Issue
- Florence (Italy)
- The Park Avenue Amory (Upper East Side/NYC)
- Murray Hill (New York City)
- Madrid (Spain)
- Los Angeles
- Philadelphia
- The London Eye: “In Your Face”
- The J-Man Inspires
- George Washington
- Georgia (Republic of)
- New Orleans
- Columbus Circle (New York City)
- Two Davids (Florence)
- Franco Harris Statue (Pittsburgh)
- London Firefighters and Other Heroes
- Columbus Circle Mall (New York City)
- Miami
- Paris
- Grand Central Station (New York City)
- Albany, New York
- Chicago
Filed under: Gay, Government, Hot Gay Statues, Infrastructure, Politicians, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Albany, Hot Gay, Pataki, Paterson, SONDA, Statutes
In which The Gay Recluse holds a contest. Sort of.
Recently our friend Genghis Kuhn sent in the following, which we are quite pleased to share with readers impatient for the latest in HGS:
While this statue is from the (not free) Art Institute in the City of
the Big Shoulders, I (being but an impoverished and sketchy
student-type) viewed it on the museum’s weekly Free Thursday, so it
technically qualifies as being universally available. Hopefully, this
submission will convince readers of the existence of smokin’ gay
statues west of the Mississippi: thus far, there has been a shocking
dearth of representation, despite our region’s reputation for the
finest farm-grown beef.
The statue: the lion’s creepily man-like limbs + its…aggressively
hairy attention to the statue’s groin scream just one thing: a
sophisticated and eloquent allegory of a nasty bout of below-the-belt
beard burn. Shave, gentlemen!
So many excellent points are made here that we can only vigororously nod our head in agreement and say: let the games begin. Or continue. Whatevs.
Thanks, Genghis — this is indeed hot smokin’ hot — you have so redeemed the Midwest (or at least a little).
The Hot Gay Statue Contest Roundup:
- Rules and Guidelines
- Dan Savage Endorsement
- Washington Heights (New York City)
- Washington, DC
- The London Eye Clarifies an Important Issue
- Florence (Italy)
- The Park Avenue Amory (Upper East Side/NYC)
- Murray Hill (New York City)
- Madrid (Spain)
- Los Angeles
- Philadelphia
- The London Eye: “In Your Face”
- The J-Man Inspires
- George Washington
- Georgia (Republic of)
- New Orleans
- Columbus Circle (New York City)
- Two Davids (Florence)
- Franco Harris Statue (Pittsburgh)
- London Firefighters and Other Heroes
- Columbus Circle Mall (New York City)
- Miami
- Paris
- Grand Central Station (New York City)
- Albany, New York
Filed under: Architecture, Gay, Hot Gay Statues, Not Every Cat a Lolcat, The Gay Recluse | 2 Comments
Tags: Art Institute of Chicago, Beard Burns, Big Shoulders, Chicago, Hot Gay Statues, Lions, Not Every Cat is a Lolcat
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge.
Actually, this was yesterday. (We were so much younger then, we’re older than that now.)
I, too, have an obsession with the George Washington Bridge. However, mine involves a nagging compulsion to complete a football pass from the deck of the bridge to a buddy on the ground below.
Filed under: Addiction, Architecture, Bad Rock, Good Rock, GWB Project, Infrastructure, Memory, New York City, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: August, Football, Reverse Bob Dylan, The George Washington Bridge
In which our correspondent Robert Representative reports on women’s beach volleyball.
Hey TGR: I’ve been silent about volleyball, and here we are at last. I don’t
know if you want to clog up your site with traffic (what blogger
would?), but here is something to consider adding:
The websites for our favorite half-naked porn-athletes (pornthletes?):
http://www.mistymay.com/may/index
http://www.kerriwalsh.com/
Perhaps they could be scoured for hints of how, behind the lingering
hugs, they must absolutely hate each other. Unfortunately, Walsh’s
site may not be updated for the games. Whatever.
Thanks, Robert. As you know, we are traffic whores, so this kind of report is always appreciated! Plus, our inner lesbian tells us that these ladies look hot! And but srsly, what are the guy pornthletes wearing this year?
Filed under: Communism, Competitions, The Gay Recluse | Leave a Comment
Tags: Beach Volleyball, Kerri Walsh, Misty May, Pornthletes, Traffic Whores
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge.
Clear skies. (Are the Olympics over yet?)
I too had an obsession with the GWB when I lived in the Heights in the ’80s. Mine was doing as much cruising as possible under that majestic bridge. The “little red lighthouse” was used for a probably unintended use on many an occasion.
Filed under: Architecture, GWB Project, New York City, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights, Weather | Leave a Comment
Tags: August, Clear Skies, Olympics, The George Washington Bridge, The Little Red Lighthouse
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge.
“The George Washington Bridge over the Hudson is the most beautiful bridge in the world. Made of cables and steel beams, it gleams in the sky like a reversed arch. It is blessed. It is the only seat of grace in the disordered city. It is painted an aluminum color and, between water and sky, you see nothing but the bent cord supported by two steel towers. When your car moves up the ramp the two towers rise so high that it brings you happiness; their structure is so pure, so resolute, so regular that here, finally, steel architecture seems to laugh. The car reaches an unexpectedly wide apron; the second tower is very far away; innumerable vertical cables, gleaming against the sky, are suspended from the magisterial curve which swings down and then up. The rose-colored towers of New York appear, a vision whose harshness is mitigated by distance.”
– Le Corbusier, When the Cathedrals Were White, 1947.
Filed under: Architecture, GWB Project, The Gay Recluse, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: August, Clouds, Sunsets, The George Washington Bridge
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 is flat.
It was exceedingly hot and after taking all those pictures we were exhausted.
Suddenly we wanted to be flat!
Then we felt a lot better.
Filed under: Drivel, Gay, Health, Landscape, The Gay Recluse, Weather | 2 Comments
Tags: Flat, Heat, Parables, Parking Lots
In which The Gay Recluse enjoys the fruits of his labor.
Spread the word, Alex! No pesticides and seedless, too!
GR:s last posts proves my argument even further, it’s all about ATTENTION, AH THE SWEET ATTENTION! Is it worth hurting other “normal” gay men and women by spreading out the overly proud super-queer stereotype for the 15 minutes of fame you get?
Commenter Alex, July 28, 2008
Filed under: Conspiracy, Drivel, Small Pleasure Project, The Gay Recluse, The Summer Garden, Washington Heights | Leave a Comment
Tags: Alex, Grapes, Vines, Water, Wine
In which The Gay Recluse visits a friend’s garden.
“[O]ne can never satisfy the animal urge to escape, since from the chaos of one’s soul there is no place to escape to.”
Peter Nadas, A Book of Memories
Filed under: GWB Project, Quotes, The Gay Recluse, Travel, Writers-Hungarian | Leave a Comment
Tags: Escapes, Hummingbirds, Peter Nadas, Souls
In which The Gay Recluse incurs the wrath of Stephanie.
Remember how we took on Milan Kundera for writing homophobic blather in The Curtain, his highly acclaimed book of essays about the art of novel-writing? In which he says that Albertine was “killed” for him when he learned that the Proust character was based on a man? If not, you can read about it here and here.
But guess what: someone named Stephanie who is affiliated with an important university is really upset that we would tarnish the image of such a great writer!
Srsly, what’s up with that?
Did anyone else who read The Curtain have the same reaction as us?
Or is it true — as per Rational Man (Comment #62) — that we are “dwelling on unimportant crap that has no impact on anyone, at least not deeply”?
Ha ha, kill The Gay Recluse!
Filed under: Drivel, Letters, Sickness, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, Writers-French | 4 Comments
Tags: Anger, Homophobia, Milan Kundera, The Curtain, Unimportant Crap
In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with the George Washington Bridge.
According to Stephen, when the sky turns green like this (about half way up on the right) in Michigan, it’s time to head for the basement.
“The George Washington Bridge over the Hudson is the most beautiful bridge in the world. Made of cables and steel beams, it gleams in the sky like a reversed arch. It is blessed. It is the only seat of grace in the disordered city. It is painted an aluminum color and, between water and sky, you see nothing but the bent cord supported by two steel towers. When your car moves up the ramp the two towers rise so high that it brings you happiness; their structure is so pure, so resolute, so regular that here, finally, steel architecture seems to laugh. The car reaches an unexpectedly wide apron; the second tower is very far away; innumerable vertical cables, gleaming against the sky, are suspended from the magisterial curve which swings down and then up. The rose-colored towers of New York appear, a vision whose harshness is mitigated by distance.”
– Le Corbusier, When the Cathedrals Were White, 1947.
Filed under: Architecture, GWB Project, The Gay Recluse, Weather | 3 Comments
Tags: Le Corbusier, The George Washington Bridge, Tornados
In which Dante and Zephyr take over The Gay Recluse.
Friends! Not every cat is a lolcat!
Filed under: Animals, Not Every Cat a Lolcat, Stereotypes, The Gay Recluse, The Russian Blue | Leave a Comment
Tags: Assistants, Cats, Friends, Lolcats
In which The Gay Recluse reports on monthly traffic whoring metrix to the Board of Directors.
I. Summary
The month of July was our third best on record, and despite some anemic posting marked our entrance into the Technorati Top 100,000! OMG, when you find out why, you’ll understand why we were such total traffic whores! In short, the stock of The Gay Recluse continues to rise.
II. Traffic Whoring Metrix
WordPress
Total Views July: 12,519
Grand Total Number of Views: 80,847
Monthly Breakdown
- September: 68
- October: 1959
- November: 3528
- December: 3112
- January: 4591
- February: 6545
- March: 15,033
- April: 13,957
- May: 8995
- June: 10,540
- July: 12,519
SiteMeter
July Visitors: 9061
July Page Views: 12,388
Monthly Traffic Whoring Charts
Daily Traffic Whoring Charts
Technorati (As of July 31, 2008)
Whoring Rank: 91,512 (up from 104,744)
Whoring Authority: 74 (up from 63)
III. Feed Stats
Feedburner
59 subscribers (up from 54)
Bloglines
10 subscribers (unchanged)
IV. Major Links*
- Neigborhood Watch: WaHi Scaffolding Mishap (July 14) Curbed
- Nike Ad Gets Queer Jeers (July 22) Queerty
- That Ain’t Right, Nike (July 22) Towleroad
- That Ain’t Right, Nike (July 22) JoeMyGod
- Does Nike Hate Gays, or Do Gays Hate Basketball? (July 22) Gawker
- New NIke Ads: Homophobic or Dunking? (July 22) Radar
- NIke Yanking Anti-Gay Ads (July 28) Queerty
- Learning A Lesson: Five Ads That Died for Their Sins (July 28) Gawker
*After last month’s traffic whoring report, we received the following letter from a concerned reader:
Do you ever worry that your traffic whoring reports make your readers feel a bit used and less cherished? Your last post made me feel a bit like the transitional boyfriend/girlfriend who will be dumped when the next best person or venue comes along.
To which we would like to respond: Aww, that’s so sweet! Please don’t feel less cherished, concerned reader, but instead take a stroll through this site — I-am-a-stupidfuckingidiot.com — which sent us literally thousands of visitors, and you will perhaps understand why we are so proud to call ourselves traffic whores. Or just scan through the comments here.
V. Forecast
Because of ongoing projects, posting and traffic whoring will be maintained at low to declining levels into September, but will pick up in the fall, in time for the one-year anniversary of the site.
Filed under: Architecture, Capitalism, Sickness, The Gay Recluse, Traffic | Leave a Comment
Tags: Board Reports, July, Traffic Whoring
In which The Gay Recluse is increasingly obsessed with trees.
Of all the French photographers who documented Paris at the turn of the last century (and we don’t mean 8 years ago), we are most obsessed with Eugene Atget. Who can resist his urban streetscapes, his ghostly renderings of the city of light? And his trees — such grandeur and endless striving from these magnificent roots!
–The Gay Recluse, February 17, 2008
Filed under: Photography, The Gay Recluse, Travel | 1 Comment
Tags: Eugene Atget, Roots, Trees
The Gay Recluse 