History will have us believe that Thanksgiving celebrates the first successful harvest after Native Americans helped Pilgrims acclimate to the new world. The “natives” introduced Pilgrims to corn, game, and tobacco, while the Pilgrims bartered with gun powder, whiskey, and syphilis. It’s hard to say who got the better deal. I like to imagine that gay Pilgrims were intrigued by the Americans’ toned bodies, darling beads and headbands, and leather ensembles, while the latter admired the former’s sensible style, including felt hats and patent leather shoes that put form before function. Regardless, they came together on that special day to give thanks for what the earth had given them, and express hope that it would carry them through the winter.
The end of the harvest: what better metaphor to describe this time of year for dating in New York? We spend the summer carelessly tossing seed and sowing our oats wherever we can, wantonly checking here and there to see if anything will grow. The traditional fields: bars, clubs, mixers, and parties, are then fallow; the real cash crops are all being cultivated on Fire Island or other summer getaway locales. So we wait for the heat to fade, the Labor Day parties to die down, and for our schedules to return to normal. Our phonebooks filled with one night stands, or summer crushes, now seem to taunt us with loneliness.
But even before the summer warmth truly fades, the urban routine and back to school sales shake us into reality. Autumn has arrived, and it feels like a new beginning. A new “semester” has begun and new opportunities for love begin to grow. As crops spring up around us, we take time to survey our options. The new transplants, or students in the New York soil, are often not developed enough, and won’t repot into relationships very well, so it’s often best to let them grow, weather the winter and succeeding seasons to see if they eventually mature. More… »
RED CARPET SEASON for the book world is in full swing. Think horn-rimmed eyewear and sensible shoes in place of Balenciaga gowns and vintage Van Cleef. Even amidst economic woes—or even because of said woes—checks and statues alike are being tossed out to a ravenous hoard of writers from the balconies of the world’s finest foundations and trusts. Here’s a brief overview* of winners with clues about why they matter (or don’t).
