To be fair, I was hard on the life of the sexless straight man this morning, so let us also consider the horrible, sad breakups of the gays, regarding which you should really watch this slideshow about the semi-dissolution of property just as a gay marriage is aborted. The wedding became an awkward party! And their breakup is very diffuse! One gay was mad at the other gay about his blog? And they were both being "mean" to each other? I don't know....
There's a postscript to the article, without more clarity about the breakup but definitely of interest, which is to be found on Bradford Shellhammer's blog, about why they participated with the Times in this documentation of their property and their breakup. There, he makes the "army of lovers" point, nobly, about their country house: "Hopefully, sometime sooner than later, Ben and his friends and me and my friends and his boyfriend and my boyfriend can all come together for a weekend there."
Christ. Who the hell has time for sex?
"Despite breaking up, Bradford Shellhammer (in hat at left) and Benjamin Dixon still own their carefully decorated house."
Because straight people just strap a paint can on a mule,set its on fire, and hope for the best.
ugh, its tail. coffee.
Your new targeted advertising is scaring me: I'm being pitched (ha!) Atlantis cruises by tanned, buff Speedo-clad geighs.
It's asking me if my man is gay.
and? spill.
Not to my knowledge, but if you read about him on Bradford's blog drop me a line.
As for Benford:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GluCM_ggMvw
I can't believe how much money stuff the Times pulled out of these folks. I feel as if they're desperate to sell stuff, and this is the invite to an upcoming tag sale.
But they promised to wait until December 09 to sell it...
True, but they'll have these pretty pix to refer potential buyers to til then. ..
I thought they were just kind of fabulously forthcoming. I enjoyed this overall! Also it made me sad.
Interesting. Their relationship seems to have been an item in the inventory. It's all part of the same showcase.
It's just so hard for me to get past that Cary Tennis hat. I mean, it's one thing to wear a bitty chapeau when it's just family and friends and you're worried about skin cancer. But deliberately styling yourself with that thing while there's a photographer snapping away: to me that just screams "arch." And not in the good way.
That said, it's nice that they're trying to break it off like adults. Though, that said, breaking it off like adults might more successfully be accomplished without having a slideshow in the Style section haunting you.
It was sad. I felt like I was watching two guys who lacked the emotional skills to sort their problems out. But also, to date Bradford Shellhammer and imagine he's going to not blog about your life together is ...I mean, that's like dating Phillip Roth and saying "I'm not your next novel!"
"Carefully decorated house" = painfully self-conscious makeover. And that front garden is so bleak, someone should be demoted to bisexual.
If Ben gets demoted, I'm all in!
Oh, also I AM JEALOUS. Where is my beautiful upstate house and condo, please?
underneath that housing bubble over there, to your left.
Sounds like they put a lot of forethought into getting married. Way to prove all those gay marriage opponents wrong!
I hate to sound like that aunt everyone has (you know the one), but it sounds like they spent a lot of time thinking about the wedding, and very little time thinking about the marriage.
I think they should have had Wham's "Everything She Wants" playing under the slideshow. Especially this bit:
How could you settle for a boy like me/
When all I could see was the end of the week/
All the things we sign/
And the things we buy/
Ain't gonna keep us together/
It's just a matter of time.
On so many levels, I find this intriguing and fascinating. Like, not just how did they have a party after breaking up or how they could bare themselves to the NY Times and the world, but little questions. Like, THE OHSOCUTE HAT??? The GREEN PANTS??? And don't get me started on the front yard.
It's like the triumph of style over substance, only without the triumph part.
Yeah.
I heart your commenter name, meanwhile.
"Mr. Dixon felt increasingly alienated by his partner’s need to post the details of their lives on line." While I can see how this hobby might make certain men mighty uncomfortable, this doesn't fall under the traditional fault grounds for divorce. Unless you count the oblique "confinement in prison". A blog can be a lonely prison!
All the worlds a stage and we are but furniture on it.