30 September 2006

once more, with feeling!!!

so it's my second night in my new apartment in brooklyn with my roommate Tony and his girlfriend, Molly. It's still early but things are going pretty well. I've been working my ass off lately and it feels good to cut the check for rent and have a place to call my own to which i enjoy returning. I learned much from my previous situation.
The place is located in Clinton Hill directly across from Pratt. It's a three floor brownstore with more living space and a larger bathroom in a great artsy neighborhood.

it will be nice when we have it fully furnised. It's not Cornelia, but it sure is nice to have a place that I can call home.



unstoppable combination
smoldering timber
scented air
so long to friendship
that could have been
and a collaboration
that never was

25 September 2006

what a son wants

today, randomly my mom called me and we talked.

long story short she expressed how proud she was of my successes in modeling. she has started a scrapbook - i never would have thought she would have done that. plus, she has been spreading the world of what's been going on with me with our family and friends - my mom is the type of person who gets you a xmas gift of something she heard you say in passing 6 months prior. she's pretty ontop of her stuff. - that conversation, combined with some opportunities that have presented themselves lately - i feel like i have all the support i need to blast off.

Basically, if you aren't beside me - your best course of action at this point is to step aside of my path.

21 September 2006

a quarter the king i used to be and HALF THE KING I NEED


"Could you come in tomorrow for a trial run?" the soft, yet authoritative voice said over the phone."Great, seeya at five. I'm Sinead"

The phone call came abruptly. Interrupting a deep ponder as I sat on the khaki suede couch in Mark's apartment. To what did I just obligate myself? A bus boy? Sure I have done bussing - I just didn't consider it so. Working with Premier, the party staffing company, I didn't realized the skills I had amassed over the last couple months. Dan R. is the one who hooked me up with the job through his friend Jesse.

I took the job without hesitation. I met Axel and Reuben who schooled me on everything bussing and running food. Axel gave me a lowdown on the table layout and in no time i was passing food and cleaning tables. My excitement comes from the fact that this job has such a warm family like atmosphere. People genuinely enjoy each other and the days pass. Plus, I wan to learn how to bar tend. The Half King offers plenty of room for me to build to that position. I realize it's my second day, but I feel like I am going to like it there.

After work I checked my messages: one from Joseph De Acetis (JD) for lunch plans next week, the other Vinny from Premiere. It's always nice when I get calls from Vinny or Marc - I need the work to keep coming in. A new job, a new roommate, a new place in brooklyn, new modeling gigs to follow up on. After 4 hectic months, I feel like things may begin to settle.

The Half KING - cast of characters:
the oligarchs
Sinead - the GM aka where the buck stops
Adina
Amy

The Host(esses)
Sarah
Kendrick - the other black dude
Ebony - the newbie

Servers
Michelle - a spunking brit
Annaline - the cute punk rockker girl
Nick D. - hardcore band dude
Keith
Demora - formerly known as JamieLynn
Cat - the sweetheart
Laura
Shannon

Bussers/Runners
Reuben - The Runner
Axel - The Busser
Adam

The KitStaff
Greg - the Cheif
Pedro - first cheifs assitant
Reyes - the right hand to the cheifs assitant
Fernando - the delivery master

17 September 2006

brotherhood is dead

it's all come full circle. i remember as a freshmen i would read emails on the fraternity email list of disgruntled seniors or recent alumni. I can't count how many times i told myself i wouldn't let that happen to me. i would be different. knowing in the back of my mind those same brothers were probably once just as enthusiasic about the fraternity as i was when they were fresh iniates.

over the year, brother's who happened to be friends by association developed into friends who just happened to be my frat brothers. our friendship was not solely defined by our pledge but was just reinforced. the eternal bond just added another layer.

as the years progressed i slowly started seing myself turn into those same brothers i told myself i would never become. but living in the real world and just growing out of the scene, i realized that the fraternity was no longer the center of my universe.

still, trying to prove a point, i stuck with the idiom of the fraternity - almost blindly.

no longer do i blanket my frat brothers as friends. over the years, there are quite a few i don't even like as people - which was not the case for the guys who came before me. we sacrificed something in the quest to become a top house. you can't both have and eat the cake - so maybe that is the other lesson in life the fraternity has taught. there is always give and take.

i do no deny that the fraternity had a profound impact on my life - and i wouldn't trade the experiences for the world.

at the same time, it's time - just as i removed my ear piercings - i stop waving the banner on high, let the letters drop, and move on.

i'll just take the friends and the memories with me.

amici...

07 September 2006

busy day [developing]

I exit 630 Fifth Avenue aka Rockefeller Center bluffly excusing people to either side of my path. haulted at w54th by easterly traffic, i took a moment to check my blackberry. 11:58am. The adrenaline rushing through my body was enough to suffuse my body in sweat, however not enough to allow me to ignore the acute pain emanating from my right heel begged me to stop. No go!. "I will not be late, I will not be late!" was my inner mantra as I negotiated stopping to adjust my sock, thinking it would at least spare the third layer of exposed flesh.
12:00pm. I dash through the doors that also access my former employer's offices to the doorman, hungrily signing in. After a short exchange, the doorman and I come to the agreement I am at the wrong entrance. FUCK! I rush around the block, through the myriad of teenage girls, there moms, grandmas,....and a couple guys salivating over the anf shirtless greeter. I survive the airport-strict security check to make it to the Playboy Magazine floor.
I was greeted by the receptionist that I have offerend names and received "hold please" for transfer so many times it pratically equated to a full conversation. 12:06pm. I took my seek in the main lobby and waited for Joseph to emerge. The new issue of Playboy Magazine jumped from the table and grabbed my attention reminiscent of grandma's cheek grab. I eyed it for a second. Contemplated interaction. Doooooit, dooooooit, dooooooooo--
"Hehey, Warner!!", Joseph's voice from the corridor adjacent to the receptionist booth. "Hoooowaareeyouu?!"
We walked around the corner and immediately sat down and surveyed NOBU's menu.
The conversation over sushi gravitated around career goals and aspirations with a occasional insert of background information.

[future installments to come]
the call from chantelle
peter brown, photographer
last minute change of plans, courtesy of Vinny

for now, i leave you with a quote:
"You don't talk with your mouth full. I'm impressed. You don't how many people - businessmen, my age - yap at me with a full mouth. It's shows your mother raised you well!"


. Joseph De Acetis, Fashion Director of Playboy Magazine, at lunch

04 September 2006

ramblings before bed

well, i painted the apartmet with tony yesterday. we are supposed to sign the lease sometime tomorrow. he was supposed to call me to help finish painting but i donno what happened with that.

i will be moving into my apartment very slowly since i will be transferring everything by train. which means i will be taking a load at a time.

a passport is necessary for the flight attendant job, so i have to make sure i have it in time.

last night i hung out with giggles, zloto, henok, and putterman - a close friend of mike tomsky, and unbeknownst to me, roommates with a high schoolmate, chad. small world. It was good times as we hung out at this bar on e13 & university pl - approciately named "Bar 13".

May gave me steve kyritz and brad spiegle's numbers. Brad called me back and we are supposed to be meeting up to catch up after the holiday. They are phi psi alums that i got to know because they visited a few times, mostly when I was a freshmen.

i'm hoping i can find the drawing of the caduceus i drew for my mom's necklace. she now wants matching earring and the jeweler needs me to adjust the drawing. If i can't find the hardcopy, which is somewhere, i will just have to redraw it.

i was going to write about something in particular but it has slipped my mind.

I'll leave you with this, a question i posed to a buddy of mine - Dave:
often times in life, you have to make sacrifices -give offerings to acquire what you desire.

I keep asking myself: "how much is too much and how much is not enough?"


jeezus, i need a job.

02 September 2006

I'm Kinda a Big deal - as a cater-waiter!

Brooklyn Liz and I went to the Flushing Meadows in Queens to watch the second round of the US Open today. After and extensive and through bag check which consisted of gatekeepers sifting through Liz's daybag, we took our seats and watched Roger Federer play Tim Henmen.

I was pretty out of it all day so I parted ways with Liz on the train back and set back to take a nap at 17 [CORNELIA] with intention to meet back up with her around 4p for a trip to the MoMA. When I came up from the 7 train at 6th ave and 42nd, I was transfixed by the tents going up for NY Fashion week begining on the 6th and running through the 15th. I noticed a vmail and after listening found myself back on the train skipping the nap to meet up with Matthew, the cousin of a buddy from UofM and my frat, Peter. Matthew is an expert in skin care and wanted to give me some tips - more on that in a later post.

Well, after that meeting, I was dead set on getting back to take my nap, when I received another call from one of my promotional agents, Chantel (promotions are the events where clients want good looking people to usually stand around and, well, look good.), she had a client who wanted to see me for a gig next week. So instead of heading crosstown, I started down to Gramercy.

So, while walking to the building to meet with the client, I called Liz to let her know I would meet up with her after the audition, which was fine since she had just finished dinner by then (this would be the last time I talk to liz for the day, Sorry Liz, as you see, things got crazy). As I was hanging up with her, Vinnie from Premier was calling m because he misdated the information he sent me for a party he wanted me to work. So he wanted me to catch a train out to the party ASAP. I told him I had to go after the go-see and I would get to the train right after.

Well, I get there and after being ushered to the apartment, I am greeted by Peter Brown. Peter is a well established photographer who has shot many a supermodel, regularly has his work on the covers of rolling stone, v. fair and the like, and - well, you get the point. Unfortunately, he was looking for more of the A&F jock build (me four months ago) and less of the lean runway look (me now). Nonetheless, he talked to me for an extended time giving me tips on exercises and what I should do with my hair and such, and wants to stay in touch and help me develope my look more - which is an awesome resource to have. He even recognized me from model mayhem, which I guess shows more people are watching than I thought.

Meanwhile, I have my official site being developed my Kings & Kingdoms, a cool new design firm.

Keep checking www.warnerwashington.com for the debut of the official site - in the meantime, there is a temp site.
Let me know what you think, and don't be shy with the suggetions and comments!

I didn't make it to the Premier gig, I called and Andrea told me don't even bother coming. So, I was out two gigs. Sucks right?

Meanwhile, more and more caterers and people I know are calling and recommending me to each other. So, i'm making a name for myself as a cater-waiter. FUCK YEAH!

I also applied to be a flight attendant with jetblue airlines. more on that later.