The Adventures of War Torn Willy

GAWL DARNIT I FINALLY DID SOME RECORDING!

2010-01-22T01:22:00.000-05:00

This is a taste of what's to come.
Let me know what you thingk.

Here's my old blog entry.

Best Texts Ever? Probably.

2010-01-21T22:14:00.002-05:00

Meghan: Giiiiimme yer email puhlease?

Willy: willymuse@gmail.duhyouidiot

Meghan: Screw youuuu butthead. Whurts ian's email?

Willy: ianvens@gmail.areyoukiddingme

Meghan: Liiiisten willy.

Willy: zing zang zong you been zunked!

2009-12-24T21:12:00.001-05:00

Ohherro midwest.

2009-12-24T15:01:00.001-05:00

thirteen bucks for a slice of old pizza and a bottle of beer. I love airports.

2009-12-23T00:15:00.001-05:00

Dude with a tramp stamp. Twelve o'clock.

2009-12-15T12:56:00.001-05:00

Taxiing to my gate at jfk from heathrow. Oh boy do i have some stories for you.

2009-12-01T16:58:00.001-05:00

On my way to The Colbert Report. Can't wait to hear me and Ian's laughs on TV.

The Age of Exploration

2009-11-01T21:35:00.006-05:00

A lapse of judgment from more than one angle
Lets hungry arms just eat themselves instead
The task at large forgotten in a moment
The minuscule movement of the second hand

Well god forbid
I find someone
To keep up with this storm
Instead I find
The normal kind
That keeps me longing for more and more

One more minute till I fall in love
Two more hours before your mine
Three short days I'll spend under your spell
Four weeks rest assured I'll run and hide

Well god forbid
I find someone
To keep up with this flood
To finally find
The grace and guile
To flow over what is and was

This dissonance
Reminds me why
I keep to myself

Why I remain
A lonely fly
Trapped on the top shelf

Because Love will bring us together
And God will tear us apart
Love will bring us together
And God will tear us apart

When I call for the future
I'm greeted with the past
By my own rules and regulations
I know
That love can't last
Forever
Forever
There's so many things we haven't accounted for
Forever
Forever
Forever.

Just wrote this as fast as I could while my mind rambled it off. I'm sure I missed some in the moment but that's okay; I've come to terms with getting a decent percentage of what I've created. The song is done, I just really need to find some place/one that will let me or help me record. Its brutal to not have any equipment here.

Things are well, I really hope you are too.

Love always,

-Twelve Hearts Muse.

I would like to introduce you all to....

2009-10-11T19:19:00.003-04:00

eave it to me to make life more complicated.
The new companion to this blog.
Yes; I've made a tumblr.
And yes, you can find it HERE.
Don't worry, this one isn't going anywhere.
This is my place for words and updates;
that is my place for everything else.

If you forgot all of the aforementioned things, let me put them together.

wartornwilly.blogspot.com - where you are now
garibaldiromeo on tumblr - the new one i just mentioned
TJ LAZER on myspace - my music.
Twitter - garibaldiromeo
AIM - iamnotelizabeth

2009-10-02T15:16:00.001-04:00

So i've been making a print every night before bed. I'm going to try to keep up. So far so good. Pictures to follow / maybe I'll start a tumblr or somethin. W

Temporary Slowdown

2009-09-21T18:56:00.002-04:00

Now now, I know I went from nothing ever to fairly frequent and back to nothing but I HAVE REASONS!
Reason #1: The best weekend/week of my life happened a week ago. ATP NY 2009 Blew my mind so hard that I just don't know what to do anymore. There will of course be more commentary on this in the coming weeks but not now; WHICH brings us tooooo
Reason #2: MY MOM IS HERE! Anyone who knows me should know that this is reason enough to not get on the internet for as long as possible. We've already been everywhere and I don't know anyone else who's been able to get me so exhausted by 10pm in nyc to make me want to go to bed.
Things are going quite nicely I'd say.
Questions?
Concerns?
Does anyone even look at this?

Anyways, I'm off to eat food across the room with the ol' mamma jamma and then go watch the reverend and love choir play at union pool.
But srrsly, more to come soon. Pictures n junk.

LOVE ALWAYS,
TERRANCE GOODWEATHER

P.S. Every email I send at work I sign with a different name; this is one from a few weeks back that was so good I heard my boss giggle across the room. She told me I should make a book of them all. I'll think about it.

-JWGM

2009-09-07T15:49:00.001-04:00

So maybe, just maybe, me and Ian adopted bro sis kittens. They were found in a pipe a few weeks ago. I'd totz be jealous if I wasn't us.
-GaribaldiRomeo

TJ LAZER MAKES IT BIG!

2009-09-05T20:28:00.002-04:00

For the first time in EVER I've been featured on the interwebbings without my own promotion.

This french website puts up a monthly mixtape curated by my good friend Steph Lund.
I'm extremely happy and satisfied to finally be able to get my music out to the pseudo masses without mindless self promotion (aka myspace). Steph isn't one to put up just any music either; she's known to be quite specific about what music she will listen to and I'm honored to be the final track on a great playlist that gets 500+ downloads a month.

Find it HERE and let me know what you think.

The world falls apart as it seems to come together

The pools of dancing birds creating clouds of dusty feathers

If everything I knew at once became what I had never

I'd fill my mind with happy thoughts of cats and sunny weather

Four Seasons Reprise

2009-09-05T18:05:00.002-04:00

I know there's trouble
Brewing outside
My open window
Tonight

I know there's trouble
Brewing inside
My open mind
Tonight

So will I will I pass the test
How will I finish all the rest
I've already cheated a couple times
On the most important questions

So I'll put myself in the place
Where only the smoke can escape
And climb up towards the light
To the clean air on the other side

I know that spring is
Growing outside
my open window
Tonight

I know that summer's
Burning inside
My closed mind
Tonight

So will I fall between your lines
Or will I hit the edge this time
Well time is running thin
And my watch is all but working

So I'll put myself in the place
Where only the light can escape
My own black hole of problems
Where did all the money and time go

I know that autumn's
Falling outside
My open window
Tonight

I know that winter's
Freezing inside
my open mind
Tonight

So could I ever melt the snow
That's iced over all my windows
I'm finding it hard to believe
That "things will work out eventually"

Your disease flows over me
I'm trying to see through this broken screen
What terrible things these seasons bring
Torn bone from bone
I'm better off alone.

Hopefully this will be recorded soon
a video will accompany it; already brewing in my mind.

Love always,
Garibaldi Romeo.

uppydatey

2009-08-30T14:35:00.001-04:00

What a wild time.
Lots of news and lots of fun.

my new favorite hangout- Schwieger Household; nightly music hour. Teaching is the new black.

South Dakota is for lovers.

T'aint nothin' wrong with a little bump n grind (50s train diner)

OH
I'm still obsessed with timed photos
In order: 50's train diner, Some old trail through Wyoming

Now then; where was I....

Oh yes, I left you at 4th of July.

No, you're eyes do not deceive you; I was wearing the shortest shorts there. (BYE NORA HAVE FUN IN MINNEAPOLIS JERK(loveyou)!)

It really was a blast; even if my bike kept breaking and I had to watch the fireworks from the manhattan bridge. STILL AWESOME.

NEXT STORY
Awwww my Leesiaanna gals moved away (as did Paulie but I'll see him again duh). Sad to see them go; super solid gang o ladies.

Maybe one day I'll go to the south. Until then I'll just keep making up handshakes and emailing it to them.

NEXT UP
Nichole bought the coolest camera in the world. It's like a polaroid but takes tiny tiny photos that are delightful.
Have a taste:

A wonderful overview of several nights; here's a bigger taste.

zomg I love Gina; this is us switching photo faces.

NEXT
hokay I think that's all the tinypics (for now)
I know you're probly pissed cause I don't ever update it and when I do there's way too much stuff to ever be able to handle. GETOVERIT!

Dear Steph, you're awesome.

Dear Kristen, where are all of the cute pictures of us?!?

IN OTHER NEWS:

IIIIIII - Was on a boat:

Made some pillows:

Made some messes:

And traveled what felt like was across the globe:

In the words of Ian Vens; "Seacrest out."

I know there's trouble
brewing
outside
my open window
tonight

I know there's trouble
brewing
inside
my open mind
tonight

So will I will I pass the test
How will I finish all the rest
I've already cheated a couple times
On the most
Important questions

So I'll put myself in the place
Where only the smoke can escape
And climb up towards the light
Toward the clean air
On the other side.

If you pester them, they will come.

2009-07-03T12:16:00.001-04:00

So yes, I haven't updated this since last novemberish and I'M SORRY! School proceeded to get the best of me during my last semester and I haven't had a good chance to update anyone on anything.

SO
Let's start from near the beginning.

Ryry and Yulya at the Accademia end of semester art show
Yes, she is calling him a baby
Yes, she is giving a display of how/why.

Me and Ryguy at the show; sorry about the tiny pictures, its all I have.

WENT HOME :(
Then christmas came and went:

Then school came and went...

MOST NOTABLY; THE NEVERENDS
Years ago me and Mike Meyer started a wonderful little band.
This year, we got decent at playing music.
and my god was it a blast.
The DSM Social Club, Papa's Corner, The Vaudeville Mews, Peoples Court, The M-Shop, Elephungeon, you name it we played there this semester.

Lets see what else.....
OH I modeled in the fashion show hahaha

I graduated:

I met a wonderful laaaaaaaaady :)

And then I moved to nyc...
ON THE WAY
I decided to stop in Idaho; ya know cause it was right there..

And then I kissed the rest of the US goodbye and moved as far east as I could go without being in Maine's Mitten.

Needless to say I've made some amazing friends and had some amazing times. I wish I would take more pictures but relying on other people to do it seems to work just fine.

Birthday party in upstate new york:

Yes, there was a massive slip n slide.

And yes, they are swim trunks; netting and everything.

And in more recent news, just some great times.
A mix of shows, bars, work, sleep, food, and plenty of other things has made my life wonderful. I'd give you a more intense update but I've got laundry to do.

OH YEAH AND I GOT A BIKE (thanks brice)

Thats all for now; I promise to be less shady about it. Time to eat some food and get ready for festivities tomorrow. I'll bring my camera, I promise.

I never thought it'd be so easy
to climb right out of my shell
to grab your leg up through those clouds
and drag you with me down to hell
I never claimed to be the leader
of this group you call your friends
but who will be there honey
oh who will be there in the end

I know I know, it's been two and a half months... I'M A VERY BUSY PERSON!

2008-11-23T16:16:00.001-05:00

People have came and people have gone.
I'm almost done with this crazy adventure and soon enough I'll be back to where things are decently priced and I can go to the grocery store whenever the hell I please.

Mom's here; she leaves tomorrow.
We just got back from Venice: holy damn that place is amazing. I wouldn't want to have spent any more time there then we did (just under two days) but the time spent was quite nice.

Again, here's some pictures to tie you over until I have a big enough computer screen to arrange things properly.

I became obsessed with using camera timers when Mom was here. We have lots and lots of examples:

Inside Florence Cathedral

On The Bridge of Four Seasons

In the "JJ Cathedral" bar

St Marks cathedral in Venice

The Venetian Guggenheim front porch

Needless to say I'm satisfied.

Art History class has proven to be a hotbed of lyrical inspirations tossed out by our crazy teacher Rolph. Here's some examples:

"If you'll excuse the way I look astray
You'll find the desire I contract
I see right through this muddy water
I know I want what I can't have

You still place her high up like a god
Her modest feelings held within
The rapture with this classical style
With a few drinks we all fall out of our skin"

"Six billion years of people
With one place to hold them all
The suburbs are sprawling, the parking lots filled
But we're runnin' out of clouds"

"And she whispered
   Forget what you've been taught
   Forget what you've learned
   Allow your mind to be reborn

And I screamed
   Well I forgot it all
   Every single word
   All that I thought I'd ever known

She stole my soul."

Just some little licks that I can't wait to sing with theneverends when I get home.

See you all soon... Very soon.

Listen here europe...

2008-09-05T16:35:00.005-04:00

I miss New York.

Well, we made it.
After 15 days and 13 countries, we've made it .

Switzerland - Zurich
France - Paris
Belgium (in transit)
The Netherlands - Amsterdam
Germany - Berlin
Poland - Warsaw
Slovakia (in transit)
Czech Republic - Prague
Austria - Vienna
Hungary - Budapest
Croatia - (in transit)
Slovenia - (in transit)
Italy - Venice, Florence

School starts on monday, I'm taking: Advanced tailoring, Industrial Knitwear, History of Italian Renaissance Art, Batiking, and Screenprinting.

OhBoyI'mSorry.

2008-07-21T19:40:00.011-04:00

I get it.
It's been a while.
Quit your bitchin and just read up.

So I've been busy workin and junk and jazz and crap.
All the time All the time.
Since I switched to knits I've started working a lot more.
Most of my time is spent at work working (obviously). My time spent outside of work is spent mostly with Kristy. I've been outside of the city a few times now, and every time I took the train up north to Kristy's home town of Newburgh. As I read the wikipedia article, the only thing I could notice was the example of "urban blight" next to a picture of a dilapidated building. Turns out it was much better than that and not too scary. Oh and her family is pretty amazing as well.

Lots of crazy stuff all over and I dont have the time or internet speed to update you on everything.
Call me if you have questions gawl darnit!

As I've lost my place into what I've been writing about this whole time (and since I'm 21 days overdue to write a new post) I'll just leave you with a group of pictures that sums up what I've been doing for the last month or so. Right.. Now to the pictures.

Week Four: A Trial In Plausability.

2008-07-02T17:50:00.005-04:00

I left you on Saturday night, an exhausting trek into the bowels of Brooklyn.

Sunday: The day of days, a nice lazy lay around for a lonnng day. I made lunch around noon and proceeded to freak out my roommates.

I've never had a stove with a middle burner, and it kind of confuses me as to why it is needed, but thats besides the point; I used it, and I turned it the wrong way to turn it off. It stayed on the lowest setting for a good 6 hours before it was noticed by one of my roomies who proceeded to call me and tell me "you just can't do something like that!"

Burner:

Stove from a few feet away with the burner on:

I replied with a few things, here's a quick rundown of our conversation:

"Did you use the stove today?"

"yeaahh...?"

"Did you leave it on?"

"I don't think so...?"

"Well it was on and that's not ok."

"Really? Shit, I'm sorry, I must have accidentally turned it the wrong way when I went to turn it off"

"This is serious, you can't do something like that!"

"Right, but you have to understand that it was an accident and I would never MEAN to do something like that."

"But it happened and that's not alright!"

"It's true, but I didn't notice and you guys didn't even notice when you were in the kitchen earlier."

"Well we weren't the ones that left the stove on so how were we supposed to know!"

"I get it, is there any way I can fix the situation?"

"You left the stove on and it could have ended really badly!"

"Yes, we have come to that conclusion; now what do you want me to do about it?"

"Forget it, bye!"

I felt really bad about how I had been sassy back to her when I had in fact left the stove on by accident so I called her back about ten minutes later. The same thing ensued even after I assured her that it was an accident and that I felt bad for what I had done and how I had talked to her. More anger, more sass, another quick "Fine Bye."

I really do feel bad about it, but she couldn't seem to grasp that: Yes, I had left a fire on in the apartment, but that I had also left the smallest fire possible in the only place in the apartment that it was okay to have a fire.

Anyways, between all of this, I had dinner with Jonathan and Whitney at a really cool sushi place in between our apartments. The first call had come while we were eating, which is why it had so much sass from my end. The second call was while I was walking home and reflecting with myself on the first call and I felt really bad.

So Sunday was finished with a nice walk home, a wordless entry into the apartment that I had no key to, and sleep.

Mooondayyyy: Work as usual, funfun like always. Katie returned from her trip to our mills in Italy but Brice was still gone from the weekend before. About half way through the day I received this from one of my roommates:

"hey willy.

We have been discussing a few things and are thinking that maybe our living styles are a little too different for a roommate situation. Sometimes people just can't live together:-p We didnt even know if we could live together but I think we knew each other well enough to have a better idea about it. We understand it takes some time to find somewhere else and that is ok. We just think that instead of august first, maybe you could look for something a little sooner. I hope you understand!

gluck!!

mary and emily"

yup. an email.
ohwell, i was kind of in the way anyways as their place was tiny and i didn't have keys.

So when I got off work I just started walking north.

A few good phone conversations with a few good pals later and I found myself in central park for the first time.

After a loooong walk and a little bit of sit n read, I made my way to the subway and went home for the last night in Brooklyn. Packed up everything. Sleep.

I'm fallin behind, but I need sleep and i'm tryin to shorten these up a bit.
soon darlin,
soon.

Deep blue sea, darlin on the deep deep blue sea
Deep blue sea, darlin on the deep deep blue sea
It was Mother
She got drowned out in that deep blue sea

Dig his grave, darlin with a silver spade
Dig his grave, darlin with a silver spade
It was brother
He got drowned out in that deep blue sea

Drop him down, darlin with a golden chain
Drop him down, darlin with a golden chain
It was daddy
He got drowned out in that deep blue sea

Another Week, a Few More Blaergs: Pert Too

2008-06-28T14:38:00.003-04:00

Well guys, I'm really sorry. I've been suuuper busy doing everything ever and I'm havin a difficult time finding adequate time to update youuu.

Aaaanyways, I left you all on Tuesday night when I met the arizonians and the darling little lady named Kristy.

Wednesday: Work work work, talked to Anthony about life in New York after I'm done with school; sounds promising. Read in Union Square waitin for Kristy to get off work, it started raining so I read in a bus stop for an hour or so. Walked around to where she works, not far from where I do. We took a small tour of parks near where we were in Manhattan, it was quite a good time. Met up with Scottie the wildcat in SoHo and tried to go to a few bars. I'm a total party pooper and kept gettin kicked outt as I'm still only 20. We ended up just getting some tall boys and hangin out at Kristy's apartment on St. Marks all night. Home at 4:30AM and sleep.

Thursday: Work, lunch with Kristy, Anthony and Jack had me go upstairs and took a few photos of me as I was a candidate for the October Tribeca catalog; I don't think I made it in, but it was still a good time. Laundry, all of it. Sleep.

Friday: oh friday, where do I start. Work as usual. Mailed out all the postcards I had written/colored so far. If you haven't gotten one and would like to receive one, you gotsa give me your address or else they wont come. Andy Devries found me in Union Square, totally crazy. Met up with Ian, went to the spoonbill bookstore with Jamie and her roommate to find a book Ian had lost, met the gang at the Alligator Lounge for a beer and a pizza. Everyone else went to somethin in Manhattan, me and Ian went to McCarren park pool to watch Go Go Bordello, didn't want to buy tickets so: went to a little shop, bought tall boys of colts, and found the perfect seat in a tree outside the pool to watch and drink. It was wonderful to say the least, and we had quite a blast getting a little tipsy in a treetop (don't worry, we weren't that high up in the tree(and didn't drink that many beers)). Started raining when we got back to the subway stop, called Scottie and met up with him in the East Village. Met a pal of his and we went to gayyy barrrssss. Boots and Saddle; best gaybar ever. Gay gay gay fun fun fun. Ian left, Scott, Me, and his pal went up to his place around the corner and hung out for a bit. Got his roommate, went down to a bar around the corner for last call and went back up to their place. Went up to the roof and hung out for a few hours. Beautiful skyline of Manhattan with the sun rising behind it; quite the surreal experience. Home at 7:30 AM; sleep.

Saturday: still quite tired from the prior nights outings, I made my way to Coney Island for the mermaid parade. That shit was caraaazzyyy. Beautiful beautiful floats and outfits, lots of random things mixed in.

Sat on the beach for a while, first steps in the Atlantic.

Kristen from work invited me to a rooftop party in Red Hook. Great time, met lots of great people there, along with a few jerks but who's counting. First ride in a car since moving to New York, crazy guy in a van that knew what he was doing per se. It was fun, and I had a great night.

More soon, I promise. Stuff do do, people to meet, places to go.
Hope all is well,
JWGM.<3

Another Week, a Few More Blaergs: Pert Won

2008-06-22T13:20:00.006-04:00

Ohboy.
So what I've learned from this site is that its reaaally hard to make a blog with a tiny computer and that its easier to make a bunch of small ones that one reaaaaaally big one.
That being said; welcome to week three of my 7 month adventure.

Before I start I want to indulge you with a little poem that I read every morning(ish) on the subway. Every day it makes a little bit more sense.
E.B. White
Here is New York
1948

"There are roughly three New Yorks. There is, first, the New York of the man or woman who was born there, who takes the city for granted and accepts its size, its turbulence as natural and inevitable. Second, there is the New York of the commuter--the city that is devoured by locusts each day and spat out each night. Third, there is New York of the person who was born somewhere else and came to New York in quest of something. Commuters give the city its tidal restlessness, natives give it solidity and continuity, but the settlers give it passion."

There is more to it than this, but that is what is on the subway on an ad for a museum or something. It's definitely starting to hit home for me. You should look up the poem and read the whole thing, its kind of crazy how well he predicts the future from 1948 to now.
http://grammar.about.com/od/shortpassagesforanalysis/a/ebwnycpass07.htm

So Anyways, I left you on Sunday afternoon right before I went to the yard again for another incarnation of Sunday's Best. I met up with Johnathan and Whitney there, had a few beers, danced a bit, and left. We got a bite to eat at a really good burger joint on 5th ave and I headed home.
Sleep.

Monday: Work; Katie (my boss) left on Sunday for London and Italy to go to our shirt and tie mills so it was just me and Brice. A family friend of his died over the weekend so he had to go back sometime during the week so he spent a lot of time thinking of what I could do for the week. He gave me a list of things to do over the week on Monday morning: I got 95% of it done on Monday; Hahaha. I made a board of tie patterns and stripes for Fall 09 and then a board for prints for boxers for fall as well. Then, I proceeded to give style numbers to all of the shirts for next summer and all of the boxers as well as color codes for all of them. All of this was done before I left on Monday. Needless to say Brice was baffled.
After work, Ian and I went to this weird little shop called Mooji and bought some office supplyish stuff, I got a tiny binder to keep my work in along with some paper that fits in it and a weekly booklet so I can keep up with myself and remember all the shit I do while I'm away.
Grey Dog for coffee with Ian and Lydia and home to sleep.

Tuesday was a great day. Work as usual, finished up putting numbers into a database for what I did on Monday, coffee at Grey Dog, Ian met me there. Went to dinner at another crazy japonese place on St. Marks, delicious. I had to get a set of keys from my roommates who were both at the same bar and I was gonna go there anyways, guy asks for my id so I get the keys and me and Ian walk a few blocks. Ian reaaaaaaaally had to use the bathroom so we went into this bar called Max Fisch, it was amazing. I get a beer while he's in the bathroom and we end up staying there all night. This night deserves a whole blog of its own to describe how great it was but between meeting crazy kids from Arizona, an adorable girl that I thought was dating a kid and figured out she wasn't so I gave her my number and now we hang out every day, and a group of married women buying me beers; that night was wonderful. Home finally and sleep.

I was gonna finish the week, but its late: tomorrow comes the end.

I will leave you with a few things; one thing that I find depressing about all of this is that I dont have a single musical instrument with me and I have yet to find one to use temporarily. I've still been writing sometimes and I wish I had a guitar so I could sing but ohwell.

"And with the feet of birds
I love the way your words
Roll off your tongue with such a subtle
Sense
Of urgency

I love the way you need
No one else to breathe
I don't know where your feet will walk
But I
Will pave the road."

A Week In Review.

2008-06-15T14:22:00.007-04:00

Sorry these are so few and far between, I've been quite busybusy.

Today marks my two week anniversary of entering the bowels of New York. 1/5 complete with this leg of the race.
I guess I'll just go in order; I hope I remember everything.

I left you all on Sunday, when the heat was unbearable and we had no air conditioning. Since then, we have gotten two small window units, one for the front and one for the back. They help, but it still hasn't gotten under 80 degrees in my futon space.

Later on Sunday, Ian and I met up with Rahmani and we went to a great little get together that happens every Sunday (I might head out there in a little bit).

After that there was an "after party" at this crazy little bar with great wallpaper so we went as it was free. Spent a while there and went home to sleep and prepare for another week of work.

Monday was a great day, I went to work like any other and had a good time there like always. After work, I was walking to my coffee shop when I saw some bearded/mustached dudes with music equipment hailing a cab. I could tell they weren't from New York because of the way they were incessantly staring at me. I took it upon myself to initiate conversation with a "nice amp." Which was followed closely by a return of "nice mustache." I stopped and chatted for a minute while they were loading their junk into the taxi and picked up that they were a small folk country band from Saskatoon Canada and that they were playing a show at a tiny dive bar later that night.
I took their card and continued on to my coffee shop to get my daily huge cheap iced coffee and a smile from the plethora of good looking people that work there. I decided to find the place that they said they were playing at so that I wouldn't be lost when I tried to find it at nine. I found it finally and kept walking, picking up a few slices of pizza on the way and spilling grease all over my bag and shirt, ohwell. After walking aimlessly in the super heat I found a bench a few blocks from the bar and sat and read for an hour or so. Finally it was close enough for me to go and not feel awkward, luckily I showed up before happy hour was over. The guys were there and they didn't know anyone (neither did I of course) so I hung out with them. They gave me a few cd's and we chatted for a while until they were prompted to start setting up. Since I had been talking and sitting so closely with the band before the show even got close to starting, everyone that worked there assumed I was either in the band or was with them personally which was nice; A few super cheap beers. The other perk was that once things got going, the woman who booked the show marked the table I was sitting at as reserved but didn't make me move. I was immediately immersed in some close friends of the bar and their conversations. The band that I had met were great, and after that the house band played (playing lead guitar was the guitarist that is touring with Jacob Dylan) they were amazing. The music was great, the people were alright, and I had a great time. I ended up hanging out there until 1:30 or so and found my way to a subway stop and made it back home. I think I'll go again tomorrow.

Tuesday.... hmm, feels fairly normal in memory. Ohwait, Tuesday was a blast. Tuesday me and Brice (my coworker for shirts, ties, and loungewear) got to go shopping all day all over Manhattan. We went to 20+ different stores. It was blistering hot. We walked the whole time. Fashion in New York is quite hit or miss, before coming here I never knew how ridiculous the spectrum really was. Even at Barney's, the only thing we could find was one good linen tie, nothing else that would ever be good to rip off or even inspire us. There's so much shit to sift through that it really gets hard to find anything good. After that big department store we went to only tiny places and it was a blast, lots of amazing things that I would love to own but that I could never afford (at least right now). One place that was amazing was a place called Earnest Sewn in SoHo that was reaaaaally great but everything was expensive. I wanted so badly to try on some jeans but the fact that they were between 350 and 500 dollars made me not want to even be tempted to buy them. Before we left the girl gave me a card for a sample sale that was later in the week, more on that to come.
Finally we got to the office (we started at 10ish and didn't get into the office until 5:45) and finished up what needed to be done there and I went home. My feet were sore and my body was exhausted.

Wednesday... I really cant remember, hopefully im not forgetting something good, though I assume all I did was go to work, read in the park, and then go home as I was still tired from Tuesday's outing.

Thursday was a good time, work as usual and then hung out with the ISU kids at a bar called the Alligator Lounge where you get a free pizza when you buy a beer. Dinner and Brooklyn brew in the same place is fine by me. We then all went to a really great bookstore called spoonbill and I got to pet my first cats since I moved here, something I've really been missing. Then home and to bed, nothing too grand.

Friday was good. Summer Fridays are amazing, I got off around 1:15 and immediately went to the Earnest Sewn sample sale where I purchased my first pair of 400$ jeans for 75$. So comfy and they fit so well. I then proceeded to walk around the meat packing district (where the sample sale was) for a while as I had nothing better to do. Found a tiny salvation army and bought a few ties that I'll take to work next week for inspiration, but nothing else good. Walked back to Union Square like usual and read under a tree until around 4 when Ian came and met me after he got off work. We sat and people watched as usual, which is always fun and something that you can do at any time on any day here. I finished the book I was reading which is always nice.
Ian leaned into the mulch and managed to get a thorn stuck in his hand, how nice of them to leave those in there.

Ian had to work at 6 so we left around 5:15, but before we left Ian made a tiny note for a cute girl reading Catch 22 near us:

oh Ian.

I then went to my coffee shop to chit chat with my newest friend; a 35 year old beautiful woman who just moved to New York from LA. There has yet to be a dull moment in our conversation so spare time spent with her is always great. I got my usual iced coffee and started reading a book that by coincidence she had just started as well. I managed to stop in the exact place she had while going to work that day; we have yet to have a loss of moments like this. She is great.
I met up with the ISU gang again after that, heading to Ali's place; a dorm room at new school. Ali, Dylan, Lydia, and I all met up there before they went out.
Lydia and I, being the only ones still under 21, got a bottle of wine and took the Staten Island ferry. It was beautiful and free. When we got to the other side we ran to the other dock to the returning ferry and took that one right back. Subway home and sleep.

Saturday was fun as well, lazy lazy all day as it got rainier and rainier. At nine I ventured out to an art space called the Galapagos. It was a beautiful place. I met Jessica there and we enjoyed some free music including a band that one of her coworkers was in. A good time; I came home, made some mac and cheese, and passed out to some Conan on Hulu.

And now today. Lazy Sunday, I've been typing this for quite a while. At 5 is a free show with some free beer that I was invited to at another store we visited on Tuesday. Not sure if I'll make it or not, hopefully but I won't know anyone there. Hasn't stopped me in the past so we'll see.
Hope all is well.
-JWGM

Calf Liver and Chicken Skins

2008-06-08T17:53:00.006-04:00

Dear mona, quit bitchin about me not updating this.
I HAVE A JOB LADY!
anyways, shit here is great, my first weekend in new york has been fun filled and all that good stuff.
Friday: Got off work around 2:30, got a huge iced coffee from my favorite coffee shop called the grey dog and started walking west.

I managed to find some water, finally.
This is chelsea pier. This is a pseudo-graveyard of a dock; the first thing I saw when I got to the end of the road. It was a weird neighborhood, a mixup of super ritzy yachtesque restaurants and things with some tiny art stores and run down buildings in between.

I headed north for a bit and turned inland.

Streetart in new york is only getting better the more I explore and this day was no exception.

This one had me staring for a good five minutes, it was probably 7 feet tall and quite intricate.

This one was huge too; on top of building on the side of another, it reminded me all to much of schmelliot, I hope he reads this (and by that I mean he'd better read this or ill never forgive him).

I walked past a cute little park where a birthday party was happening, as I drooled with jealousy over the copious amounts of pizza they had I noticed the two furry figures in front of me getting ready a little too close to the party.

Generic plain colored monsters are sweet.

I kept walking for another hour or so until I got back to my Manhattan home of Union Square. I usually just sit on the steps and watch people but this time it was too hot to sit in the sun so I found myself a nice little tree to sit against and read under the shade.

One of my favorite parts of a huge city city like new york is that all of the animals are so used to people that they become interested in anything. Since I got here I've developed a method to get squirrels (particularly this gray one in union square). By throwing small objects closer and closer to yourself they become increasingly curious to what you could hold in the end. This squirrel quickly picked up on it to the point where he came up and started hitting my hand because he wanted whatever was inside. I snapped this picture and scared the shit out of him, but I'm sure hes still there waiting for me to return.

I then met up with Ian and we ended up going out to some friends that he met since he got here and had a good time in bed stye.

Saturday came and went as fast as any other day, I went to lunch at the grey dog again where I usually just get coffee but decided that I should sit so I waited for Ian there and colored some naked dude postcards while we both ate and drank things.
We then met up with some Iowa State gals at a shitty little street vendor fair where we found nothing worthwhile.

We all got on the subway and headed for a flea market in the theater district. I got some tie clips and some masonic cufflinks (with matching tie clip((ps its probably against masonic code for these to be out of the hands of a mason so even better.))) Oh and the last thing I got is a gold money clip that has a pocket knife and file built into the side with a horse head sillhouette on the front and below it is engraved "be a good guy". #1 find 08 for sure.

I ended up going home and layin around for a while (it was 95 every day this weekend and its sposed to be 97 tomorrow). Eventually I went over to Jonathan Rhamani's place and we had a few drinks before we hopped on a train into Manhattan to go eat some crazy food.

The place we were goin was closed so we decided to walk to another place ~15 blocks away that he really liked.

We found the devil's workplace on the way.
Seriously, it was bleak and unmarked and looked (as far as I know) exactly as hell would.

We found the place and it was wonderful. We had a bunch of crazy shit, some raw bluefin tuna, some calf liver, some duck, some chicken skin skewers, some rice patties wrapped in seaweed filled with mayo and salmon, and a bunch of random stuff. Needless to say it tired me out (partly because we got there at 1AM) so I went home and passed out. Well, not really passed out as much as rolled around in my own sweat for 12 hours. Horrrrrrrribnbljknsdlfnljsdfiiibbblllleeee.

Today was fun, I just walked around brooklyn for houuuuuurrs. Found a few good things (including the super hero supply store that mom told me about) and bought a bunch of drinks on the way.
Love you all.
Miss you more.

Ohps.

Today is the greatest moment in 3319 history: I found pizzatown.
The myth, the legend; it exists not just in our hearts, but also in brooklyn.

<3
John William Garibaldi Muse.

more i guess

2008-06-04T21:18:00.008-04:00

Des Moines: Pre-Departure. Completely exhausted.
No sleep + Sayin bye to mom makes JWGM uncomfortable.

Boston is odd. So many accents, so little mind.

"home"

Trip to Threadtex (one of our mills) with Brice to discuss the fabrics we wanted made for our summer 09 lightweight shirts. Before we went back we had to stop at the Jcrew store at rockafellerr center to buy 10 plain white button up shirts and as many blue knit ties as we could. They thought we were just crazies who were obsessing over white shirts.

Work is tremendous. Today was our show for the CEO (who wouldn't stop including me as a reference to everything he said) and all of the merchants for the stores that sell our shit. We're opening a men's only store in an old liquor store in Manhattan. It's the first ever menswear exclusive store and its being opened in collaboration with Andy Spade (kate spade and jack spade anyone?) and Anthony Sperduti. Anyways, the show went really well and I was wearing all samples and junk and those two liked my outfit enough that they want me to help open the store. REDONCULOUS. Too bad me and ryry are going to Europe. Well, they have my name, number, and email so we'll see.

Well, I need to go hunt down some food and shit and sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep.
Nightdarlin(world).
-William

Fiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnaaaallllyyyyy

2008-06-04T20:38:00.002-04:00

Alright, after three days of work and no extra time, I will indulge myself (and you) with what I have so farrrr.

Here is the entry from my notebook from when I was flying: (which was horrible, I got to the airport at 5:45 in the morning and didnt get to my apt in brooklyn until 6pm).

"DES MOINES
ohboy. zone one gets to sit. I'm exhausted. A slightly muffled voice nonchalantly says "ZONE TWO." Little does she know she has effectively commenced the next 7 months of my life.

CINCINNATI
The woman next to me was great; I should have gotten her email address, ohwell. The 737 to Boston flies at 495 MPH (though when I was on the plane after I wrote this, the little screen in front of me said we were going 594MPH as we had a 160+MPH tailwind), a rediculous figure. Mom didn't cry, Mona and Carissa did, slightly inebriated. "Just don't do any crazy drugs." Mom's departing advice taken well; I had thought about it, but now I wont. She's been spot on for the last 20 years, so I'll use it wisely. Oh yeah, Jube's wedding was last night; a little weird to experience but it was a blast. First take on the east coast: BORING.

BOSTON
First glance at the atlantic would have been much more appreciated had I not felt like shit. That was the most expensive roller coaster ride ever, I could never be a flight attendant. Dreams crushed again. This ride partner wasn't as kind as the woman from DSM; first they sat me between a huge irritable man and a small irritable hippie. Ten minutes later they let me move up to have an aisle seat with the window taken by a slightly insecure, slightly overweight woman who cowered under her jacket and couldn't quite muster up the courage to look out the port hole. It still hasn't quite sunk in where I am or what I'm doing here; we'll see how this goes.
I want you to know
When I look in your eyes"

That was all I wrote, nothing after the ride to New York City as I didn't have adequate time or space. The ride there was odd, it didn't take very long, but I was exhausted after all of the others; especially the one that made my stomach churn. I sat next to a kid around my age headed for ukraine (I saw his passport when he kept checking his tickets) I think he was kind of worried as we didn't really get going on time and we didn't really get in on time either, most people were on their way to somewhere bigger and better so it felt extra good to be done. Oh until I finally got off only to have my bag (along with about 15 other people from my flight) not show up at baggage claim. It took the jerks a good 45 minutes to find em all and I got it but it was just good ol' icing on the cake. Then my first subway ride and Mary and Emily were waiting outside the stop to walk me to our place, which is awesome and tiny and way too hot to ever sleep comfortably.

Two Weeks and Counting

2008-05-19T11:58:00.002-04:00

Dropping 2k on plane rides is not my idea of fun.
ohand the italian government needing to know some bank accounts, that makes me feel saferrr.
I get to new york Jun 1st at 3:33Pm.
Then I'm gonna try to find my way around to god knows where.
Don't know my address.
Don't know what to bring.
Don't know why im invited.

Good luck me, you're gonna need it.