Category Archives: life

My friend DAN MARTENSEN is a super talented photographer who always has the cheeriest of dispositions! When he told me he was having his very own book launch at Milk Gallery, I had to be there. I’m always stoked to see friends doing great things and support is always necessary!

DAN MARTENSEN & VASHTIE

RAFAEL RIOS on his day off…

LUKE FLYNN! I miss this rascal!!! Hey, YOUNG SCOOZLE.

I miss these Aussie Babes!

Posing with my homie Mr. Cope’s art…

On Tuesday night I ventured out to Brooklyn (#veryrare) to kick it with ELLE. We stopped in for a drink at my friend CHRISTOPHE’S new place, HOPE GARAGE and it was super nice! Check it out if you are in the neighborhood!

163 Hope St
(between Union Ave & Keap St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Neighborhood: Williamsburg – North Side

(718) 388-4626

They make their own syrups for drinks, which are delicious!!!

I met CHESTER BERRY in the Summer of 2010. I was called into the COMPLEX offices to do my first COMPLEX interview ever on my 50 FAVORITE SNEAKERS…

I was stoked on the opportunity to be featured on COMPLEX, let alone to nerdily discuss my favorite sneakers. A cool and charming CHESTER, interviewed me. He had the right questions and even better follow up thoughts.

Recently, we became reunited through being on the same FLAG FOOTBALL TEAM thanks to NIKE FOOTBALL SOCIETY! After trainings, practices and games, we are family!

He was offered a position at Nike Headquarters in Portland after working at NIKE in NYC. We will miss our teammate, but we understand he is on to better and bigger things (#BIGTINGSAGWAN).

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A little GANG GANG DANCE in the back of the cab never hurt nobody.

ELLE CLAY & VASHIUS KLAY

Frozen Margaritas are almost always a bad idea.

ELLE CLAY, CHESTER BERRY, VASHTIE KOLA, YOUNG SCOOZLE

ELLE CLAY wearing her #VLADENCHY shirt…

ELLE CLAY & CHESTER BERRY

#THANGSUP

DAMON & JASMINE (The Happy Newlyweds) and JOHN PAUL

I seriously have no idea what the caption for this was or is…

ELLE CLAY & JOHN PAUL

JASMINE & VASHTIE

CHESTER & ASHLEY!

Margaritas!!!

#TEAMDIAMONDTURF #NIKEFOOTBALLSOCIETY #DIAMONDSAREFOREVER

Our last minute benefit/drive for SANDY VICTIMS was a success! Although we only garnered a small crowd, it couldn’t have been more perfect! Everyone came with either a supply or a cash donation. We made $1300 and that will all go to buying more much needed supplies that our unfortunate neighbors so urgently need. SANTOS PARTY HOUSE was the perfect venue (as always) and the DJ’s were great; DJ HUGGY BEAR, DEEMEHLOW, JOSH MADDEN & OLD MONEY!

Half of the supplies went to Nazareth House in the Lower East Side and the rest will be heading straight to Staten Island tomorrow, thanks to our friend POLINA who has been making trips and volunteering this past week. All the jackets and hoodies are equipped with an uplifting quote signed by the giver…just another way to connect people and pass along positive thoughts along with needed, tangible items.

SABEL BOO writing a note…

VENUS X also wrote a few kind words…

VENUS X, SABEL BOO & MALUCA

MELANIE FIONA stopped by!

VASHTIE, MELANIE FIONA & JASMINE SOLANO

DJ HUGGY BEAR is a good friend that knows how to lift spirits!

GUY NAMED LINDSEY & DESIREE

ELLE CLAY & ME (#thangsup)

Oh hey, TY! And hey, ALEX SOROKEN.

ASHLEY & SHIEST BUBZ (originator of EVERYDAZE MY BIRTHDAY)

NIKE FOOTBALL SOCIETY STARS – VICTOR CRUZ, YOUNG SCOOZLE, DAREN RHYNE & NIGEL SYLVESTER

CURT@!NS, TELLI (NINJASONIK) & JOSH MADDEN

Supporters who came out!

ANGELO BAQUE & ELLE CLAY getting a little frisky!

Where’s my jacket fellas?!

EMIL BOYE in town from Copenhagen!

DJ HUGGY BEAR!

ANGELO & ME

Even more supporters!

Thanks for the donations guys!

Lots of warm clothes!

ANGELO BAQUE, ME & OSCAR 1992

OSCAR & AHMIR

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Thanks for all your support if you were in attendance or not!

If you’d like to help the victims of Sandy, check OCCUPYSANDY.COM for more information!!!

Shortly after my previous post, Hurricane Sandy got mad real. After sundown, the wind started blowing even harder – it sounded like my windows would blow at any moment. I had stocked up on water and non-perishable food, but somehow that didn’t seem like it would be enough…especially after hearing what Sandy was hollering, which was something much scarier than Hurricane Irene.

Around 8pm, I saw blue and green light fill my East Village horizon…apparently a Con Edison transformer had exploded – not one, but two. Just typing that makes me feel weird all over again. Something about blue and green light exploding in the sky felt all too apocalyptic.  Right after the second explosion, everything went out…television, lights, internet. I looked out the window to see nothing but darkness, being slightly illuminated by a full moon. You never know how dark things are until you lose electricity, like your apartment hallway. I tried to call friends, but lines were down also. Something about it felt frightening, but also very interesting. We rely too heavily on electronics…

Eventually, we lost water. I’ve stayed in Trinidad with family who didn’t have indoor plumbing for extended periods of time and I could deal, but something about an unflushable toilet with the fear that my windows could break at any moment didn’t sit well with me. I went to bed listening to a hand-crank radio and a hand-crank flashlight (you should invest in those also). From what I could hear, I was extremely fortunate. Houses were being ripped from foundations, cars were drifting away and lives were being lost – I had and still have nothing to complain about. All I coud  do was worry and send as many positive thoughts to those who were being hit the hardest.

The next day, I went to my friend KARL’S apartment who lives a few blocks away from me. His buzzer wasn’t working, so I had to go “old school” and yell up to his window. He wasn’t there. I walked North since apparently only downtown lost it’s power.

Stores were open, but in the dark. I had a flashlight which was very smart, since people were shopping in pitch black otherwise. Eventually I got service as I moved upward. My friend had made his way to Brooklyn and was offering me to come stay with he and his brother, ERIK.

I went back home, cleaned, packed and waited. Eventually they came through to rescue us! I was very happy since VLADIMIR is such a fraidy cat.

I must stress, I am very blessed to have such loving and wonderful friends and that I am VERY FORTUNATE – especially considering what other people are going through.

I brought a bottle I was sitting on for my wonderful hosts!

We dined on a wonderful array of Mediterranean food.

I ate about this whole plate of Baklava. No lie…it was damn good.

MANGO was the host cat who was so loving and cute as a button!

When there is a natural disaster, you don’t care much for dressing up…

Although some parts of Brooklyn seemed untouched and unphased by Hurricane Sandy, other parts proved to have felt her wrath.

This made me happy! We all decided to band together and buy candy to hand out to the chil’rens.

VLADIMIR was so afraid, which I knew he would be. Despite having the perfect hosts and host cat Mango, he was too afraid to see how kind everyone was being to him.

Hot Toddy’s are perfect for a cold evening!

We ran into our friends and their adorable babes. ANOMA, DAMION & DJ LINDSEY

VLADIMIR started to come out of his shell…

ERIK and MANGO + KARL and TOFU

On our last day, TOFU enjoys a glass of red wine.

Cousins TOFU & MANGO enjoying the view.

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My time in Brooklyn was more like a vacation. We ate amazing food, exercised (we ran around Prospect Park and I am not a runner!),  had lots of fun and laughed a lot. I was also recognized a lot by blog readers & general supporters which was interesting…good to know I have friends in Brooklyn!

Special thanks to my friends KARL & ERIK and their kitties TOFU & MANGO. Thank you to the borough of BROOKLYN for all the love and making my stay the coziest. Now, it’s time for organizing and rebuilding the less fortunate ones!

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How are all of you doing?! Were you affected by Sandy?

Let me begin this by saying, I hope all of you (wherever you are) are safe and well. I am in the only place I ever want to be (and even more so now), New York City. HURRICANE SANDY is on her way to the EAST COAST and although she hasn’t actually crossed us yet – we are already feeling the power she is carrying.

4:23 PM EAST VILLAGE, NEW YORK CITY: I can say that there is minimal rain, but very fast winds. We are told the storm won’t really hit us until a few hours later. I’ve seen that parts of BATTERY PARK CITY, MANHATTAN are flooding as well as parts of NEW JERSEY and LONG ISLAND. I am sending everyone and anyone in harms way, white light and good energy! Especially those in HAITI, JAMAICA & CUBA.

I am a level-headed person who doesn’t react, but rather spends time mulling over various points of view before making a decision. BUT, somehow I am also a person that constantly thinks about how everything can go wrong and what possible twisted things could happen at any given moment (I know, it’s sick and it explains why I have a hard time sleeping at night). I think being both of those things has allowed me to research HURRICANE SANDY and then plan for all the worst case scenarios…including, the end of the world (I know, I wish I could turn it off).

*NOTE: This sign fell just moments after I took the picture above. I saw the sign dangling after, but had no idea it was in tact when I took the first picture until I blogged the images…

So many people I’ve been encountering think that this isn’t a big deal and that somehow it’s a conspiracy to get people to buy things. Being a massive conspiracy theorist myself, I think we should all be smart about the situation and prepare ourselves for all possible outcomes. Nature cannot be controlled and will do what it must. The only thing we can do is prepare and stay as safe as possible, which I hope is what everyone else is doing.

SIDENOTE: An image of an injury I sustained last night, thanks to HURRICANE SANDY. A tea kettle to my forearm.

How are you guys holding up? Where are you? Update us what’s happening where you are. Send blog posts, links, etc! Be safe and be well.

Over the weekend, OSCAR 1992 and I hosted and DJ’ed a party for REFINERY 29 x COLE HAAN & STOLI. We brought with us, party essential DJ JASMINE SOLANO who played a 90′s set that all had us dancing as if no one was watching! It was a great time.

JASMINE SOLANO, OSCAR SANCHEZ & VASHTIE (photo via BFA)

Super babe JASMINE SOLANO (photo via BFA)

This Halloween event took place in the famed WOOLWORTH BUILDING at the venue THE WOOLY…I love that name!

The shoes they gave us were super cool! They are made of a material like 3M that reflects super crazily. I’m wearing the MONROE PENNY! #SHINEON I’m loving the shoes and accessories that COLE HAAN is making because they’re designed to (literally) light up your night!

Check the following product images of the shoes that I found via HIGHSNOBIETY.COM

A dreamcatcher caught our friend DJ DEEMEHLOW

KILL or BE KILLED! ELLE CLAY & YOUNG SCOOZLE.

I was loving the gals in MARIE ANTOINETTE costumes! “LET THEM EAT CAKE”.

JASMINE SOLANO, OSCAR 1992 & DEEMEHLOW.

Special thanks to REFINERY 29 & COLE HAAN for having us apart of their rad event!

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Being “backstage” for a girl despite affiliation always feels awkward, well at least in my head. But, when DREA asked me to come hang with her at the SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE II x KANYE WEST show, I was more than down to kick it with the homie. MANO was DJ’ing and I had to slide through to see my friends.

DREA (pronounced DREE-UH) & ME-UH

Everyone kept pronouncing her name wrong and I felt bad for the babe!

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When I rolled up there was a line already at 8pm and the show didn’t start til’ 8! Crazy. I went back with MANO & DREA and we kicked it in the “band room” which was the “green room” but instead it was all stark white and had a super relaxing vibe. We wakled by and said hey to KANYE, DON and MADEMOISELLE KDIA (she’s the sweetest).

DREA & MADEMOISELLE KDIA

HERON PRESTON & HIS BABE

DON C. & MADEMOISELLE KDIA

DON C., IBN JASPER, PLAIN PAT & TRAVIS

YAY for YE.

Miss KDIA is the hostest with the mostest. There was never an empty glass in her sight!

MADEMOISELLE KDIA, MISTER VASHTIE, DREA & MIMI!!! Oh how I missed MIMI!

The show began, but after about 4 songs I had to split…work waits for no one!

Ran into FUTURA on my way out!

In the cab on the way to mi casa! Night night.