 I will confess when I first met Patrick Huang, I really thought his name was Phatrick with a PH. I did not question the spelling at all. After growing up with Filipino kids with combo names, I've just grown accustomed to not questioning the odd spelling of peoples names. This is why I say "Oblivious meets Phatrick" aka DJ Phatrick aka Phatty. He currently is the Program Director for Sessions LA. I met Phatty years ago when he was the touring dj for Native Guns. Before he moved to LA, Phatty would drive back and forth between the Bay Area. We would hang out when he was around for Native Guns and later on Bambu's shows. (Random Tangent: When looking up links for Native Guns, a wikipedia page came up. This trips me out that I know someone with a wikipedia page. That is just nutso.) When Phatty moved to LA and was looking for gigs, Strawberry Farm Boy Mike let him know about Sessions LA. The program had gone through several incarnations with different instructors. At the time Sessions LA needed new instructors and Phatty was the right fit. He's continued to grow the program and transform Sessions LA from a dj class to a simple beat making class to a full blown music production program. Here is Oblivious meets Phatty.  Affiliations (arts org, fun things you do, etc) : Sessions LA, Bambu, Native Guns, Devil's Pie, Motown On Mondays What's the one word you are guilty of using too much? Hipster How did you end up doing what you are doing now? Been mentoring and teaching youth through music programming since the college days. Specifically with Sessions LA, I hit up Mike Nailat about possible opportunities to teach youth music when I moved to LA in 2008. The rest is...you know. Which member of the Wu-Tang Clan best describes your personality? RZA: Because I'm a control freak  Dogs or Cats, who wins? Why? Dogs. Reason: What is the best part of any given day for you? At night, when Steph and Laila are asleep, and I can catch up on Tumblr!!! In a zombie apocalypse who would you want on your survival team? Walter White  What is the last thing you searched for on google? Again:  If you could talk to your high school self, what would say? Real G's move in silence like "Lasagna" What is the best thing or meal you ever ate? My maternal grandmother's everything. What is a memorable project that you are working on or have worked on? This:  Help out Phatty and his tumblr, googling dog habits.
Support Art. Support Youth. Support Good Music. Donate Here: Sessions LA Summer Institute
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 I remember Jaffar as one of the early Sessions LA students. Strawberry Farm Boy Mike would come around and I would hear him loudly call the husband, 'MIKE LAW-RY.' To this day, if Strawberry Farm Boy Mike stops by sessions Jaffar will greet him with 'MIKE LAW'RY.' It's not like Bad Boys is a recent movie franchise. It was old even when Jaffar was a student with Sessions LA. Now he's a Sessions LA instructor and host of Freestyle Fridays, the monthly showcase Session LA puts on at SIPA. Affiliations (arts org, fun things you do, etc) : Sessions LA, ProdaGz, YSLA, Elev8, MYG, FreeStyle Fridays and being Hookah Papi that's fun ! What's the one word you are guilty of using too much? Trill  How did you end up doing what you are doing now? I was once a student at sessions when it first began and I stuck with the program and here I am now. Which member of the Wu-Tang Clan best describes your personality? What's Wu-Tang?..... JUST KIDDING!!! I'd say ODB .. R.I.P. Dogs or Cats, who wins? Why? Cats because dogs are scary animals :(  Help out Jaffar aka Hookah Papi.
Support Art. Support Youth. Support Good Music. Donate Here: Sessions LA Summer Institute  I can't actually remember the first time I met Ali. I'm sure it was at random community event. He later joined the Sessions LA staff as one of the instructors. During the academic year I check in with the Sessions LA youth and provide them with college counseling. It's fun to sit in and watch the Sessions LA instructors do their thing with the youth. As a self proclaimed music nerd it's crazy to see these kids develop their talents and broaden their music knowledge. Ali is a good dude and I'm super stoked to have gotten the chance to have him do an Oblivious Interview! Name(s): Ali Affiliations (arts org, fun things you do, etc) : Sessions LA....educator...DJ....beatmaker....vinyl & um, boba addict What's the one word you are guilty of using too much? Recently, "sus", as in short for "suspect", as in "questionable"...I'm 31 and not really "about that life", so me using it is super sus, but there it is. 
How did you end up doing what you are doing now? I ended up at Sessions initially through a former Sessions instructor, Paul Laughlin (DJ Spingineer). We were in the same photography class. Which member of the Wu-Tang Clan best describes your personality? Cappadonna - I have consistency issues :( Wu-Tang "Clan" got hella members... Dogs or Cats, who wins? Why? Depends on the dog or cat.  What is the best part of any given day for you? The moment I arrive at Sessions. In a zombie apocalypse who would you want on your survival team? My girlfriend. She is an expert on zombies. She even made a zombie apocalypse survival kit. I'm a believer. What is the last thing you searched for on google? Hypochondria If you could talk to your high school self, what would say? You have no idea what you're about to step into, but it all works out in the end....I hope. What is the best thing or meal you ever ate? Anything my grandma used to make. What is a memorable project that you are working on or have worked on? Sessions LA 
SessionsLA currently has an indiegogo campaign to raise 5K in one month. Please support them and help them reach their goal! Donate here: Sessions Summer Institute 2013
I met Jackie Huang when I was a Graduate Intern at USC's Career Planning and Placement Center (CPPC). While I was reviewing resumes and cover letters, Jackie was a student worker who was the graphic designer for the department. When I needed a break from doing my intern work I would bug her and our friend Peter in their IT office. I have always been drawn to IT folks since Strawberry Farm Boy Mike is an IT junkie himself. He gets embarrassed when pull basic IT fouls like not understanding how to upload things or figuring out certain operating systems. 
I'm sitting on the left and Jackie is in a USC hoodie on the right. Oh the good ol'CPPC days.
Years later I was at an "It's a Small World" themed art show at Gallery Nucleus and I recognized a familiar name. It turns out Jackie was showing her work in the show! Jackie had started doing intricate paper art that was truly astounding. It wasn't your average cutting up snowflakes arts and crafts. Jackie's creations were intricate works of art. Now on our frequent trips to Disneyland, I make it a point to look out for something of hers at Wonder Gallery in Downtown Disney. She recently wrapped up a June residency there. I usually end up taking a picture of her work because it is crazy awesome! Without further ado here is Oblivious meets Jackie Huang! 
An example of Jackie's beautiful work.
 Name: Jackie Huang Affiliations (arts org, fun things you do, etc) : Motivarti! On the side, I founded an organized dedicated to helping young artists get into the animation industry. Our biggest thing is running a 10-week mentorship program with industry professionals. www.motivarti.org What's the one word you are guilty of using too much? "Like". Not in terms of a Facebook 'like', but the valley girl, 'like.' I sometimes even wind up writing it in emails and have to go back to delete it. How did you end up doing what you are doing now? While at USC studying film, I wound up getting an internship at DreamWorks Animation. There, I discovered this amazing profession called, visual development (basically designing characters and backgrounds for animated films). I was told by the artists there that going to art school would be the next best step. So I wound up going to Art Center College of Design to study illustration after USC. About a year into the program, I took a class on making pop-ups and started making paper art then. It took up until my last semester at Art Center to decide whether I wanted to try and work as a visual development artist or a paper artist. I chose paper art and have never looked back since! Dogs or Cats, who wins? Why? Dogs, hands down. They don't hold grudges. What is the best part of any given day for you? Napping! The best part of working from home as a freelance artist is being able to take naps when you're tired. That's the one thing you can't do at a full-time job. So it's a reminder of how happy I am to be on my own path. What is the last thing you searched for on google? "The Hash House A Go Go". Apparently it's a restaurant in Las Vegas and I was hoping they'd have one in LA. Nope. Sad. In a zombie apocalypse who would you want on your survival team? Ugh. Kill me now. I don't think I'd want to live during a zombie apocalypse. I'd rather be a zombie or dead...maybe the zombie a little more. 
What is a memorable project that you are working on or have worked on? They're all memorable! Some of my favorites are the pop-up proposal books I get to work on that guys commission me to make for them. It usually tells the story of how the couple meet, first date, first kiss, memories, and them popping the question at the end. Another one would be both my Rapuznel pieces -"Rapunzel" & "Rapunzel 2.0" - they're both landmark pieces in my artistic development. Interesting to see how my skills are developing! What is the best thing or meal you ever ate? I probably have the world's biggest sweet tooth so it'd probably be Sprinkles Cupcakes. It has the prefect ratio of cupcake to icing. If there parking wasn't so bad I'd probably go there all the time! Thank you again to Jackie! She's really rad and I completely understand her answer to the zombie question. Sometimes I think I could survive. Other times I'm like, "Just eat me up. I'll join you in your quest for brains."
If you are an artist looking for a mentor I definitely recommend Motivarti! The program sounds really cool. I wish I could do it, but I cannot do anything visually that fits their criteria! For all you lucky folks heading to San Diego Comic Con, Jackie will be at SDCC this year, so definitely check her out at Table F9! She'll be selling prints, pop-ups, and some original artwork. For more info on Jackie's work here are all her interwebs links: website: http://jackiehuang.com/ blog: http://jackiehuangstudios.blogspot.com/ facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JackieHuangPaperArt twitter: https://twitter.com/jackiehuangxu etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/jackiehuang  This is Edren. He is either writing or gaming. Edren Sumagaysay is not someone I went to high school with, but is related to a couple of people who went to St. Gen's with me. In fact that was our common point of conversation when we first met a really, really, long time ago. When we were in college Strawberry Farm Boy Mike was the coordinator for a API conference. He invited Zero 3 to perform. Zero 3 was a 3 person performance group that consisted of Edren, Traci Kato-Kiriyama, and Kennedy Kabasares. Due to unusual circumstances Zero 3 did not perform at the conference. Instead they were tabling and hanging out. Somehow this led to hanging out at The Anthill Pub (similar to how I met John Castro). Through that gr818 valley connection we figured out we are related in that Filipino way where everyone is related through marriage, etc etc. Our friendship formed over hanging out at Tuesday Night Cafe, drinks at the now closed Weilands, drinks at Bar Nirvana, ballroom dancing lessons, and conversations about writing. Edren has always been a quasi writing sensei for me. In grad school he convinced me to join The Writers Workshop. In our conversations I shared that I would always pick up and put down writing. Edren challenged me to write for an hour each day. It didn't matter if it sucked, all that mattered was that I write. The Writers Workshop was writing as practice, honing skills. I accepted and ended up writing Laughing Through The Tears through that first session.  While I don't participate in The Writers Workshop now, I do write. And I have Edren to thank for that! Edren is also part of The Park's Finest who will be featured on Diners, Drive In's and Dives with Guy Fieri tonight. Check your local listings and catch the show! So here's the man, the myth, the legend himself: Edren Sumagaysay  The guy behind the guy, that's Edren. Also that's Johneric and Christine. And STEVIE WONDER picking up some delicious The Park's Finest bbq! Affiliations (arts org, fun things you do, etc) : -Today, I'm the Public Relations/Social Media Manager and Human Resources for The Park's Finest. I'm also the Executive Editor of theundeniables.org. In the past, I've been a Case Manager for SIPA, a ballroom dance instructor for Cotillion Creations, a writer/performer for zero3, an actor for hereandnow, a manager of a strip club (can't name them because of the NDA), and a dancer for Sarindiwa. An ex-relationship on the romantic tip didn't find these affiliations to be 'boyfriend' qualifications, so she said 'I love you, too' and left me. What a bitch. What's the one word you are guilty of using too much? Bitch. How did you end up doing what you are doing now? I'm pretty sure that everything on Monday plays a part with what happens on Friday. Even waking up a minute after the alarm goes off. Sends a person down a direction that wouldn't have happened had a person woken up a minute earlier. The little innocuous things on Tuesday has inadvertent influence on Saturday, and so on. Fucking butterfly effect, yo. For me, I dropped out of high school, but I still wanted an education. So I'd read a lot books, I tried a lot of new and different things, and eventually, I am where I am because of my Monday.  Edren reading at Cheryl and Wizard Cy's wedding. Dogs or Cats, who wins? Why? Dogs will do anything for food and friendship. They are extremely loyal. Some would even die for their owners. For us humans, that's a rare quality to find. I still like cats better, though. They're selfish, lazy, and manipulative. Cats are more familiar to me. They remind me of us. What is the best part of any given day for you? The morning. The few minutes before I wake up. It's the starting gate, ready for action in consciousness with motivation from some weird dream in unconsciousness. It's also the time when I'm the most happiest. What is the last thing you searched for on google? Porn. But I use Mozilla for that. So if we're talking Chrome, I searched for "that China Beach episode that went in reverse". And I found it! It's called, Holly's Choice and it's about a red cross volunteer, played by Ricki Lake, who had an abortion and how she and her friends dealt with it in the middle of the Vietnam War. But it was done in reverse! Like the movie Memento. I saw that episode when I was a kid and the way they presented the story was amazing to me. Made me believe there are a hundred different ways of telling the same story. And that is why there are so many artists.  What is a memorable project that you are working on or have worked on? theundeniables.org and The Writers Workshop. It started off with a couple of drunk dudes in a corner booth of a bar that doesn't exist anymore and somewhere along the lines turned into an international writing group. We gutted it recently because we wanted to keep it close to the hip, but to see how it grew without us expecting it to, that was memorable to see. I would even go so far as to say, The Writers Workshop had a tiny hand in this Obliviousnerdgirl's conception. It's what happens on Monday, you know what I mean. In a zombie apocalypse who would you want on your survival team? Just someone who knows how to farm and someone who is a mechanic. Because killing zombies is easy. But creating food and creating utilities is invaluable. What is the best thing or meal you ever ate? After a three day session of Dungeons & Dragons, where we were sustained on potato chips and soda, we went to Beef Bowl to get some beef bowls. That beef bowl was the best thing I've ever eaten in my life.  Aren't you glad you got to know Edren? Wouldn't you want him to be your neighbor? Your awesome writing, Dungeons & Dragons playing, ballroom dancing, badass reading neighbor. He's got lots of things going on. Besides The Park's Finest BBQ gig and theundeniables writing; Edren's also the other half of the podcast 3AM with Jenny & Edren. If you like drunk shit talking then their podcast is perfect for you!
Know someone I should talk to? Email me at obliviousnerdgirl [at] gmail [dot] com and send me their way!  I am so happy to have Amy Martinez of Cozy Reverie as my first Oblivious Interview! Amy is a few years younger and was in my cousin Charlie's year. It's funny how those details stand out in one's mind. The "grade" you are in defines who you are, who your friends are, and a whole other onslaught of things. Through Facebook (obviously) I reconnected with Amy and learned that she runs several blogs. I'll let the interview speak for itself. Here is Oblivious meets Cozy Reverie! What's the one word you are guilty of using too much? "Totally" I don't say it too much, but I definitely write it too much. For a blogger, I need to keep reminding myself to stop it! But I can't help but smile when I think of the old Mitch Hedberg joke: 'I use the word totally too much. I need to change it up and use a word that is different but has the same meaning. Mitch do you like submarine sandwhiches? All-encompassingly...' What is a random high school memory that has stuck with you all these years? It was during one of our homecoming celebrations. I used to love homecoming week because of the ridiculous games and events, plus not ever being in class. During one competition, the whole school was out by the field. Every one was super pumped up, not really because of the game, but mainly because the week was a free pass to do absolutely no schoolwork. I remember a van driving by our field, with kids yelling "St. Gen's sucks!" With our Homcoming game being against our long-time rivals, Bell Jeff, we KNEW they were the "enemy". The crowd freaked out! The one moment I really remember is watching one of the senior guys run after the van like a maniac - absolutely furious! Before that van drove by, our school could not have cared less about the game. But for that one moment, we were one. We were all proud St. Genevieve Valiants and we believed nobody was better than us. I never forgot that. How did you end up doing what you are doing now? I have been working at Fox for the past five years, working on commercials and programming at FX and Fox Movie Channel for that last two years. Still, I've always been someone that likes to add more to her plate. In college, I majored in costume design and I began to miss the creative process. Two years ago, I launched my own brand, Noisy Merriment (www.noisymerriment.com), which features my original paintings and digital illustrations. With the support of family and friends, I have had modest success on Etsy and Society 6, as well as art shows and custom work. In 2012, I self-published my first children's book, "Hooty Takes a Bath". I also worked in website design and became the resident art blogger for the Disney fan site, "A Waltz Through Disney" (www.awaltzthroughdisney.com). In 2013, I launched the brand, Cozy Reverie (www.cozyreverie.com), which features my designs made of up-cycled items. This site has recently evolved into a lifestyle/DIY blog and will soon feature my artwork as well. So I guess you can say the Internet has become my creative outlet. I blog about the things I love, which means I blog a LOT.  If high school is the movie "The Breakfast Club" which one were you? Brain? Athlete? Basket case? Princess? Criminal? Which one are you now? Yikes, I have no idea. Maybe a mix between the brain, athlete, and princess? I was in AP classes but I wasn't the smartest. I played a lot of sports, but I wasn't the MVP. I got along with most, but not to the level of being envied by others. I guess I don't remember being classified in these roles since we were such a small school. A lot of "brains" (AP students) were "athletes" which might put you in the "princess" (popular) category. Today, I'm probably the basket case without the lice or compulsive lying. The artsy gal that really doesn't worry about pleasing others, as long as she's doing what she likes to do. At least, that's what I'd like to think. If you asked my son, he'd probably say I'm the principal. What is the best part of any given day for you? Getting home to see my son! Nowadays, we all spend so much more time with co-workers than we do with our own families, so seeing my five-year old son smile at me when I get home is most definitely the best part of the day. Algebra. Did whatever Mr. Van teach you stick? Do you even still use it? I actually never got Mr. Van! I got Mr. Carter. I'm sure some of that stuff is buried in the darkest part of my memory bank, but if he taught me anything, it's that you shouldn't fall asleep in his class. If you do, he'll quietly tell the rest of the class to sneak outside, and lock you inside the room. Then he'll let us all watch through the window, as you wake up to the sudden silence and freak the f*ck out. I make sure not to fall asleep when my boss is around. ;) What is the last thing you searched for on google? "The Breakfast Club" haha! If you could talk to your high school self, what would you say to them? When you get to college, get as many internships as you can! Oh, and don't worry about the virgin thing, nobody really cares if you are or aren't. Can you still sing the Valiant Alma Mater? I remember the tune, but I would need the words in front of me. Anybody got a karaoke machine? Oh wait, who am I kidding? I went to St. Gen's for goodness sake. 
Ariel De Los Muertos on NoisyMerriment.com
Many, many thanks goes out to Amy! As a self proclaimed Disneyphile, I absolutely adore her Disney inspired pieces. Amy also shares some really neat ideas on CozyReverie.com.
You can follow Amy on the CozyReverie facebook page or instagram! The idea for Oblivious Interviews came about through my many random daydreams. In the past year or two I've been happily surprised with the work of several St. Gen's Alum. When we went to that school it wasn't exactly the most supportive environment. So seeing kids I knew back then pursuing their dreams with their artistic and business adventures is all kinds of awesome.
Oblivious Interviews is me learning more about folks who have gone on to do crazy, cool, inspiring things and sharing it with you! If you know of someone who's doing something really rad and would be willing to be featured on Oblivious Interviews let me know! Send a message my way to obliviousnerdgirl [at] gmail [dot] com. |
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