oblivious nerd girl
hood chronicles

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 

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

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

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

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.

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!