Blog Archives - oblivious nerd girlhood chronicles

Happy Halloween!

10/30/2015

A photo posted by Oblivious Nerd Girl (@obliviousnerdgrl) on Oct 30, 2015 at 9:10am PDT

I love Halloween. Yes I am one of those people who frets about what I'm going to be on Halloween. This year is one of my favorite costumes. Queen Notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg. It is no secret that I love her. This past July I had to take a picture with the Women of the SCOTUS portrait. That started my quest for an RBG Halloween costume!

The homie Bev is also a Halloween fan. Her costumes are always amazing. She's been a parrot, chia pet, yachter otter, keyboard cat, Mr Pricklepants, and even the Jollibee! She crafts them herself. This year she was the California State Flag. And she won Most Original Costume for the second year in a row with her department. Congrats Bev!!

RBG & the CA Flag. @hellobevy

A photo posted by Oblivious Nerd Girl (@obliviousnerdgrl) on Oct 30, 2015 at 10:17am PDT

Halloween allows folks to be creative, but it also can be a time wear you end up cringing at some terrible costumes. And by terrible I mean racist as fuck. There have been campaigns that strive to educate people on the fact that culture should never be a costume (We're a culture, not a costume.). My awesome friend and future Oblivious Interviewee Audrey Kuo has created these amazing business cards to combat stupid shit you may see during Halloween.

There are not enough props in the world to give them for these cards. Halloween is fun, let's not be racist. If you want to pass out these cards you can! Audrey has created a pdf link. Download "Hi! Your costume is racist" cards.
If you download and print the cards, Audrey is taking $1-3 donations. The proceeds will go to an organization doing anti racism work. You can PayPal Audrey at itsbobatim@gmail.com.

Have an Oblivious, not racist Halloween everyone!

Oblivious meets Eddy M. Gana Jr

10/29/2015

Eddy M. Gana Jr is a member of the Sunday Jump family. Eddy and his partner Stephanie Sajor tour as a spoken word duo called Steady. I can recall seeing Eddy and Stephanie perform at Tuesday Night Cafe when they were a part of a spoken word group that had four members. I wish I could recall the name of that group. But what I can remember is that they represented UC Irvine and Kababayan when they performed. I knew that they were much younger than Mike and I, however I couldn't help but get a little misty eyed to see a new generation of spoken word artists coming out of UCI. Because yes, a long long time ago there were spoken word pieces written by myself and Mike.

It's an amazing thing to see generation after generation of UCI alum come out and community organize in Los Angeles. Props to Eddy and Stephanie for doing their thing and for organizing Sunday Jump every month in Historic-Filipinotown. I hope you all enjoy this Oblivious Interview!

Folks should definitely check out Sunday Jump this Sunday, November 1st! You can RSVP here: Sunday Jump.

Oblivious meets Eddy M. Gana Jr.

Oblivious Nerd Girl Podcasts

10/28/2015

Things are always evolving around the Oblivious Nerd Girl neighborhood. Oblivious Nerd Girl's Great Idea is taking a break. Sorry Baby-Sitters Club fans! One day I will try and bring it back, but for now I'm putting this podcast on the shelf.

Lessons From Lola is my current monthly podcast where I share stories about my grandmother and all the things she has taught me. If you have stories you would like to share about your grandparents please email me!

You can find Lessons From Lola and Oblivious Nerd Girl's Great Idea the Podcast link in my header.

Always Oblivious!

Oblivious meets AJ Calomay

10/27/2015

AJ Calomay is one of these dudes that I see at film festivals. But before that, he was someone who I would see at Filipino American events. Specifically PCNs. As someone who has done my fair share of PCN (hello five years of college PCNs at UCI) AJ was a frequent guest at these events because UCI normally had PCN filmed. AJ was a part of the company that produced PCN videos!

When I moved back to LA, AJ would be at a lot of the same community events and parties that we would end up at. Beyond the Filipino American connection, I would run into AJ at random shows. Like at Oddball Comedy festival in Irvine or at other shows at the Hollywood Bowl. I knew AJ worked as an assistant editor and when I asked him what show he worked on he said "Oh this show on USA. It's called Covert Affairs." I freaked out. I was like "I totally know that show! I watch it!!" Which was much to his surprise, because I don't think AJ had met anyone who had seen the show. But as a fan of all things USA Network (Characters Welcome. Yes I know the tagline.) I totally knew Covert Affairs. The show has since been cancelled, but AJ is now an assistant editor with my new favorite USA Network show Mr. Robot. DUDE. GO WATCH IT NOW. Mr. Robot is amazing. It took all my energy not to hit him up for spoilers! (Side note: I can't wait for Season 2!!)

AJ is also an example that your major in college doesn't necessarily lead to your future career. He was a Psychobiology major and now he's an editor. Yeah that path isn't exactly direct. When students would come into my office freaked out about what career they needed to go with, I always though of AJ.

Hope you all enjoy this interview! Oblivious meets AJ Calomay

Lessons From Lola - Episode 3: The Lessons From Lolo Edition

10/24/2015

In honor of my Lolo Gabing, who's birthday is October 25th, Lessons From Lola Episode 3 is the Lessons From Lolo Edition. In this episode I share stories about my Lolo Gabing (my mom's dad) and my Lolo Nonoy (my dad's dad). Also I read contributions from my cousins and aunt about our Lolo Gabing. Today's episode also has a special hashtag #LessonsFromLolo.

Some corrections about the podcast. In a story that I tell about going to the White House, I say that Lolo Gabing went there. I meant to say that Lolo Gabing went to the Filipino version of the White House, which is Malacanang Palace. And in the story I tell about my Lolo Nonoy going after some dude. He survived unscathed. He was all good. I swear this will make sense when you listen to the episode.

Also I am currently battling a cough, so my voice gets a bit raspy and weird at times in the podcast. Apologies for the weirdness.
If you have a story about your Lola or Lolo and you want to share hIt me up on twitter @OblivNerdGirl with the hashtag #LessonsFromLola. Follow Oblivious Nerd Girl on Facebook (Oblivious Nerd Girl) and Instagram (@obliviousnerdgrl) for more regular oblivious-ness. You can also email me at ObliviousNerdGirl at Gmail dot com

Lessons From Lola - Episode 3 (The Lessons From Lolo Edition) by Elaine Dolalas on Mixcloud

Oblivious meets Lily Prijoles

10/23/2015

Lily with DJ Kuttin Kandi

In 2003 I went to Chicago with Mike for the APIA Spoken Word summit. Mike had gone to the first summit in 2001. This Chicago trip was my graduation gift from my parents. Many things happened during this trip, but most importantly I got to meet so many amazing people. One of these amazing people was Lily Prijoles, who at the time was a part 8th Wonder, a spoken word group from the Bay area. Our paths would cross again when 8th wonder performed at FPAC.

As I write this I can't believe that all that happened over 12 years ago! Many things have changed. We could probably track our relationships through our online profiles! Blogger to xanga to livejournal to friendster to myspace to facebook to instagram to twitter to tumblr to whatever the future brings.

Filipino Food & Bakery, the restaurant that Lily runs with her family, is partnering up with DJ Neil Armstrong for a Brunch & a Mixtape pop up event at her family's bakery! Folks in the San Diego area should definitely check this out this Sunday, October 25th. Diners all get a copy of Neil Armstrong's latest mixtape on a mini Ube Taro Coconut USB drive from Nomad Donuts.

I am so jealous that I have plans this Sunday. I would totally be there if I was free. Folks tell me how it is! I'm so excited to share this interview with everyone!

Oblivious meets Lily Prijoles

Oblivious meets Kim Baglieri

10/20/2015

Copyright Kim Baglieri

I met Kim Baglieri years ago when she worked at SIPA with Mike. We were all in our mid-twenties trying to figure out our lives as we went through our own quarter life crisis'. We were all community organizers with the local Filipino American community in Los Angeles. When Kim says she loves cats, she isn't joking. I can remember going over to her house in Angelino Heights and laughing at how bad my allergies were set off by her cats. I remember nerding out because Kim's house back then was next to an apartment building that was featured in the film Chinatown. Kim's residence in Los Angeles was for a short period of time. We definitely miss her. NYC is lucky to have this east coast girl back out there.

Kim is an amazing visual artist who works in different mediums. You can follow her work on her tumblr (mga lola). You can aslo purchase her artwork at her Saatchi Art site (Kim Baglieri). You can also learn about her work on her site (KimBaglieri.com) and her Teaching Artist and Training Internship page from Community Word Project page.

So excited to share this with everyone! Oblivious meets Kim Baglieri

Color Your Troubles Away - November Update!

10/19/2015

November's Color Your Troubles Away event has a time change! We will still be in the Great-One-Eight at Wanderlust Creamery (18511 Ventura Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 91356) on Sunday, November 15th from 12pm-3pm. You can RSVP here: Color Your Troubles Away - Great-One-Eight

Can't wait to hang out with folks, color, and eat some delicious ice cream!

Update on November's #coloryourtroublesaway! The event will be from 12-3pm! Come by and get your color on! Sunday, November 15th at @eatwanderlust Wanderlust Creamery in Tarzana! You can RSVP on Facebook. Link is in the profile!

A photo posted by Oblivious Nerd Girl (@obliviousnerdgrl) on Oct 19, 2015 at 8:41am PDT

Oblivious meets Jenny San Angel

10/15/2015

Jenny San Angel has saved my life more than once. For you see Jenny works miracles. She repairs phones, which is especially helpful for us mere mortals who have a tendency of being klutzy and create problems for ourselves like cracking screens!

Besides her magical phone fixing abilities, she's also an amazing artist, musician, and also system admin pro. My favorite thing about Jenny is that she is always doing something awesome. It's quite inspiring. I remember when she was fixing my phone she mentioned how she also ran this karaoke business and I was like wait you have a full time gig, you do phone repairs, you play in all these bands, AND you have a side hustle on top of your side hustle?! Bottom line is Jenny is rad and I'm so happy to share this Oblivious Interview with everyone!

Oblivious meets Jenny San Angel

Thank you! Thank you!

10/13/2015

Thank you to everyone who came out to Color Your Troubles Away tonight. We had a packed house at The Park's Finest! We enjoyed some delicious BBQ, drank some great beers, and colored some beautiful pieces!

Looking forward to November's Color Your Troubles Away event! We'll be in the Great-One-Eight at Wanderlust Creamery (18511 Ventura Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 91356) on Sunday, November 15th from 11am-2pm. You can RSVP here: Color Your Troubles Away - Great-One-Eight See you in November folks! It'll be a delicious Sunday Funday in the San Fernando Valley!