oblivious nerd girl
hood chronicles

The TFAL Podcast crew has been quite productive. This week we put out a timely episode about the holidays! On this episode we talk about holiday traditions. Listen as Ryan talks about his life on the streets, how Mike needs to give us a sample of his minus one solos, and how Joe keeps up the Santa tradition alive for his family. Me? I talk about how I found Santa's gift wrap and that I was still writing to letters to Santa in my teens.  Yes my teens. Enjoy this episode! And SPOILER ALERT. If you are listening and have kids, maybe this is one you might wanna skip with them, because we spill the beans about Santa! 

Originally posted on This Filipino American Life:

Christmas is coming! (Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit!)  What are your unique Filipino American Christmas traditions?  Do you go to Simbang Gabi…at 7pm?  Do you make parols?  Do you visit the Philippines every Christmas?  Do you send your loved ones balikbayan boxes?  Do you eat Queso de Bola after midnight mass?  Do you watch NBA basketball all day with your family while eating lechon and candied ham?
Join the TFAL crew as they reminisce about old Christmas traditions they grew up on.  Find out how Elaine discovered the real truth about Santa Claus.  Find out which is Producer Mike’s favorite Xmas movie.  Find out what Shrek character Ryan dressed up as.  And find out what the heck is going on in the picture above.
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Mike picked up a fancy shmancy 360 camera and captured what it's like when we record TFAL at Berllado Studios. As you can see we have fun doing this show. 

This Filipino American Life Episode 5: Filipinos in Higher Education is now up. This episode was really fun to record. We had two guests on this episode. Ivy Dulay Daulo, who's an instructor at California State University Long Beach, and Kevin Casasola, a student at University of California Los Angeles. I loved that we got to hear both their perspectives on what Pilipino Studies means to them. 

We share our experiences with Pilipino Studies and Asian American Studies in college. I find it interesting that a movement that I was a part of in college called Tagalog And Pilipino Studies (TAPS) is something that Kevin and his fellow students study as an organizing model. Props to the students who continue to fight for these courses on your college campuses. 

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From This Filipino American Life:

Bakit /ˈbaːkit/ is a Tagalog word that means, “Why.”  Join the TFAL team while we go through our “Bakit List” of questions such as:

• Why do Filipino Catholics have so many Santo Niños?
• Why do our parents cover our couches and tables in plastic?  or
• Why do we love canned goods so much?

Keep listening to find out what Producer Mike’s favorite canned food is!
Listen through the embedded player below, download directly here, or subscribe to us on iTunes here!

Oblivious Birthday Gratitude Day 7. I am thankful for Bitch Sesh: A Real Housewives Breakdown.

I love garbage television. I have loved garbage television since I was a child. I can remember watching a talk show called The Richard Bey Show as a kid. It was hilarious to me that these people would go on this show and act like fools. Fast forward to 2016 and there are franchises that feed all my garbage tv tendencies. Bravo is my champion for this programming. I love all things Real Housewives, Shahs of Sunset, Southern Charmed, Flipping Out, Below Deck (but not Below Deck Mediterranean), Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles (but not New York), and whatever new show is out there I will always give it a chance by watching the first episode. 

After I watch these shows I want to do water cooler talk with people who share my garbage tv tendencies. It's hard to find people who love these shows or at least will admit to loving these shows. Then Bitch Sesh came along and Casey Rose Wilson and Danielle Schneider are my new queens of garbage tv. Their podcast is hilarious. Real Housewives is in the title, so they talk about that franchise but it also goes into general Bravo territory with talk of Shahs of Sunset and Southern Charmed. 

This podcast helps me get through my commute, lunch walks, and life in general. It's introduced me to the magic that is Whispering Angel. I bought this bottle for a bachelorette weekend. There was other booze consumed, so this bottle is now waiting for me at home where I plan to open it up for part 2 of the Real Housewives of New York Reunion tonight.

Thank you Casey Rose Wilson, Danielle Schneider, and my new Whispering Angel family that understand my needs for safe space, no tagging, and garbage person tendencies. 

New episodes of This Filipino American Life have gone up!

Check out our mini episode on Filipino Names below. We're trying a thing where we do mini episodes that cover more light hearted fare in comparison to a full episode where we tackle tougher subjects. 

Tougher subjects like Therapy and Mental Health which is what we talk about it Episode 2. It's early on our podcast journey, but I'm really proud of what Joe, Ryan, Mike, and I are creating. The conversations are enlightening and the comments and feedback we get from folks has been awesome. 

Thank you to everyone who's listened to us talk! If you want to sponsor This Filipino American Life email us at [email protected] and let's talk! 

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This episode of Lessons From Lola is part 2 of the interviews with my family.  I am so thankful to my family for sharing these stories with me. Thank you to my Ate Leah and Tita Tata for sharing their memories about our Lola Sabel on this episode!
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 your own Lessons from Lola at ObliviousNerdGirl at Gmail dot com

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

Today is Grandparents day. It is also the day after my birthday. Today was spent in the Great One Eight. Brunch with my parents at Stonefire in West Hills. Ice cream at Wanderlust in Tarzana. And I visited my Lolo and Lola at San Fernando Mission Cemetery. 

Last night I called out a last minute get together at Oiwake in Little Tokyo for my birthday. Many thanks to the friends and homies who came out.   I love that it's a small Filipino American world and I ran into a) someone who I work with on Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, b) someone who I grew up with from St. Genevieve Elementary School and High School, and c) someone I knew from college. These folks were all doing one last hurrah at Oiwake, like I was, so we combined forces to create one large and loud Filipino party. It felt like an old school Oiwake get together. Fun times all around. 

While I was taking pictures of the festivities last night my phone was acting up. When I would open up the camera this picture I have of my Lolo Gabing and Lola Sabel would pop up before the camera would appear. Totally weird. I took it as a sign to visit them today. I already had plans to see them, but the picture popping up randomly last night really felt like the strong push to see them this afternoon. I got a little lost and spent a few minutes looking for them, but eventually I found them!  I took a picture and notes on remembering where they are. Hopefully I don't forget again!

In honor of Grandparents day I worked on the second episode of Lessons From Lola. I tried my hand at editing and producing this episode. I am eternally grateful for Mike walking me through the editing process. That was not a joke and I give heaps upon heaps of props to the folks who edit podcasts for a living and put out multiple podcasts a week/month. 

Episode 2 is about food and the lies that parents will tell to steal food from their children. Well at least that's what my mom did! Yes this story is about my mom, but no worries we circle back to the lesson Lola has taught me about how to get what you want when what you want is delicious crab goodness.

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. You can also email me at ObliviousNerdGirl at Gmail dot com

The homies at The Parks Finest BBQ inspired my latest podcast adventure with this recent post about RTD.

This post about the bus system reminded me of my Lola Sabel. I have been thinking about her a lot lately. I have been floating the idea of a new podcast around and was trying to figure out what I wanted to talk about.  Since I've been thinking about my lola the thought came into my head, "Why don't I just talk about all my stories about her?" And Lessons From Lola was born.

Thank you to this handsome gentleman for producing this podcast. The sound quality and editing are a lot better this time around because Mike has the knowledge and skills to edit these recordings. Things sound a lot more professional my 2nd go around podcasting.

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. You can also email me at ObliviousNerdGirl at Gmail dot com

Special thanks to my creative work group (Angel and Jen) for pushing me to get this podcast done! Also to Lakan De Leon for hooking me up with the excellent rondalla music by the San Francisco based Tan Brothers.

In this episode I talk about "The Truth About Stacey." SPOILER ALERT it's Diabetes. Also our gals in the Baby-Sitters Club have some competition, the Baby-Sitters Agency. SPOILER ALERT they suck. 

Here are some links that I've found that BSC fans might fan interesting. 
What Claudia Wore - Claudia Inspired outfits!
BSC-Squee - Another 30 something reading and reviewing BSC in her own snarky way. I love the memes she creates! Also there is a BSC Outfit Archive that is amazing!
BSC Wiki - Of course there's a BSC wiki!

Tell me your thoughts on the book or any other BSC questions and comments at [email protected]. 
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Thank you for listening!