Gendy Alimurung

The heat kept away all but two of the neighbors' cats; Credit: Nanette Gonzales

How 11 Cats Helped Sandi Tan Write a Novel

Gendy Alimurung
Writers, novelists in particular, often have a cat or two attending them as they go about the terrifying business of setting words to blank page. Novelist Sandi Tan had 11. One by one the cats began to appear at her doorstep as she was writing her debut novel, The Black......
Nathan Barnatt; Credit: W.B. Fontenot

Nathan Barnatt Never Grew Up

Gendy Alimurung
Check out our entire YouTube issue here. Nathan Barnatt wakes up each morning in Star Wars bedsheets. If the trap door in his bunk bed isn't buried under toys, he pops through that to greet the day. For breakfast, he'll have some candy, then go play video games. Or jump......
Mark Wallace at the Griffith Observatory; Credit: Photo by Simone Paz

Meet Mark Wallace, NASA's Interplanetary Travel Agent

Gendy Alimurung
"Thank you for having me!" he says at the end. "Any questions?" In a tiny, hole-in-the-wall art gallery in central L.A., a rocket scientist is wrapping up a talk titled "Getting There: Science Fiction ... and Fact." The gallery founder, wanting to add a bit of oomph to a space-related......
Bri Emery

Invasion of the Beauty Bloggers

Gendy Alimurung
Erika Brechtel's kid is only 3 years old, but she knows the perils of being raised by a fashion blogger. "Mom, put your iPad down," she'll say. Or rather, scream: "Mom! Put! Your! iPad! Down!" Brechtel, 38, is a mom, homeowner and full-time graphic designer married to "a workaholic architect......
Credit: Kevin Scanlon

David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim: The Doll Makers

Gendy Alimurung
Two of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2012 issue. Check out our entire People 2012 issue here. The first conversation Uglydoll creators David Horvath and Sun-Min Kim ever had was about the meaning of the word "ugly." Ugly means unique, interesting, different. Ugly, they decided, is good......
Credit: Kevin Scanlon

Rosie Mercado: That Face

Gendy Alimurung
One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in L.A. Weekly's People 2012 issue. Check out our entire People 2012 issue here. The girl with the pretty face and the big ass -- that's what they called model Rosie Mercado in high school. To become a model, she didn't lose the weight......