Patrick Whalen:  

Hi All, You might remember me. I was a band geek playing various saxophones in the school bands from about 8th grade or so. I was in the marching band, jazz band and any other band available at the time. I never played any sports (except phys ed) although I had seriously thought about it but whatever I would have chosen, would have conflicted with band. I attended El Dorado Springs H.S. in Missouri from 6th grade (1975) until after my junior year (1980) when my parents felt we needed to move back to California. So, I left Missouri with my family in the summer of 1980 and moved back to Southern California where I am originally from. I attended John Burroughs High School in Burbank, CA for my senior year (1981). Boy, was that a rough year. I had to make up about 5 history courses that California didn't acknowledge which I had taken in my freshman year in Missouri. In CA, 9th is considered junior high. It was rough, but I managed to squeak by with a diploma. I took some courses at a 2-year college (Valley College in Van Nuys, CA) but never finished. That's still one of my goals, to at least get a Bachelor's degree in Something! I performed various odd jobs to support myself. I worked in a few distribution warehouses as an order filler or as a shipping/receiving clerk. I worked at a Toys R Us for a while. I had a job as a process server, serving summonses and subpoenas to people that were requested to appear in court. That was a very challenging job. In 1984 my dad talked me into taking a course at a technical college in L.A. (Los Angeles Trade Technical College) so I could make a living as a draftsman/illustrator. He had made the suggestion as that's the field in which he worked and was able to teach me some things. He explained that it was pretty simple with further schooling of course. So, I took the course at the technical college (again, not finishing with any certification) in drafting and, with what I knew, eventually landed a job at a vendor to Lockheed Aircraft Co, in Burbank, CA. I worked for them for a few months, getting pretty good at the drafting thing and learning about the kind of illustration work Lockheed produced. About 6 months later, a position opened at Lockheed that I took advantage of. I worked there for 6 years then got laid off, UGH! I had a few more various jobs after that. I was a courier, delivering things from payroll checks to pinball machines all over L.A county. That was pretty exciting, meeting a few celebrities and even delivering once to ex-President, Ronald Reagan's office. A year or so later, I got a job at a sign company, FastSigns in Sherman Oaks, CA, making banners, magnetic signs, window lettering, etc., an...Expand for more