In Your Veins

Though I believe firmly in the uniqueness of the singular individual, I believe there are certain things that will always be a part of us, and quite possibly in cherished and nostalgic ways.

For example, I have spent the majority of my life as the bookworm of my family. Though both of my parents are brilliant, I am the one who would rather have been in school than anywhere else (besides maybe Disneyland), who spent all my time reading, and who pursued a higher education. Neither of my parents were particular shy or as awkward as I was (or at least as I felt I was). My brother is more like both of my parents than I am.

But there are certain things about my family and growing up that, though may not be a main part of me, will be a part of me nonetheless. For example, most people would never guess that I grew up on the outskirts of the entertainment industry. Music and acting have always been in my life; my parents met on Hollywood Boulevard and played small parts in movies until my dad's death. My mom also taught herself to play trumpet, piano, and guitar. A lot of my young childhood was spent watching my mom "jam" with friends. She sang to us all the time so it was only natural that I sang and wrote songs just like her.

Both of my parents and my older brother in my adoptive family have worked or currently work in the movie industry. My parents sang in bands their whole lives, and to this day my dad acts in small bits in movies. I spent a lot of time in junior high and high school visiting Hollywood, Beverley Hills, and various movie lots (mostly Disney, where my parents still had friends). Even now, my dad is reviewing scripts of friends and calling up old buddies from the industry to get certain movies started. My brother'll have a beer with Ashton Kutcher or pass Shia LeBeouf on the lot every once in a while.

It felt, as a kid, like a very glamorous life--getting to see movie stars, being in recording studios, talking about big dreams for the future. But it was also just a part of my own very real life. I sort of always assumed I would end up in the movie industry somehow; I never could act so I thought perhaps through writing or producing. As I got older, though, I came to realize the seemingly thousands of loves I had--including literature, writing poetry, academia in general, and working with people at ground level. These are not things that either sets of my parents pursued, though all four of them would have been brilliant at them had they tried.

I think it would be fun someday to move back down to L.A. and work on the outskirts of Hollywood--once I'm done playing the Superhero Genius. Though the rest of the world views that world as unreal and full of fake people, I've seen the other side of it and know that folks just like me are in the industry, too. It is something that--though the rest of me may be so incredibly different from it--runs in my veins, passed down from generation to generation.