My nephew Cashel turned 18 yesterday. I cannot even believe it. I was there at the hospital when he was born, and so my first memory of him was as a tiny peapod with giant staring eyeballs, wrapped in a blue cloth, being rolled in to meet me, my mother, my father, Maria’s mother and father. We took one look at him, lying there, and all of us just burst into tears, laughter, hugging, group hugs, individual hugs, hugging Brendan in his scrubs, staring in at this little miracle, the first grand-child on both sides. We were all so lucky that Cashel spent the first four years of his life in Brooklyn, geographically close, so I saw him all the time, babysat him, was there when he did the major things, like starting to walk and talk. He now lives in California, he’s a senior in high school, and he’s an awesome person.
The music video below, for a song by the band “Why?”, was directed by Ben Barnes. (He’s super-talented, as will be obvious when you see the video). Ben and my brother are good friends, and have worked on a lot of projects together, so when Ben needed a little boy for the music video, he immediately thought of Cashel, whom he knew well. Cashel had always been a huge film fan (his command to me, to all of us, after watching a movie, became the title to this 2009 piece about Pixar), and so he was so excited to be a part of the process. (He had also made his own animated films since he was really little. Old-timers will remember Cashel’s series, the adventures of “Kung Food Guy.” Kung Food Guy took over the world, opening his mouth, and eating all of the popcorn in sight with one gulp. Kung Food Guy then moved on to noodles. Kung Food Guy was on a rampage.)
The video is beautifully done, haunting, and Cashel’s character is in a precarious situation, which is still difficult to watch. But I’m proud of him, and he did such a good job. He’s around 10, 11 years old.
So proud of this kid. Love him a bunch. He’s a film-maker, a prolific song-writer (he wrote a song called “Surf Grunge,” a mix of The Beach Boys and Nirvana and it’s so hilarious and great), a really good student, a voracious reader (he read Inherent Vice to get ready to see the movie!), and he’s devoted to his high school choir (they toured Europe last year, they sang in Notre Dame Cathedral, although he did inform me, “The acoustics there are not the best.” There was a pause as I thought about this. I wasn’t judging, just pondering the acoustical situation in Notre Dame. Then Cashel, always sensitive to how he comes across, he is a grateful and aware boy, hastened to add, “But it really was so so so cool to sing in that building.” Heart-crack. While he was touring around Europe, we all got a text-message with a picture of the choir singing in Notre Dame, and we were blown away. So excited for him.) One of my favorite memories is he and I going to the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica to see Citizen Kane. He was 12 or 13. He had seen it before, so had I, but we had such a blast seeing it together. We were roaring at the terrible opera. Nothing like the sound of a 12-year-old boy roaring with laughter over a movie made in 1939.
I am so proud of him, so proud of his accomplishments, his smarts, his humor. I can’t wait to see what he does next. It’s a privilege to be his “Auntie”!
18 years old?? No, this cannot BE.
