An Indian'A'ngeles Boyhood with Jesse Bob Harper

Growing up on a lake is a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I can think of no better environment to spend counting down the days of your childhood. The rub is, you spend a lifetime trying to recapture the feeling of possibilities that the lake offered.

Looking back, it can sometimes seem that the childhood we lived, on the lake, was very "Twain'esque," that is if Tom Sawyer was a song written by Tom Waits and brought to the screen by David Lynch. Still, I have to say, the memories, both good and bad, always make me smile, cause the memories bring me back to the lake.

Even though I never gave much thought to what I would find in L.A. (most of my knowledge of L.A. was based on years of bad t.v., like C.H.I.P.'s and Three's Company) there were a few things that I think everyone expects when arriving in Los Angeles.

The sun, the mountains (although these sort of threw me for a loop), the smog, the density of people, the collective desperation of thousands of people striving for an imagined dream of how their lives will unfold.

There was also the unexpected. Those aspects of the City that you never knew to prepare yourself. As Don Rumsfeld would say; "What we knew we didn't know."

In this, the 11th episode of IndianAngeles Boyhood, I continue with the introductions of some the people I was lucky to know in the early years of my Los Angeles life.

In this episode I get to talk to another great friend and awesome dude; Peter Bruno.

Peter is another fellow Saban Mailroom survivor. Like old war buddies, everyone who I worked with in the mailroom at Saban has some stories to tell.

This is also, even though very late, a special Oscar episode, as Peter and I talk about our trip to the Oscars, oh so long ago.

After a one month hiatus in IndianAngeles Boyhood comes back with a vengeance. Over the next few weeks and episodes I will be introducing many of the friends I had the great pleasure of spending my 20s and 30s with in the great city of Los Angeles.

First up is none other than Michael Goldberg. One of the greatest aspects of Los Angeles, as everyone knows, is that it is a Mecca for those who are pursuing their dreams, whatever they may be, in the entertainment industry. What isn't always so evident, is that it is not only people who want to act or a write or produce, but it is also people who are pursuing other avenues within the industry, and Michael is such a guy.

Like any great Hollywood story Michael and I met in a mail room. And as I, Jesse Bob Harper, was in Los Angeles to pursue a career in acting Michael had come to Los Angeles to be a talent agent. In coming episodes I hope to talk to Michael about some of the great adventures we had in Los Angeles but first wanted to introduce the audience, such as it is, to Michael.

In this episode of IndianAngeles Boyhood, I once again talk with "Daisy," my Ma.

It's a short conversation about some of the extracurricular activities we took part in when we were young, growning up in Indiana.

In this episode I sit down with one of my oldest buddies, Will Brown.

We spent a lot of time together growing up (cause no one else would hang out with us) in Indiana. We both had the same goal of one day getting out and seeing what else the world had to offer.

Whenever I talk about an "Indiana Boyhood," Will is in most of the visions I see in my mind's eye.

This may sound like some existential question about humanity and man's purpose... Trust me, it is not. Since my earliest memories, this is a question that I have carried around. In certain ways, it, this question, has given a melancholy sheen to some of my memories. But it wasn't a crisis of purpose, it truly was the simplest of questions.

"Why am I here?" In this state? In this city? Within this family? That was the question I asked as a kid. A question I could literally feel. A question I had that I didn't even know how to give voice to. In many ways, it's the search of the answer, that has led to these conversations.

Another conversation with Patrick Reddy about our experiences doing extra in Los Angeles. What it entailed, how we met and why we did it. Editing this episode made me think about some of the missed opportunities, those known and those unknown, that I must have had living in Los Angeles. Thinking of missed opportunities naturally led to thoughts of Carrot Top.

After twenty two years in L.A. I may not have ever lived the life I had imagined I would, but I lived a life that I wouldn't trade for anything. And man, do I have some stories. I share some of my favorites with the friends I met and muddled through the labyrinth of the industry with.

One thing I have always noticed about Hoosiers is that they are proud of their work ethic. One of the highest compliments you can pay to someone from Indiana is that they are a "worker."

But what exactly does that mean? And why is it that we so often feel that we need to work in order to justify our existence?