The Backstory

If you ask most people what defines them, what figures mold them to be who they are, or who their biggest influences are, chances are they'll say "My family." But what molds, or defines, a family?

In my case, Silicon. A world traveler with his family until he went to college, my dad relocated to Silicon Valley in the 1980's and has not moved since. I myself was born at Stanford Hospital in Palo Alto and grew up on the peninsula of the San Francisco Bay. In 2004 I graduated from high school and moved to Santa Cruz to attend UC Santa Cruz, where I would major in Film and Digital Media.

Six years later, I have found myself back in the house where I once pranced around in a diaper and refused to take baths. I have experienced college, graduation, a steady job, numerous apartments, financial independence, two long term relationships, and enough surfer-hippie-collegiate counterculture to forever despise "the man" and forever love "the Dude." But while I was busy obsessing over the cinematic screen and all of its lovable characters, the tech gurus of the Valley were developing life-altering screens of their own. Chances are you're reading this on one of those very screens.

As these screens and the devices that house them become more and more present in our daily lives, what sacrifices are being made? Are we saving time with these gadgets or wasting time? To whom or what are we truly feeling connected? When I left for college, I knew my life was about to change dramatically, and I was stoked. What I didn't anticipate were the immense changes that would take place in the home I left behind, in the family that raised me. That home has morphed into a cafe, attractive and comforting because of its free and speedy wifi. And my family? I happened to know their life stories, but other than that, they are strangers sitting at their own tables, fully absorbed and wired in.