William Shatner Is an Actor?

"This singer does that yelling rap like William Shatner," commented my daughter on her way to school this morning. (We were actually listening to Lifter Puller, but we listened to "Has Been" a lot last year.)

"Yes, he does," I agreed.

"Was William Shatner a movie star or something?"

My brain did one of those inertia things - it's going forward and then something just makes it slam to a stop and it smashes against my skull.

"William Shatner was in a few movies, but he is best known for being on TV," I said slowly.

"What show was he on?" she asked innocently.

"Star Trek." I feel like an American soldier trying to get across a road patrol and they are making sure that I really am American and not a foreign spy.

"What character did he play?"

"Captain Kirk," I say after a pause.

"Oh," she says. And then, "I hope they have something for lunch that I can eat with my sore jaw."

"Me too, hon."

"Bye, mom!" she says as she hops out of the car and runs into the school.

I am left grappling with what feels like a huge issue to me. My daughter thinks of William Shatner as a singer and not Captain Kirk. I feel a bit out of synch with the world. I feel like a parent. I feel old. I also feel a bit like a middle eastern pastry chef. I am making baklava, which is made up of eighty million pieces of phyllo dough and I am separating all the layers and brushing them with butter. Each of these things - Willliam Shatner the singer and William Shatner the TV star are layers of butter in my pastry. I am filling these kids up and hoping for a rich finish.