(Photo: Glenn Glasser)

Is this a reunion?
JANN: Yes, we’re from San Francisco, and we try to see Joel around his birthday, which is today. He comes home for Christmas, so that way we get to see him every six months.

Did they get you presents?
JOEL: No, but I think them coming out is good enough for me. We’ve kind of gotten beyond the gift stage.

Was it hard for you when he moved here?
JANN: This is how we found out Joel was going to New York: He was living in Los Angeles, and he called and said, “Mom, I want you to be happy for me. I just quit my job and booked my ticket to New York.” I had a little cry and called him right back. I said, “Great, that’s fabulous—you’re young, you should do that.”

But you still talk all the time, right?
JAY: Joel and I talk at least twice a week. He calls, I call.
JOEL: If I have a question about jobs or things like bank accounts and shit like that, I go to my dad.
JANN: He’s a good kid. Since the minute he was born, he was always running around and we couldn’t find him. He’s always been like that.

If he calls you all the time, he can’t be that rebellious.
JAY: Oh, no—he’s not rebellious.
JANN: He’s not rebellious at all.

Related:

• Archive: “Look Book”
• Articles by Emma Rosenblum
• Table of Contents: Jun 16, 2008 issue of New York | Subscribe!