WIL WHEATON dot NET: 1.5

Anne and I walked 13 miles today, along The Strand from Dockweiler to Hermosa and back.

It was a perfect day to walk. Blue skies, a light breeze, tons of friendly people out walking their dogs, and a beach absolutely packed with people playing volleyball. There was this festive atmosphere everywhere, and I felt like my soul got a little recharge while my body got a light workout.

The marathon is on Sunday, and we're making sure that we're properly conditioned (we are) and that our pace hasn't changed (it hasn't. We're still about 4.2 MPH). We walked nine miles yesterday, and I think we're taking tomorrow off . . . my feet are aching.

Now it's time for a quick shower, and then dinner: I'm barbecuing chicken and serving it with black beans. Goodtimes.

Posted by Wil at 6:09 PM | Permalink

My dad's family has a long tradition associated with the Los Angeles Dodgers, going all the way back to the very first day they ever played here.

As a result, my dad's family has had season tickets at Dodger stadium since the place opened -- and they rock.

My parents only get a few games a year, and Anne and I usually can't go for some reason or another . . . but we get to go tonight! I am going to watch Randy Johnson pitch from just a few feet off the field. How cool is that?

It will also be the first Dodger game that I've been able to attend in person this season.

This is a pretty cool way to kick off the long weekend, eh?

Posted by Wil at 3:09 PM | Permalink

The server that houses WWdN got hit by a script kiddie last night.

I'm very impressed. It takes a lot of brains and courage to run a script against a webserver. Very, very grown up.

My wife said, "I don't get this. What exactly have you ever done to anyone? Why are these idiots suddenly harassing you?"

I don't think it has anything to do with me, I told her. I share a server with some other sites, and one of them must have been compromised.

"It was probably this phpnuke exploit that's been out there for --" I said.

"You lost me at phpnuke," she said. I laughed.

"It's pretty sad that someone has to destroy something to feel good about themselves," she said.

We were washing dishes from dinner at the time, and Nolan came into the kitchen, ready for bed.

"What got destroyed, Wil?" he said.

"Somebody cracked the server that hosts my website," I said.

"That's stupid." he said.

"Yeah."

"Will you tuck me in?"

"Sure." I dried the dish I was washing, and he took my hand in his as we walked back to his room.

"I had a really good time tonight," he said.

"Yeah, me too!" I said. After dinner, we played Hold'Em, then charades. It was a wonderful family evening, like you'd see in some lame 50s TV show.

We got to his room, and he hopped into his bed. Felix was already there, purring loudly.

"Look! I'm on Felix's rotation!" Nolan said. Felix moves from my room, to Nolan's, to Ryan's, and to the living room. He'll spend a few nights, or even a few weeks, in each spot. It's pretty cool to be on his rotation, because it feels like you've been "chosen."

I smiled, and rubbed Felix's chin. He flipped over on his back and purred even louder.

"Sleep well, kiddo," I said.

"Okay," he said. "I love you, Wil."

"I love you too, Nolan. I'll see you in the morning."

He reached out his arms, and hugged me tightly. I kissed his head and squeezed him back.

I passed Ryan's room on my way back out to the kitchen. He was reading in bed.

"I had a great time with you tonight," I said.

"That was rad." he said. Then he said something that's so funny, but so wrong, I won't repeat it. Something about Anne rivering trips to beat my two pair. I will, however, repeat what he said next: "Oh yeah, I went there."

"Did you just quote Family Guy?" I said.

He laughed like Peter Griffin.

"I thought so. Okay, when you get back from your dad's this weekend, I'm introducing you to Monty Python. You're ready for it."

"Isn't that for nerds?"

"You're ready for it," I repeated. "Sleep well."

Earlier today, I got to see the jacket for my book, and I got to share it with my family who I love. Then, I got to have dinner with my family who I love. Then, I played poker with my family who I love, then I played charades with my family who I love. I spent the entire night with my family who I love, creating wonderful memories, while some stupid coward spent his night alone, trying to make himself feel important and relevant by destroying something. Anyone can destroy something. It takes something more to create something.

*Commenting is turned off until we can get some more perl modules installed on the new server.*

Posted by Wil at 10:40 AM | Permalink

A few people have e-mailed me recently and wondered where my posts from the politics department have all gone. There's no shortage of things to be outraged about: the torture in Abu Ghraib, the daily barrage of lies coming out of the Bush administration about the war, the New York Times's half-assed apology for helping Bush and the neocons mislead the country into war (way to let Judith Miller get off scott-free, Times. That's some top-notch responsibility-taking you've got going there) . . . but here's the deal: I'm actually getting paid to write some things now (more on that tomorrow), and I have editors and readers who expect things on time -- that don't totally suck -- so I don't have a lot of "extra" time right now. When I write about political issues, I like to heavily research and footnote my comments. My goal when I write about politics is not to simply rant and rave . . . it's to hopefully enlighten, and inform people. Right now, I don't have time to do that, but there are others on the Intarweb who are doing a fantastic job: Salon, DailyKos, Atrios, Josh Marshall, The Daily Howler, Juan Cole, and Kevin Drum are just a few of the sites I read at least once a day. I do a lot of nodding along in agreement when I read them, and they always say what I would say, with more eloquence and passion than I can currently muster.

It's a strange thing, the concept and reality of "time." There are so many things that I want to do in a day, and there really isn't enough time to get it all done. As I get older, I find that my time is more and more valuable . . . and I have less and less of it. I'm still working up the D&D campaign for Ryan and Nolan, and I just joined a new campaign as a player . . . the first campaign I've played in since high school. I haven't had time to sit down and play poker in ages, and I'm still reading the same book I started almost three weeks ago. Roger Waters was on to something, man.

So in consideration of this time thing, and how it ties into the lack of political writing, which is, I guess, what this entry has become all about: I can only write so much, and I can only write so much that's not total crap. It takes more time energy to write a good political post than it does to write about something that truly brings me joy and makes me happy. And you know what? There's enough anger and strife in the world right now. I'd rather put my time and energy into reflecting on the things that make me happy, than the things that piss me off.

When I put myself in lockdown to finish Just A Geek, I opened up this creative vein, and all kinds of stuff came flowing out. I wrote almost daily for Best Week Ever, put up a few things at the Cult of the One Eyed Cat, and contributed pretty frequently to blogging.la . . . but once I was done, I just . . . ran out of energy. My friend Kathleen described it as "red-lining" for weeks, which made a lot of sense to me. Since I finished, I feel like my creative engine was so heavily taxed for so long, it takes longer to get it started, and it's harder to rev it up to a point where it churns out lots of good stuff.

Over the last week or so, I've started to feel creatively rested, and I think I'll be able to write here more often . . . but more importantly, I'll get back to more narrative work, like lying in odessa or some of my recent blogs about the kids.

I gave a talk to Nolan's humanities class about two weeks ago (man, speaking to thirty 12 year-olds is harder than addressing a convention hall of thousands!) and I discussed how writing can take you places -- emotionally, and physically -- the same way reading a good book, or watching a good movie can.

For the time being, when I write, I'm going to visit some cool places . . . but now, I'm going to read my Expanded Psionics Handbook.

Posted by Wil at 3:17 PM | Permalink

I've known Chris Hardwick for over a decade, which is just short of "since forever." He was in a fraternity with my friend Cal, and Cal introduced him to our group of friends when I was sixteen or seventeen. Chris and I immediately hit it off, mostly because we have the exact same ultra-twisted sense of humor, and we've been friends ever since.

Over the years, Chris has grown into one of the most talented people I know (which, surprisingly, is saying a lot. It turns out that I know a lot of talented people.) He's a brilliant comedy writer, and an incredibly talented stand-up performer.

But the reason I'm writing about him today is to share with the world his latest project, which made me gasp with astonishment and convulse with laughter: Rodeohead.

Yeah. Because his rock opera based on the movie Tron wasn't enough, Chris made a bluegrass tribute to Radiohead.

Hey Chris, stop being so funny. It's fucking up the comedy curve for the rest of the class, ya bastard.

PS Chris says, "would you mind terribly mentioning that this was done with mike phirman? this is definitely a hard 'n phirm thing that i can't remotely take all of the credit for. this has lived on phirman's computer for the last year and i want him to know that he's appreciated.

thank you a gajillion times,

your friend in time,

emmett "doc" brown

Posted by Wil at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (28)

As I write this, the house is silent, except for Ferris and Riley playing "tear the everlivingcrap out of what used to be a soccer ball" in the living room, while several varieties of finch and sparrow are singing songs in my mist-shrouded back yard. It's cool in Pasadena -- my ambient orb glows green. Nolan and Ryan are on the couch, reading books, and the smell of coffee and toast is wafting out of the kitchen behind me.

Man, it's a peaceful, serene morning, and a great way to start out the last day of an incredible weekend.

Thanks to WWdN readers, Just A Geek climbed as high as number 21 on Amazon's Top 100 this weekend. At one point, it was the third highest pre-order they carry, alongside books by Stephen King and Bill Clinton. Dancing Barefoot also climbed back up from the 9000s to number 208!

You know, two years ago, when I started writing what became these two books, I thought I'd be lucky to sell 1000 combined. I hoped that readers would enjoy them, but I was unsure . . . this is just amazing: Barefoot is rated 5 stars with 93 reviews, and the chief complaint is that it's too short (I agree, but the idea all along was for it to be a companion to Geek), and Geek has already peaked higher on the charts than Barefoot ever did, and it's not even released, yet.

But this incredible, and unexpected, book success isn't even why the weekend has been so amazing. Actually, it pales in comparison to why I'll treasure the memories of this weekend for the rest of my life . . .

Anne's goofing off with a couple of her girlfriends who have birthdays this weekend, so I've sort of "taken point" with the kids, and it has been sublime, effortless, joyous . . . I have felt the way I've always hoped to feel with them: like we love and respect each other, and enjoy each other's company.

For the last eight years I've done everything humanly possible to help build a loving and supportive relationship with them, while always respecting their emotional limits . . . even when it was incredibly painful to feel like I was more interested in closing the gap than they were. I don't believe that it's my place as their stepfather to try to be their buddy, or force closeness on them if they're not ready for it, or interested in it. It has not always been easy, and sometimes the hardest thing I've experienced as a parent is setting aside what I want, when it conflicts with what the kids need. It's been especially tough when my relationship with them, (and my role in their lives,) has been intentionally and actively undermined, but I've always stayed focused on what's best for them, and it's during times like these, when I see and feel the results of my parenting, that I know I'm doing the right thing.

Friday night we watched Miracle, which is that movie about the 1980 US Men's Gold Medal hockey team. I remember when that happened in real life, and it was awesome to watch it with them, and share my personal historical perspective on the Iranian Hostage crisis, Jimmy Carter's "We have to be able to dream" speech, and, of course, the Olympic games themselves.

When I was a teenager, I played ice hockey, as a goal tender, and I got to play in a few charity games with this celebrity hockey team. Several of the players on that team were from the 1980 men's team, including Mike Eruzione and Jim Craig, and while I didn't get to know them very well, they always treated me like a fellow player -- especially Jim Craig -- so I have always felt sort of a connection to those guys. It was great to see their story brought to life in such a great movie.

Hey, this is a good time to throw this line into the water: I know that the celebrity team still plays, and while I'm not really an "A" List celebrity right now, I still skate. If anyone from the team is reading this, or hears about this, I'd love to play with you guys again.

Ryan and Nolan loved the movie as much as I did, and I can enthusiastically recommend it to WWdN readers. Kurt Russell is fantastic as Herb Brooks, too. I'm hearing, "I'm proud to be an american, but I'm ashamed of my government" a LOT recently -- a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with -- and "Miracle" reminded me of a time when I was younger, far more innocent (I was 8, after all) and those guys really were heroes to a generation. We could really use some more heroes right now, couldn't we?

Yesterday, I did a virtual book signing in the afternoon (something so cool, it will have its own post later this week), then took the kids over to my brother-in-law's so he could help Ryan with a geometry project. Ryan's uncle is a brilliant architect, and a talented craftsman, and he helped Ryan build this art deco lamp out of several geometric shapes and solids. It's awesome!

Nolan and I got to hang out with my niece and nephew while Ryan and his uncle worked, which was great. I hardly ever get to see my niece and nephew, and it was awesome to see how much they've both grown (in size and in emotional development) since the last time I saw them.

When we were done there, it was almost 8, and too late to cook, so the three of us went out to dinner at Chevy's in Glendale. We were seated in the last booth on a wall of booths, behind a table of five teenage girls. Nolan was oblivious, but Ryan sat on the side facing them so he could "appreciate the view."

The funniest moment of the meal was when one of them recognized me as That Guy From That Movie, -- which is really weird because they probably weren't even born when it came out -- and all of them began signing "Stand By Me."

Okay, look -- I hate that. When I was a teenager, girls would see me and start singing that all the time, and it always made me feel like a sideshow freak. I used to like that song, but it follows me everywhere. I swear, 3 out of 5 times when I go shopping, it comes on the muzak. It's on the oldies station on the radio all the time, and the Pennywise version was even on Fungus (XM 53) recently.

"Man, that follows you everywhere," Ryan said.

"Yes, it's haunting me," I said.

"What following you?" Nolan asked, "The Stench?"

I have no idea where he got "The Stench", or why he said it with capital letters, so I shook my fist at him and laughed.

"I'll Stench you, mister." I said.

Both of them looked at me.

"Yeah, I don't know what it means, either. How about if I just embarrass you both in front of The Table of Hotties?" I took a deep breath, and struck a dramatic pose.

Ryan jumped like he'd been shocked with a cattle prod.

"No! It's cool!" He looked across the table. "Nolan, Ixnay on the Enchstay!"

There was some serious giggling from us after that, enough to compete with a table filled with teenage girls . . . maybe I shouldn't be proud of that after all. Heh.

We finished dinner (the spicy steak taco is where it's at, yo) and made it home just after 10. Nolan was asleep as we pulled into the driveway, but insisted that he wasn't tired, so he wrapped himself up in my geek blanket and sat on the floor while we watched Ghostbusters on TNT.

He was asleep before the first commercial, and I was asleep soon after. I woke up drooling on the arm of the couch right around the time dickless shut down the containment grid.

Ryan was still awake, so I let him watch the rest of the movie and went back to my room.

"Remember to turn the TV off," I told him.

"Can I sleep out here?" He said.

"Yeah, that's fine. But Riley will probably be licking your face at 7,"

"That's okay. I love you, Wil."

"I love you too, Ryan. Sleep well."

"Remember this," I thought, as I let my head settle down into my pillow.

It's been over an hour now since I sat down to write this. The kids are playing catch outside, and Ferris is trying to convince Riley that she's ready for a nap (Riley isn't having it. Whenever Ferris lies in her bed, Riley walks in and paws at her face until Ferris either snarls at her, or gives in and comes out to play.) I've turned on iTunes, and I'm listening to "Morphic Fields" from the classic ambient record "Earth To Infinity." My coffee is cooling, and it's about time I got up, took a shower, and started the yard work I have planned for today.

It's still a peaceful morning here, though, in my house, and in my soul.

Remember this.

Posted by Wil at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (112)

Posted by Wil at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (278)

Sorry for the lack of updates this week. Just A Geek is in its final stages, and I've been working very closely with O'Reilly to help it across the finish line. It's a lot more work than I ever thought to get this stuff finished. Each time I think I'm done, I find out there's something more to do. I like it, though, and I have enjoyed working with O'Reilly to pull this all together.

Just A Geek is so much more than a story to me, as weird as that may seem. It's a huge part of my heart and soul, and represents two years of very intense work . . . and I've been a little concerned that they may not "get" exactly how much it means to me, you know? I've been nervous about walking that delicate line between art and commerce.

I am happy to report that this week, I've learned that not only do they "get" it . . . they grok it. I also found out that the printing date has been moved up, so the book will be released even sooner than I originally thought. I still don't know the exact date, but I'll be sure to announce it here when I do.

One of the cool things we've done this week is come up with a tagline for the book. I didn't want to use one originally, but I guess taglines are a big part of getting undecided readers to pull the book off the shelf and give it consideration, so my editor and marketing manager were cool enough to hold my hand while we worked to come up with . . .

Just A Geek : Unflinchingly honest tales of the search for life, love, and fulfillment beyond the Starship Enterprise

I've been having a very hard time describing my story to people in just a few words, but now I can do it. That tagline totally distills the story down to its essence, and I think it's super-cool.

I was telling Anne a few days ago how I just can't seem to pull enough creative energy together to write anything cool, because I think it's piling up behind the Just A Geek logjam. I mentioned that Vegas story a few weeks ago, and it's been kicking around in the back of my mind . . . I think I have the beginnings of a spine, and that's nifty. It will be the first work of 100% fiction I've done here, and it's sort of a test for me.

Hey, speaking of Vegas, I will definitely be at the Creation Vegas Convention from July 29 (MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!111one!!) until August 1, and EarnestBorg9 is doing one of our awesome improv shows on Friday, July 30, around 8 at night. I'm also performing from Just A Geek and Dancing Barefoot that day too, so if you want to get the most Wheaton for your buck, Friday the 30th will be the day to come out. If you're planning on attending, it would be cool to let Creation know that you're coming out to see me or EB9. For some reason they don't believe me when I tell them that people want to see us, even when we fill rooms to capacity.

That's all for today. I have to go back to work. Tune in tomorrow for an exciting announcement.

Posted by Wil at 3:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (60)

A few years ago I took the train to Kansas and spent two weeks shooting a film that I am intensely proud of. It's called The Good Things.

The Good Things, like Neverland and Jane White is one of the very few movies I've done in the last ten years that I can enthusiastically encourage everyone to go out and watch.

Hollywood Bitchslap says:

The Good Things (2001) - Sundance

Wil Wheaton stars as a lovelorn young man working in a toll booth of his small, middle of nowhere community. The love of his life is marrying someone else, and his best friend sends missives from far and exotic locations. He yearns for something beyond the isolation and loneliness of life in the booth, but he seems unwilling to reach out or make a choice toward something more. This short is very effective in creating a mood of loneliness and ennui which resonates. The whole thing hits a little close to home, as I look out the window at the same town I have known my whole life. Perhaps there is a difference between being content and being trapped, but the line is a fine one to walk. This well-made short deserves a look. The performances are good, and the writing and visuals are worth experiencing.

Much of my adult acting career is marked by movies that, quite frankly, suck. I mean, there are some that have good moments, and there are some where I'm happy with my performance, but the overall picture falls sort of flat . . . then there are the ones that I'd rather forget entirely.

As I worked on Just A Geek I looked for the answer to the question, "What the hell happened to my once-promising acting career?" Ultimately, it was pretty easy to answer: I made lots of bad choices, based partially on bad advice but based mostly on the arrogance of youth . . . I regret a lot of the choices I made, because I blew a lot of very good opportunities, and lost twice as many more when I didn't respect the work. When I grew up (literally and otherwise) I knew that I had the acting ability to give good performances, but it was too late. I didn't have the fame or Hollywood cachet that is so much more important than talent and ability when it comes to getting cast in just about anything (See: Affleck, Ben; Kutcher, Ashton and Simpson, Jessica). It was frustrating that nobody would take a chance on me, but it was doubly frustrating that putting me in a film was seen as "taking a chance" at all! Seth Wiley, who directed The Good Things, and David Latt, who directed Jane White Is Sick And Twisted both gave me an opportunity to perform for them, in very different types of roles, and their leaps of faith paid off for all of us. Jane White has won more awards than I can count (including a best actor award for me, thank you very much :) and The Good Things won best short at Deauville in 2002.

Thanks to WWdN reader Greg, I just found out that The Good Things is airing on The Sundance Channel this Friday, May 21st. It's only 26 minutes long, so if you hate it, it's not like you lost almost three hours of your life in The Hulk . . . but I would be very surprised if you guys didn't enjoy it -- Matter of fact, I can hardly ever enjoy things that I'm in, but The Good Things is a notable exception to that rule.

I encourage everyone to record it, and share it with their friends. I think it's a great movie and I'd like for it to be seen by as many people as possible.

Posted by Wil at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (98)

Great news about Kris!

In my last entry, I mentioned Kris would be going into City of Hope one last time to spend a week getting medication that would boost her immune system. That was done last week. I wasn't able to visit her because she was feeling very pukey and tired. It was more important for her to get her rest anyway. She came home on Saturday. I called to check in on her Monday but her son said she was sleeping and that he was staying with her all day to take care of her. So I called her on Tuesday and she sounded great. We talked about our kids, Mother's Day (she slept through most of her Mother's Day) and how she was feeling. She was doing much better after sleeping for most of the past few days. She said she spoke with her friend Debbie about how well she was doing. Debbie is the wife of her friend that died from the same type of leukemia she has. Debbie commented on how much further Kris has come through treatment than Debbie's husband did (he died from pneumonia after the radiation treatments.) It's so sad to think that she had a friend who was diagnosed a year before she was but didn't make it. But at the same time, I'm so relieved that she toughed it out through all this and stayed healthy. I know a big part of her motivation is being at the finish line with our marathon. Yesterday, Kris went to her doctor to have a pump put in that will give her the same immune boosting medication for another ten days. This is like a jump start kick to make sure all of the leukemia stays away. She said she doesn't feel as sick as when she was in the hospital last week. She feels like she has a mild case of the flu. But, she says, she'll survive. I know she will too.

Today marks her 80th day of treatment. Her 100th day will come just days before the marathon. I can't even tell you how happy I am that she's doing so well. And she always says that a big part of it has to be all the good "mojo" that's coming her way.

So now Wil and I are down to the last couple of days of fundraising for the marathon. We need to turn everything in next week. So if you've been wanting to help by donating anything (believe me, it doesn't matter how much you can donate, every bit counts) then today is the day to do it. The PayPal donation page will be coming down on Saturday to allow for time to transfer the funds. You can donate through the webpage we have through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's site. Just think, you can be part of something that will make a difference in the world. Trust me. It's a great feeling.

I will post more information about Kris, as well as our total funds raised (I have a huge stack of checks I haven't added up yet) next week. Keep your fingers crossed that we reach our goal!

Posted by Wil at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (41)

First, the bad news: I chipped the evrlivingfuck out of my tooth a few nights ago. How did I do it, you ask? Something cool, like a bar fight, or a hockey fight, or jumping in front of a runaway shopping cart to save a GT40 from getting a dent?

Oh no. No, my friends, it's much better than that. I chipped my front tooth so badly I don't even want to open my mouth, by . . . . eating pizza. Pear and Gorgonzola pizza from Trader Joe's, to be exact. (Which is frakin' good pizza, man.) My jaw is all screwed up, and I've needed braces to fix my bite for years, but I always felt it was vain to worry about having perfectly straight teeth . . . and as a result, I've gotten this really nasty underbite. So I hit my bottom teeth on my top front teeth all the time, and it has resulted in three bondings in less than a year. I get to go back today to get yet another bonding, and this afternoon I'm meeting with the orthodontist so I can finally get the process of fixing my screwed up teeth started.

Now the good news: I got the unbound galleys of Just A Geek yesterday! It looks like a real book. Oh my god. I also got to see the cover art, which is amazing. I'm so excited! I have until the 24th to give them my edits and corrections, and then I won't see it again until it's printed and bound. I don't have a street date, yet, but I think it will be June or July.

And holy crap, when you find out who is writing the foreword, you will shit. It's just about the coolest thing ever.

I've also been talking with O'Reilly about a book tour, and right now it looks like we're going to do something up the West Coast -- probably San Diego to Seattle -- in August. I don't know if they'll send me out to the rest of the country, but I'm sure if there's enough interest, we can put something together. *wink*

Voice Over Excitement: Yesterday, I had the coolest VO audition of my life . . . for Family Guy! They are looking for "utility players," and I got to go read about 12 different characters for them. If I book it, it will be a bigger deal to me than when I booked Next Generation. I did a pretty good job, I think. I didn't "hear myself" in several of the characters I did, and I think my obsessive watching of the show on Adult Swim and on DVD helped me out, because I know what types of characters they have -- I was able to go "bigger" than I normally would if I didn't know the show so well.

Today, I have a major callback for this animation project over at Disney. I read three characters for this show about two weeks ago, and I felt like I completely blew it with one, barely made it with another, but totally nailed it with the last one -- and they've bringing me back for the last one (a character whom I love, by the way) today!

Other stuff: A few weeks ago, I did an epic, three-hour long interview with Sequential Tart, the first part of which is up now. I read it last night, and discovered that I am a fucking LONG WINDED guy. I need to learn how to just get to the point and shut up.

There are two good reviews of Dancing Barefoot, too. This one is from MacCompanion, and This one is from The Southend, at Wayne University.

Okay, that's it from me for today. I have to go work on Geek now. Anne's got an update about Kris that she's working on in the other room. It should be in a little bit.

Posted by Wil at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (118)

Anne and I were training yesterday, doing the neighborhood route, and we passed a bunch of animals: mostly other people walking dogs, but a bunch of birds and some cats, too, including a tiny kitten who called to us from the window of a neighbor's house when we passed. I thought about our dogs and cats, and the birds that are nesting in my backyard, and it made me happy.

Felix is doing really well, considering how close he was to death's door just last week. He is eating a ton of food, and is super feisty. I still don't want to get my hopes too high, but I think we have weathered the latest storm.

Yesterday, I gave him his medical catnip mouse, and he chased it around my bed like he was a kitten! I just love how he gets on his back, holds it between his paws, and kicks at it with his back feet. When he's done playing, he usually tosses it to the side, then passes out on it like it's a little kitty pillow.

I gave Biko and Sketch mice too, (they . . . uh . . . have glaucoma, or something) and they played even harder than Felix did. Right now, Biko is on the one cat-approved counter next to the phone, safely out of Riley's reach, cuddling his mouse while he sleeps! Riley is chasing a fly, or something, around the living room, and Ferris is zonked out on the floor at my feet. Sketch is sleeping in the tall grass under a tree in our front yard, and The Bear is watching Anne clean the stove in the kitchen.

It's quiet outside, except for the soft drone of a distant lawnmower, and the smell of orange blossoms and star jasmine flowers is pouring into my office through the open window. Two doves just landed in the middle of my backyard.

It looks like Demeter got Persephone back from Hades, and boy is She happy.

Posted by Wil at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (76)

Nolan walked over to my desk and tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around in my chair and looked into his cheshire grin.

"What are you doing?" I said.

"Oh . . . I just saw something I thought you may be interested in." I noticed that he had one hand behind his back.

"It wouldn't be related to what you have behind your back, would it?"

His grin got bigger, and he revealed People magazine. Jennifer Aniston was on the cover -- apparently she's one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world.

"I don't want to burst his bubble and tell him that I'm not all that excited about her," I thought, "But I don't want to lie to him, either. Crap! It's a Parenting Challenge. What do I do?"

"Nolan, I --"

He opened the magzine and revealed a two-page ad for the new Ford GT. It was my favorite car at the entire LA Auto Show when we went a few months ago. He gingerly set it down on my desk.

"I think I'll leave you two alone," he said, and patted my knee before he left.

He managed to contain his giggles until he was just outside the door.

Posted by Wil at 8:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (84)

Found on TotalFark: Genuine 80's air guitar sold for $5.50, plus $10 postage.

YOU ARE BIDDING ON AN ORIGINAL AIR GUITAR FROM THE 80'S. THIS ONE WAS USED ONCE AT A BON JOVI CONCERT IN 89 FOR ABOUT 3 HOURS.I HAVE TAKEN IT OUT A FEW TIMES SINCE. GENERALLY AFTER ABOUT 6 BEERS AND A COUPLE OF FRUITY SHOTS.

Posted by Wil at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (65)

I had a weird night last night. I kept waking up very suddenly, with my brain racing. It was different from the night terrors I used to have when I was younger, but the same "OH MY GOD!" heart-pounding feeling was still there, just absent the white hot blinding fear that the terrors used to bring.

So that's a long way if saying that I've been really tired all day. I think I'm also a little emotionally drained, as well, with the uncertainty about Felix (even though all the signs currently point in a positive direction).

Speaking of Felix . . . I saw him this morning, and the vet, and all the techs at the hospital all told me how talkative he had been, and how eager he was to come home. He continued to "eat like a pig" they said (he ate almost an entire 5.5 ounce can of food this morning) and he was even eating fish, which he's always hated. There was another cat in the space next to The Bear, and I guess the two of them had been talking to each other since yesterday. I think I may have seen a copy of Escape from AlCATraz -- with feline subtitles, of course -- behind Felix's litter box.

The vet told me that it was really clear that our visits were helping him, and she said the he really settled down when we took his little fleece bed there for him to sleep in so he didn't have to sleep on a towel.

She said that he's made so much progress with the fluids and medication, that he could come home today!

So at 4:30, I picked him up, and right now he's laying on the floor behind me, giving himself a bath.

He wants me to tell everyone, "Hi. ThiS iS FELix. My Mom AND Dad ToLD mE HoW MUCh WWDN ReADerS SupPoRteD ThEM whiLe I wAs SiCK, aND i WaNT to sAY ThANK you. ThEy LovE ME A loT AnD I KnOW THIS Was hard FoR thEM."

I want to say thank you again, too, and so do Anne and the boys.

Felix will get sub-q fluids every day, and we're also giving him aluminum hydroxide twice a day in his food to help take some stress off his kidneys. I'm doing everything I can to keep him comfy, too, and I ordered him some Kitty Hooch, because he loves it so much.

The next 48 hours are going to be very important. If he doesn't slip back to pre-hospital condition, we're going to be okay for a while. If he worsens, we'll have to give serious consideration to putting him to sleep. We're clearly not out of the woods, yet, so if you've got an extra thought to spare, we'll take it.

Oh, and to tie up a loose end from yesterday, my audition went really well. I read for three different characters, nailed one of them, blew it on another, and did fairly well with the last one. But I REALLY had fun with the characters, and also recorded an audio blog that made me laugh.

Update: I just got off the phone with our vet. The lab results came back, and they're not as good as we'd hoped. his levels came down a little bit, but not nearly as much as we were hoping for. She said that she uses the lab results as a guide, and really lets the cat tell us what he needs, but when I asked her if it was positive, negative, or neutral, she didn't really want to say . . . so I think it may be more negative than we'd like.

He's going to get re-checked in two weeks, and we'll have a very clear picture then. I'm trying to remain hopeful, but I also have to prepare myself for the very worst.

Posted by Wil at 5:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (147)

Anne and I went to visit Felix this morning, and he just looks wonderful! He's really responding to the medication, and the tech told us that he's been "eating like a pig" all day! Of course, we don't know if he'll continue to improve or take a turn for the worse when we bring him home, but we're hoping for the best. If nothing else, it was wonderful to see him looking just like his old self today. His eyes were bright, and we couldn't see his third eyelids at all. I snapped a great photo of him with my cameraphone, and it should be in the moblog right now.

He was so happy to see us both. He purred so loudly I could hear him across the room, and he let us smother him with love and affection. It's funny . . . he's a very affectionate cat, but only on his terms. If we love him too much, he'll chomp right down on our hands, then turn his back to us, and shake his stump (he's a Japanese Bobtail, so he's got a little stump where other cats have tails. It's pretty cool.) Today, though, he couldn't get enough love from us. We both sat on the floor, and he just walked back and forth between us, rubbing his face against our hands, and really "talking" quite a bit. He was obviously unhappy about the IV in his little paw, but he didn't complain about it too much.

We also snuck in some of his favorite food, which he sort of liked. He was more interested in the gravy, but I was just happy to see him eating.

They tell us the visits from a cat's staff (that's us) can help the cat do better, and it makes me happy to see him, so I'm going to try to see him again this afternoon. I have an audition for a cartoon down in Hollywood, so it's going to be close, but if the traffic is willing, I should make it.

Anne and I are beyond moved by the caring and support, as well as the kind advice from so many WWdN readers. I've heard from many vets, who have given me encouragement as well as suggested some things to talk to our vet about, and I'm very grateful for that.

We took the dogs for a walk up this canyon earlier today, to give them exercise and to give us a change of scenery while we train for the marathon, and I was telling Anne about all the support and caring that WWdN readers have sent our way, and I got to thinking . . . it's an incredibly positive chunk of energy, isn't it? I mean, there are so many ways to make the Internet suck, and here we have found a way to make it not suck, here at this website.

I have always thought that the Internet was about communication, and sharing of information . . . but over the last few years, we've shared more than just information. We've shared kindness, and support, and love, and all sorts of that tree huggin' hippie crap that I wish there was more of in the world.

I hope that people who read this site can grab a little bit of that, and help spread it around. It's pretty cool.

Oh, and this other thing that's really cool: on our hike up the canyon, we walked past a bunch of cabins . . . and one of them was called "Tom Bombadil's Castle." It was under a grove of trees, and everything! I looked for hobbits, but they must have been sleeping.

And thank you to everyone who is helping out with the crapflooding problem. The noose is tightening.

Posted by Wil at 2:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (134)

Okay. I've had enough.

I am done dealing with childish attention-whore script kiddie crapflooders.

I've never done anything to you subhumans, yet you continue to attack and deface my website.

Today, you crossed the line. I can't believe that you would think that it's somehow okay to post kiddie porn in the comments on any website, but I am absolutely stunned that you are so devoid of any basic humanity that you would flood a post about my pet who is dying.

So I'm now officially putting out a bounty on your heads.

I am offering $1000 for information that leads to the arrest and successful prosecution of anyone involved in the crapflooding of this website.

Enough is enough. Stop this right now.

Posted by Wil at 4:43 PM | Permalink

. . . and now The Balance to all the good news and joy that I've been floating in for the last few months:

My cat, Felix, who showed up in our garage about three years ago and never left, has kidney disease. We discovered it about a year ago, and he was in the very early stages of kidney failure. Our vet told us that it would significantly shorten his life, but if we gave him low-protein food and a subcutaneous IV every other day, we could slow the spread of the disease, and he'd probably be with us for another six years or so.

About a two weeks ago, Felix started acting strangely. He was more lethargic than normal, and he just didn't want to eat (he hates the low-protein food), so we took him to the vet. She did blood work on him, and the lab said that his kidney failure is advancing much more rapidly than we thought. He could be in as much as 85% failure, and he's in danger of developing anemia or a whole bunch of other scary diseases.

I took him back this morning, because the vet wants to keep him there with an IV for a few days, to flush out his little body. On Wednesday, we're going to take him off the IV, and see if it's flushed his body enough to toughen him up. Felix is a tough little guy, there's no doubt about that. He's so tough, we call him The Bear, because he's feisty and affectionate . . . but if he can give you a chomp at any time, if you piss him off. You know how they say dogs have masters, but cats have staff? We are totally The Bear's staff. He sticks around because he approves of us . . . and I like to think he loves us as much as we love him.

When I left the vet this morning, I was sobbing so violently, I had to pull over so I wasn't a danger to myself and other drivers. I love my Felix bear so much, and I don't want him to die. I'm not going to keep him alive with treatments if he's suffering, just so I don't have to say goodbye, but our vet told us that there's a very good chance that he could bounce back after he gets out of the hospital, so I am doing my very best to focus on the positive chance for improvement, and remain hopeful.

It would mean a lot to me and my family if WWdN readers could spare a few moments and send some healing energy, or prayers, or magic monkey voodoo or whatever to The Bear while he's trying to get better over the next few days.

Thanks. Hopefully, I'll get back to normal blogging soon.

UPDATE: I just got back from the vet's, where I was able to visit with The Bear for a few minutes.

He's doing so much better, it's a miracle. His eyes are bright, he purred like a Harley Davidson, and he had many things to say. most of them, I think, had to do with how much he doesn't like the IV in his little paw.

I took his little fleece bed over to the vet, and she said that he can sleep in it, which is cool, because when he saw it, he jumped out of the tech's arms and right into it. I could tell that he was happy to have something that smells like home, and his mom and dad.

Thank you, so much, to everyone who is keeping Felix in your thoughts and hearts. I know that the miracles of modern medicine have a lot to do with the improvement in his condition . . . but I also know that your thoughts are bending the space/time continuum to give him as good a chance as possible.

Posted by Wil at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (313)