WIL WHEATON dot NET: 1.5

Very nice, Wil. Sounds like you just had to make a Wil(power) roll to save vs. losing your identity. Now that you've criticaled with your pen of vorpal wisdom (+4), your hp are regenerated, and you can employ all your skills and feats again.

Wow, can I come up with any more D&D metaphors?

Plan and simple:
I have been reading your site for the past few months, and I just want to say how much I enjoy it. When you do feel you are off your road, just know that there are people out here who enjoy what you write, and STILL enjoy watching you in TNG:)

Thanks for that post Wil. Shane hit the nail on the head, and you just drove the point home. Glad to see you've found your Road again.

Great post. Love the geek references at the end. :) Thanks for sharing your journey with us. Can't wait to hear your good news.

That was wonderful to read. You are very talented and it's good to see you recognizing that again. Keep on truckin'.

Awwwwwwww...
That was a great post!! :)

Well written, fun to read, and just, well, inspiring. :)
Thanks!

Also, Spike TV has restarted the TNG series... and it's soooo funny! I just saw the first ever Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher line. :P

"Where no one has gone before"

LOVE it! :)

As it has been said, Life is what happens while you make other plans. Keep on keepin' on...

Dude,

You are so much smarter than me. And yet so much more insecure than me, it's weird. Take care Wil, you will get to where you want to be. In time. Anyway, i still will admire you, for beeing a writer, actor or human -f-ing beeing.

Have a beer man, i will and a cheer to you !

Leon

yay !

that's all I wanted to say.

You're awesome.

'Nuff said.

DANGER! DANGER, WIL WHEATON! GEEK OVERLOAD!

Could you have crammed a couple more Sci-Fi refrences in that last metaphor? I sense a lack of Star Wars, B5 and Matrix in there. :)

This is all stuff you should have been quite aware of when you posted your lament a couple weeks ago. Might I suggest you print out this entry, in a GREAT BIG BOLD FONT, and post it above your monitor?

You keep rambling, we'll keep reading.

BTW - Great little HU tourney last night to go with the regular one. One of these days I'll get past that bubble into the money... I hope it's before I go broke trying.

It's good to be a sci-fi/fantasy geek.

Astin...always nice when the name travels between virtual locations, isn't it?

Wil,

This is what I meant when I said in a post a couple of weeks ago that your blog resonates with me. Take these lines from today's post:

"I didn't feel bad; I felt like I was at home. I felt like I was surrounded by like-minded people who all wanted to celebrate this stuff that we all love, and I felt like I had something unique and interesting to share with them. I loved how good and how right that felt..."

That is EXACTLY how I feel when I go to an Astronomy conference! I feel *at home*. I know that is my Road, and I am where I should be.

I am happy you have spotted that elusive Purple Cow! And I hope you hear back from SciFi soon. Waiting stinks.

Holy crap, Wil. PiL? All of my old PiL is on cassette and lost to the ages. I might need to go on a CD buying spree as its been FOREVER since I've heard it. The scary part is I think I have recalled all the lyrics to the song you quoted. "I could be wrong....I could be right."

My first concert was a PiL show in Chicago when I just entered high school.

Thanks for the memory.

It's an awesome time to be a scifi geek, with all the movies, books, games and internet fan sites. I for one, would love to see you in another scifi series.

Ain't it funny how when you have a positive thoughts re-inforcing your aura, things begin to fall into place with your having to verbalize anything?

Well, you did verbalize, but it was just a description of your positive re-awakening.

Sometimes, when you emerge from your darkness, you appreciate how bright everything around you actually is. Darkness has a purpose that cannot be dismissed.

Welcome back to your highway!

I started reading your blog just as you set up shop in Exile. I'm a little OCD and was daunted by the task of catching up on your massive archives, so your temporary switch to Typepad seemed like a good place to jump in.

I had no idea that you felt you were in such a downturn these past few months. I've really enjoyed the things you put out there (especially the long podcasts).

This entry was inspiring to read, and I'm glad you've come to terms with your successes and failures, your moments of pride and embarrassment. Healing through science-fiction, as it were. :)

I thought that was an amazing and honest entry. I shed a little tear (not sarcasm), and then you brought it back to the truth of it all with your last paragraph:

You are just a geek. And we are so damned lucky you are.

Keep rocking, Uncle Willie. You can do anything.

Awesome post, Wil. Thank you.

I am totally digging your Road Wil. May it rise up to meet you. :-)

EnvoyPV - Yup, I've been surprisingly lucky in that regard. Since I've used this alias for 15+ years now (back to those heady days of BBSes and CompuServe/Prodigy). Seldom have I had to alter it.

Of course, now everyone thinks I'm part of the Astin family...

One of us. One of us. ONE OF US!!!! Yeah, you're smart, witty, talented and a total geek. (I mistyped "geek" as "gook" and laughed for a good five nminutes...) Anyway, I came to WWdN many moons ago and since then I've lurked, wandered off to look at shiny things, lurked some more and I've come to realize that YOU ARE THE SHIT!! (in a good way) Thanks for being so open to those of us in the intervoid. (Intervoid? Hmm, I like that...)

I can't help but wonder - will you be rocking Final Fantasy XII on the 360?

Reality checks ... priceless.

And Wil, my dad gave me two pieces of advice I'll share with you. One: Do your best, and forget about it. Two: When in doubt, give it gas.

Words to live by.

*still hoping for good news*

I totally forgot to post this link. It's so surreal it's a geek/fangirls dream come true. It's Depeche Mode - singing in motherf-ing SIMLISH.

http://archives.depechemode.com/video/exclusives/sufferwell_sims.html

Word.

This is totally what I meant about "batter recharge" for you, Wil. You're getting focused and back on track and you're reconnecting with yourself and your loves in life. I have always admired you and see much of myself in our generational sharing of Geekdom.

Mojo still heading your way from the desert!

That...

was a beautiful entry.

Your ramblings are better than some paid professionals' deadline work.

Enjoy you immensely. As in I do and you should.

Go, Wil, go!!!!!!

Hey Wil!
Funny reading this you reminded ME of something. Long ago, when I still cut pictures out of magazines and taped them to my walls, I read an article about you in Teen Beat or Tiger Beat, or some such magazine. It was about the time Stand By Me came out, which is one of my favorite King stories, and you said your favorite band was Depeche Mode. You'll be happy to know you influenced my life in a positive way that day. I thought if Wil thinks it's cool, well then it must be. That day I bought my first Depeche Mode tape (yes TAPE). I can't tell you how many I've owned since that day -- but thanks for turning me on to some great music!!!

Kellie

Wow. That last bit was like a nerdsplosion.

I liked it.

So. Does this mean you're finally going to run a Dungeon with your kids?

Side note: NERDSPLOSION!! I love that!

thank you...it felt good to read that post.

Your eyes, they are open. This is a good thing. :-)

Still waiting on the most excellent news that you have landed the hosting gig. Go Wil Go!

AMEN Brother!

I feel I must jump up and down cheering for the nerds and geeks of the universe (myself included) after that. Free from what you think you should be, be what you love.

But isn't that something like - writing what you love and wished there was more of?

Stand tall and be the geek.

Frickin'-A. Glad to hear that you're trekking (no pun intended, I swear) on and were able to relocate your Road, no matter how this iffy gig is going. Your "rambling" was a joy to read, and really brightened my day.

P.S. Saw you on TNG earlier today - was outraged to think they were going to kill you over a ruined flowerbed (=P) but very happy that I was able to see a bit of your spark through the lines that so often dimmed it then. Glad to know it's never faded. And nerdsplosion is a beautiful word. *yoinks*

Mind if I take a hit off some of that "sky"? Pass it on, mannnn! ;-)

Hold on. Wait a sec. Just a moment here.

I thought the last line of JAG was "And then they threw me out of the supermarket. The End."

[another solid plug for Teh Audiobook]

Bravo. It's just like I am always telling my 10 year old: Sometimes it's not the destination, it's the journey.

Dear Mr. Wheaton,

I am certainly glad you have reached this important point of peace at this particular period of time in your life, because your inner contentment with yourself and your past now leads you onward into greater things, if you wish.

I would like to ask for your help and support in my attempt to replace the Earth's suicidally insane method of existence of worldwide depleted uranium radiation poisoning and mostly generalized warmongering for conquest, profit and power...and then replacing it all with a peaceful and free energy based high-technology Earth civilization that will be soon reaching the stars in reasonably short order, once my technology discoveries are made public.

I am who I am - merely one who is mostly concerned about our fate and future as a species. To elaborate that idea a little further, let's just say I was the kind of kid who was a Wesley Crusher in real life. And unfortunately for me, I was always too right most of the time, too.

The name is Don, by the way. Hope to hear from you in the near future.

Take Care,
axisallies@hotmail.com

Clearly, the timing of these two events implies that I should conjoin them:
You, mentioning that you're happy with your Star Trek past and having fun with it, and me finding this bit of entertainment through metafilter:
Kid re-enacts scene from First Contact (YouTube link).
Really suprisingly funny.
I hope you read this, because I have a feeling you'll enjoy it as much as I did.

{{{Wil}}}
Good luck staying on the road. Those side roads can seem right at the time but I'm glad you are back on your road.

*keeps fingers cross on that phone call*

How interesting your comments, since I came here to specifically comment myself after re watching the STNG episode "Where no man has gone before"...the one where you met the Traveler, where he went to Pacard and told him that Wesley was a Mozart with electronics, time, space instead of music.

I was stuck by how in a metaphorical sense, the Journey of Wesley paralleled your Jouney. My God. You were the only "Child" in a realm notorious for adults only - before and since. You were always the outsider. But the force of who and what you were brought you into the family.

Ever see the Dog Whisperer Ceasar Milano? A phemonimal man who teaches how to work with dogs by training people. He commented that Dogs provide a mirror of our cycles good and bad. Laughes about how he knew how to be the pack leader for his dogs, but had to learn how to be one for his family.

I was struck by how you knew that, have worked with that concept with your stepchildren.

As I wrote a response on that list I have been reflecting how much life is a mirror that speaks the truth of what we truely want in life.

If you would have gone on and become the "star" of your twenties, what would have happened with your family? What woud have happened with your values?

So many men think that their only value is in the work that they do and not the participation in relationship they contribute, How many stories with thoe children would never have happened? Special times with your wife because you would have been too tired from your "work". How bout the money your raised for the cancer runs, would you even had time to really be with your beloved pets in their last days, to moarn their loss, to treasure their gifts - or would you have to sock those feelings away because you had to present another type of personality for one of your scripts.

I have philosophy, "that when God (or who ever you hold the upstairs guy to be) wants me somewhere, nothing can stand in the way, and when he doesnt, nothing can make it happen." I have found however, that it doesnt matter if the top 9/10s of my being thinks it wants something - if the bottom most hidden 1/10 doesnt want it for want ever reason - it aint going to happen. I shoot my self in the foot with this so many times. Like just now - there was a 10 hour safety class I was supposed to be doing today and Friday that got cancelled at the last minute.

When I really looked inside at what was going on, I had to laugh because I really REALLY didnt want to do it (bottom hidden 1/10th, but that I "should" do it top 9/10th.

For me, it is acknowledging that I am in a different space now moving at a different pace that is not possible with my old lifestyle, but the conflicting messages I am sending out to the universe keep dropping opportunitites from my old life into my life. It is not even that I cant do them but that I am drawn to do them in a different way.

Well, if you do decide to go back to your old life, I am wondering if the delay is to give you time to get strong enough that you will not fall into the Hollywood traps of long hours, PR demands and other temptations that don't fit with or into your life right now.

Sorry Wil I look at the stories you did as a precurser dream of what and how your life was to go - and it seems clear that it was always supposed to be your own different road, and not the usual, planned and expected freeway, you seem to keep trying to climb on to - . Just a few thoughts.

Fantastic!

Its work like this that keeps me coming back to your site every day.

Your willingness for self-scrutiny and your struggle for honesty is what keeps this blog relevant for me, regardless of how interesting I find your poker games, your acting ups and downs, your writing process, your geekeries and your family. I love that you want to communicate as openly as possible with yourself and that you want to share that communication with people. IT RESONATES, DAMMIT! [and/hearts/semi-colon]

I used to read WWDN ages ago, and recently rediscovered it via a livejournal feed, apparently just in time for you rediscovering yourself. This was a lovely, thoughtful read, full of the same kind of geeky introspection I remembered from previous reading. Thanks for this.

I'm so glad you're back on your Road! I hope to find my own sometime soon, but first focusing on getting through the birth of my hubby's & my first child.

One of my favorite things about reading your blog is the use of song titles on your posts. Amazing how much music taste I have in common with you!

And the geek references always make me smile!

great post! hope I can find that road...

Long live Firefly!

Dear Wil,

You don't know me, but after reading your blog for five years or so, I'm good with taking the liberty--I'm glad you found your Road. It gives me hope that I will find my own. It's out there, somewhere--and your words have inspired me to hope and *believe* that I will find it. And that is no small feat, for a thirtysomething to inspire a 50something. So thank you, Wil. This entry of yours was one of the reasons why I check in every day or so. You are a gifted writer and a remarkable human being. "Keep on keeping on."

OK...anyone who doesn't freak out during "Prince of Darkness" at the end when she comes out of the church is lying.

Welcome back, Wil--good to see you're enjoying what you have and who you are instead of worrying about what you don't and who you aren't.

Wow, all the minimalist posts this week seems to have exploded into one awesome post. It looks like something good has come out of all this waiting.
This is one very well written and very insightful piece.
Thanks Wil!

My magic eight ball still says "YES".

You're still flyin', Wil, and here's one more geek wishing you all the best.

Yay!
You're out of the rut! Always knew you would get there - you've just realized what we've been telling you all along!
Very happy that you're happy again, just remember that you're an inspiration to so many people all over the world!

Guinness is on standby to either celebrate or commiserate with you.

Regardless, keep on the Road. If you start to drift off, do what I do - sit in your chair in the middle of your office and spin - hopefully looking at everything around you that got you on the Road in the first place. It always helps this mid-30s geek to spin and see pictures of his family nestled along posters of Monty Python, Kids in the Hall, the old copy of the Fiend Folio next to the stack of Illuminati cards.

All Hail Discorida!

Wil has been (re)assimilated.

All hail the purple cow.

Deep, very very deep post.

I haven't kept up with you as much as I should have since you've been In Exile, but I'm doing better with it since embracing the handiness of RSS.

A great and profound post today. And I just want to say that I grew up in Burbank (and still live there) and I remember when the AMC 10 opened and how awesome, err excuse me, hawesome it was when we were kids. 10 was enormous back then and now there's 30 AMC screens there within a block or two of each other with the new AMC 16 across from where the 10 used to be, the 6 down by In N Out, and the 8 in the mall.

Incidentally, they've started construction on some new office building on the site where it used to stand. Godspeed you ugly pink and blue bastard.

Wil, in the grand scheme of life, aren't we all on our own respective roads? Yours has taken you to much cooler places than mine has, but the key is finding happiness on whatever road you chose to follow.

Take time to smell the flowers, take in the scenery and forget about where that damn road leads you.

In the immortal words of Led Zeppelin (yeah, I took it to fucking Stairway to Heaven!): "Yes there are two paths that you can go on, but in the long run...there's still time to change the road you're on."

And that you did, Wil, that you did! Your writing career is something that a lot of us appreciate, so don't knock yourself too hard, OK?

OK...sorry for the annoying italics in the last 2 paragraphs...apparently I don't know basic html code as well as I thought!

Hey Wil,
You always seem to mention 'the ugly grey spacesuit', but, personally, I didn't find it all that bad. Then again, I didn't have to wear it. I don't know all the 'bad history' you have with the Wesley character other than the stuff you said on your blog, but I was in High School during TNG and used you as a role model of sorts. Your character was always intelligent and mature and handled situations in an honourable way. Other than a few truly awful lines they gave you in the first season, I thought you were a great character and you should be proud of the work you did. I especially liked that episode in Season 2 where Wesley helped Riker win that mock battle simulation. It just really sticks out in my mind how you jumped over the railing and looked like you were truly having fun. That's the Wesley I remember.

Back to the gray spacesuit --- certainly those sweaters they had you wear early on were a lot worse. Perhaps someone out there could make a 'Wesley sweater collage' from the first season. :) Makes you appreciate the spacesuit ;)

Does this make you a born-again geek?

There are times I feel such a kindhip with you Wil.

This is one of those times.

I can't lay claim to a succesful acting career, but I think there are many of us that often try to think of ourselves as something we aren't. Especially when what we are is a geek. Glad to see you are embracing who you are.

The comment below has been imported from Livejournal.

Not sure if you read this stuff but, I felt I had to comment... you see everyone who watches TNG seems to have their favourite character and you know the obvious choices that get put up.. and you probably know where I'm heading on this but, yeah.. Wesley was my favourite... Maybe because in the character I saw alot of myself (okay definitely not as smart as he was but, the whole outcast within the group thing.. the teenage geek just wanting to be excepted.. etc)..

The one and only bad thing about Wesley was the way they wrote you out of the the series. The Star Trek universe really didn't need one more uber-powerful being and I didn't think the writing on that particular episode was all that good... it also meant you really couldn't go back to that role (if you'd wanted to).. nuts...

Anyway enough TNG... I have to admit I've only ever seen you in two other things... Stand by Me (Which I think again was brilliant... and the way that you guys pulled it off.. the closeness of friends and all that.. and the story being told from your characters point of view).. and one other thing (the title of which I'm sad to say I can't remember.. but, it was the thing about the private boys school and I think your character was the son of a mobster or something) I found your feed over on the LJ of muskrat_john and thought hey it'd be good to read about the "real person" and what goes through his mind.

It's been good reading about you and what you think and I thank you for that opportunity.

I don't understand anything about PodCasts or much of the other stuff you speak of but, the quips and stuff and what I presume is your honesty gives me something to look forward to reading everyday.

Never regret the stuff you have done in your life as long as you can look at a piece of work and say "Okay it's crap but, I know I did my best" that is what matters..

I know that you hear it from probably all your fans but, I'm gonna say it anyway.. if you are ever in my neck of the woods and just want to go for a beer/ale/vodka/etc... than look me up... as this is open I won't post contact details but, if you do read this and set up a quick you and me only post I'll give you everything you need to get in contact with me...

Sincerely,

Glenn

Dear Wil,
How ironic it is to find you here. Do you remember a girl in dreads, and a Bob Marley shirt on, chasing you down the Fun Zone arcade in Balboa CA.?
After yelling "THAT"S WIL WHEATON!!" you took off running into the back of the store? Say 1988ish? That's ME!
Ha Ha...You also gave an autograph to the guy working there for me. I saw you later at the Del Taco, ordering drinks...
Small world. I still have the autograph, and with huge stars in my eyes, I tell all I know about that encounter...
Listen, Wil...Keep doing what your doing...I am proud of you.
Never forget us crazy folk who chased ya down!
I am glad to hear that your life has gone on.
By the way, I have normal hair, still love Bob Marley..married with kids too! And the ironic thing is my maiden name is the same as your step children.
Love and God be with you.
Kris

I missed this one when it first posted. It's a fracking awesome feeling to be ourselves sometimes, isn't it?

As for that first response referencing Wil Power...you really have to get that shit up and rolling again. Folks need autographed pictures of you smiling in a fantastic sweater.