Crap, man. Suddenly, *I* feel bad.

I'd keep the card idea, though.

I PayPal'ed just as you were yanking the request I guess.

I decided to do it despites being of 2 minds. :)

This was never intended to replace "romance" or anything...I sincerely thought that people who had been here from the beginning may want to say "thank you", that's all.

I thought it was a nice way to do that, and I fear that I've pissed off so many people.

I guess this is the moment all the haters have been waiting for...so they can say "See! We were right about him all along! Yay! We hate him!"

dang.

I don't get it- what was the problem? I thought it was a nice idea! I mean, seriously, if you didn't want to pay, you could have just ignored it. What's the big deal?

*rolling eyes at people who gripe about everything*

K

We don't hate you, Wil! :) I still love your site.

And I promise to come and give you a hug at SD Comicon!

You did the right thing Wil.

I too, am sorry for going on about it. If I hurt your feelings then I am very sorry.

There's a lot of new people coming in here as a result of the Bloggies, too...people who want to take a lazy, punk-ass swipe at a celeb just to ruin a stranger's day.

It was an ask. Crap, man, I bought one of the "posse" t-shirts and used it in my latest play. Giving five bucks to feel good about something doesn't seem like that big a leap.

I wonder if Spudnuts donated.

Uh, don't answer that, Spudnuts. Wil's had enough blunt honesty for one day.

Wil,
Don't get bent about this. At least it was a novel idea, and the most interesting thread on here in days. Somebody called you a "wacky husband" ... hey, there's worse things!

damn you nikole, its all your fault, i know it

wil, you should leave a hidden button for us to donate :) come on, you know you want to

What were people's problems with it?
I personally thought it was a creative, unique idea and something that could have been pretty cool.

I'm glad that you are going ahead with the dinner out. I know how it can feel to be spurned for technology ;) And it takes a special kind of patience and trust and confidence to be cool with it.

Three cheers to your wife!

>>

What the hell is the big deal? This is Wil's site and he can do what he wants with it.

It pisses me off that people feel that they can run their mouths off about what so-and-so is doing with their site and how they don't approve and what-not. IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, LEAVE.

There. I feel better now. :(

I'm sorry that it didn't work out. I can see that your intentions were in the right place..

Listen, I don't think that anyone should attack anyone about this, regardless of what side you come down on.

People expressed their opinions, and that's what humanity should be about...funny thing is, I let people say things to me that I would never let them say to other people. But I think I sort of asked for it. I didn't think that I was "begging for money", and maybe it would have been better to just say "here, would you mind kicking in 5 bucks to support the site", and then using whatever came in to take her out. I just thought it was...well, I just didn't think it through enough, and I missed the last two pages in the soapbox, which, if I had read, would have made me not do this, at all.

I continue to apologize, and hope that people who are so pissed at me, and the people who contributed, will see my good intentions for what they were.

I wasn't trying to do anything un-cool, I swear.

Wil, the haters are exactly that -- the haters... I think of them and remember one of my fav songs (by Billy Joel no less).... "An Angry Young Man", remembering one of the last lines: "And he goes to the grave as an angry old man....". Reminds me why I never want to decend into that pit of anger and hatred.

Do you have an "official" snail mail address? (Heaven forbid your home addy ever got out).... I'd like to send a card.

-J

Wil,

sorry all those people ragged on you. You were just trying to do something nice and I am sure it was done with the best intentions. Don't let those who choose to be jerks hurt you. Please don't let those few turn you off to the rest of us who think you are a swell guy! I hope you and you wife have a very enjoyable and Happy Valentine's Day.

Take care and keep up the good work!

Wil,
I personaly thought it was a very sweet and thoughtful idea. I donated and went to click home to donate again and I found this! I am sorry you felt you had to take it down. It is such a shame that the people opposed to the idea couldn't just ignore it. Well I hope you and your wife have a lovely V-Day and don't let the negative responders put a damper on your date:) Enjoy!

Huh? Who? What? Where? .. I haven't been following closely enough perhaps.... Oh BTW, Wil, you're HUMAN, sad but true. ;)

Yeah, so I log on to the site, and this apology's there.

So apparently, I missed the fiasco.

Could somebody give me a Cliff Notes version of the craziness that went on (either posted here or emailed to me)?

Thanks!

Dont feel bad Wil! There was nothing wrong with your asking. PBS probly doesn't feel bad about their campaigns. Hey, did any of you people danate to PBS? How was Wil's request any different? Geez! You'd think somebody had asked you to cut your arms off! Anyway, is it to late to donate?

Hey, Wil - It was a lovely idea, maybe just not to everyone's taste (but yes, they can leave if it bothers them so much). I hope you have a great time going out with your wife. And please remember, everyone really does (cliche as it sounds) make some minor "mistakes" or misjudgements along the way. In this case, I think it has to do with the implied intimacy of the web - we think we know the people we write to every day, but it's not the same as face to face relationships.

Like the idea of a place to donate to keep your site going - that might really work.

Keep the good stuff happening here - this is truly one of the more interesting places to visit that I've seen in a long time!

Cheers,

The Duchess

Wil,

You DO realize that part of this site's charm is that you give a shit what we think, right?

I just found your site and started reading the apology so I looked further...people really need to get a grip on things. The idea was sweet and romantic and I'm not really sure if people just were looking to attack that day or what, but you shouldn't feel like you have to apologize...it was your idea...if they didn't like it...they should have just moved on and not been, well, brutal enough to cause you to apologize...sheesh...

Well, the thing that just makes me sick, is my wife, who is the single greatest and most important person in my life, has gotten mixed up in it, and she doesn't even know what's going on!

Maybe I'll take what was sent in, and she and I will give it to a charity, in the name of WWDN?

Wil...

You already know what I think, so who cares?

Besides, if anyone got soooo pissed-off at you...and you've done so much to be so completely, obviously human about everything--you know, admitting you're wrong, re-liking the Shat, etc.--and someone wants to tear into you or the idea in a very non-constructive fashion...

Well, I've got to believe they were simply waiting for a reason.

The Cheese says Fuck 'em. Unless, of course, they were merely attempting to kindly disagree with you in a constructive (or Spudnuts) fashion.

Wil, I don't think you have to appologize for anything here. You thought you had a good idea, and others didn't and told you so. That's what this site is all about isn't it?

That being said, I think the donation button is a great idea if you remove the Valentine part of it. Many people here really appreciate this site and would like to help keep it going. As you said before, not everyone can afford a $20 T-Shirt ($32 Canadian 8-p), but some of us might like to give a few bucks once in a while...

Cheer up and feel the love ;-)

I suspect that because she knows exactly what you're like, she would probably laugh really hard, Wil. You should tell her sometime.

Wil, don't let it get to you. You didn't do anything wrong. If people give you crap for it, well, they're pricks with nothing better to do than project their own self-loathing onto you. Screw them.

All is forgiven.

Advertising; Personally, as long as the banner ad doesn't blink, they don't bother me at all. Go for it. What do other reader here think?

Just heard about your site the other day and I'm tickled to see that you did this site for all the right reasons that I've always wanted to see a celeb do. Ben Affleck & Kevin Smith posting occasionally on their boards is close but this is more what I envisioned.

Guess it took a geek who happened to be a celeb to do it!!

Anyways, I really think that your idea was a neat, experimental, innovative way of trying to bridge some of the gaps between the things in your life, namely your wife and your devotion to your fans (which is why you spend so much time on this project, never mind that it's so much FUN sometimes too)

As for all the bitchers, you ALWAYS have them no matter what and pretty much you have to ignore them. If they're here and reading your site everyday... you're definently doing something right.

Oh yea.. I agree with Rob's sentiment about the charm of your site though I've not had the time to delve into the soapbox. I'm wasting enough time these days having fun getting into blogging myself!

Hey, doesn't donating money to take your wife out count as the same things as "donating to the site"? I mean, I'm sure that if your wife got annoyed with the site, Wil, she'd make you stop. ;)

It would be nice to have a button for donations for those of us who appreciate wil's site and want to show our support.

Wil,

No need for a sorry (especially a super sorry).

It was a sweet idea, and I hope you still take your wife out to dinner on us. This was to let her (and you!) know how much you are appreicated. I hope the message came through loud and clear, despite a few dissenters.

Enjoy your us-free V-Day, and no need to appologize for being such a good husband and sweet guy.

-Amy

Noooooooo don't give it to charity. You do with it what you had planned in the first place or *I* will get pissed. Every single one of us who sent you money sent it for you to have a nice dinner with NOT to donate it to charity, dammit. Don't let the haters take away what I thought was a great plan. I'm thrilled to know that I was one of the few people who managed to donate.

I will pissed too, so take her out and enjoy the evening.

-Amy

Wil - I thought it was a great idea, but I can see how some people could dislike it.

I wouldn't mind a general donate button to donate to the expenses you're incurring to keep this site up and learn as much as you're learning to make it fresh and cool. I can only imagine how much bandwidth you eat. Owie.

Anyway, I hope you and Anne have a fabulous Valentine's Day, no matter how you spend it. :)

I'm lost... I've been reading the entries and all... but *what* exactly happened?

Hey Wil...

Your original proposal rubbed me the wrong way, and I almost wrote to you about it. Since you seem upset, I thought about why I didn't like the idea, and it came down to this: it seems like you would probably take your wife to dinner on V-Day anyway. Because of that, it's hard to see your plan as anything other than a way to get other people to pay for your dinner. In other words, we're saving YOU a few bicks, not giving something to your wife.

I'll bet if you put a permanent button on your site that said "Send Flowers to My Wife", it would get plenty of hits all year long. Make it for a buck or two, and she gets a dozen roses for every 25 or 50 hits. It sounds better because it's almost tongue-in-cheek, and it's seen as going to her and not you. I'll bet you'd get enough overflow to be able to make a trip to the local hospital or old folks home every few weeks.

If you like my idea, I accept paypal ;)

You reading from that World Socialist Web Site there Will? Hell why don't you join the communist party and blow up troop trains.

Wil-
I didn't give you cash so you could give it to charity, I gave it to you so you could have a nice night with your wife. Go do that. Seriously. IT was a good idea.

-s

Thanks for the completely relevant comment, Jeremy.

Another thought from the newbie...

Another part of the charm of this site as that it enables us to get "close" to you and also really get to know the REAL you.

When you put forth the suggestion today, you gave us all a chance to be involved in your life directly by helping put together an interesting surprise for your wife. You treated us all as YOUR FRIENDS and that means a lot to me and I'm sure exponentially so to your regulars.
Why let the eternal whiners ruin that experience for the rest of your friends and yourself?

I think you should actually put back the link for those who weren't able to read the site in the hours that it was up there.

It's kinda like the abortion debate in a way in the sense that you're gonna have people on either side bitterly and endlessly debating the merits and really it's all gonna go nowhere cause you think that one side's gonna change the other's mind? heck no... it's called the individual human experience.

Anyways, I hope you have a great time whatever you do that weekend.

Myself, I'm excited my SO's coming to visit that weekend... I got a great giggle today when I heard about the SF Zoo's Valentine's Day Sex Tours!! I'm actually thinking about doing it. It ought to be fun though no zoo can compare to the SD Wild Animal Park.

http://www.sfzoo.org/events.htm

I don't think you should let what a handful of people thought. I personally thought it was a cool idea, and if I had the money to give I would have. I've only been visiting WWDN for a few months now, but from what I saw on the soapbox was just a bunch of newer visitors that don't really know what you put into WWDN. In other words, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. And in the end, it's all small stuff!!

How about I just take you and your wife to dinner?

Perhaps we can get readers to pay for the flight to Chicago?

(ouch)

What happened was Wil gave us the option to send $ 0r $5 to him to take his wife out to dinner... on us (as a thank you from us to her for allowing him to make her a net widow). Of course, it was completely up to us if ANY of us wanted to do it and he even put the idea up in the soapbox for reactions. Since it was quite positive, he put the donation button up for all of what seemed to be a few minutes. Shortly there after he took it down. And now this.

Frankly, I think those who didn't want to donate were cordially invited to NOT click the button instead of ruining what we thought was a great idea. Bastos!

Wil,

There is absolutely no need to apologize. You never forced any of us to contribute. As with all things, some liked this idea others did not—so don't feel bad.

Also, readers that rather would like to give to other causes should just do so. So, all of you that asked why anybody would give money to WWDN and not some worthy cause—this is a chance to put your money where your mouth is! Use this discussion as a reminder to contribute to your charity of choice. This way everybody wins!

By the way, even if some did not agree with the way Wil wanted to thank Anne for her patience and understanding, I believe that all of us agree that Anne, Nolan, and Ryan deserve a big THANK YOU.

So Will, please give our thanks to all three of them! And Happy Valentine's Day to everyone :=)

andreas

Ahhhh ok, I get it now. I just had to wait fer more comments to piece it together.

You know, this is the first (ok second... if you count my ealier post)time I've posted to a website like this. Most of the time I find it lame and irrelevant to do so, but this site is fun, so I'll revel in joining the lameness.

Hell, she puts up with this website, I think people who can afford it should donate to the "Keep the wife happy" fund. Keep her happy, and Willie keeps us entertained.

umm... I'm soooooooooo lost. what happened? Someone clue me in.

Hey Scratch-

Thank you!! You totally hit it on the head. I couldn't understand why people got so angry, but that's totally it.

I guess I should have made something else clear: I take my wife out all the time...she takes me out, when she's working more than I am. We take each other out, because we like to get out of our messy house from time to time.

I *did* sincerely think that it would be "dinner on WWDN", and I did think that that was going to be a nice thing. I wasn't, really, really wasn't, trying to stick it anyone. I mean that. :(

Roughy, who I've never met in person, but increasingly wish lived in my hometown, made a good point: I don't see myself as a celebrity, but lots of people still do, and they can't see me as a normal human being, so I'm judged differently than a normal person would be. I need to keep remembering that, and not take anything for granted.

Oh, and, based on the wishes expressed above, I will go ahead and take her to dinner, on WWDN, and I hope that everyone who contributed will "sign" the page which I'll make, and I'll give that to her, along with the construction paper card I give her each year. :)

Ahhh. I was wondering where that piece went. Saw it this morning, then came back and it was gone. Ooooof.

It's funny: when I saw it, I was thinking of this company I used to work for. The company gave Christmas bonuses not just to the staff, but to spouses (!) whose generosity allowed the staff to work all those horrible long hours. I thought it was a really nice idea.

I guess it could have looked like you were just going for cash. Remember, to some people you're a guy with a website they enjoy reading: a fellow Netizen. To others, you're Wil F****** Wheaton, to coin a phrase, and not really a "real" person at all, and sometimes things just are interpreted differently when your pal says 'em vs. when a "celebrity" says 'em. Maybe you got hit with that. :-)

Well, ain't that the way it goes though? Sometimes you'll have what you thought was a good idea, or say something you think is funny, only to find out that you really upset someone. At that time, there is, of course, nothing left to do but cringe and hope you get over it. Lol!

Don't worry about it, Wil. These things happen. heheh

Well, I think it's a great idea. Not many wives can put up with such things. Trust me, my mother doesn't put up with my dad's online addiction. It's something wonderful and considering how patient Mrs Wheaton has been, she deserves something. Not only from Wil, but from all of us. Because Wil wanted to entertain us, she goes to bed alone.
Those who don't like it should bloody well shut up.

Hey Wil,

Forget about all the nay sayers. If they weren't complaining about this, it would be something else. So shake this off and take Anne out to dinner and have a great time no matter what you guys decide to do.
I thought it was a sweet idea. I wish my husband would think about taking me out for Val.Day, but then we would have to find someone watch the kid.

Ahhh. I was wondering where that piece went. Saw it this morning, then came back and it was gone. Ooooof.

It's funny: when I saw it, I was thinking of this company I used to work for. The company gave Christmas bonuses not just to the staff, but to spouses (!) whose generosity allowed the staff to work all those horrible long hours. I thought it was a really nice idea.

I guess it could have looked like you were just going for cash. Remember, to some people you're a guy with a website they enjoy reading: a fellow Netizen. To others, you're Wil F****** Wheaton, to coin a phrase, and not really a "real" person at all, and sometimes things just are interpreted differently when your pal says 'em vs. when a "celebrity" says 'em. Maybe you got hit with that. :-)

Well, ain't that the way it goes though? Sometimes you'll have what you thought was a good idea, or say something you think is funny, only to find out that you really upset someone. At that time, there is, of course, nothing left to do but cringe and hope you get over it. Lol!

Don't worry about it, Wil. These things happen. heheh

Well, frankly, anyone who's caught up in the star-watching thing is a complete idiot. I think suggesting we take Ann(e) to dinner is more pleasant than the idea of movie studios paying certain actors millions of dollars for what turns out to be REALLY bad performances and thus making them get all caught up in themselves and ignoring their fans as best as possible. Not to name names. Although, I'm sure we could call come up with unique lists of 100's. I'll take Wil and his wife's dinner over that ANY time.

Wil, I wish you lived in Wisconsin...

Then you could *really* be the Cheese.

Mr. Wheaton (SIR!),

Please extend to Your beautiful, kind, and caring wife our thanks for Her appreciation of Your strengths and abilities, in addition to Her tolerance of Your weaknesses and foibles. It takes an exceptional woman to do so, even more rare in the modern-day "Me" world than ever before.

Were I able, I'd gladly shower Her in flowers and chocolates and cheese simply for being a good human being.

Which She must be, of course, else You wouldn't be with Her.

As to the naysayers.... I think that if one of us, rather than You, had suggested that we show Your wife our appreciation by sending flowers or the like, it would have been better received. In fact, I had considered suggesting it before You made the post. Now, though, it would undoubtedly be taken as asskissing rather than an honest thought.

And who wants ass-scented flowers, anyway?

Wil,

YOU are the reason why we come to your site! I donated $5 because I've had the web site v.s. lover conflict before in my life. It was a good idea, and i think you should have a permanent link to donate money to: (1) Wil's computer education fund or (2) The wife gift fund.

I'll donate!!

I'm probably way late on giving my $0.02, but for what it's worth:

When I gave $5, I didn't see it as anyone begging for money. I saw it as a way for me to say: "Hey Mrs. W, thanks for being so darn gracious about the lot of us hogging your husband's attention so much!"

And I also have to agree with some of the folks above: Don't sweat it, Wil. One of the things that makes you and your site so cool is the fact that you actually give a crap about your kraaasy fans. If you didn't, you wouldn't put all this time into the site! I think/hope that Anne knows that the reason why you're on the computer so much is because you're just trying to be a nice guy. :)

Dude.

I'm not going to pretend I know all the intimate details of what happened here earlier. But whatever you did, hey, it's no big deal. The sky shall not come crashing down, and Britney Spears will not have talented children.

Your wife is wonderful. I've never met her, but from what we all hear, she roooooolz. Rules, even.

So go, have sex, be merry. That's really all I can suggest.

Well, if anyone's interested.

Don't sweat it - it was a cool idea and f 'em if they can't deal with it.

Trust me.

Anne resents the evil box as much as Mrs. Roughy...but, then again, I'll bet you've never been left-hooked by Mrs. Roughy because someone was secretly IMing her...

I think some people get their knickers in a twist too easily. Wil...it's your site...do what you want. It seems that breathing will piss people off at times. Don't let it get you down.

Ok...back to lurking...
~C

Bwahahaha.

Nice one, Russ.

OK..First Wil you DID not do something "uncool"
maybe a bit different but so what? Like I said in the post that got deleted it was kind of sweet
like a Hallmark card in a alternate universe
..Stop worrying about what the naysayers say
when they say nay...We DO come here day after day
(or in some instances hour after hour)because we
CARE about you and your extended family..we feel
like we know a small and private part of you..
(or so we would like to think!)its YOUR site
you MAY DO WHAT YOU WANT with it (sir)..please
honestly..feel the love.

Now..for all you regulars..I finally get a reply
from Spudnuts..OK just a reference..and THAT part
of the thread is the one that gets deleted!!
WHINE WHINE WHINE..

Is the weather "nice" in WA?

wil,

Im sure its what alot of poeple like about your site is that Your/you're a farkin goofball.

Hell, when I was in college, there was only one tv station. After Letterman, Jim & Tammy Faye came on, they always asked for money and I kept watching them.

When I read your idea this morning I was really touched, and thought it was a really sweet.
I think it is really great that you are thinking of thoughtful things to do for the woman you love.
Don't let anyone make you feel bad about it. You sound like an awesome husband! I think that is what matters not what a bunch of grumpy people think!

Wil,

Man, I missed the post on the main page this morning---guess you can't miss a minute on this site!
Dude, it was a _great_ idea. Do not _at all_ feel anything other than good wishes from us when you take Anne out. You can't please everyone all of the time, and you can't feel responsible for other people's reactions. Don't let the vocal minority drag you down. If you're still taking donations when my next paycheck arrives (next Thurs.) I'd like to donate some $$--make it your St. Patrick's Day outing! Peace, love, and joy, Master Wil....

For the love of heaven! Give us PO BOX already wil ya Mr Wheaton?! (SIR!)

Some of us here understood the gesture and appreciated same. Sheesh! Can some of these people grow at least one humourous bone in their bodies?

I gotta admit, I haven't been around for long, but I "got" it and appreciated the thought. The rest of the negativity brigade can go home.

Anyway, a BIG happy Valentine's day to everyone. Share the love! :)

I hate those haters. I never once saw anything wrong with your idea and those haters have nothing better to do with their lives other than hating you, flaming you and destroying your day.

These haters don't look at pornos to get off on it, they get off on hating people and that's what turns them on. Trolling website forums and newsgroups and get off on the responses and wipe themselves afterwards.

If I had my way, I'd round up every single haters out there, tie them up on a flagpole and get out my blowtorch. I'd mark "F@ck You!" on their backs while they f@ckin' scream! Then tattoo "I'm an a$$h@le" on their foreheads and let them go.

Problem is with this world that there is too many haters out here in this world.

F@ck'em all!

Hey Wil,

I think someone in there had a good idea with the "Send Flowers to Mrs. Wheaton Fund" That would be a great way to let your wife know that we appreciate her understanding.

On a more personal note, I wasn't going to donate and I did kind of think it was a little crass BUT I didn't freak out and start name calling. It seemed like a good idea that just came off wrong.

However, I would donate to the "Send Flowers to Mrs. Wheaton Fund." Just because that seems to get the point across a little better.

Ditto what Jsc said. In fact, ditto what a lot of the monkey have said. Though I missed all the hub-bub, I know what's going on. I thought it was a sweet idea. Shake off them haters. Have a wonderful dinner w/Mrs. Wheaton.

This was bound to piss people off reguardless of what purpose it served, good or bad intentions. Its hard to ask a fanbase for money unless you serve an invisible man in the sky otherwise u might hear words like betrayed or soldout. I found it a little odd myself(have actually been expecting a bandwidth fund which makes sense) but I didnt think wil deserved to be flamed. I think those people will see startrek10 anyway.

"Shake off them haters" - at least that's what the kids are saying these days. I'm hip to the lingo, rizz-ite?

I suppose if I shouldn't say this it'll get deleted... but if you really wanted to contribute to the fund despite its removal I suspect one might choose to simply use paypal and send it to wil@wilwheaton.net his normal e-mail address (which is also the one that the fund was linked to). I believe there's a nice little space to write "hey, this is for.." on the page when you send it so he'd know what it was for. As if he couldn't figure it out.

1) seems to me that part of the nice thing about the net is that anyone who has a site can put anything they want on it.

2) if you didn't want to donate don't, but as with everything you have free to choice to make that decision (okay so I can't spell) so don't get mad at wil for giving you a choice you didn't like.

3) since wil puts so much work and money into this site it's his call what he puts here and no one should make him feel bad for his choices.

okay I think I'm off my soapbox now *grin*

amellia

its funny how you keep removing the thread and putting it back.

come on, put it back on again, & quit freakin out

Alright, I have no clue what's going on here, but from the general posts I get the feeling that you had asked for donations to get flowers for your wife or donations so that you could take her out.

*blinks*

She DOES deserve to them, considering how much time you spend on here with us, making your website for us, and entertaining us.
She must be one HELL of a patient woman, and one HELL of an understanding one too.
Hell, if I had money to send, I sure would, but I'm barely above broke man. I barely have enough cash for a litre of milk.
Anyways, you don't need to hear about my financial troubles, point is I would gladly send whatever spare cash I have so that you could do something special for your wife.

But it's like I always say to my husband...
"I don't need a special day to let you know how much I love you."

Please tell her I said thank you.
~Kaylin

Lets everyone just listen to John Lennon "Imagine" and be happy. :)

oop's my bad..found the thread in the previous
days post..and now I'm more confused than ever..
cause maybe today was really yesterday? "LETS
DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN"

Wil, I'm glad you'll still use the bucks on your wife; that is what some of us coughed it up for. ake her out, buy her some flowers, or some really wicked candy (don't get her anything from Victoria's Secret, cause we all know, that'd really be for YOU). If and when you get a PO Box we can send our own cards to thank her... my Spouse Thingy knows what it's like to be on her end, going to bed alone whilst listening to the tap tap tap of computer keys. But hey, he's a guy, he's EASY to apologize to ;)

I don't see what the big F...ing problem is people. If you had a problem with donating,then don't donate. Who are you to judge Wil for doing this. He said for those that wanted to give back. If you didn't feel like it then so be it. But for those of us who didn't want to give something back, now we can't. Thanks all you whiners. Don't you have something better to complain about, I mean come on people. Get Real!

I guess this is the moment all the haters have been waiting for...so they can say "See! We were right about him all along! Yay! We hate him!"

It is so not about being a "hater" or being anything else. It's about why someone makes a website or a blog -- at least for us "purists" who have been doing this sort of thing for going on 7 years or so. Many of us have websites, work on which has caused our loved ones to be pissed, to be neglected, or to just want to toss our machines out the window. But we do this web thing and this blog thing because we love it, and we all eventually find the appropriate balance for ourselves.

If you are blogging for yourself, then you find that balance and you don't begrudge your visitors your time. If you are blogging for some other purpose, then you may expect something else from your visitors and ignore other priorities.

I think Wil's site is admirable, I have since I started visiting when it began. But the question for me is, is WIl blogging because he wants to, or because he has to in order to fulfill some other agenda? I think it's the second, and I think that's the source of people's outrage at this recent silliness.

Sorry for my flaming. I just get so sick of those bastards.

Wil, it was a awesome idea and please do take her out and spend the donation on something nice to her. Dinner, roses, a trip to the movie, etc.

You should also tell your wife every single day that you love her and thank her for enduring all the time you've done on your website. Don't ever forget to tell her you love her when you wake up and before you go to bed.

Cut down a bit too, spend more time with her or at least give equal time with her as well as equal time with the computer.

I know my best friend's wife hates computers too and she even hates all his friends too. She wants him all to herself and have all the time she can with him at every single second of the time they're together. She gets extremely pissed when he's on the computer surfing or playing EverCrack! (i.e. EverQuest).

Unfortunately, I live in a house full of flamers, but they don't know how to use the internet so at least that way they couldn't fill up the comments with more useless flames.

Their argument is something along the lines of "He already has enough money, so why is he asking for more?" And talking about getting royalties off of the TNG episodes that play on TNN and all that junk.

Obviously they've completely missed the point and don't know how much it takes (both in physical moolah and time) to run a website.

Whether Wil's blogging with ulterior motives or because he likes it doesn't much matter to me. Because I like it, and *I* have ulterior motives. Or course, sharing them would defeat the purpose, wouldn't it?

Oh, ye unwashed, ye unbathed, ye uneducated! How little of the cheese thou doth know!

Knowest not that the cheese doth createth it's own web siteth from scratcheth?

Knowest not that the cheese doth enjoy thine learned experienceseth?

Knowest not that the cheese does not proveth anything to anyone but to the cheese itselfeth?

Knowest not that the cheese hateseth to asketh for helpeth, even in thine hour of needeth?

Shakespeare knows the undisturbed cheese, baby.

Here's my $.02, as another net widow (married to a software engineering consultant):

1. Just shake it off. Misunderstandings happen, that's what makes us human.

2. Remember, you don't need to post something to WWDN _every day_, you know...why not give Anne a "computer-free day" of her choice? Turn the machine completely off for a change (oh, the horror!), and leave it that way for 24 hours. Hell, that's what I'd like for Valentine's day -->hint to my husband if you are reading this!)

In any case, have a great V-day!

Personally, I think it was a really nice idea. I've been reading the site for awhile, but this is the first time I've actually commented. I just couldn't refrain this time though. I think that people who perhaps have a habit of overreacting have completely done so in this case. You had an idea that was nice and also romantic (in my humble opinion) and you absolutely do not deserve to get dumped on for it. Don't take it too seriously.
A (still) loyal reader,
Jazz
P.S. I read the post before you took it down, and would have donated but I'm a ridiculously poor university student. I'll send you good vibes on the 14th though. Hope dinner's great.

There was nothing wrong with your idea. It's great that you take the time to share yourself with fans that find you amusing, but completely asinine when a subset of those said 'fans' wastes an hour of your day reading malice into your good intentions.

Aleph

[SEND FLOWERS] button gets my vote.

How about a "technical about" section which details what some of your infrastructure costs are, on average, such as bandwidth fees, etc. Then a discreet PayPal donate-for-bandwidth near it.

Hey, first of all, I recognized where Wil was coming from and I agreed. Second, this whole mess started with a post to the soapbox where he asked our opinion on the idea before going ahead with it.. He did not just make some post saying give me money now or I will hate you. Third, the great majority of us are intelligent beings with minds of our own. We are fully capable of making the decision as to what we do with our own money. There is no need for reminders of all the charities out there.

Having said that, I also recognize the right for everyone to express their opinion, which is what Wil asked for in the first place. What I have a problem with is the people who insisted on ripping into Wil over and over again. Perhaps, in their insistance to remind us all that Wil is a "celebrity", they forgot that he is also human.

Wil, please don't apologize. And hug that great wife of yours. :)

(PS: I do like the flowers idea ...)

Flann

Damn, Wil, I liked the idea. After all, you do this site on YOUR time. And you do it not because you're paid to, not because we've chained you to a keyboard, but because YOU want to. We get your time, effort, and a piece of your mind for FREE. And every minute you spend on us is one minute you spend away from your wife and kids.

And people complain when you create a way for us to say thanks? To pay back a small fraction of what we take away from your family? It's not compulsory, it's not begging, it's not an annoying X10 ad, and still they complain. Well, Wil - to HELL with those people.

I, for one, hope you two have a lovely Valentine's Day dinner. Think no more about this. You have nothing to apologize for.

Shit, man. I'd pony up a fin to keep WWDN up.

Maybe I'll just buy a shirt and officially become one of the posse.

Goddamn, that Jolene chick on Enterprise has tig-ol-bitties.

Wil's idea wasn't about his lack of or abundance of money. It was a thoughtful way of letting us, his fans, thank his understanding wife for all the time and effort he's put into his site, which has taken away from time w/her and the kids. Unfortunately, if Wil had been some Joe-schmo w/a site and asked for donations to take the Mrs. out for V-day, he wouldn't have been judged so harshly. But since he's a celebrity, asking his Joe-schmo fans for money for a "Gee Mrs. Wheaton, thanks for being such a cool lady" was unheard of by some people.

I'm glad Wil gave people the choice to donate or not. At least he doesn't make us pay a monthly subscription to visit the site.

There's some of us who come here everyday. Others once in a while. But everytime we expect there to be something new from Wil.

Your wife puts up with your mistress of a website that we all enjoy. The least we can do is thank her for allowing you to do this. Come on, lets face it. If she wasn't understanding of this project, it wouldn't have gotten off the ground. And this community built up around it wouldn't exist.

Some people think that it doesn't cost anything for you to do this, and you have gold oozing out of your pores. With them, you just have to chalk it up to ignorance of who you are and what this site is about. It's your site, if you want to do something, then do it.

Don't change what you want to do just to placate the nay-sayers. The people who "know" the Wil of WWDN will understand where you're coming from. And :-p to anyone who can't understand that. Tell your wife thank you! from me for putting up with a time consuming project that brings a little joy and wisdom to people's lives. (I like the flowers idea.)

Wil,

I noticed in your soapbox posting that you said:

"I thought about just selling some advertising, and using the advertising money to do it, but I hate ads, and I think most of you do, too, so that got nixed pretty damn quick."

What about selling text ads? They're really not intrusive at all, customizable, etc...and fast loading, too.

Would people here be interested in pitching in a couple bucks to be able to have their message (even if it's just "Thanks Anne! You rock!") displayed a couple thousand times? Any takers?

This way, people would be getting something back for their money...it wouldn't be so much of a plea for donations as just more merchandise to sell.

And, for the record, I think the donations were a great idea anyway. Aside from taking you away from Anne, the hosting costs alone have got to be building up, and that's worthy of support.

So this is the part of the show where Ricky kisses Lucy, all is forgiven, and then we turn to the Weather Channel to watch tornado footage.

Again, I feel the need to comment...

Some people just don't think before they open their mouthes Wil.
It usually operates like this:
1. Open mouth,
2. Insert foot here,
3. Close mouth.

Shake it off tiger. When you have a BBS forum like the soapbox, you're BOUND to get a few morons.

For the record, I -still- think it was a sweet idea and so does my hubby actually.

~Kaylin

Not sure if my original post made it, so if this is redundant, I'm all sorry and stuff.

Wil, I'd pony up a paper-lincoln or two to keep the site up. You're my favorite blogging celebrity!

Until Jimmy Kimmel's cousin starts a blog.

I'd be so out of here...

Merely inform folks that you need no "hater-ation" a la Mary Blige, and tell them to suck a lemon.
I thought it was cute, but I think pug dogs are cute, too, and really, they're a little creepy, so...
Regards!

I've only been coming here for about a week and this is my first post. I just felt I had to say something having read all the previous comments. Maintaining a website is hard enough for professionals, I think it's only fitting that Wil asks for donations, whether for personal or site upkeep reasons. Set up a paypal account or good old fasioned snail mail PO Box, and I'd chip in for upkeep.

Keep up the good work.

Hey, text ads. Unobtrusive. Very cool. Then I could pimp my book and t-shirts. New word for me. Pimp. Heh. I'll quit using it in a week or so.

Wil, dude, take a few quiet ads. Cheap ones so I can pimp myself.

Wil, people are strange, and fickle. We can't go through life walking on egg shells, in fear of not pleasing everyone or angering others. It's too bad some people didn't get what you posted, but life will go on. Let people like you for who you are, and approve of you for who you are. There will always be people that don't like you, just as there will always be people that don't like me. We can't appease them all, nor can we win them all over. To even attempt would be foolish. Let me ask this: Given the events of the last few days...would you do that again? Exactly as before? I'll bet your answer is no, which I'll dare say is a shame. Here's why....you've reacted to others reactions to something you did. (You did nothing wrong, you did not harm them in any way, you didn't hold a gun to their head and force them to read) That something you did was inspired by the true Wil Wheaton, no alterior motives, nothing evil lurking in the corner, it was a spur of the moment (ran by the soapbox) inspiration. If you answered no, to the above question, the only one harmed here is you. Of even more harm to you, though, is the amount of second guessing you will encounter on your next moment of inspiration. (Will this offend someone or not, maybe if I change this or change that) Pretty soon, your inspiration is no longer your inspiration but rather someone else's expectation. Guess what? There will be people that won't like that too. We don't need to go through life appologizing for who we are. We apologize when we wrong someone.

wil, it's fine. really. really fine.

there's no reason to feel sick about it at all. you had an idea, and it was an interesting idea, if a little flawed.

some people disagreed, and said so. how many times in a lifetime is that scenario going to play out? hopefully, a lot.
it's okay to take a risk.

when i saw the invitation to donate this morning, i confess i had a few different responses:

firstly, i wondered if anne would really enjoy this? if she was feeling at all (and perhaps justifiably) resentful of the website, would a valentine's gift from the posse make her more so? as though the posse were infringing further upon her relationship?

and then i thought: well, she's wil's wife, and if anyone can guess how she's going to respond to this, it sure ain't gonna be me. it's a gonna be a him.

plus, if you look at the way blogging communities work, this is not such an unusual idea - celebrity factor or no. actually, i liked the idea a lot, because in a very real way, it was exactly what wil said it was - an opportunity for the posse to thank anne for the indulgences that make it possible for the site to exist. i don't have a credit card - so the point is moot for me, to some extent - but i'd have liked to chip in. i hang out here a lot, and can only guess at the time and money that goes into creating a space like this.

so, wil, the idea that you were somehow 'scamming' the posse didn't even occur to me.

your intentions seem pretty transparent. and that's a good thing.

Well this comment will probably get lost in a sea of "f*ck the trolls and haters" posts, but here goes.

You don't have to feel sorry for trying to be thoughtful and nice. There will always be people out there who are mad at the world, and especially mad at those who are kind, generous, benevolent, happy, and/or caring. Who knows why; maybe those qualities are just foreign in the haters, and it's that much easier to hate something foreign. Maybe they get thrills taking potshots at people who probably won't hit back, so to speak. Maybe they like making people miserable because they enjoy having company.

We knew you weren't trying to pull a fast one. Enjoy your Valentine's day, and think not of the 'tards trying pull you down.

Go for it Wil It's your idea, if you feel it'll make her happy, do it! You have my $5. If people don't agree with the idea they can choose not to donate. Don't let a bunch of online wallies determine your thinking. If you let them think they can manipulate you, next thing you know they'll be demanding public access to your bathroom :)

vanna would like to donate some of her old hooks.

they're dented a little (that letter 'H' can be a real bitch to turn around), but they're still good.

Awww Chief... nothing with your idea was wrong (to me anyways). I'm glad that I and some others to contribute something to make your valentines day a little sweeter.
Molly

If your coming to chicago to visit roughy, get a big place and invite the chicago fans. I'd go. i'd even pay an entrance fee to help cover the costs.

I think it's a sweet idea, Wil. If I had a gal, I'd try the same thing. BTW, I'd love to donate, but I am severely broke at this moment. I'll send you money once I get some or my firstborn (whichever comes first).

It WAS a good idea, dude. I was gunna donate some money....the thing is, I wouldn't be able to since I have no credit cards, and you don't have a PO-box set-up for money-orders. Anyway, I guess all that is moot now.

~Mental Note~ : I think that's the first time I ever used 3 hyphen's in one sentence. yay. :-)

wil, I may have inadvertantly given you the Idea for the Pay Pal thing with this post I did a couple of days ago:

"Jerry,

I didnt read your whole page that you linked but I got a kick out of the Ending:

"I do not ask for anything in making this publication available to you, yet I know there may be some of you who appreciate it enough to make a monetary offering as a gift of appreciation. You may contact me via the email address above for my postal address information if you wish to send a monetary gift (in US Dollars) to me ."

I did kind of glance at it and thought it would make a good sequal to the Book "Baby Steps" in the Movie "What about Bob"

If you would like to send me something (Money Order or Pay Pal)for giving my feedback, you can contact me through my Email Address.

Thanks.

Posted by bluesman at February 4, 2002 10:26 PM

Also, I do want to thank you.

My wife was sick as a dog today and I took most of the day off. At one point I went in and woke her up and said "I cant believe this, Wil Wheaton did an update and he is asking for money"

She had a pretty bad headache and It hurt her to laugh but I think it was good for her anyway.

Thanks again wil

Oh man...

Like some others whose comments I read, I knew what was going on, but I last visited when I was at work (around noon Eastern Time). I kinda saw at that time some people were reacting a little negatively, but hey, that happens.

I came back to check on things now (11:45 PM my time) and do the Pay Pal thing, and find that quite a bit has happened.

Wow.

Wil, I can only echo most of the sentiments I've already read. There are certainly a lot of us that understood your intentions and didn't really think anything else of it.

I still hope there's some way we can let your wife know that she is appreciated by us for putting up with the time you spend on creating all this.

It's cliche, but hey, a couple of weeks from now, we'll all look back on this as one of the "Moments in WWDN history" and laugh it off. The sting will go away soon and we'll still be there to laugh and debate with ya!

on the other hand, its all jerrys fault

I think it's a cute idea... and LOTS of people put donate buttons on their site, because running a site costs a lot of money. We know you ain't getting rich on it. Feel the love Wil!

All right, well you've earned my respect. I was one of the people who thought this was a dumbass idea and said so. However, having the balls to retract it with an apology shows me that you are a lot more like me than I expected. Still not gonna send you money, but I think you're a decent guy.

You know what?

This whole Wil Wheaton website thing was a bad idea.

Wil Wheaton Grill?

Good idea.

Hook Week on Wheel of Fortune?

Good idea.

Wil Wheaton website?

Bad idea.

But you know what ELSE?

...

...

...

I got nowhere else to go!

Don't apologize for an idea intended to make someone smile! There are those that like to cry over the littlest things, just to have something to cry about. Ignore them Wil, they are miserable people.

I'd send you money, Wil, but you have to send me Roughy. I'll accept Spudnuts as a booby prize...ooh, she said booby...

Keerist.

Buck up, little camper.

There's no crying in Hollywood.

There's NO CRYING in Hollywood!

My two cents (which looks a whole lot like many others' two cents): It was a neat idea, and I never ever thought you had bad intentions. I didn't contribute, due to lack of credit card, but I hope you and your wife have a lovely dinner. Can we still send a message even if we didn't contribute?

Okay.

MAYBE at Pauly Shore's house...

But that's it.

Okay.

And.

Vanna's trailer.

But that's ALL.

Has anyone else noticed that Spudnuts

writes

like

Shatner

?

Oh, there you are, Spudnuts *sigh of relief*

Can I suggest an idea that you just put up a "donate paypal" icon button up and leave it at that? Or make a webpage explaining in detail why you have that button up? Some folks like me would be willing to help donate for the cause of WWDN to help fray the cost of bandwidth.

Bandwidth is very expensive for anyone to pay for that has a very popular website. All that traffic can rack up a major bill to pay for.

All I can say is we love you Wil Wheaton and we think you rock!

If 9,000 visitors can donate one dollar per month, that's nine grand per month to cover everything you need, get a better server, better softwares, better hardware to help keep WWDN alive and kicking. Use it just exclusively for WWDN and maybe even start your own server and host your Radio Free Burrito there everyday.

One buck a month from 9,000 fans per day is chicken feed.

In all seriousness, I was gonna give five bucks.

Reason I didn't was because I had just withdrawn like $400 from my PayPal account so I had jack shit in there.

I didn't really care about the Wil's wife thing. I just figured I use my fair share of bandwidth (ya think?) so I'd toss five bills in there. When I listen to street musicians, I toss a couple in the hat/can as well.

It's just the regular American thing to do.

If he spent it on his wife, or chili fries at Fatburger, it's all the same to me.

As for the ad thing, I say why not have ads? Sure, I hate 'em, but I think there's an opportunity for some humor if done right. I think a George Foreman Grill banner at the top of the page enhances the funny, not detracts.

See.

Sucky ads suck.

But non-sucky ads suck slightly less.

So put some ads up.

I don't have a problem with that.

I wanna see more Wil Wheaton celebrity endorsements, not less.

But...

Be smart.

Danny Bonaduce creeps me out.

I thought the idea was just fine.
But, if people's comments about it sting, I suggest resisting the temptation to click on the related comment button at Fark. Those people can be really, really mean.

Walk it off! Walk it off!

People are gonna take a swipe at you for no other reason than you're a "celebrity." No matter what you do. You could donate money to the Red Cross, you could volunteer at soup kitchens, you could heal the lame and cure the sick by laying on hands and people would still slag you. Because you're someone famous who is accessible. "Hey, I totally ragged on Wesley Crusher because he loves his wife!" Go you!

I thought it was very sweet and endearing and kinda goofy in a sitcommy way:

INT. NICE RESTAURANT. NIGHT.

Candles flicker on the table as WIL and ANNE gaze lovingly into each other's eyes.

WIL: I love you, pumpkin.

ANNE: I love you, schnookums. And this restaurant is so lovely, and my foie gras is delicious! Even the wine is a step up from our usual selection of Muscatel! But surely we can't afford such a lavish meal, me being a simple hairdresser and you having all your Star Trek residuals tied up in Enron!

WIL: Don't worry, dear. The good readers of my web site are covering this one!

ANNE: What?

WIL: Yeah! I thought it would be a good idea for them to show how much they appreciate the time you let me have with them if they helped me to take you out to dinner.

ANNE: They're paying for the dinner? A bunch of FARK readers are paying for my dinner? Oh, WIL...

(Insert comical foghorn here. Laugh track. Dissolve to PATRICK STEWART's loveshack.)

PATRICK: (to Thai whore) Make it so.

I should probably stop now.

Ok Spud now you may be on to something.

What we need is a special bash Wil website.

WilWheatonGRILL.com is good.
SpareChange4WilWheaton.0rg
WIlWheatonSafety.Net

Oh, and when you post, a $1.00 per word donation will be applied to the Flowers for Mrs Wheaton Fund automatically deducted from your bank account. Neat huh?

(Any advocats for a little non obtrusive advertising on this site to help pay the bills?)

Jeez, Wil, you really had me frightened for a moment.

After reading your apology I thought you had done something REALLY BAD.

A 'Donate Money' button on your site (particularly one for such a noble cause) is not 'really bad'. In fact, it is not bad at all.

Don't let the bastards get you down (the Latin escapes me at the moment... :-)

Now,

I can't help but wonder about the most obvious question...

And be amazed that noone has asked it yet...

What would TGPDPTOWFSB have had to say about this whole situation?

I mean, really, people.

Ok, I've finally read enough of the comments to know what's going on. This is where opinions go, right? Ok, here's mine:

I'm married, and just a little younger than you, Wil. My wife is a stay-at-home mom, with two young kids, so I know how important it is to give her some time off, and take her out. That said, I think your idea was an excellent one. Give the lady a fine night out!

About the reason for the donation: (Now, I hope everyone taketh this the right way, but flame if you must.) I've been coming here for about a month, and I think the site is golden. You do a terrific job with it, and I'll keep coming back as long as it's up. But, don't spend too much time on it (not that I think you are.) I saw you list your priorities somewhere before, and you've got your act together. But, (and please consider this coming from a friend) don't let your wife and kids get shined on our behalf. Don't let the day come when you look back and wish you had spent less time here, and more time with them.

I love the content, and especially the Trek stories, but I'll always be happy to find out you let us down for the sake of the fam.

OMG! Farkers at www.fark.com is starting to give Wil a bad name.

Wil needs to contact fb- or Drew and get that link removed ASAP!!!!!!

Everyone send Wil a email to get his attention to send fb a email to have it removed before more damage is done.

Sigh... the Haters try and ruin something wonderful again.
I hail from a net board that deals with the vermin known as haters daily. Unfortuanately we haven't pulled enough money together to have two stoners from Jersey go around beating up these punks.
We at www.soulcracker.com have survived deatthreats, pics of corpses, invasion of privacy, copyright infringement, and even a song about my very own tits (first stop on SB and Jay's list I swear to the Goddess).
All because they thought it would be brillant to do a rock n roll survivor game show called "Bands on the Run".
At the end of the day.. we forget about them (mostly ^_~ keeping a list.. checking it twice..). We don't give a damn. And neither should you Uncle Willy.

Take your wife out and have a wonderful time on us. You deserve it.

Okay, I'm a long time listener, first time caller.

I don't normally post on messageboards, so you'll have to just deal with my lack of smilieys and bullshit.

Wil had a really simple, thoughtful idea. He was open and honest about it, and clearly thought it out beforehand, and thought that the regulars here would like to do a nice thing.

He was right. The regulars here were interested in doing a nice thing. But it seems that a bunch of assholes who I have never seen before (and I've been here since the site was linked from slashdot) decided to come in here, and bitch Wil and everyone else out.

So Wil apologizes, and takes it down. Where are all the "haters" now? Where are the "nay-sayers" now? Those fuckers are happy to flame away, and then, when Wil gives out the apology, where are they? Nowhere. Probably arguing with their loser friends about who they'd nail first: Britney or Mandy Moore. Like they have a chance.

Fuck em, Wil. You said it yourself on you warning page: "I don't take myself seriously, and neither should you" So why do you care what these fucking idiots think? You know how many of them came back to accept your apology?

ONE. Exactly ONE.

So, I'll say it again. Fuck them. I gave you a dollar, and I'd do it again, anytime.

Okay.

Better idea than just having a "donate to Wil" button which, given the tight economy might strike some as a bit... odd, since... well... I mean how BAD can things really be financially at the Wheaton Estate (don't answer that)?

How about selling sponsorships or tiny banner ads for those looking to publicize their blog/site?

I mean not a day goes by that some poster does not mention their blog/site (Lakerboard) oh-so-casually in the comments, so why not give them some real exposure and make a little jing at the same time?

Put a tasteful HTML (no trashy, splashy graphics) header which says "WWDN brought to you this week by www.someguysblog.com."

And by the letter G.

Charge like... $25.

That way you're not holding out the tin cup and someone who wants to divert a portion of those 90,000 monkeys/month to their dank, lonely corner of cyberspace can do so.

That's a bargain, son.

Wil, as EVERYONE else has said, don't stress about it dude.

I've only been coming here for a couple of weeks now. I quickly realized you are more 'normal-guy' than you are 'star'. Everyone makes mistakes.

I can see how this might have been viewed as...well...contraversial (sp), but both my wife and I (and she's often a 'web-widow' too) thought it was a really cool/sweet idea.

If ya lived near Calgary, I'd say come skiing! Just cause you are a 'normal' person...whatever the hell that entails...snicker.

Chill out, and have a fantastic Valentine's Day.

"I suggest resisting the temptation to click on the related comment button at Fark."

i suggest doing that most of the time, anyways. great website content, but as for the comments section... yecch.

Scott said:

>> PATRICK: (to Thai whore) Make it so.

>> I should probably stop now.

No, you shouldn't.

Will--

Hi. I am oleg. I am sorrey your idear didnt work out lik u wanted it to. Peple didnt have too be rude abowt it tho. If thay did not want too partisipate thay shuld have kept it to themself. Eh?

Your truley

Oleg Gene Krupa

Will--

Hi. I am oleg. I am sorrey your idear didnt work out lik u wanted it to. Peple didnt have too be rude abowt it tho. If thay did not want too partisipate thay shuld have kept it to themself. Eh?

Your truley

Oleg Gene Krupa

Will--

Hi. I am oleg. I am sorrey your idear didnt work out lik u wanted it to. Peple didnt have too be rude abowt it tho. If thay did not want too partisipate thay shuld have kept it to themself. Eh?

Your truley

Oleg Gene Krupa

I missed the whole thing but have read the commets on fark.com and here. Personally I think you should have a donation link somewhere. You put a lot of time and money into running this site and could use the support. As for the farkers, fark them. Being one of the original farkers I have noticed that site go down the hill fast regarding the quality of the users that post there, hence why I don't anymore.

Keep up the good work Wil.

Re: The FARK comments

Yeah it sucks-Most of those comments are coming from the usual perspective of not knowing the whole story, but I have a feeling removing the link will just make things worse. They'll just say "Hey, we must be right about this or why would they pull it off?"

I think the best thing to do would be to let it run its course and quietly fade away. There will always be another target to take the heat of this anyway.

Oh, and Spudnuts-just your mentioning of Danny Bonaduce creeped me out! brought back bad memories of when he was on the radio here in my town.

Speaking of which, if we wait long enough, Bonaduce will probably do something that takes the heat away....

Let it run its course?!

Shit.

Come on now.

Wil plays over at FARK all the time, right?

If he's gonna cheek-to-cheek with them under a harvest moon when they're sucking his rocks, then he's gonna have to step into the ring and falk them up Lachance-style when the worm turns.

Run its course...

Please!

Get the fuck in there and mix it up, Wil.

You're a greasy, eye-talian fighting machine!

Hey, Wil
Your diplomacy skills equals your talents as an actor and entertainer. In other words, you da man. Keep up the awesome attitude. ;)

Zod

Hey Wil, one caveat about PayPal: www.paypalwarning.com

I'd be careful. There are plenty of alternatives, not the least of which is just a simple PO Box for the posse to send checks to.

I mean, *I'd* give a penny for your thoughts. And with all the people around here giving their two cents all the time, I would think you wouldn't have any trouble raising money. :-)


BTW, this is my first post here. Regardless of what anybody says, keep up the good work, Wil!

What's this? I come home to catch up on Uncle and discover someone has been nasty!?! All I say is...get a life! Stop with the hate over such little things! People are starving for gosh sakes! (Mum where did you come from?!)

Don't let it get ya down Wil. Anyone who's lived in the real world will understand.

Bonaduce!

Bonaduce!

Bonnnaaaaduuuccceee!!

/Beavis

(hmm, should i admit this?)

during the period the comments were down i tended to visit the site, uh, once in a while, and largely to see if they were back. I did, however, sit on the irc channel to talk to the people I have come to enjoy procrastinating with. plain weblogs i tend to read when i think "hmm. i wonder how [personx] is doing today." and because i am a self-absorbed creature, that isn't all that often. (i am going somewhere with this.)

would i pay to support a journal? no. however, i would pay to keep soapbox up and running, or to keep some sort of dialogue open between other people who visit.

i think that's probably the source of the vitriol earlier, the people in question didn't realize you weren't asking the infrequent visitors to the site to pay. I do tend to agree that some people just take a perverse delight in ruining other people's day, but i always write them off as having the lives they deserve. something had to make them that way.

in other words, screw them.

and jbay is the pickle guy.

"Illegitimi non carborundum."

I believe that's the phrase Bill Bekkenhuis was looking for earlier, and it's entirely appropriate.

I vote for the permanent donation button, which someone else on here suggested. That way, we won't know what you're doing with the dough and we won't feel like we're customers. Because we aren't, right?

No need to apologize Wil, I thought it was a nice idea. A few years ago some people gave millions of dollars to a guy that told us that God was going to take his life if he didn't raise enough money.( Who was that? ) But when he didn't get enough money, he didn't die. So people gave him more money in celebration of the fact that God didn't take his life.

( Now That was a bad idea )

Tim ... The Heathen

Fark took the link off. There was only like 23 comments.

Whew! I knew these farkers wouldn't understand unless they saw the whole story first. The story link would have given all the wrong impression.

I think all the misunderstandings has been cleared up and no real damage is done.

All is well at WWDN!

Wil still rules the universe!

50 passengers at $250/head = $12,500

Two trips/week = $25,000

52 weeks x $25,000 = $1,300,000/year

Minus the cost of chartering the bus.

Sure.

And donuts.

Hookers too.

Mobile comedy, pastry, hookers.

The open road.

Or the cubicle.

You give that some thought, boss.

And when you come around, you drop me a line.

Spudnuts/Wil Wheaton Motorcoach Tours.

What?

You got something better to do?

Wil - *I* thought it was a nice idea. I would have kicked in some shekels for you, but we're a bit strapped ourselves these days.

For the record, my own wife doesn't complain about the amount of time I spend online...she's probably spending as much time online as I am, on her own computer. True, she runs Windows 98 and I run Linux, but we get along. :-) Also, we don't have any kids...well, unless you count our cats, one of whom is a 9-month old overgrown kitten who can be as rambunctious as a toddler sometimes!

I'm sorry certain individuals felt the need to ream you about your idea. (When I say "certain individuals," you can substitute any stronger term you like...) But I'm glad Mrs. W will be getting a nice dinner out of it anyway.

Eric

God is going to take Mr. Wheaton's (SIR!) life?

I like horseys

this horsey is dead

dont hit the dead horsey anymore

unless you can afford $5 per whack

if you wantto speak like Michal Kane You must only say three words at a time

Perhaps I've been sleeping for way too long or it's just that I'm not a member of the "in crowd", but who the heck is Wil Wheaton? Is he a television star or writer of novels? Sincerely...meaning no disrespect.

crap. I threw away my bluesman pinata.

All right, the more we post on this thread, the bigger of a deal is being made of it.

Was that proper english? Hell if I know. But do you get my point?

The terrorists have already won.

Wil,
I didn't donate, because I'm such a newbie around here, it wouldn't have been from the heart. But I don't think you're a jerk. From what I can tell you seem like a real stand up nice guy, who loves his wife. THAT is cool, not jerky. Don't be so hard on yourself. I think that you're pretty brave opening to the world the way you do. I feel a small amount of trepidation in writing little stupid blurbs for fear that someone might jump on me about something I wrote.
Hmmm...I read something in the Weekly today, what was it?...Oh yes, "The eagle my soar high above the earth, but the beaver never gets sucked into a jet engine." No how exactly that applys to anything is beyond me, I just thought...oh never mind.
Ease up on yourself, you're one of the good people.
Much love,
LK

Spudnuts, remind me never to piss you off. You are incredibly amusing, and in another time and place I'd wish to have sex with you, but I have the feeling you're eeeeeevil to those who bother you.

Wait, I know you're eeeeevil to those who bother you. What the fuck am I saying?

I need to eat more cake.

One more thing, then I'm back to lurking. I promise.
How much did Wil suggest, to cause this bitchfest? A whole dollar. One. Whole. Dollar. Maybe five, if you're feeling particularly generous.
One. Fucking. Dollar. How much did you spend at Starbucks this week, or today even?
I think I'm done now.

Starbucks is the evil empire. We should be rebelling against them, not the inestimable Wil Wheaton!

We shall overcome you, vile Starbucks! Death to the tyrant!

------
PATRICK: (to Thai whore) Make it so.
------

WOW that was funny. I need to start reading the comments here more--y'all are hilarious! And here I've been thinking Wil himself was the primary attraction here...silly, silly.

What *I* want is a 'donate to Wil's stepkids' button. Maybe this would be better for a particular occasion, like a birthday or something. The worry is not that the kids aren't getting enough stuff--it's not an issue of charity at all, really. Instead, it's analogous to buying one's co-workers' kids a present--these are people you never really interact with directly, but the co-worker means a lot to you, and through this person's stories about his/her kids, one comes to have some sort of understanding of what the kids are like and how they impact the co-worker. That means that these people are in some sense meaningful without having significant direct contact. It seems to me that Wil puts enough of himself on the site that it's pretty reasonable to feel that way about his family, and when I imagine a co-worker getting something for my kids (at some future point when there are some), that seems like about the most considerate, coolest thing they could do. I think it would be wonderful to be a part of getting one of the kids something specifically from the readers of the site, both to show that Wil has created fans for them around the web, and also to show Wil the power he has over us.

Then again, I suppose if I were one of the kids, it might seem a little freaky, too. And what would we get for them? Toys might lead to spoiledness...

OOH! I have an idea. Currently, it seems brilliant--that may be badly mistaken, but hey, who reads suggestions from web posts without something of a critical eye?

I made a present for my cousins this past Christmas: a customized version of a game by a major manufacturer. In this game, the characters are each represented by cards with their photos on them--well, you can pretty easily get printable business cards, and it just requires some work with Photoshop to create cards with the pictures of the kids on them, and names to match. The board (also custom, with photos of my house for the various rooms) is a little harder--the best I could come up with was to get Kinkos to print it on large paper and laminate it. You can buy tokens and such from Cheapass Games (which is what I did--they're on the web), and that's pretty much all you need. All of these various bits cost money, but the kids REALLY like seeing themselves as a part of the game, and moving their pieces to places they've been. If Wil's kids have a game they like to play that could be converted in this way, they might really like something like that. Even better, it could be more well-connected to the readers of the site than any store-bought gift, because I (and others, no doubt) would be happy to help with the photoshopping and design of things, if this is desired.

This idea requires further thought--I foresee unforeseen problems. :-) Still, it seems worth throwing out there.

Since I post very rarely, I'll take this opportunity to give general kudos to you, Wil--nice job! I can really see where the article under your 'Being Wil Wheaton' was coming from.
-k

Spudnuts/Wil Wheaton OR Wil Wheaton/Spudnuts

you probably want 60% of the profit too

mobile comedy, freak show, wedding chappel fearturing the traveling evangelist, & Bible Salesman, Reverend Spudnuts

Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends.

What's wrong with those party poopers? Nobody forced them to do anything....aaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.

Ok.

Sorry Wil... I would have loved to send something.
:(

bluesman,

I really thought long and hard about even including Wil Wheaton on the marquee, but I figure since he'll be driving the bus, he ought to have SOMETHING to show for it.

I mean...

You know.

Besides the hat.

pattys right, not another peep from the petty party poopers, pity theres no pay pal for patty,

btw, its gin & juice if your wondering

Wil, man don't worry about it. It was a totally aweomse idea. Just because people that got their wallets stuck up their asses felt the need to say shit without thinking doesnt mean that it was a bad idea. I mean dont get me wrong I cant see where they got the bad idea but let me give you some info from someone who's been down the fan club trail:
If you want to get a newletter discussing up and upcoming projects and news about a celebrity
If you want to get a pic in the mail signed by that celebrity
If you want a bumper sticker or some other lame ass piece of shit that you are gonna lose one day

All this would approximatley cost you between 15 to 30 bucks depending the celebrity.

Now, I can find out all about your up and coming events, find out whats up with you, what ya did today, how your family is doing, hear your personal opinions coming from you yourself for free. Now if you want to us to give a little something as a well deserved thank you to your wife? Hells yeah I'd give you the money!

No offense sweetie but if you were my husband, I would so torture you!! I mean come on born in Brooklyn, raised on Long Island, now living in Queens? You would never be on your freaggin pc let me tell you that much. You are a lucky man and have a very very very understanding wife. It was a novel idea and all. And you said if they wanted to its not like you threatened to kick them off your site.
Dont sweat it Wil, anyone who actually decides that this is a crappy site is crappy themselves and shouldnt be here in the first place. We still love ya Bud!
I personally would give you the money but damn I am still jobless!! I can barely afford bus fare LOL. God it sucks being unemployed in New York!

I wasn't pissed at all, because you can ask for whatever you want, doesn't mean people have to give it.

But I think they were coming from the aspect that you dont HAVE to spend so much time on your website. You COULD spend more time with your wife, if you choose to. Perhaps, in this sense, they thought you were asking too much?

Either way, there is no need to apologize. There will always be internet piss ants. People SHOULD put their frustrations on real matters, but they like to vent it out on little shit (constantly)

I'm a newbie to reading this site but, i was a little disappointed in reading the orignal post on this. I know i would be consiered a "meanie" by some here. I didn't think it was a great idea. I know what was behind the idea was nothing but the best of intnetions; it just came off wrong.

I know this would only get lost in the sea of comments on this one but i wanted to say that i'm glad you see both sides of this and i was relieved by the comments you made in these comments (of what i read). You made the best of what became a bad situation and because of that commend you.

Your still a neat-o guy :)

Damn, Wil! I'm sorry that you're not getting good thoughts on this... just read about it at UE... Even though it is a super-great idea, and you're wife totally deserves it, cause she gives you to us a whole lot, I wouldn't have been able to contribute, except to say that I hope that you two have a great, wonderful, romantic, absolutely splendiforous time. Take a vacation from us lowly peons... you deserve it. We'll miss you terribly, but we'll live.

Fraize: Ha, ha, ha!

Scott: ROFL!!!!!! Brilliant. Wanna come write scripts for the web? You’re not Canadian by chance, are you?

I’m wondering how much bandwidth WWDN burns up in an average month. My site (a fledgling DV site) uses 30-50 gigs a month and 700 megs of disk space so I can certainly relate to that problem. Right now it’s all coming off of my partner’s credit card. But we refuse to just throw banners up, though we could have a million times over by now. If we ever were to put up banners they’d be from companies we’ve chosen, not rotating doubleclick ads where you never know what you’re gonna get.

I have a comment about the “haters” and “naysayers” (on WWDN, I don’t know about those on fark ‘cause I haven’t read the posts there). I think some of us are going a little overboard with the hater-bashing. The “dissenters” are now being referred to merely as “they.” Though I’m not one of “them,” I was, for the most part, pleasantly surprised that the majority of folks out there who didn’t like the idea said their peace in a thoughtful and honest manner and let it lie. The majority.

Sure, I think some of them overreacted but I agree with what a few of you mentioned about it having to do with the perception of celebrity. I never would have thought of it that way because I think of Wil as just a regular guy… celebrity is way down on the list of descriptors I’d use to describe the Wil we all feel we’ve gotten to know just a wee little bit through WWDN.

That wasn’t always the case, at least for me. So those who are new to this site or come and go may have read his question and went, “Wait just a minute here, this guy is a celeb (which of course means he must be wealthy and have everything all figured out), so why is he asking me for $$?” That instinct can easily take over if you don’t understand the intention behind the idea. So I say, let’s ease up on the “haters.” As far as I’m concerned, they’re still welcome here and I still want to hear their opinions as long as they’re don’t go around bashing on others.

Watching everyone deal with this mini-drama makes me feel a little closer to all of you. Everyone here is more humanized. If you want to know who your friends are, pick an argument and you’ll find out pretty quick. They’ll either seek out your intent and judge you based on your character, or they’ll jump to conclusions and stick stubbornly to their mistaken assumptions.

Sorry for the long post. Hope someone can make sense of this.

(Can you believe I’ve had writer’s block all night until now? Thanks, guys, for putting a spark back in me this evening.)

And just to get back to some level of normality, is anyone else wondering how work is going for Wil? What happened to the new, exciting opportunity at work, and how did the recent call-back(s) go?

-CarolP

Wil,
Yesterday, my husband bought me a WWDN hooded sweatshirt for my birthday. I'll wear it, too! That will have to count as our contribution, I guess. Your idea was sweet, because (go figure) you are sweet. At least, that's the overriding impression this viewer gets when I read your posts. You seem genuine and real, warts and all. Approachable. I like that. I've been visiting for a couple of weeks now, and have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know you. I've learned a lot from your site, and have lost count of the numerous links to other interesting sites that have your site as point of origin. Makes my hours sitting at the computer more entertaining. (Husband plays UO......)
Don't feel bad because you had an idea that wasn't warmly received across the wide reach of this web thing. Who cares? Well, the fact that you do says even more about your character. (and, I don't mean the ones you play on the silver screen!)
Take your wife to dinner. Enjoy yourself. Count yourself as a lucky guy.
Best regards,
Corky
ps: I wonder if anyone in my peer group (demographics 49-54) will "get it" when I wear a WWDN sweatshirt? I'm still cool!

Okay I see that I have missed the boat (again!)
It comes of living in the UK and being several time zones away from the Wilster.
I usually wouldn't bother chipping at this point but I have just spend the last 1/2 hour reading all 170+ comments on this thread. (Hey, its better than working okay?) It took me the first 70 odd comments to work out what was going on. As soon as I did I was looking all over the place for the paypal button. It took another 30 or so entries to work out that Wil had taken it down again.
I just wanna say that I would gladly donate to a 'Say thank you to Mrs Wheaton for letting us borrow her husband so much' fund. Please put the button back up and I'll pay my share. Please?

If you can believe it, fark.com actually pulled the article and the comments off their site.

Atleast they had the common sense to stop it before it got out of hand.

so lets lay down the facts here.
1. wil spends a large proportion of his time here, as well as going to auditions and working, and caring for two children. something's gotta give, and anne is obviously the most patient.
2. we all enjoy this site, right?
3. we thank wil on a daily basis for the site.
4. we like wil. we understand why people would want to spend time with him. we understand why his WIFE might want to spend time with him?
5. therefore, does it not make sense that we should thank her for letting us borrow him for a little bit?

honestly, people. PFFT. if you didn't like the idea, don't donate.

wil? put it back up. i didn't get a chance to say thank you to mrs wheaton for being Very Cool.

Will

When i first read the proposal I had to admit I thought you were being a cheep scate, but the more I thought about it the more I thought it was a wonderful idea and how much I wished Ihad a guy who thought so much of me that he would do something so romantice.

I was pretty narked thought cos I cant conrtabute due to the fact i'm a brit, but if I could have contrinbuated I wouls have.

I love your site and your wife is a very lucky lady to have you hold her in such high regard. I hope she loves the idea as much as I do, although she might want top cool down first!?

*SIGHS*

Well, I was gonna contribute. I thought it was only fair I do. I mean, I know what its like to just want to get away frojm the cluttered house ( 3 girls ,GEEZ is it cluttered at times.) After a long weeks of 6 am mornings to 12 midnight nights, I understand what its like to want to get out !

I guess those who complained never knew what it was like to just want to do something to make up for time lost !

I liked the idea Wil ! And I dont believe you did anything wrong

Amy

I took me a while to figure out what this is all about, but let me just say that: this is your site, wil and you can do WHATEVER YOU WANT! Besides that, it's such a cuuuuuuute idea *sigh*!
Take care.

ENOUGH already..dead horse and all.

Does Spudnuts have a website? if not WHY NOT?

I, too, thought your idea was sweet & nice. I learned about it yesterday during my lunch break at work and decided I wanted to contribute. Then there was an emergency meeting (yuk!) so I was called away from my beloved WWDN. My bad luck followed me home as I could not get my computer there to function properly. So, here I am now, at work and since I'm early I thought I'd pop over to WWDN. Damn, I'm too late to contribute! Well, I hope it is indeed a real nice dinner.

See-it all worked out ;)

I said it would be best if Fark should let the thread run its course. It would go away eventually when Bonaduce did something.

So Fark removed the thread.

Nobody noticed.

It went away.

All is well :D

THIS is why I am not in public relations.

Let me know if anyone needs someone to say something stupid again :)

You know, I donated and I NEVER donate to anything. Not even to FARK. SO I don't see why people got so upset. Wil, I hope you have a blast spending my 5-er with your wife. I think its cool that you will be able to go out for a nice dinner. I am not so sure about that card now though.
P.S. First post ever, just popped my cherry so to speak.

As someone who was probably labelled a "Hater" yesterday, I'm glad to hear that Wil really thought about this. In the defense of those of us who questioned his idea (many of whom did so with grace and aplomb), he did ask for opinions, both on the soapbox and then on the main page. Ask and ye shall receive, both positively and negatively. I do hope that Wil comes up with some way to defray his costs, either through ads or donation buttons, or some other means, and I also think he might want to think about creating a page or an e-mail account where people can write messages to Anne simply saying Thanks! They wouldn't have to be related to Valentine's Day, just have a button/page/address where people can say a few words to explain why they benefit from the time her husband puts into this site. It's clear that many of you do feel really strongly about Wil and his site, and sometimes, just sometimes, the written word is more powerful than the dollar, so why not have an outlet for both?

Wow. What a fiasco. I came in at the totally wrong time.

*Pats Wil on the back. Hands him a beer*

I completely