I love this road trip! Anne and I have been taking our time, exploring small towns (abandoned and otherwise) all along the way. XM radio has provided a wonderful soundtrack, (it’s all about Fred and Ethel, the classic rock station, and the 60s . . . but I will admit that we turned on classic country when we drove into Texas. It seemed appropriate at the time.
Is anyone listening to the audio blog? It’s fun for me, but I haven’t found my “voice” yet. It will get better, though. I thought it may be cool to take my phone on stage at the Trek convention, and have the audience shout something out. Something like, “The Trogdor comes in the night!”
I just love spending all this time with my wife, too. It takes a very specific type of chemistry to sit next to each other in a car for 8 hours a day, and I’m proud to report that our marriage is safely intact. 🙂
Couple of things I forgot to mention in the audblog:
When we stopped in Williams, we ate dinner in a hotel restaurant, where our waiter was:
1. Left-handed
2. From California
3. Named “Wil” and spelled with JUST ONE L!!
Those of you who are official stalkers will know that I fit all three of those criteria. He had a beard, so I decided that he is The Evil Twin.
Somewhere before Williams, Anne said, “What does this button on the mirror do?” as she pushed it. The radio fell silent, and a voice said, “Connecting to On*Star . . .” (I swear, you could hear the asterisk in the computerized voice)
We both looked at each other, sort of shocked, and I said, “It’s a rental car. there is no way the On*Star (again, I made sure to pronounce the asterisk) is going to be turned on.”
“Why are you pronouncing the asterisk?” Anne asked.
Before I could reply, a soft and friendly voice came out of our speakers. It said, “Welcome to OnStar (no asterisk, this time . . . weird). How are things out there in Arizona?”
It was like the teacher came into the classroom, and caught me setting my desk on fire. And I wasn’t wearing any pants. And the other kids were all tied up with electrical tape.
“Oh, uh . . . it’s fine!” we said.
“What can I help you with tonight?”
“Well, here’s the deal: this is a rental car, and we’re just fooling around with the buttons . . . so . . . how are you?”
She laughed, and we talked about stupid stuff for a few minutes. I thought it was really cool, despite my inner privacy-zealot screaming at me “THEY KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!! THEY KNOW YOU’RE DRIVING TEN MILES OVER THE LIMIT!! THEY KNOW YOU PRONOUNCE THE ASTERISK WITHOUT KNOWING WHY!!!11”
We told her we were heading into Williams, and she told us to have a nice drive.
Which we did.

This summer, Anne and I will be taking planes, trains, and automobiles to get to all sorts of places. We’re taking a plane to Vegas for the Creation Star Trek convention, we’re taking a train to San Diego for Comic-Con, and tomorrow, we’ll be taking an automobile all the way to Tulsa, for the Starbase 21 convention. (Info for those cons is here.)
I’m looking forward to this trip so much! I can’t think of anyone in the world I’d rather sit in a car with for three days than my rockin’ wife, and I can’t wait to see all the nifty sights along Route 66. I will return from this trip with:

1. Something with a Jackelope on it
2. A plastic or rubber tomahawk
3. A photo of a WWdN OBEY sticker on the “Welcome to \$state” sign
4. A greater understanding of the majesty which is the Interstate Highway system, and the beauty of the open road

Thanks to my iPod, this is the road trip where Anne gets introduced to David Sedaris . . . and we have XM Satellite Radio to keep us entertained on the drive! I’ve been listening to XM for about a week now, and I’m about to become XM’s most vocal unpaid cheerleader.
I’ll be doing my best to update from the road, depending on what our hotels have in the way of networks . . . but check it out! I’ve signed up for an account with Audblog, and I will be phoning in updates along the road. (Huge thanks to Xeni for giving me some useful pointers on audio blogging))It should be really fun. (And don’t worry — I’m finishing the CruiseTrek entries. I’ll try to post them before the end of the week.)
Finally, the biggest news of the day: on Thursday, when we arrive in Tulsa . . . I get to throw out the first pitch at the Tulsa Drillers baseball game!!!!! (I also notice that it’s redneck country music night . . . and, uh, lots-of-beer night . . . so there is a very good chance that someone may take a swing at your dear old friend and cherished Internet companion, Uncle Willie.)
I’m one step closer to singing “Take me out to the ballgame” at a Cubs game! Put me in, coach!

My iPod arrived day before yesterday. While I was putting music on it, I decided to take a look at the iTunes Music Store, and see what it was all about.
I know what you’re thinking: What’s that? See what it’s all about? Wil, you just told us the other night on Your Mac Life that you didn’t like the iTunes Music Store! What gives?!
Well, here’s what gives: I misunderstood what the iTunes Music Store was about, didn’t fully grok how it worked, and I have changed my mind entirely about it.
I said that I wasn’t all that thrilled with it, and cited the (incorrect) fact that the buyer wouldn’t be able to take the music he / she / it bought and burn it, play it on different machines, etc. Last night, I realized that I was hasty in my condemnation, and I totally misspoke.
It was lame of me to answer the way that I did without having the facts at my disposal. I mean, I’ve always thought that people should have all the facts, and have them straight, too, before they form an opinion, or commit thousands of troops and billions of dollars to a military occupation.
I spent quite a bit of time last night poking around the store, and I bought 6 songs that I really like. If they’d had all of Arizona Bay or Rant in E Minor, I would have bought those entire albums, too. Once the prices over at Audible come down, I will probably pick up some books there (and look into offering an audio version of Dancing Barefoot!)
I think it’s really cool that I can put that music on my iPod, keep it in my iTunes library, and burn it to a CD and take it into my car. I don’t see any major limitations, so far, and I wish I’d had my shit straight before I opened my big fat stupid mouth.
I feel awfully embarrassed right now, but I think it’s better to be honest than it is to be right.
If it makes anyone feel any better, I am totally paying massive karma for this idiocy: ALL THREE of my linux machines won’t access the ‘net, and my iBook is pissed at me too. I’m having one of those “tanj” technology days.

Finally. The Big News is here!
Last week, I was contacted by Amazon dot Com. A very cool Amazon employee, who reads the exact site you’re reading right now(spooky!) suggested that Amazon would be interested in carrying Dancing Barefoot.
We did some business stuff with Monolith and Amazon, and I can announce that Dancing Barefoot is now available on Amazon dot Com. I couldn’t announce it on Monday, like I wanted to, because the cover art, reviews, bio, and all that stuff hadn’t been updated, yet.
I can also announce that I’ll be signing copies of Dancing Barefoot at the OSCon in Portland next week, at Powell’s Technical bookstore (Two signings: one inside the con at 1PM on July 10th, and one in the actual store at 7PM on July 10th. I think I get to read from the book, too!). . . and they placed a HUGE order with me already!!!
AND in August (It’s looking like the 14th) I’ll be in Portland again, this time doing a signing at the Big Store. That’s right, I will be signing at Powell’s City Of Books, in the heart of Spudnuts country.
EDIT: My bad. It’s not Powell’s City of Books. It’s Powell’s in Beaverton. Go suburbs!! 🙂
All of this is totally overwhelming to me. We packed another massive bunch of books tonight, (until we ran out of postage . . . dang!) and we’ll be shipping them all out tomorrow. We’re totally sold out of our first 1000 books, and I’m expecting another 1000 (with some minor corrections, and a cool new cover with some of the awesome reviews I’ve gotten) to arrive soon, so I can sell them in Tulsa at the convention.
Speaking of conventions, the gang over at Creation has once again heard the mighty voice of the fans, and invited me to attend the Vegas show! I’ll be there with (say it with me) books to sign, and I’ll be doing a reading, too.
I’m almost done with the Cruise entries, and there are still about 100 photos to be uploaded. I think I’ll have some time later today to get them put up.
Oh, and check this out:
The UPS dude stopped by around 4:45 this afternoon, and dropped off a tall rectangular box, addressed to “Wil Wheaton, c/o 1000 Barefeet Dancing.”
I opened it, and found a bottle of Macallan Cask Strength Highland Scotch Whiskey inside. It was sent to me by my friend Barry, to celebrate the 1000th sale of my book.
Barry, if you’re reading this, you effin’ rule, man. Thank you. (Yes, it’s as good as we thought it would be!) 🙂
I really feel like all this great stuff that’s happening is Balance for all the shit I went through when I was struggling so hard to make it as an actor. I no longer feel like I’m struggling against a mighty current, and it is wonderful.
Thought for Today:

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

–Thoreau

You can hear me tonight on Your Mac Life dot Com. I’ll be talking about my iBook, the eMac Anne and I bought for Ryan as a graduation present (that’s right, I’m the parent of a 9th grader — forgiv me if I’m a bit testy for the next four years), my book, Star Trek, and Muskrats.