fixing a hole

I had a wonderful time at my signing in Huntington Beach last night. There were about forty people seated when I started, and by the time I was finished, another fifteen or so had joined us.
Over the years, I’ve developed a pretty good sense of how the audience is relating to me, and I felt like I connected with this audience immediately, and maintained the connection all the way through. It was awesome. The last few readings I’ve done have been a hardcore geek conferences, you see, and there’s been a very palpable “Okay, prove to us that you deserve to be here, jerk.” feeling from at least part of the audience, but last night, I didn’t feel any challenge or hostility from the people there, so I was able to relax and just do my thing.
Usually, I just thank people for coming, and get right into reading, but last night I tried something now: I gave a little bit of a “talk” about the internets, and the power of blogs. I talked about how blogs are a powerful communication tool, and how blogs can be used for very positive things, like helping our friend Kris when she had cancer. I also talked about this awesome auction I’m a part of to raise money and awareness for the Alzheimer’s Association of Los Angeles (that is going to be so cool, it gets its own entry in the near future.)
I’ve been thinking a lot about how my life has changed, and I know that none of this would be happening without the examination of my life that happened because of my blog and my books. I talked a little bit about that examination, and how I discovered this thing called “the quarter life crisis,” where we hit our mid-to-late twenties and freak out because we don’t know what we’re doing (or going to do with) our lives as we near thirty. At that time in my life, I recalled, I was struggling not only to be a successful actor, husband, and stepfather, but also to figure out who I was. My mom always told me “just be yourself, and you’ll be happy.” That’s great advice, but it’s tough to heed when you don’t know who “yourself” is.
Anyway, I talked about all those things as a lead-in to the writing of Just A Geek, and to set up where I was in my life when I experienced the events I wrote about in Chapter Nine of Just A Geek (pdf file), which is what I read last night.
The actual “reading” portion of the . . . uhm . . . reading . . . was great. I felt comfortable with the material, and it is always entertaining (to me, anyway) to edit out the naughty words on the fly when I read. It was extra fun last night because people were following along in their own books, and they’d giggle when I replace “shit” with “crap,” or something similar.
When my reading was done, I took a few questions, which gave me another opportunity to talk about how empowering the internet is, and how I used the internet to reassert control over my creative life. Then, I sat down and signed books for everyone there. The people who came out were all friendly and enthusiastic, and the whole experience was just wonderful. I was done about 8:45, and through the power of quantum physics, I made it up to ACME by 9:30 without ever exceeding the posted speed limit.
Shut up. I did.

50 thoughts on “fixing a hole”

  1. I know that quarter life crisis all to well. I’m living in it as I type.
    I don’t mean to sound like an AICN talkback jerkass, but am I first?
    If so…cooool.

  2. Glad to hear you didnt make the evening news Wil! I would have been laughing extremely hard if I was driving up the 405 and I see a blur of a car followed by a chopper and 6 squad cars 🙂 Besides, you dont drive a Bronco, so you wouldnt have the WHOLE Los Angles police force on your tail.
    I thuroughly enjoyed my evening, as I’m sure everyone else did. It was truly a treat to hear you speaking live, versus a recorded mp3 file. And I will be attending future readings.
    Definately, next time, you need to have the time for photos as well. We understand why you couldnt this time, so we forgive you.
    I’ll be there this evening for Whats My Line as well. Cant wait to see how you are on stage as well.
    Following along was terrific. Even though you were not able to catch all of your naughty words, it was even more hilarious to see your face when you corrected yourself after the fact. So when is your next signing/reading? 🙂
    I know what you should do, do an audiobook of Dancing Barefoot and Just A Geek! Even if you just sell it on your site, I know I would buy it! Kinda hard to read in the car. Know what I mean? Just a thought.
    See you tonight Wil!
    -Evin (the geek in the glasses who has to wear contacts for hte next 6 days)

  3. First post! Well, at least it is as I’m typing. I bet someone beats me to post.
    Anyway, I was there last night, and I really enjoyed the signing. I took off work early to sit in my chair for 2 hours because they told me they expected a large turnout and I didn’t want to miss. Despite a seriously numb ass, it was definantly worth it. Was a great talk and reading; you definantly brought the funny.
    Also, I tried really hard not to geek out at you when it was my turn to get my book signed. But I think I went overboard a little bit about the Obey WWdN shirts, so sorry about that. But I figure you can understand, right?
    Thanks for a great night Wil =D

  4. Congrats on a good reading – and I’m glad to hear (or to at least infer) that you are feeling better.
    I think the “blog as tool for self-examination to get through tough times” and “re-evaluation of priorities and life goals” is a far more meaningful and universal way to describe your book. Sure, in your case that re-evaluation involved Star Trek, but the struggle is universal (or nearly so) and more interesting.
    When you do a new printing of JaG you should change the subtitle on the cover.

  5. As a physicist, I must warn you against the colloquial invocation of quantum mechanics; I guarantee you that your arriving at ACME on time was not influenced by it in any way.
    Quantum mechanics does affect our lives – a prime example being the transistor, which functions because of tunneling – but it does not affect macroscopic systems. If you don’t believe me, try calculating your DeBroglie wavelength,
    \lambda = h/p,
    where \lambda (the Greek letter – LaTeX code) is the wavelength, h is Planck’s constant (6.626*10^34 J s), and p is momentum, where p=mv. Unless your DeBroglie wavelength is a significant fraction of your size, then Quantum Mechanics does not apply to you…
    I hope that you enjoyed the physics lecture; please feel free to e-mail me if you want more of an explanation.

  6. Wil,
    I was waiting to read your thoughts on last night’s reading, as it’s always interesting to know whether or not you think you “connected” with the audience. I’m happy to see you felt good about last night, I know I enjoyed your reading immensely (censored words and all. “Eff you,” indeed ;)).

  7. I’m an employee at Barnes & Noble and between that job, my other job and being a full time student, I never have a night off much less a full day. But when the schedules came out two weeks ago, I saw that I had my first day off both jobs in three months. Unfortunately it was November 30th, what had come to be known in my mind has Wil Wheaton day. So my inner voices had a field day. “You’re fucking tired kid, you need a day off.” “But it’s Wil Wheaton day!” “Three months without sufficient sleep!” “But it’s Wil Wheaton day!!” “You don’t have another day off until Christmas!!” “But it’s Wil Wheaton day!!!” “You can stalk him at Dog Beach, you heard he goes there!” “But I’m not a stalker (since that one guy in high school), and it’s fucking Wil Wheaton day!” These voices have yet to be named like Wils, but they exist and the Wil Wheaton day voice prevailed. So I talked my manager into letting me work that night and I know I made the right decision. He was so nice and so involved with every person who came. It was totally worth it and as weird as it may sound, the excitement I felt all day rivaled Christmas as a kid. All day I walked around my house reminding my family that it was Wil Wheaton day. They hid their enthusiasm beautifully. Then my little brother finally asked me with some trepidation, who is Wil Wheaton. My little sister who was in the room didn’t asked but stopped what she was doing and leaned in for the answer too. Being who I am, I couldn’t give a verbal explanation, so I rolled my eyes at them and pulled everything I had of him out for them to see. We watched Stand By Me , the Curse , Toy Soldiers , and then TNG on Spike TV. We finished up the marathon about the time I had to leave for work and as I walked out the door, I turned them still sitting on the couch and said “That is who fucking Wil Wheaton is!” and I smiled the entire drive to work.

  9. Well, I hope that we, at ApacheCon, we’re some of the “prove to us that you deserve to be here, jerk.” variety. We (I, anyway) really enjoyed having you there, and didn’t really get a chance to say so. And, darn it, you ran out of books before I could get one. 🙁

  10. LOL w/ Breanna … I will now have stuck in my head for the rest of the week “It’s Wil Wheaton Day!”
    We so totally need that on a t-shirt…

  11. “Quarter Life Crisis”
    Thank you for putting into words what has been going through my head for the last year or so. You made my life a wee easier 🙂

  13. oh I know that quarter life crisis very well because I AM GOING THROUGH IT RIGHT NOW!!
    lol.
    which therefore caused me to go back to school again for another degree because well I am not sane,LOL!

  14. Wil,
    Unfortunately I have been sick for the past few days and couldn’t make it to your reading/signing last night. I have been a fan of yours forever it seems (clear back to your “Stand By Me” days and I won a lifetime membership in your fan club through a 16 magazine contest years ago) and wish I could have been there. I am on vacation here in California from Arizona…I hope you will travel to the Phoenix area and promote your books sometime…we’d love to have you out there!!!
    Also, I read about your participation in the auction for Alzheimer’s Awareness in LA. My grandfather died from Alzheimer’s in August of this year, so what you are doing impacts my family and I think it’s so awesome. You are such a big-hearted man with a lot of heart and soul. I know all of us WW fans love what you are doing…keep up the great work…we all love you and are proud of you…You ROCK!!!
    ~BullpenBrat22 on LiveJournal

  15. You should really put “It’s Wil Wheaton Day” on a t-shirt. Oh, I was reading the earlier blogs and I came across the Xmas Ebay action ones. Are you going to do the autographed picture auction this year? Are you ever going to come to Florida for an appearance? (No hurricane jokes please)

  16. Well crap!
    Quarter life crisis? I’m only 24 and I already feel that way. God help me when I’m 29.
    Sounds like an awesome day Wil. I wish your readings were somewhere a little more convenient to me so I could go to one(or three).

  17. Hiya, I enjoyed the reading very much last night and will try to catch you at another one.
    Hey, I’m 1 for 4! Go me!
    cheers

  18. I’m just going through the period in my life where I realised that I was not happy and not myself. I’m still going through it and I really think the Internet is helping me through this immensely. In fact I find being allowed to be the type of creative I want to be is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.

  19. Damn. Read the chapter, and now I have to go buy the book. Really nice work.
    It’s kind of interesting to come to your blog late, when you are seeing success as a writer and then go back to see the struggle knowing the outcome.

  21. Really enjoyed the reading last night… thanks for doing it even though you’ve been having a tough time with your neck and being ill. And thanks for signing my book “you MADE it!!!one!1”
    I didn’t get the “one” and “1” amongst the exclamation points ’til I got home and showed it to my girlfriend, lol. Too damn clever, Wil. woot!

  22. I wanted to say thank for writting the book, just a geek.(I also picked up dancing barfoot, it was also a great book.) I picked the book up and have a hard time putting it down. Keep up the good work.

  23. Great reading last night! Unfortunately I was very star-struck and unable to say much when you signed my books. I did get your homeopathic joke about your cold, by the way. I was just too nervous to respond. 😛
    I’m a physics teacher here in So Cal and I told all of my students about the reading. They laughed and laughed about my “geekiness” and teased me about stalking Ensign Crusher. But you should have seen their reaction when I read some of them “Inferno”. You have a new group of young fans now.
    Thank you for coming out despite your busy schedule. What a great experience!

  25. Will, when are you coming to Australia? I must admit, I’ve liked your work for quite a while, but haven’t really been a big fan until recently when I started reading your Blog. I’ve asked for your books for christmas (hopefully I’ll get them). It’d be good to have you come down under and do some readings.

  26. Thank you for posting chapter 9 – I did find out that a local store did have your book (not sure if they are getting it back or not) – now I really want it.
    But it got me thinking – who do you get to read with at the autions? & could you get a job doing that – I’m not sure if that is something you would want to do but just a thought I had

  28. dude if you made a shirt that says “its Wil Wheaton day!”, i would totally wear it to future readings. especially since my “just a geek” shirt is getting old and people come up to me in random stores and restaurants and say “oh, no youre not!” and i’m like, you dont understand. what im trying to say is… i had a wonderful time at the reading last night. it was inspiring to say the least. Hurrah for wil and let me know when the next socal event is…

  29. Thanks for being there last night, Wil, you really made my (birth)day. I loved the talk, I felt really inspired by it to try and amp up my own blogging abilities and… well… *huggles her books* There’s always signed books!
    Meeting new friends is always nice too! Yay for Evin and Rachel.
    Yep, to Huntington Beach, CA and back to Goodyear, AZ in 3 days. I won’t say we didn’t ever exceed the posted speed limit though. 🙂

  30. I just turned 26 in October, getting married (first time for both of us) in May and I’ve never been so scared. What the hell am I doing? Where the hell are we going to live and will Trevor REALLY be able to support us while I go back to school? What do I want to do in school? Do I just settle for being a beautician when I REALLY want to be that and an astronamor (sp?) AND a pianist? Will I be ready for kids when we have them and will I turn out to be a good parent or will I freak and give up, letting my kids raise themselves? That part REALLY scares me.
    How do you get all of this to…go away?

  31. Ah, yes…
    Teh Power of Teh Internet!
    That reminds me… TehSoapbox.Net is doing a Holiday fundraiser… 😉
    /done pimping now

  32. Quarter-life crisis? I can totally relate to that one. I’m going through it right now, though I might be sinking a bit lower into the barrel than you did…
    But at any rate, it’s good to hear that the readings are going well for you! Keep up the good work, Wil!

  33. Just wait til you are at the halfway point in your life. It REALLY gets interesting then. Looking at the end of your life makes now seem awfully important. Glad you had a good reading.

  34. I would so buy the “It’s Wil Wheaton Day!” t-shirt!
    there is actually a book called Quarter-Life Crisis, but it’s a bit chicken-soupy (which is not a bad thing if you are into those books). I prefer your book as a “you too can get through this” tome. Thank you for writing without preaching and understanding without condescending 🙂

  38. I very much enjoyed your talk, although I was late for a rehearsal and felt that ‘anxious-I’m running out of time myself’ thing near the end.
    It is great that someone with your public exposure takes the time to talk about the more important things in everyone’s life (my wife was recently diagnosed with a tumor–she’s fine now).
    BTW, if you’re ever looking for a positive audition experience, you’re bound to succeed if you try a local Community Theater. Although, I think you’d be best using a physdoname (SIC?) on the cast list…the theater might not be able to fit the audience in. In fact, we’re doing Tommy in a couple of months and I bet I can talk the director into casting you as the dentist! (I do only back-stage stuff, the ‘dark’ side of that table you mentioned.)
    Tom
    (the idiot with the T.S.S. DVD)

  39. When I moved to San Francisco I had to learn “astro-speak” in order to understand my new friends. Your quarter-life crisis is also known as your “Saturn-return.” It takes 29 years for Saturn to rotate around the sun, so right around your 29th birthday, Saturn bumps back to the place it was in when you were born, bringing with it all your major life issues to work through. Now, I don’t know if I really buy all this, but I do know my 29th year was simply awful! Major life trauma, that’s for sure. Apparently we have to do it again at 58.
    Hope your neck is better and keep taking those zinc lozenges!

  41. Dear Wil Wheaton,
    I saw you on VH1 the other day. I was surprised. By the way, I was impressed at your Beatles reference. 🙂
    “I’m taking the time for a number of things
    That weren’t important yesterday
    And I still go.
    I’m fixing a hole where the rain gets in
    And stops my mind from wandering
    Where it will go.” -Fixing a Hole-The Beatles-

  42. I hear what you’re saying about that quarter life crisis. Hit 21 in august and I’m currently cracking up about what to do for a career. Maybe I hit it early, but without sounding like a kiss-ass you are kind of an inspiration. Love the book by the way, picked up ‘Just A Geek’ on Saturday and I’ve already read the bugger twice.

  43. I remember at 13 thinking how hard it was to figure things out, then again at 18, again at 21, etc. Now I’m in my mid-30’s and suddenly theres a whole new round of worries and conniptions to go through. WHEEEEE!!
    Does it ever really end? Personally I think that it doesn’t, but that’s what makes life worth living.

  44. Wil, if you ever come to Saint John, NB, Canada for a reading (*cough*), I’ll be there! 🙂 It sounds like it was a good time.

  46. It is refreshing to see that I am not alone in these fears sometimes. After reading that chapter, I have been compelled to buy the book, though perhaps putting it on my Christmas list would be better at this time of year. Nothing maked my wife happier than searching for the right gift, as I buy stuff in the weeks before the holiday..
    I hope that you continue to have these sorts of audiences, I know that the right audience can always make a performance or appearance seem right.

  47. Greeetings,
    I think discovering who you are is really the acceptance of a dynamic process, wherein you understand that “you” are always changing, yet there’s a core part of your personality that remains.
    I find that we tend to measure ourselves by others when we’re young. I don’t do that anymore. I like who I am, and don’t try to emulate others, but I do copy ideas and sayings that fit with my philosophy. And I discard others.
    So, be happy with the idea that you’re going to change. Change is the only constant in the universe.

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