Winter Break was spent with family and friends, and there was much rejoicing. We had some wonderful experiences this season that will form much of the foundation for a short (fictional) story I’m writing called “Little Christmas,” which I will pitch to some magazines this fall. If nobody picks it up, I’ll publish it myself in November or thereabouts. (It’s a little-known fact that books published in the month of thereabouts always win awards, so I’m leaning in that direction.)
My iBook died again yesterday. This time it wasn’t the logic board, though. In an exciting new twist, the harddrive decided to start making a chirping noise, then a beeping noise, then a “I think I’m going to crap out now, Wil. Enjoy another trip to the Apple Store and seven days without me” noise.
“I’m taking my iBook up to the Apple Store,” I told Anne as I headed out the door into the rain.
“Again?” was all I heard before a cone of silence poured down between us.
It’s about a three minute drive to Old Town, but today it took almost twenty minutes . . . because it’s the last day of a holiday weekend, and there were about 65000 tourists swarming all over the place.
I don’t know why I didn’t realize that it would be a nightmare up there, but as Napoleon once said, “Come on, dude, lighten up! What could possibly go wrong?”
Fifteen minutes of driving around the block later (which isn’t as bad as it sounds . . . I am on Disc 3 of “America, The Audiobook” and it RULES. Jon Stewarts rant about the media on track 2, alone, is worth double the price of admission.) I realized my folly, and drove back home. I’ll try again tomorrow morning.
In happier news, we picked up Season Five of the Simpsons today, and I forsee several hours of hilarity ensuing just as soon as I hit submit.
Okay, hilarity will ensue right . . . about . . . now.
No. Wait. I need to spell check this thing.
Okay.
Now.
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Glad to hear you’ve been enjoying your much deserved winter vacation! Happy New Year Wil & family, enjoy the Simpsons.
-Tracie
Man, I’m glad you’re back! I was getting worried, checking this page a few times every day as I wait to go back to work tomorrow (teacher). How can I waste away my vacation with no WWDN to read??
Hoping I can be somewhat coherent tomorrow at school…
Jennifer S.
So glad to hear you had a great Christmas and New Year.
One of my friends has lent me Dancing Barefoot
and Just a Geek to read.
I was supposed to read Dancing Barefoot first
but I started with Just a Geek,lol.
I have now read the first 70 pages and I LOVE IT!
I do plan on buying book, a bit broke at the moment but I do plan on buying it 🙂
Glad to hear that you’re having a great winter break. Mine officially ends tomorrow when I go to a new job. I am almost done reading “Just A Geek” (I know I’m a Johnny Come Lately) and have loved every moment. It has truly inspired me. Anyhoo. Best of luck Wil…I look forward to reading more.
Gotta love this crazy weather, while the west coast is getting slammed with rain we here in the Mid West are getting pounded with snow. I am glad to hear that you had a good holiday. Welcome to 2005 and hope many more for you to come
Sorry to hear about the hard drive. My PowerBook made a very similar noise about a month ago, waking me from a sound sleep so I could witness its death. It’s certainly not a fun experience. Hopefully you’ve got some good backups. I didn’t, but thankfully, DriveSavers was able to do a great job getting back gigs of emails, photos, and music. Happy New Year!
Glad to have you back, Will…and sorry to hear about the ongoing saga of your iBook. I love them to death, but some are just serious lemons that seem to be continually plagued with problems. Here’s to hoping your AppleCare’s still in effect.
I’m number six! Wait, thats nothing to be excited about. Hey wil, buy a dell.
It’s comforting to know you use spell check too 🙂
Sorry to hear your iBook died. If it’s any consolaiton, mine died last spring. The cost to repair it was more than the value of the machine, so sadly, it is making itself useful as a paperweight.
Mind you, I quite like my iMac G5!
Simpsons season 5 includes one of my favourite events with Groundskeeper Willie – the one where he gets greased up by Lunchlady Doris and goes after Santa’s Little Helper in the ventilation ducts.
“There’s nary an animal alive that can outrun a greased Scotsman!” – Willie
and my 2nd favourite quote from same episode,
“More testicles mean more iron.” – Lunchlady Doris
Enjoy!!
I just set this page up as my home page last week cause i read it so much, Then You leave for a week 🙂
Welcome back and Happy Day After the Holidays
ARRRRG back to friggin work 🙁
i’m sorry but: boy am i glad that mine (ibook) wasn’t the only that decided it had have enough for a while…
now i had to download the Gnomedex 4.0 audio on a win98 machine (with a 56k modem, mind you). argh!
good luck with your story! and yes, you should do that (and earn some money) before you come, sit here and make pithy wwdn contributions. 😉
cherioX
Yay!!! Your back!! We were getting worried.
Hubby and I read Just a Geek over the holidays and we LOVED it! Your a great writer Wil and we look forward to reading more! Wishing everyone a great 2005!
Glad to have you back, Uncle Willie – I had checked in earlier today to get some info on gmail4troops and saw the front page blank, and it wasn’t till then that I realized how long your well-deserved break has been (I usually just check the RSS for new posts before hitting the site).
America: The Book, the audiobook, and the country are outstanding – good luck with the iBook!
Hope you backed up the hard drive before it failed! I hope you can recover your data/programs, but it sounds like (pardon the unintentional pun) that it has gone to that big, magnetic bulk eraser in the sky.
Wil: I’ve been on another planet for the last couple of years, so didn’t drop by your Blog/site until a day before you went on your break. I’ve been plowing through the archives the whole time you’ve been away, and had a great time catching up. I’m still at least 18 months backlogged, so haven’t missed the fact you haven’t been posting. I love what you’ve written…
Hey Will,
Sounds like you got one of the iBooks that came from the more recent (year or two) of bad ones… I had one of the orginal white iBooks for a while, loved it.. Never had any problems… But a friend of mine has a newer one, and he had a logic board problem.. Always back up! Even if it is a mac!
Happy Holidays Wil! Long time no talk.
I just finished reading Just a Geek and Dancing Barefoot. It was great to re-read your great postings from back in the day when I logged onto your Yahoo page. I was a bit nostalgic…and yes a bit teary eyed as I followed your growth from Yahoo to WWdN. I look forward to more of your writing. Have a glorious New Year.
-Cat [San Diego]
God! You were gone for SO long, Wil! It was almost like that SNL skit where the words from the teleprompter disappeared. And you wonder what has happened.
“Is there anybody out there???”
Happy New Year to you, Anne and the kids, Wil.
One a side note to anyone in Southern California:
I went and saw Love Machine at the Acme Comedy Theater before Christmas. It would be worth everyone’s while to get dinner and then go see it on a Saturday night through March, I think. There are some incredibly funny sketches and Wil’s wrote some great ones. (I’m not being biased!) I won’t blow the surprise and tell you about the sketches. Suffice it to say, however, that it’s a satisfying and pleasant two hours. I encourage everyone to go see it. The Acme Comedy Theater is on La Brea Blvd 100 feet South of Beverly Blvd in the Fairfax District.
God! You were gone for SO long, Wil! It was almost like that SNL skit where the words from the teleprompter disappeared. And you wonder what has happened.
“Is there anybody out there???”
Happy New Year to you, Anne and the kids, Wil.
One a side note to anyone in Southern California:
I went and saw Love Machine at the Acme Comedy Theater before Christmas. It would be worth everyone’s while to get dinner and then go see it on a Saturday night through March, I think. There are some incredibly funny sketches and Wil’s wrote some great ones. (I’m not being biased!) I won’t blow the surprise and tell you about the sketches. Suffice it to say, however, that it’s a satisfying and pleasant two hours. I encourage everyone to go see it. The Acme Comedy Theater is on La Brea Blvd 100 feet South of Beverly Blvd in the Fairfax District.
Well, perhaps it was something the wife said – after I get in from a night of gaming… but I am getting a different vibe here than I am used to.
Then there is the chance it’s tied to my lack of proper sleep…
…and yes, I have been reloading the font page here more than once a day for what seems like a month… surfing the archives almost sate’d me.
…I’m feeling selfish, I wan’t ‘Wil the Geek’ to write more, is he bing replaced by ‘Wil the big writer’?
…loookie, sleep.
Spellcheck is overrated, well so I hear.
Glad your “almost” back.
hey! welcome back Wil. long time reader, first time poster. did anyone notice Wil was nominated for a “Best of” Blog award on blobmechanics.com?
Wil is nominated for “Best Big-Name Blogger. the URL is http://www.blogmechanics.com/bob/ and you have to scroll down a bit to find it. Vote now and Vote often!
merry christwanzamanukuh! and happy new year. definately sorry to hear about the ibook, i am a die-hard mac addict but all i can say is…
gosh! idiot!
hurrah for napoleon.
ciao!
>>”(It’s a little-known fact that books published in the month of thereabouts always win awards, so I’m leaning in that direction.)”
as i was going to continue…
I’m still laughing about what you said (that I quoted).
glad you’re back, good luck with the writing gig!
Hey Wil,
Happy New Year from Down Under.
I finally got to read JaG (my autographed copy from Mysterious Galaxy – Thank goodness for international shipping). In fact I started it on Christmas Eve while I was staying at my parents place. I kept saying to myself…..just the rest of *this* chapter….ok…just the rest of *THIS* chapter.
3 Quarters of a book and its now 2.30am, I put it down because I fell asleep. I put the dustcover back on and bookmarked my spot….or so I thought. In the morning I discovered that the cover was on upside down and back to front and the bookmark was at the beginning, not the end.
But I LOVED IT!
I finished it sometime on Christmas Night. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS BOOK!
Keep it up….and I hope the new year brings you lots of good ideas for your next book.
cheers
Lauren
Happy New Year, Wil and family! Glad the winter break was relaxing for you all, it was for us too. Looking forward to reading your new story – about as much as I’m looking forward to reading the next Harry Potter book!
Have a good year
} {
^_~ Devil Girl
Nice to hear that most things are going good. No offense, but in my opinion Apple computers suck. From experience of course. My two new years resolutions is to get both of your books and read them. LOL. Hey I know this is late, but Happy New Year Wil! (and family of course)I wonder what will be in store from you this new year. Can’t wait to find out. By the way how is Chris doing? (the one that had cancer)
Morgan
Hey Wil,
You need to get yourself a Windows machine to play poker. Don’t forget bonus code IGGY or TAO4 or any of the others… as for which company to go with, I hear Michael Dell is a big GOP contributor, so you may want to look into HP or something. I think http://www.opensecrets.org/ will give you some info on which way the contributions lean for computer/tech companies.
Ahhhhhh… HE LIVES! Good to see your back WW!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man here coming to you live from atop Trump Tower. And yes, I AM freezing my keister off! And NO ol’ Donald has NO idea how to lock down his WAPS! Hehehehe… Just taking a quick break before heading back up toward Harlem.
Was sooooo Stoked when I found your site! I don’t get a ton of time to surf but I’ve added you to my Firefox bookmarks when those chances come around!
A request – MORE AUDIO BLOGS! That “OLD GLORY’ post had me rolling on the floor. While I agree with everything you say in that post hearing ‘Ensign Crusher’ say $%^#@! was priceless!!!
Take care my friend. Stop by and vist the webhead some time…
Keep On Slingin!!!
Spider-Man
God! You were gone for SO long, Wil! It was almost like that SNL skit where the words from the teleprompter disappeared. And you wonder what has happened.
“Is there anybody out there???”
Happy New Year to you, Anne and the kids, Wil.
One a side note to anyone in Southern California:
I went and saw Love Machine at the Acme Comedy Theater before Christmas. It would be worth everyone’s while to get dinner and then go see it on a Saturday night through March, I think. There are some incredibly funny sketches and Wil’s wrote some great ones. (I’m not being biased!) I won’t blow the surprise and tell you about the sketches. Suffice it to say, however, that it’s a satisfying and pleasant two hours. I encourage everyone to go see it. The Acme Comedy Theater is on La Brea Blvd 100 feet South of Beverly Blvd in the Fairfax District.
God! You were gone for SO long, Wil! It was almost like that SNL skit where the words from the teleprompter disappeared. And you wonder what has happened.
“Is there anybody out there???”
Happy New Year to you, Anne and the kids, Wil.
One a side note to anyone in Southern California:
I went and saw Love Machine at the Acme Comedy Theater before Christmas. It would be worth everyone’s while to get dinner and then go see it on a Saturday night through March, I think. There are some incredibly funny sketches and Wil’s wrote some great ones. (I’m not being biased!) I won’t blow the surprise and tell you about the sketches. Suffice it to say, however, that it’s a satisfying and pleasant two hours. I encourage everyone to go see it. The Acme Comedy Theater is on La Brea Blvd 100 feet South of Beverly Blvd in the Fairfax District.
God! You were gone for SO long, Wil! It was almost like that SNL skit where the words from the teleprompter disappeared. And you wonder what has happened.
“Is there anybody out there???”
Happy New Year to you, Anne and the kids, Wil.
One a side note to anyone in Southern California:
I went and saw Love Machine at the Acme Comedy Theater before Christmas. It would be worth everyone’s while to get dinner and then go see it on a Saturday night through March, I think. There are some incredibly funny sketches and Wil’s wrote some great ones. (I’m not being biased!) I won’t blow the surprise and tell you about the sketches. Suffice it to say, however, that it’s a satisfying and pleasant two hours. I encourage everyone to go see it. The Acme Comedy Theater is on La Brea Blvd 100 feet South of Beverly Blvd in the Fairfax District.
Sounds like your iBook and mine are from the same batch. after the 4th failure I called apple and they offered to replace it with a brand spankin’ new g4 iBook. Hrmm let me think about that for just a second – OK.
maybe you should give them a call – maybe they will give you some love.
Poor Wil. *hands virtu-cookie* Go watch The Simpsons with your family and have fun.
Yep, time to lean on Apple to replace your iBook with a new one. I bet they’ll do it since you’ve had so many failures.
Good to hear from you again!
simpsons season five is awsome! the 100’th episode, sideshow bob, the baby with one eyebrow! its all so exciting i could go nuts! (cant wait for season six.)
“Just A Geek” made wonderful Christmas presents.I gave 5 copies to friends and they all seemed delighted.
Welcome back Wil. Wasn’t the same without ya! “Just A Geek” rules by the way. About to read it for the second time.
For those who are just getting around to picking up copies of Just a Geek, here’s something to keep in mind – not a single bookstore around here has had the book in the autobiography or non-fiction section. I have always seen it mixed in with the Star Trek paperbacks from Pocket Books.
🙂
– Tom
Glad to hear you enjoyed the holidays!!! It feels good to start a new year, eh? 😉
Welcome back!!!! Looking forward to hearing about your holiday break! ’05 will be a huge year for you, I can see it now 🙂
Hey Wil. Welcome back(sort of)! I am a member of a movie quote game on lj, and these quotes were left yesterday: “Shut up? I dont shut up, I grow up, & when I look at you, I throw up!”
“Suck my fat one, you cheap dime store hood.”
“I don’t think I ever had friends like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”
I always loved the Suck my fat one quote. Who ever told you you had a fat one LaChance? Have a great time w/the Simpsons!
Welcome almost back, Wil!
Wow. I can’t think of anything else. Weird. Um…
\m/
Happy New Year, uncle Wil. Hope that you and your family have a happy, healthy, peaceful and prosperous year.
I look forward to more blogging from you.
I am most pleased that you are back. The silence on your page has been deafening 🙂
Nice place you have here Wil.
iBook, eh? That’ll learn you…lol…:)
Welcome Back Wil Happy New Year and good luck with this writing deal.