I apply the titled philosophy to just about everything I do. In fact, when I get too results-oriented (destination) I can’t enjoy the work (journey) that it takes to get there, and I get unhappy (the).
However, this particular bit of journey vs. destination is a little different, because while the destination is cool, the journey was awesome.
It began on Warren Ellis‘ BAD SIGNAL e-mail list, when I opened up the laptop this morning, intending to start my work.
Warren has brought a lot of awesome into my life via his written work, most recently his novel Crooked Little Vein and comic Doktor Sleepless. Warren also gave me an awesome quote to use on the cover of The Happiest Days of our Lives:
“Wil Wheaton’s made a new career out of doing well that which is in
fact the hardest thing to do at all: he writes, brilliantly and simply
and gloriously, about joy.”
— Warren Ellis, author of CROOKED LITTLE VEIN, TRANSMETROPOLITAN, and PLANETARY
Exactly how one person can be responsible for this much awesome can only be proved using an advanced form of quantum physics, the results of which can unfortunately never be observed.
But back to this morning’s BAD SIGNAL. In it, Warren casually mentioned two boingboing-ish websites I’d never heard of, called ectoplasmosis and coilhouse. Both of these sites appeal to the pre-domesticated me, who "I discovered when I was not an
old man and first encountered David Lynch, Alan Moore, William S.
Burroughs and Hunter S. Thompson. I’ve kept it under control, but as I
get older and closer to the ponytail and sports car years, it
increasingly demands to be let out, like my own personal Edward Hyde." I miss this part of me: the, ahem, edgy part, who would drive from a late-night Christian Ristow performance to a midnight showing of El Topo to an after hours speakeasy filled with protogoths in vinyl and leather fetish gear, listening to Joe Frank and ambient mix CDs the whole way. (Incidentally, the domesticated version of me feels obligated to point out that I spent these years entirely sober, because the people I met and the places I met them were so interesting I didn’t need — or want, really — anything to alter the experience, and does it surprise anyone who reads my blog that the memories I used to patch that description of 1990s me together all happened in autumn?)
I spent a good amount of time reading ectoplasmosis and coilhouse, while I listened to Warren’s podcast The 4am, which I highly recommend adding to your subscriptions right now.
Following various links down the ‘tubes, I eventually ended up at Diesel Sweeties, where I curiously clicked on Rich’s link to Project Wonderful. It seemed like an interesting advertising model, so I investigated further, and ended up at the store for the Adventures of Dr. Macninja. I’ve never heard of this Doctor before, and I haven’t followed any of his adventures, but I sure did enjoy the T-shirts he has for sale . . . which finally lead me back to the Diesel Sweeties store, my cool destination.
The journey was wonderful, and took me through some memories of a different time, where I was a different me. A different me who is screaming at the current me, "You destination is fucking shopping?! Shopping?! What the fuck happened to you?! You used to be cool."
To which current me replies, "it’s the journey, not the destination. When you’re older, you’ll understand."
Current me wouldn’t mind driving around all night, observing interesting people and places, and listening to Joe Frank . . . if he could only stay awake past eleven.
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I *heart* Warren. He’s scathingly funny.
*smirk* I’m 27 now. I’m at a point in my life where I’m transitioning between your aforementioned all-night drive and falling asleep at 11 during Futurama (which is really pissing me off, btw). I think it’s interesting to see how you’ve experienced this transition. We can all plainly see how your life has shaped up. I like to think I’ll eventually get to where you are in life. But, like you said, it’s the journey, not the destination.
Thanks for your most excellent posts, man. You’ve inspired me to try my hand at blogging. It’s a great outlet even if it’s just for myself. Keep up the great work, Wil.
Not at all on-topic…
Is that a mini-Wil .ico? How long’s that been there?
Your observantly,
Just an FYI Wil, it is Dr. McNinja. No extra “A”
You should defintely check out the comic. The Doctor is both bad ass at being a Ninja AND a Doctor. (funny enough I am wearing my “Ninjas can’t catch you if you are on fire” shirt.
See? Current me is pretty lame, but also says, “The extra ‘a’ is for Awesome.”
Awesome indeed. And here I sit trying to come up with a witty comeback to go with that and all I can come up is nothing. See, even that failed. Guess thats why Warren gave you a great copy quote and me nothing.
I guess I haven’t been a reader long enough to get the background on your “autumn” reference. However, I have noticed for myself that most of the wilder shit that has happened to me — or more accurately, that I made happen to me — has happened in the Fall. “Wilder,” of course, is a relative term. It’s like there’s something in the air, an aroma that sets me off.
But the inability to stay up much past 11 p.m. does seem to limit what can happen.
i just read a couple weeks ago that your natural biorhythm changes around age 30 so that you fall asleep between 10 and 11, and then again when you’re 60, falling asleep between 8 and 10. It’s all downhill from here.
Speaking of DS and shopping…you should buy the Rock is Dead t-shirt. It is teh hawesome for sure. Mine shipped today. YAY! =)
Oh goody! I’ve been saving these for the next time you talked about tee-shirts. Feel free to journey to:
onehorseshy
instantattitudes (although I’m a tad disappointed they actually explain the meanings here…)
I’m currently still in my pre-domesticated life, which means I can do things like randomly accept an impromptu invite to a party for the anniversary of the Museum of Sex, or when a friend calls me and asks to hang out at 11 pm, we can karaoke till we close the bar at 4 am, and then I wind up sleeping past my stop on the subway to wake up miles from home and close to 6 am and also at least a mile past the nearest bank that doesn’t charge an ATM fee, because I don’t want to pay those fees because I’m limping into payday…
Um, I had a point right?
Right, well, my point is that even with all my crazy escapades, I wish I were as blissfully and joyfully domesticated as you are, Wil.
Wil, I usually love you posts, but I am not sure what the hell you are talking about. Hunter Cashdollar
erh
shopping is what happens while we’re planning other things
there’s this image of iggy pop, green haired and sitting in a hot tub, rolls his eyes up and stage right and says something like ‘just because i don’t get stoned doesn’t mean that i don’t think stoned thoughts’.
El Topo?
I remember watching that as part of my course at uni, and all my friends thinking I was strange and geeky for liking it.
So thank you for confirming to me that Strange and geeky is the way to be!!!
On a completely random note, I’m in the seminary studying to be a minister and I am preaching this week. My sermon has the same title as this post – totally coincidentally.
Actually, I was fairly tame when I was young, and spent my 20’s coming out of my shell. I’ve also gotten a lot more politically radical as I get older. I think I read my brain’s owner’s manual wrong.
Many thanks Wil for the links to the ectoplasmosis and coilhouse sites and by proxy the hello-cthulhu.com site mentioned there. Very cool sites, I’ll be visiting them often in my daily internet trod.
For payment please accept this link to one of the coolest webcomics ever made (if you’ve ever played D&D, you’ll get all the jokes):
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0003.html
If you want to shop, satisfy your urge for your predomesticated roots and get a mini-Disneyland fix, you MUST check out Halloweentown on Magnolia in Burbank. I went there for the first time last weekend with my hubby and I don’t want to give too much away, but suffice to say I want to live there. Plus – its about a 6 block walking distance from Porto’s – YAY! Or you can make a night of it and take your sweetie to Tony’s Bella Vista for awesome pizza and awesomer 70s decor 😀
No, I don’t work for any of these places – I just live in the Burbank ‘hood. Magnolia Parke, Esse!
OMG! Dr. McNinja rocks. Although my favorite is the zombie Ben Franklin, (which I *will* own), the ninjas can’t catch u/fire one is more universal and hella funny too. I also recommend reading his comic – I’m sure you have nothing better to do….
One day I want to be cool, I want to reach to cool destination, but for the most part I feel like I’m on the journey it’s just that I’ve ended up in a traffic jam. Fortunately I only have these feelings while at work, like now…
(Okay, Typepad is being wacky; sorry for the duplicate comment in the wrong post.)
Wil,
On being a student: If I were to cut away the safety net, I’d have to stop blogging, I think, and just focus full time on being a student of creative writing.
FWIW, I’ve been a full-time student of creative writing; got my BFA in it, and was in an MFA program for it. What you’ll get out of going into a creative writing program:
1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 are all things you have now. 4 is something you’re used to, but not for your personal writing. 5 can be simply gotten, though it’s time-consuming to do (and I highly recommend it; we learn by exposure and imitation). 6 is optional. So, you’ve got more tools in the toolbox than you might think, and you don’t need to be a full-time student of writing, in order to be a writer.
The most important thing I learned in my academic career was that writing wasn’t the hard part. The hard part was forcing myself to overcome my fears, sit down, and write about something that revealed who I was.
Second: Why can’t you take your own advice about writing?
I think I’ve recommended Stephen Pressfield’s book, The War of Art, before. Seriously, pick it up. It’s not a how-to book about writing techniques — it’s a how-to book for overcoming the Voice of Self-Doubt, which he calls Resistance. Notice how the Voice of Self-Doubt only crops up when you’re about to do something you really love? That’s because it’s what you most need to do for your own growth. It’s an indicator of aspiration; a pointer to what your calling is.
I’ll pass on something I learned that wasn’t specifically taught in my writing programs: wannabe creative people are insanely self-confident. The real ones are constantly scared to death.