50,000 Monkeys at 50,000 Typewriters Can't Be Wrong
defence_of_nerds_3
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8 thoughts on “defence_of_nerds_3”
21year old me would have cheered wildly at these words! Nerds have come a long way since then, but even now, in a world where even the most ignorant among us daily use the tools created by nerds, politicians have to be careful not to sound too intellectual. People still fear what they don’t understand. Yeah, I’m still cheering! Long live nerdom!
That is a wonderful rediscovery, Wil. And I love how we can see your edit process as well. Obviously I need to go dig through all the old boxed in storage now, to find some long-forgotten bit of magic.
Nicely done, 21 year old Wil. I honestly have never been much of a Trekkie – at least not on the level of my Trekkie friends – but I have absolutely passed out in a Mt. Dew coma behind a Dungeon Master’s screen. And thank you, 40 year old Wil for sharing the treasure. As has been said before, 21 year old me would have appreciated every word of it. At 21, though, I was more likely to be behind the DM screen than on a cruise.
I think one of the challenges of actors is to remember how to act like oneself, as many I can think of from film sets I’ve been on…well…let’s just say they’re careful that nothing gets out into the public eye that hasn’t had “final touches” added to present the best possible consumer image whether the cameras are rolling or not. And many of those individuals are absolute, unapologetic, ingenuine and irredeemable dicks of the first rank 🙂
It must have been very tempting to take your 1994 notes and also apply ‘final touches’ before offering them up for public consumption here on your website. But you didn’t. Spelling mistakes and all 🙂 Congratulations on Not Being a Dick.
I’m surprised as Hell when public people aren’t afraid to let others know they’re not ten-feet-tall-and-bulletproof (maybe 10’6″ with the Fez), and 21 yr old you…has nothing to apologize for.
I finally got a chance to read this…Oh the arrogance and enthusiasm of youth! I miss it so. Thanks for sharing this. The reason I am inexorably drawn to your works and your site, is the uncanny resemblence to my own life, and that of my friends.
You are the only movie star I know who has used “Fiend Folio” in a sentence. You appear to share your vulnerabilities with the fervent sincerity of a 12 stepper taking his 10th step.
Not only do you gain admirers by producing worthy works, and giving back to your community, but you also make your fans feel they aren’t weirdos. While a skeptic may try to call this a political ploy; applying ‘The Common Man’s Touch’ to gain more followers, it’s completely obvious that you are sincerely: A nerd… a geek… and someone who cares about others.
You haven’t just grown a new fan-base, you’ve made your fans feel pride in who they are.
Ok, I saw the footnote on the bottom left “HAL 30702190(5/93)”, which, looking back at the top means Holland America Line and was clearly the cruise line you were on at the time, but it’s also amusing that you wrote something called “Defence of Nerds” on stationary that was marked with the same acronym as an iconic geek pop culture character/computer.
This is great stuff, Wil–one of the few things I really regret in life is not embracing my nerd-dom earlier and just blowing off what the “popular” kids thought.
Also, I’m tired of seeing the term “nerd” being used as short-hand for “hapless and pathetic loser,” particularly in books for the tween and under crowd. My 9-year-old daughter (who loves Star Wars, Legos, weather science, and plenty of other nerdy pursuits) saw my collection of Nerdist podcasts on my iPod and wanted to know why I would listen to something called that. I tried to explain to her that being a nerd can be a good thing, but at her age I don’t know if she was able to reconcile my definition with what she’s read and heard. I hope I can get her to understand sooner than I did–thanks for providing me with some ideas of how I can do that.
21year old me would have cheered wildly at these words! Nerds have come a long way since then, but even now, in a world where even the most ignorant among us daily use the tools created by nerds, politicians have to be careful not to sound too intellectual. People still fear what they don’t understand. Yeah, I’m still cheering! Long live nerdom!
That is a wonderful rediscovery, Wil. And I love how we can see your edit process as well. Obviously I need to go dig through all the old boxed in storage now, to find some long-forgotten bit of magic.
I would have liked you.
Nicely done, 21 year old Wil. I honestly have never been much of a Trekkie – at least not on the level of my Trekkie friends – but I have absolutely passed out in a Mt. Dew coma behind a Dungeon Master’s screen. And thank you, 40 year old Wil for sharing the treasure. As has been said before, 21 year old me would have appreciated every word of it. At 21, though, I was more likely to be behind the DM screen than on a cruise.
I think one of the challenges of actors is to remember how to act like oneself, as many I can think of from film sets I’ve been on…well…let’s just say they’re careful that nothing gets out into the public eye that hasn’t had “final touches” added to present the best possible consumer image whether the cameras are rolling or not. And many of those individuals are absolute, unapologetic, ingenuine and irredeemable dicks of the first rank 🙂
It must have been very tempting to take your 1994 notes and also apply ‘final touches’ before offering them up for public consumption here on your website. But you didn’t. Spelling mistakes and all 🙂 Congratulations on Not Being a Dick.
I’m surprised as Hell when public people aren’t afraid to let others know they’re not ten-feet-tall-and-bulletproof (maybe 10’6″ with the Fez), and 21 yr old you…has nothing to apologize for.
I finally got a chance to read this…Oh the arrogance and enthusiasm of youth! I miss it so. Thanks for sharing this. The reason I am inexorably drawn to your works and your site, is the uncanny resemblence to my own life, and that of my friends.
You are the only movie star I know who has used “Fiend Folio” in a sentence. You appear to share your vulnerabilities with the fervent sincerity of a 12 stepper taking his 10th step.
Not only do you gain admirers by producing worthy works, and giving back to your community, but you also make your fans feel they aren’t weirdos. While a skeptic may try to call this a political ploy; applying ‘The Common Man’s Touch’ to gain more followers, it’s completely obvious that you are sincerely: A nerd… a geek… and someone who cares about others.
You haven’t just grown a new fan-base, you’ve made your fans feel pride in who they are.
Thank you Wil.
Ok, I saw the footnote on the bottom left “HAL 30702190(5/93)”, which, looking back at the top means Holland America Line and was clearly the cruise line you were on at the time, but it’s also amusing that you wrote something called “Defence of Nerds” on stationary that was marked with the same acronym as an iconic geek pop culture character/computer.
This is great stuff, Wil–one of the few things I really regret in life is not embracing my nerd-dom earlier and just blowing off what the “popular” kids thought.
Also, I’m tired of seeing the term “nerd” being used as short-hand for “hapless and pathetic loser,” particularly in books for the tween and under crowd. My 9-year-old daughter (who loves Star Wars, Legos, weather science, and plenty of other nerdy pursuits) saw my collection of Nerdist podcasts on my iPod and wanted to know why I would listen to something called that. I tried to explain to her that being a nerd can be a good thing, but at her age I don’t know if she was able to reconcile my definition with what she’s read and heard. I hope I can get her to understand sooner than I did–thanks for providing me with some ideas of how I can do that.