I spent much of today going through last night’s post comments, and making sure that people I’d inadvertently blocked on Twitter were unblocked.
But, uh, the thing is … after going through about 250 links, I’d only actually blocked three of them. Everyone else was “just in case” or something like that. I thought, gee, maybe I didn’t make the instructions for finding out if you’d been blocked clear enough.
But the other thing is, I ain’t even mad. Because I did that today, I saw a couple hundred real people’s faces, and got a tiny little glimpse into what all of those people have been doing with their lives. It made me feel connected in an unexpected way (it put the “social” in “social media”), and though it was time consuming, it turned out to be a nice way to take a break from doing actual work.
And it gave me an idea: Why don’t you introduce yourself to me and other WWdN readers?
Leave a comment in this post that tells us a little bit about yourself, if you feel comfortable sharing that sort of thing. Don’t post personal stuff that could be too revealing or hurt your privacy, but maybe share your first name, if you’re married, have kids, what sort of work you do, and maybe something that you like.
The idea is that, when you see the actual, real, human person behind a screen name or twitter handle or whatever, it’s a tangible reminder that we are all people on the other end of the connection. We’re people with families and jobs and hobbies and passions and hopes and fears and we all live on the same piece of rock, hurtling through space.
Of course, you don’t have to do this, and I can’t stress enough how important it is that you protect your personal information, but since I enjoyed the social experience of feeling connected to actual humans, maybe you will, too.
Or maybe you won’t. I’m not the boss of you.
Hi Wil! Thanks for being so awesome!
I’m Tiffiny! I just got married to an awesome guy in the most magical place on Earth– Disney World! I know it sounds cliche…and as a Californian…you may be super anti-Disney. I urge you to put aside your stodginess. In fact, if you would like to see the awesomeness of my wedding, I can direct you to the blog of our photographers, who kindly provided us with 8 photos thus far (they are working on the rest, and I should have them by late January/early February):
http://rootweddings.com/blog/2014/12/16/tiffiny-mitch-orlando-florida-wedding-preview/
I hope you like them. 🙂 I think they’re gorgeous!
Hey peeps. My name is Megan. I am a 32 year old retail associate. I’m single, obsessed with Doctor Who (Whovien unite!) And a nerd who loves to read and write stories. I’m thinking about going back to school to get my BA in English. I would love to work for a publishing company someday.
Amber here. Engineer who’s taking time off to be a mom while my husband continues working. Also a geeky knitter jujutsu black belt with tattoos.
Kevin. I am originally from Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, CA now currently reside in the 6th circle of hell known as Phoenix, AZ. I don’t have a wonderful wife or any kids (that i know of). I collect late 70’s and 80’s action figures and toys. I have an extensive vinyl collection, everything from early Sinatra to A tribe called Quest and all styles in between. I spend my time dealing with health issues, but make time for table games, toying with my computers, and making my own salami and italian sausage.
My name is Bob. I am married, with a 15 year old son. I started playing table top games and reading science fiction as a kid growing up in the 1960s. Than I took a break from all of that to become a very serious person. Thanks in large part to my son I am finally getting over it…
I’m Steve Canyon, I work in crisis intervention for trauma victims. Lately I’m interested in Raspberry Pi and getting kids into STEM despite the fact that I am a social scientist/ counselor and not a techie.
Hi, Brendan from NH here. I’m 40something and a polymath. I work in TV production playing with all the toys. I run camera, audio, build sets, lighting, whatever it takes. I’m also an Emmy nominated editor. Married with no kids, but one rescue dog whose nickname is Wacko. My wife is a published writer, and I often send her your posts about writing. I’ve also been pushing Neil Gaiman on her,we’ll see how that goes. Oh and I’ve suffered from depression my whole life. Currently on meds so life is good right now.
31 y/o dude, industrial construction gypsy currently in Colorado. Loved games since I was a teenager. Other hobbies include mandolin, mountain dulcimer, busking. Lost my house in the Colorado floods couple summers back. I also have about 30 batches of homebrew under my belt. I am also the only person on Earth who LOVES SW Episode 1.
Just a guy pretending to be a cat pretending to be a jerk who may not actually be pretending.
I don’t know what a dalek is.
Ricardo Velásquez — poet, self-taught illustrator, independent artist.
I should have loved more. That’s all I have to share. Love more — Always. Grind those words — deep inside. Do not rinse yourself off them.
These replies are beautiful. 43 year old male, failed writer, married to amazing love of my life, 3 awesome kids, (13, 10, 5) Found Will when I was searching out new board games to play with my kids – that all started a few Christmas back when I fully realized after not playing video games for over 10 years, mostly everything outside of Mario or Link was beyond me, or just not engaging – I wanted a shared gaming experience! My kids still love their screens, but not as much as Dominion, Ghost Stories, Ticket to Tide. . .thank you Wil, you are awesome. My second favorite hobby is home brewing, but no time for that at present, so just have to enjoy other’s labor.
I was on a conference in Vegas. You were hanging with bloggers. The Titled Kilt is where we crossed. You signed my hat (I had nothing else) and were genuinely happy to spend those 60 seconds in that moment. Wish I had the presence of mind to buy everyone a round so I could have hung out to talk poker and hockey and nerdy things but, from one goalie to another, it was still nice to meet you. stick tap
Hi everyone!
I’m Marsha from Ventura, CA. I’ve been playing games since that PDP-8 that ^John mentioned. Oh and my D&D books are first editions so that’s when I started that but haven’t played in ages. I love all things Star Trek and Stargate and for a paycheck I test software. Breaking code is lots more fun than writing it. 😉
Hello fabulous people.
I’m Nicole and I’m an author, blogger and IT Pro in GA. I’m a huge Scifi/Fantasy fan (meh, who among us isn’t?) and Wil – you were the very first person I followed on Twitter when I joined (Felicia Day was second). I’ve always appreciated your down-to-earth style and the way you express your joy for life to all your followers. I normally lurk on others posts, but this time felt the comradery and jumped in. Thanks for all you do.
Hi. My name’s Marion. I’m retired. I write science fiction and fantasy, and review for Fantasyliterature.com. In January, 2014, I resolved to post on Twitter at least 2X daily (marion_d). I did not keep that resolution. The Wil Wheaton Project led me to this blog, which I thoroughly enjoy.
‘Ey up. My name’s Ben, and I’m a British writer, actor and comedian in Los Angeles. By day, I provide customer service for a wonderfully geeky company in Lincoln Heights, and by night I make a little webseries called PortsCenter which looks at interesting and unique ports, conversions and rereleases of video games.
(I’m actually procrastinating by writing this – I should be editing the next episode right now, especially as I’ve donated it to a livestream telethon for The Trevor Project, but instead I’m leaving what I think may be my first comment on Wil’s blog. I’m always doing this. Great at doing something, but terrible at starting things off.)
I’m BenPaddon on both Twitter and Tumblr, should anyone have an interest in glimpsing into my life beyond this little comment.
Right, back to work.
I probably will look you up, you’ve clearly been busy enough to attain escape velocity from blighty, and I wish to study your secrets 😉
i’m an on again/off again lurker here. i’m an artist, a teacher, and a texan with two grown kids and two grandsons. i don’t tweet but i do a good bit of commenting at boingboing and several political blogs with the screen name navarro. i have an interest in games, technology, and left wing politics. merry christmas to you and everyone else.
Hello Wil and everyone reading this. My name is Jamie and I live in Ontario, Canada. I am a firefighter and have a beautiful wife and two adorable Shetland Sheepdogs. I enjoy science fiction, fantasy, documentaries, comics, board games, W.o.W. and YouTube. I am a person who loves the comfort of home, either with my family or by myself.
I appreciate good people and and try to do my part to be a good person as well. I love being a geek and find a lot of joy and happiness in being one.
Wil, keep up all the positive and good work you are doing. Your blogs are very informative and inspiring and I really respect that you put yourself out there in the best and worst of times, both professionally and personally. Thanks for sharing it all with us!
"It's not about what you love, it's about how you love it."- Wil Wheaton
"Don't be a dick."
- Wil Wheaton
Hi all, I’m Samantha and I live in Australia.
I love being a nerd (Star trek, Tabletop and computer games, plus more things then i can mention). I volunteer at conventions, most noticably an [E]nforcer at PAX Aus, and I draw ambigrams (calligraphy you can read upside down). If you want to see them, I’m Lamiroire on Tumblr, deviantArt, Twitter (i think thats them all).
Also, Wil, come to Australia so I can meet you 😀 Maybe PAX, or OZtrek…
Oops, should go back to work (video games hehe)
Hi Wil,
I’m Ryan, an American living in Japan. That’s probably the most interesting thing about me. I grew up loving Star Trek The Next Generation but couldn’t watch it often since we didn’t have a TV (parents didn’t want one). I studied IT and worked at Telco and VoIP companies before moving to Japan six years ago. Now I teach English. I like playing PC games and spending time with my wife and daughter. I just started following you on Twitter and enjoy most of your tweets.
Hi I’m Kirsten- i’m a mom of 2 sweet girls, one is 4 and 3/4 (it’s important I get that right) and the other a 6 month baby. I’m a teacher and I’ve been a fan of Wil’s since my first early pre-teen crush on ST:TNG. I found Wil and this blog a few years back, it’s his work with Tabletop that has gotten me interested in table and card games, I look forward to playing them more when my time frees up a bit more after the baby gets bigger. I’m a die hard Tolkien fan, a big fan of Patrick Rothfuss’s writing, I love to cook, and right now I’m drinking eggnog spiked with Pusser’s British Navy Rum. cheers!
Hi! I’m Kathleen. I’m a mom of two, a full time university student, I teach art as an artist in residence for the local school board and I write a webcomic. And I drink coffee, lots and lots of coffee…..
I’m @Kathleen_Ralph on twitter
KathleenRalph.com is my art website
and HopeandHarry.com is my comic.
My name is Devynn and I like tacos and wine and bacon and Hello Kitty. I’m single, not really ready to mingle, tho. If you bring me food, we are friends. I should be wrapping presents, but I don’t feel like it. #therevolutionwillbetweeted
Martin
50ish husband, father, computer geek and active atheist.
Hi everyone, My name is Carole. I’m 41 years old, married to Bill for 14 years, have 2 wonderful kids – 8 and 5. I love many geeky things, am a bit of a rabid Doctor Who fan, love table top games and role playing. I also quilt.
I am @carolem on Twitter.
Hi, I’m Caroline. Loved and was loved by a man who introduced me to sci fi. Still struggling with the loss–twelve years ago new year’s eve he died. We also played lots of tabletop games and even had a TI994A (made the mistake of loaning it to my sister who gave it away!). I’m a writer who’s a better editor (always wanted to be the Maxwell Perkins of today). Several of my authors have published this past year, so I’m happy. I have two cats both 15+: Nero, who’s nearly blind and deaf and Shadow. They both have a kidney disease. My two Lhasa Apsos, Sian and Ming Toi. are both gone now. Miss them terribly, too. I’m a “quiet” type on social media, always struggling with the “right” word. I write a blog, mainly to work out an issue which has interrupted my sanity that day/week.
Looked up Wil after seeing him in TBBT (I love research) and found this blog. Love your warmth, honesty, and openness. I continue to learn from your writing and that gives me joy. Nice job drawing us in, Wil!
Hi, my name is James (group says ‘hi james!’). I’m a 38 year old married father of 4 (across 2 moms). My oldest is almost 20 (how time flies) and the youngest is 8. I’m a full time programmer/linux sysadmin/jack of all geeky trades. Tabletop recently reminded me of my love of tabletop games. So much so that I’ve been introducing games as I can get them to my friends and family. They are mostly always well received (my wife just couldn’t wrap her mind around Munchkin, hehe). My proudest moment was being beaten at lords of waterdeep by my 8 year old daughter. (gotta keep an eye on that one). I’m dying to find some time, hopefully in the early new year, to order a wootstout kit. Geeks and Beer… what could possibly go wrong? Finally.. Thank you Wil for everything you do. Keep up the good work.
Hi – I’m a community college teacher in my late 50s, and I’ve been reading Wil’s blog since 2004. I got interested because I didn’t know much about blogs, but loved him in Star Trek (yes, I loved Wesley). So, I learned about blogs, about writing and about a slew of tech issues I had no idea about (and at the same time, I discovered Boingboing and the Cory Doctorow cross-over. My worlds began to collide.)
Aside from teaching anthropology, I love pets and opened a pet sitting business to help pay for my three cats. I’ve loved how Wil has progressed as a writer, artist, blogger and animal advocate. I can’t drink beer, or I’d try some of his product in that area, but I intend to spend some time in Portland. I love this blog and this idea, of posting who we are, is awesome!
Hello WWdN!!! There were roughly 320 comments when I started reading the blog and comments!! It took a while, but I read the ones that were available. My name is Michael and I am 28 and have been a table-top Gamer since I was 13 years old. Wil’s post reminds me of why I love table-top : engaging with other humans!!! Especially now that technology is prevalent in our daily lives. Well anyways, I am a Software Engineer and found a passion for it when I was about 24. I started later than most people in my field; however, I have been able to catch up fairly quickly and enjoy going to work and the people I work with. Other than gaming I enjoy breakdancing, running and reading! I have a 4.5 year old son and my wife and I have started him early in table-top gaming with Candyland and Shoots and Ladders. He tries to cheat and hates it when he loses; however, this is a good age to teach him to Not Be a Dick when gaming!!!
Breakdancing too, hunh? Just when i start thinking Wil has a reader type. Awesome! X
Hi, Wil. May I call you Wil? You may call me Shannon. I live way across the continent from you, in Nova Scotia, Canada. I have a long suffering husband, and two grown children, a son and a daughter. I pay the bills by working retail, but I am, in my heart, an actor/ writer. My experience is only in local, amateur theatre where I write and act in dinner theatre comedies, but I enjoy it immensely . We haven’t reached the audiences you have, but in our little pond, I and my fellow players have put a smile on the faces of our small, appreciative audiences for the past 14 years.
I’ve been married for 26 years. The company I’ve worked for for 28 years closed our local office this month. Fortunately I’m part of the 50% that was retained to work virtually.
I fix what only a computer can mess up and make our customers whole again.
I participated in the 10 days of Kwanza through CAH for the first time this year. Now my husband is interested in playing. Hopefully I can translate this into getting him involved in playing more games since we finally have a game shop in our town. Wish me luck as I really need a means to get out of the house now that it’s my office too!
Damn auto correct – @Plain_ol_t.
PS I’ve been a hockey fan as long as there have been transistor radios to listen to under the covers.
Go Blackhawks!!
Hi, I’m Keith, big fan of games of all kinds, which is how I got into watching Tabletop. 41, divorced, have a single cat who keeps me out of trouble, and when I’m not romping around Thedas I work for an insurance company. 🙂
Oh and my Twitter handle is malakim2099.
Hi Steph here. Been following the blog since it was posted on Slashdot in the early days. I live in the Ottawa, Canada area. I am a major female geek and gamer. I love tabletop games especially RPGs and having been playing DnD on and off for 30 years. I am married with one kid who I am also starting to introduce to gaming. I also love anything and everything Sherlock (not just the new series, but that too), I am a cooking nerd and I enjoy bellydancing. Hi all!
Hi, my name is Michele, I am 50 years old and live on the Big Island of Hawaii. Born and raised here so am a bit jaded about living in “paradise” but do love the ocean and year-round warm weather. Swimming at the beach in winter? Awesome! Love board games so am really happy that TableTop came along and am a really big fan of you and your family.
After 18 years of being a wonderful part of our family our beloved dog joined our loved ones in heaven. It didn’t feel right not having a dog in our family so adopted a loving 4-year-old rescue named Kassie. Not the same but just as wonderful.
Really hope you’ll be at next year’s Hawaii SciCon in Waikoloa. If you want to know how this year went ask Aaron Douglas as he really enjoyed himself here. 🙂
Howdy!
I’m an Arkansan-turned-Washingtonian-turned-Californian who recently celebrated my one year anniversary to a wonderful husband/PhD student at UCLA. With less than a year to go before he defends his dissertation, all eyes are on the future around here. We have no idea where his job will take us next summer, and hope it’s somewhere that will recognize our marriage.
The amount of change on the horizon adds a little pressure on me to finish that novel I’ve been kicking around Word for a few years–and by finish I mean to actually put it up for sale and stop tweaking the beast of a final draft that never seems good enough to me. In the meantime, I support us by keeping my head down at the ol’ corporate day job. To be honest, I’m not sure how many more times I can tell myself I’ll be a writer someday before I just make it happen. So many smiles on the other side of that decision and so much fear on this one. Is it wrong that I’m looking forward to 2015 forcing me to be braver and to believe in myself?
In the meantime, there’s Dragon Age.
Hi, Diane here. Executive assistant by trade, quilter, musician, singer and geek in my spare time. Four years from retirement and I can’t wait. I really appreciate what Wil shares about depression because it is something I live with (pretty well these days, but it wasn’t always so).
Hi, my name is Wendell, I’m 49, enjoy long walks on the beach, piña coladas (sp).. oh, wrong message… LoL
Long time geek/programmer and lover of all things Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Long time World of Warcraft player (Plebius on Khadgar).
I’ve only been following you for about a year, maybe more, and am impressed with your posts and overall Wil-ness.
Keep up the good work.
@Wendell_Wow for Twitter.
Hallo all! I’m James, and I live up in the frozen north known as Montana (some still believe we don’t have electricity or paved roads here). My only self-proclaimed claim to fame is that I can say I have seen every Star Wars & Star Trek movie in the theatres, first-run. I love sci-fi, anime, fashion, and art. Feel free to find me using my username listed, for I’m on most formats of social mediadom!
Hi, I’m Calvin, I go by “kepstin” online. Canadian. I pretty much grew up with computers, learning to program on my dad’s old TRS-80 COCO. Never had a video game console, but we did have a TV. One of the few shows we watched on a regular basis when I was growing up was Star Trek TNG.
I’m now a programmer at a start-up; and I get to work on open source stuff (BigBlueButton and MusicBrainz). And I did check, you never blocked me on twitter.
I can’t agree with your choice of hockey teams, but at least you’ve picked a great sport to be a fan of!
Hi. My name is Liz. I am a Research Scientist turned Dog Trainer living in the San Francisco Bay area. I’m engaged to an amazing man. We have a sweet ChiJack mix pup we rescued at the beginning of the year.
I’m usually not a joiner but this appealed to my sense of humanity.
Thanks, Wil.
Hi. I am Dave and I fix airplanes. I was totally baffled when a friend of mine told me about alt.westly.die.die or whatever. I truly did not understand why people would hate like that. TNG was almost a religion to me and more than one friend heard on the phone.. “Star Trek is on… call me later! Click” Please never be embarrassed of that character. When he got his red uniform I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt!
I’m Gavin Phoenix from the UK. Mid thirties . I work as an Operations Analysts which means I sit in a chair for 12 hours starring at 6 PC screens making sure all the Warehouse automated machinery is working properly.
I’m married with two additional family terrors as the output 🙂
Here’s my About.me page if you are interested http://about.me/noise
Oh. And I signed up for your Quarterly Co package. The additional international charges make it quite expensive but I thought I’d give it a go.
AKA: Nate, checking in from Kirkland WA, with my wife Sarah Faye. Just a computer geek, gamer, photographer, scuba diving, mountain biker. Yup sounds like a lot but that is when it is time to kick back with a cold beer. Anyhow I would not say there is too much special about myself, but if Wil wants to drop by and dig more details out we can get some beer from the local breweries and set up a game of Cards Against Humanity. Games with our friends can get interesting.
I’m James, in Kelowna, BC, Canada. I’m a single dad working as a hotel consultant and property manager. My girl is in a French immersion kindergarten.
Wishing everyone happy holidays!
My name is Glenn. I am married with 1 large 18 yr old son. We have always loved to board game together even before we knew it was a thing. Thank you Wil for opening my eyes to a wider world of gaming that I was only peripherally aware existed.
Hi! I’m Corinna from Berlin, Germany, 33, nurse with a new-found interest in surgery assistance and metalhead with a well-established passion for festivals. After nearly losing my faith in love, I am now in an incredible relationship two years and counting.
Also, I am awake at 6:30 am because I forgot to switch off my alarm on my first day of vacation.
I am almost 30, married, have the cutest 2 year old son, and I am a middle school teacher. I love all forms of gaming but do not game as much as I would like due to being busy and having painfully awkward social skills.
Hi Wil, I am married: no kids, 2 cats. I am maker (machinist by day, wood working and home brewing when I have time) amateur sound tech, avid gamer.
ghc here from Finland, Europe. When i was a kid in late 80’s my family had a rather hard time but I happened to see TNG and found out about (and got me) this device called Commodore 64. They gave me an access to somewhere different, somewhere easier.
So I’ve been a geek/nerd for some 20+ years now. Still stuck at using this unpronounceable nick I invented back then. I’m a computer scientist, work in a small web devel company with my girlfriend and love to play both board and computer games. Surprisingly I also like badminton and I also am a road cyclist (still not sure if I like it but I once heard someone said ‘no pain, no gain’ or similar). Occasionally I even play RPGs and MtG, but I blame my girlfriend for corrupting me with them.
Wil, thank you for being such a great person, even a role model to some extent. I like your blog, twitter-feed and almost anything you do. (Although I can’t understand puck sports nor beer. Fun fact: you talk about them and most Finns talk about them. I sometimes suspect that your ancestors are actually from hereabouts.)
Also in finland here, although an irish import, pa board games on a monday night when I hae time, single, early 40s massive geek
Just call me phaze 🙂
Hi, I’m Joi. I’m 32, single, NASA fanatic, Star Wars nerd (and lightsaber dueling champ in my college Star Wars club, I might add). I don’t comment much, but I’m always here reading, and occasionally tweeting. I take pride in my ability to turn almost anything into a Dune joke, and once recreated several key scenes from the book out of gummi bears.
I want to see that on YouTube. 🙂