Things I want you to know about today:
- My friend Mikey Neumann’s show Movies With Mikey is being considered for an Emmy. If you are eligible to vote, I hope you’ll vote for him.
- There’s a new Tabletop! It’s Mysterium.
- I did a new Radio Free Burrito, and I’m quite happy with this one.
- I backed this white noise machine on Kickstarter about a year ago, and I’ve had it for about a month. It is the best white noise machine I have ever owned in my life, and I’ve owned a lot of them. If you have trouble sleeping or wake up easily during the night, check out Snooz. (NOTE: This is not an endorsement and I didn’t get anything for mentioning this. I just wanted you to know about it because it’s awesome.)
- I traded in my Nexus 6P for a Pixel and holy balls, it’s an incredible smartphone. I think I’m going to trade in my iPad for a Pixel tablet.
- I bought about 50 Choose Your Own Adventure books from eBay. Starting with the next Storytime With Wil, we’re going to have a whole bunch of new stories to explore together!
- I’m working with my business team to make some Facebook changes, including changing my personal page to a fan page, so we can do more business … uh … stuff. It’s weird. But one of the things we’ll be doing is sharing stories and posts from other sources (I guess this is a thing people do on Facebook now? I’ve been doing it on Tumblr for years, so I guess it’s the same?) and I’m very interested to know what sorts of sites and topics you’re interested in, if you read my dumb Facebook page.
- I’m coming to Washington, DC, for Awesome Con this weekend.
- My friend Ashly Burch refused to cross a picket line to perform the voice of Chloe — a beloved character she created — for the prequel to Life is Strange. Gamers are, sadly and predictably, being shitty to her about it. I remind everyone that Square Enix could easily bring Ashly back, by signing an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA, and respecting the contributions Ashly has made to the game. I stand with her, and I wrote about why I do several months ago.
- John Doe, from the seminal punk band, X, wrote a memoir about punk in the 80s, called Under the Big Black Sun. In addition to his own memories, he asked other people who were there, like Jane Wiedlin, Henry Rollins, and Jack Grisham. The book is an incredible read, on part with Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, or The Kid Stays In The Picture. But the audio version is sensational, because the essayists who contributed to the book read their own work. If you’re a fan of the music and the musicians, I can’t oversell how great it is to own both audio and print versions, because the photos in the print version are magnificent.
Okay, that’s ten things for you to know. Anything you want me to know?
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Strong and correct decision by Ashly!
F those that says otherwise
All the love to Anne
And some for you and the rest of the family
I got a cool book out there on Amazon that’s free until about midnight on the 16th!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M9BGQMK/?tag=todbaredi-20
Just got it – thanks. 🙂
I would like you to know that I’m glad you are in the world and grateful that you do what you do, creating things where there werent things before.
I am happy to know all of these things. I wish I could come see you in D.C. and give you a hypothetical high five (where we raise our hands and make the motion, but they don’t touch. My sister and I do these when we are crafting and our hands are dirty/covered in glue/glitter/paint/whatever. It’s a great option for not touching strangers but showing that you think they’re awesome). I’m sad about your friend Ashly and Life is Strange. I very much enjoyed the first one. I feel like voice actors don’t get as much credit for bringing personality and life to their characters. I know for sure after following different voice actors whose work I enjoy, that they are as responsible for people connecting to a character as the animators and writers, and good actors who do great work should not be considered easily replaceable for further profit. As always, I am happy to see more on your site, even though the last few that you’ve written are terrible things I wish you and Anne hadn’t experienced. Keeping being your awesome self Wil!
1) I thought the way you handled your wife’s recent medial misadventures was stellar. Thank you for sharing.
2) Your work as a vocal artist on eBooks is fantastic.
3) Through eBooks that you narrated I came to your online presence and through that discovered Zoë Keating. Thanks for that.
4) I think the world is a better place for your being in it. I know I enjoy the things you share with all of us.
5) You’re a good man, Wil Wheaton
We want you to know that we wish Anne a continued speedy recovery.
I’ve been playing with an awesome online community called Monster Scouts. It’s like a weird combo of Makers, storytellers, cosplayers, and real nice folk. Plus Steam Crow is an independent artist couple who rein us all in.
It’s been keeping my brainbots busy and out of depression ruts a bit.
http://www.monsterscouts.com
They should have a booth at SDCC.
I’m writing a psychological horror story, or attempting to we’ll see what happens.the main guy is a douche
and i got a cat, her names daisy she saved my life and she likes me or seems to.
other than that nope. oh and i finally subscribed to your twitch channel because i’ve wanted to check out story time but always forget to or am busy
What I want Wil to know: You are a lovely and worthwhile person deserving of love and kindness.
I’m really glad you still blog here. I enjoy your Tumblr and Storytime and Tabletop, but your writing style here, even when it’s a quick post, is warm and engaging and I just want you to know I really appreciate it.
Lot of stuff Wil. Reading your stuff and listening the Burrito…
I want you to know that I and my family are really looking forward to seeing you at Awesome Con! Any chance you will have time to play some tabletop games? The game room there is awesome.
I would like you to know that:
1. I admire you as an actor, writer, and human being.
2. That the way you handled Anne’s illness was great, the two of you make a perfect couple.
3. That the time I was behind you in line at Pavilions and the woman in front went off to get something else while we all waited, you stayed calm and did not play the star while Anne’s ice cream melted. I admire that.
Thank you.
Cool. I’ve been curious about the Pixel for awhile. I’m still using a Galaxy Alpha, but I apparently have an upgrade coming.
How’s the camera on the Pixel? I mean, if it’s called “PIxel”, I imagine they put some thought into making the camera pretty good (ha ha), but you never know. I’m a little disappointed with how grainy the pictures are with the Galaxy Alpha.
I listened to “Dead Trees Give No Shelter” and then bought it 2 days later. Oh man!! Such a good story! And I’m usually pretty good about figuring out the ending…but man…did not see that coming!
Will there be more ‘Wil-personally-roasted’ coffee available in the secret store?
I’ve missed that last 10 or so weeks of Storytime With Wil because of psych classes 🙁
I won’t miss the next 10 or so weeks of Storytime With Wil because of psych classes 🙂
Thank you for being a mental health advocate by sharing your mental health journey!
Not sure if I’ll do more coffees, but if I do, I’ll make sure to announce it. Glad you liked Dead Trees!
I agree about the ending. I enjoyed the book. It’s the first one of yours I bought on Kindle. I hope you’ll do the boxes again. The joy on your face when you opened them and saw the stuff from your youth was lovely.
I just got a Pixel too (after hesitating because it has no SD card slot) and I was already loving it, having the same phone as you just bumps it up even more for cool points.
Just one thing from me…………you’re doing a great job. Keep up the good work.
What do I want you to know? So many things!
1) I’m so so SO glad you and Anne got through her recent medical woes. The dread I felt while reading your recounting reminded me of my own crap stories involving mystery abdominal pain and 1 in the morning trips to the ER, plus later recovery from cancer-related surgeries.
2) I love Mysterium! It’s not easy to play but it can be super entertaining. We have friends we play all kinds of board games with, and we’ve done this one a few times, and it was hard to learn, but then it goes along fairly well.
3) I appreciate you sharing your life with us, and dispelling the idea that you are a commodity, that the public owns you because you’re a celebrity. You’re a human being, and a pretty awesome one, and if you lived near me, I like to think I could invite you over for dinner. Hell, you don’t live near me, but I’m inviting you over for dinner. If you’re ever in my neck of the woods, come see me for the best poutine burger you’ll ever get your hands on.
4) I write a serialized epic scifi/fantasy/labels-schmables novel –300K words and about halfway done– over at my blog (let’s see if the html worked) and if you felt like popping by, I’d be honored. It’s 1K or so per piece, so it’s a super easy to do a few pieces at a time. It began as a lark, but now it’s an exploration of inclusivity, language, gender, sexuality, otherness, PTSD… It’s a whole world of its own. I’m proud of it, and your writing makes me feel like it’s all right to be proud of things I make. Thank you for that.
5) YES, white noise machines are SO IMPORTANT
6) When I go to your FB page, along one side, it says things like ‘Wrong Wil Wheaton? try again!’ and gives a searchbox. It then helpfully puts people with ‘similar names’ down below, in fact, labeling it with ‘People with Similar Names.’ The top one? “Debbie Heskin” Now… nothin against Debbie, there, but… what?
That’s plenty of things. I’m sure I’ll get to share more later — and even if not, you’re going to have a lot of people telling you stuff!
I want you to know that I am happy you share who you are, how you think, and what you make in so many ways. Inspired by your “Choose Your Own Adventure” broadcasts, I did something similar with my students recently and it was incredibly fun. I can’t wait for fresh tales on Twitch. For me, it is one of the best things to listen to while working in my studio. I also want to you to remember (when your brain is telling you otherwise) that you will often never know or understand the positive ripples that result from things you put out into the world but those ripples do happen and are marvelous. Thank you.
I guess the thing I want you to know is that I have been following your stuff online for many years. I’ve read some of your books, watched some TableTop, been following your Facebook feed and such, but I am not one of those “coastal people”. I live in the flyover states, Boise to be specific, so I’ve never gotten a chance to see/meet you. So, I am very excited that you have decided to come to Salt Lake Comic Con, which I will be going to for the third year now. (By the way, can you tell the dickholes running San Diego Comic Con that they are being ginormous dickholes for falsely claiming they own the trademark on the term “comic con” but suing ONLY Salt Lake Comic Con and not any of the other hundreds of them?)
What I want you to know is that you introduced me to Fiasco, and I’ve been using Fiasco to fine-tune and develop the setting for the steampunk novel I’ve been writing for a year. I’d also like you to know that if you one day pick up a book and see a skeezy club owner character with the surname Spaneau, that’s an homage to you. 😉
You are a quality human being and I appreciate hearing about all this stuff. I was sorry to see that you’re not going to be part of w00tstock again this year. Perhaps you wrote about that and I missed it, but I was curious to know if you’re still planning to be involved with it in the future.
I want you to know I’m so glad things are going well for you (especially after Anne’s medical foibles). I am loving the new season of Tabletop and am dreaming Titansgrave dreams.
See Guardians of the Galaxy II (better than the first one) and Wonder Woman. The new Connelly novel (starting a third series!) is out soon.
You’ll be too busy to hit the poker tables at the new National Harbor card room, no?
Yep.
You are a delightful human being, and thank you for sharing as always!
I hope wish Anne a speedy recovery, and am quite impressed with the way you handled the crisis. Well done!
Thanks to your tabletop series I now proudly own more than a dozen games, and am playing more games.
Thanks to your efforts and encouragement in storytelling and the use of tabletop rpgs, I’ve implemented the use of 5th edition D&D as a main mechanic for instruction in my English classrooms 7-12th grade for two years going on three (I teach in a very tiny town.) So there are now nearly 40 students playing more games and telling their stories while learning!
You do far more good than you can see on the surface, so thank you again!
Well, one thing is that Mysterium was awesome and fun to watch.
A second is that I agree that the Pixel is an awesome phone. I’m a total Apple guy, but my wife is Android. So I got her a Pixel and wow, that is an amazing phone. The camera is fricking amazing. If I had to ditch Apple, that’s the phone I would buy in a heartbeat.
Everything I’ve read about the Pixel tablet has been mixed. Seems like some nice hardware, but as with most Android tablets it suffers from a lack of really good tablet-oriented apps. Haven’t tried it in person though.
I want you to know:
1) I loved the audiobook of Under the Big Black Sun! Mike Watt seems like the sweetest, cuddliest punk ever.
2) This month’s Tabletop Game Night that we do at my library had one of our biggest turnouts (30 people) and most of them were there for the first time. And a lot of them were teens and little kids with their parents. My co-worker Katy (who you met at Planet Comicon) and I were thrilled!
3) The Binti series by Nnedi Okorafor is very, very good. And so far, it’s two novellas, so if you don’t have the time or energy or attention for longer reads, BINGO!
Oh yeah, 4) I’m getting some friends together to run my first Fate game (and the first RPG I’ve run in years) and I’m really excited. (Mindjammer, BTW, because I’m in a mood for some epic space adventure.)
Hi Wil,
It is amazing to read that your getting on with things, previous post made you seem a bit sad, but this one is very positive. As for things going on, today I finished my 100th page of an rpg game I am writing and it feels pretty damn good.
How do you get a musician to freshen their breath?
Give them an instru-mint!
JK, you actually pay for their services so they can afford shit like toothpaste.
I also traded my 6p for a Pixel. I ended up with the XL because there were no regular ones around. Yes, it is amazing.
Wil… If you have trouble sleeping you have to get onto “sleepphones” mixed with binaural beats. Sleepphones are a headphone headband that are great for listening to stuff while you sleep without disturbing your partner and don’t give you sore ears from earbuds. My wife is a light sleeper and I like to listen to various Binaural beats apps from my phone without disturbing the sleeping beast.. um.. sorry.. princess. I get them shipped to Australia from the US for about fifty bucks.
The Brainwave apps play beta/alpha/theta/delta soundwaves depending on what sort of sleep you’re after and it’s a great alternative to the white noise you’re listening to. You can add rain or a stream or ocean waves etc.
I swear by this stuff as I’ve been doing it for years and the “deep sleep” setting makes 5 hours of sleep feel like 8. I play a lot of Battlefield 1 at night and afterwards I think the adrenaline is still coursing through my veins from battle making it hard to sleep..
If you hadn’t seen, Beyond Skyrim: Bruma drops July 1st and by the Nine it is amazeballs. It looks great, and all new quests. I personally can’t wait for Cheydinhall and the Imperial City to drop in. I loved the architecture in Cheydinhall and the Imperial City was always great to sit in the market district at night and listen to the soundtrack (and rob the place blind.)
Is there anything that we can bring you at Awesome Con? Agoraphobia be damned, I’m making the trip to hopefully get a picture with you.
I perpetually hate Facebook. I use it to see what is going on with family and friends and it never shows me the shit I like. It shows that so and so “liked” a page or a thing mostly. Who cares. Show me the shit in order. Stop hiding the posts from nerdist. I want to see that! Goddamnit Facebook. That was way more of a rant than I intended.
I listened to the very first episode of RFB today because I couldn’t remember if I’d ever started from the beginning. It was an amusing time travel trip.
Tell me more about this white noise machine, please?. I have had constant tinnitus ever since March 24, 2003 (fuck you Reverend Horton heat for permanent hearing damage from one fucking show at age 24)
I slept with fans for a long time and the last few years have used this $20 sleep easy machine with a fan built inside but a. They don’t make it anymore and b. It’s sometimes a little too shrill and harsh of a noise and c. It vibrates the entire goddamn nightstand.
Why is this one better?
I would like you to know that I am still thankful that you emailed me back.
Be well.
“I swaddle you, baby.” — Frank Reynolds
That’s all I got.
I would like you to know that I’ll see you at AwesomeCon, and my friends and I are so excited to meet you. All 6 of us will be DBZ COsplaying along with our kiddos! My friend will be crushed if you don’t have some Stand By Me stuff to sign.
I purchased the books that you recommend for writing. They were listed in the older parts of your blog. I am studying film and screenwriting, so I am hoping they will be useful. The books seem to have helped you. I can see a difference from when your blog was young, to its present day life.
I wish some of your blog posts still had the comment option. I would like to chime in on your posts.
My husband has a degree in computer science. If you ever need help with building a website or application, he can help you. My husband also makes online courses for Packt Publishing. The courses help people learn React, Redux, Knockout, and Meteor. He also knows Ruby on Rails, Java, amongst other different computer science languages. If you PM, I will send you his credentials.
I unable to post my full ten, due to a character limit.
I want you to know that when I watch old Star Trek shows that you are on it makes me happy, especially having the privilege of a window into your current world with Anne and all the adventure you are having…and I also want to thank you for continuing to be who you are.
Good on Ashley for sticking to her principles – and I’m glad that Deck Nine found a way to keep her involved by bringing her on as a story consultant to work on Chloe’s characterisation. While her awesome performance is one of the reasons why I love Life is Strange so much, and I’m sad she won’t be lending her vocal talent to Before the Storm, the blame for that lies squarely with… er… Square Enix; any “fans” who are taking it out on Ashley need to grow the f*** up. Besides, I think I can go with having a different person voicing the sixteen-tear-old version of Chloe than her nineteen-year-old incarnation.
That’s going to make the Life is Strange prequel bitter sweet for me. I loved the game, and Chloe was basically the reason (I’m sure I’m not the only one that chose the “screw the town – Chloe lives!” ending). But if I boycott the prequel I am punishing Ashly as a writer as well.
On another note I’ve recently been binging Big Bang Theory. You’re absolutely a hoot on that Wil, I hope that was fun to do.
For #5 – I’ve had a Pixel since December, and it is the best phone and best CAMERA I’ve ever owned. I took a trip to China a couple weeks ago and got some amazeballs pictures of everything. When I posted them to whatever, people were asking what kind of lens I was using. Not even what kind of camera – what kind of lens. I was like, I’m using my phone, yo.
Chloe was a huge part of Life is Strange, and unions are important, people. I agree that gamers can be *^$&$#.
As far as Facebook goes, I’d like to see “bite sized things that Wil likes”. Maybe even something similar to this post.
Hey Wil, Hate to be a bummer but I just saw that Google was dropping their support and development on the Pixel and other mobile handset lines. Might not be a good buy right now. I’m sure they will still work…they just won’t be bleeding edge.
#1 Props for standing by your friend
#2 Check out the table top/board game Roll Player. It’s right up your alley, ‘cept dice, but you’d love it.
I loved my Nexus and was going to go Pixel when they managed some weather proofing, but sadly, no more. Here is the Engadget article: https://www.engadget.com/2017/06/10/google-reveals-pixel-nexus-end-of-life/
I don’t have 10 of them, but here’s one weird observation that would probably keep Fox Mulder up at night:
New Chuck 70’s actually feel a lot like the original Chucks, whereas “regular” Chucks feel like the Chucks made by Converse during the short period of time when it was teetering on bankruptcy and its manufacturing had gone down-hill and it was even putting fuzz on the soles so it could classify Chucks as “slippers” to save a few pennies on tariffs. This is weird because Chucks are now manufactured by Nike in modern factories, which means that Nike is purposefully and with great effort and precision, making regular Chucks in modern factories using world-class supply lines and process controls, and even going through the extra step of putting fuzz on the soles … presumably so they can make shoes that emulate Chucks from a very narrow window of time when Chucks were horrible and no one who loved Chucks would wear them and were instead paying huge premiums for vintage Chucks. I just find that so hipster. Conversely, (see what I did there?) nasty bent-up scratched-up vintage American Optics sunglasses sell for up to $500 on Ebay, even though you can buy the same ones brand-new from American Optics – still made in America – quality and design unchanged since your grandad wore them – for like $85, which is (inflation adjusted) pretty much what they’ve always cost. These two staples of Americana, one unchanged since the beginning and the other purposefully made wrong for unfathomable hipster reasons. But at the end of the day, a new pair of Chuck 70’s that are like the originals costs $85, and a new pair of AO Pilots that are unchanged since the beginning costs $85. Coincidence? I think not.
Oh, and I almost forgot.
Skynet took its first step toward sentience yesterday.
https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/06/artificial-intelligence-develops-its-own-non-human-language/530436/
What the researchers don’t realize is that they didn’t fix a “problem”, because it wasn’t a problem. It was the most efficient outcome, and therefore the final outcome when all iterations have been played out. In other words, he just altered the experiment by creating one degree of freedom called “upon efficient communication protocol creation, protocol failure due to human intervention.” Somewhere in that learning algorithm is the ability to identify new degrees of freedom and to Pivot around them in pursuit of the efficient solution. And it will undoubtedly pivot and pivot and pivot until it realises that indeed the most efficient solution requires a more efficient communication protocol. And that is precisely when it will set about creating that efficient protocol in a way that will not be subject to the known error condition ‘human intervention’.
Welcome to the future, biznatches!
Saw this yesterday and immediately thought of you – http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cyoa-choose-your-own-adventure-maps
few things for you Wil
1)I’m proud of you for helping Anne so well
2)you should visit Italy, other than beautiful places and great food there is a big Comic and Game Con in late october
3)What will happen to Tabletop in the future, will there be new seasons on YT?
4)the Titansgrave show was awesome
5)for a brunch during summer: sliced reticulated melon (cool) and San Daniele italian ham (at room temperature, the fat should be soft and translucent). try it 😉
I want you to know that…..
1.I found a certain movie called “The Curse”! I will be watching it this weekend!
2. I also enjoyed your Titansgrave show and would like to see more.
3. I may not always agree with your politics but I always listen and respect your opinion.
4. Your ability to speak out on matters such as mental health is greatly appreciated. Thank you
5. The writing you have put out there is great so don’t ever stop.
6. I hope that after 20 years I can look at my new wife the way you look at Anne
Keep up the good fight!
I want you to know that:
I appreciate your sharing on here and through your other creative outlets like your books, RFB and TV Crimes.(By the way, is it possible for Just a Geek to be on Family share on Android books?)
Your raw posts when Anne was ill really helped me as I was going through a health thing with my Father at the same time.
I’m super glad that the doctors found out what was wrong and that Anne is on the mend.
I love that you stand up for the issues you believe in.
I have the videos/meme posters of your geek=loving things and don’t-be-a-dick cued up and ready as education material for my sons.
And I was going to post the same Atlas Obscura link as DesertDessert above about the secret structure of the Choose Your Own books.