While browsing Reddit during my morning coffee, I came across this:

I remember how much I liked writing this story for LA Daily, but until GenCon, I'd never read it in public. Both times I've read it, though, it's gone over very well, so I'll probably add it – at least temporarily – to my performance setlist.

When I was at GenCon last month, I signed autographs and stuff for close to six hours a day. I got to meet a lot of people (and took home about ten pounds of dice!) but I hardly got to see any of the con, and I got to play a grand total of three games while I was there. I’ve been working my ass off for three weeks, and the idea of doing the same thing at PAX this year makes me so sad, I want to curl up in a little ball on the floor and cry.

So this year, I have decided that, instead of spending most of the show signing in Bandland and taking three days to recover when I get home, I’m going to finally attend PAX, enjoy the company of my tribe, and play a ton of games. This means that I have severely curtailed my signing schedule, and it means there is no way I’m going to be able to sign things for everyone who wants things signed. (I’m not saying that in some kind of  “Hey, everyone come and see how good I look!” sort of way, I just know that at every PAX I’ve been to – this is my fifth – people tell me they typically wait 90 minutes or more, and we always turn people away because I run out of time.)

My PAX schedule this year is fundamentally different from every other PAX I’ve attended. I’m afraid that this is going to make a non-zero number of people unhappy with me, but here we go:

Friday:

10am 1pm: Signing in Bandland for about an hour. No lineups before 9:45. 12:45.

Saturday:

10am: Signing in Bandland for about an hour. No lineups before 9:45.

2:30pm-4:30pm – Acquisitions, Incorporated: D&D Live!

Gabe, Tycho, and Scott Kurtz begin an adventure with one goal, find a way to bring back Wil Wheaton’s deceased character, Aeofel. This is unscripted Dungeons & Dragons before a live studio audience… and through the magic of TECHNOLOGY, the audience influences the game! Bring your cell phone and guide Jim Darkmagic, Binwin Bronzebottom, and Omin Dran to riches or ruin.

6:30pm: Hi, I’m Wil Wheaton. AMA (Title shamelessly stolen from Reddit)

I’ve been working so much on secret projects and Eureka, I haven’t had time to write anything new for PAX, and rather than tell the same stories everyone’s heard already, I thought it would be fun to spend an hour together answering questions and talking about things that are interesting to you.

Sunday:

10am 1pm: Signing in Bandland for about an hour. No lineups before 9:45. 12:45.

Like I said, I know this is going to make some people unhappy, and if you’re one of those people, I hope I can appeal to your fundamental humanity for a moment, and ask for some understanding: I’ve been working my ass off for three weeks on a job that’s amazingly wonderful and fun, but is also emotionally exhausting (all creative work is emotional, I’ve realized, which is a subject that deserves its own post when I’m not as exhausted as I am now) and I’m just plain out of HP and Mana. I have a choice: I can skip PAX entirely, or I can attend PAX in a way that will still be fun for me. I chose the latter, because I think I’ve earned it, and as I said in my PAX East keynote:

We are all here today because we love playing games. Some of the happiest days of our lives would not exist without games and gaming. Games are important. Games matter. PAX is where we come together to celebrate that.

I can’t think of a better place to refill my HP and Mana than PAX, and I'm incredibly excited to finally attend this con that I've come to love so much. See you in about 56 hours!

About two hours ago, I said goodbye to my friends on the set of Eureka, and rode back to my home away from home, here in Vancouver.

About an hour ago, I started doing my laundry and packing my suitcase. I think the last time I did coin-op laundry, I was 20. It's strangely familiar, and the unique smell that happens when a dozen detergents and softeners all combine in the warm, humid air of a laundry room hasn't changed at all in 18 years. Breathing it in provokes of sense memories from so long ago, they almost feel like they belong to someone who exists only in my head.

It's a beautiful day outside: a very light breeze is sort of lazily pushing some sparse clouds through a deep blue sky, over the tops of the buildings outside my window, and through the open window I can hear the traffic droning through the streets below. It's a peaceful backdrop, and I'm glad that I finally have some time to reflect back on my time here, and write some of this stuff down.

I can't get into specifics about work until these episodes air, but there are a few things I don't want to forget. This may be overly-general and a little weird, so please bear with me:

In every scene I do with Colin, we find something entertaining during rehearsal that wasn't there in the script (which is always great to begin with.) The producers and directors have been supportive of our creative discovery, and it's lead to this great relationship between Doctor Parrish and Sheriff Carter. Colin and I had a scene with Joe Morton the other day where Joe and I decided that Parrish and Henry would get all excited and geek out about some scientist stuff, totally ignoring Carter while we did. The foundation Colin and I had built for our character relationship let this thing I had with Joe stand right on top of it.

Niall Matter and I have decided that Zane and Parrish are friends from working together, and their mutual irritation with authority in general and Fargo specifically has formed the foundation for that friendship. So far, we haven't had much to do together, but when we're in the same scene, we make sure to look share character-based "can you believe this frakkin guy?" looks that may not ever read on the screen, but sure are a lot of fun to create.

Last Wednesday, I twisted the fuck out of my ankle on the set, and ultimately had to go to the doctor to get it looked at. I can't say how or why (it's spoilery) but the timing couldn't have been worse: we were on location, I was in almost all of 9 pages that day, and it happened during first rehearsal, before we'd even shot a single second of film. It was a long and painful day, but I ended up with a brace, a cane, and a Naproxen prescription, so I'm doing much better now. I don't need the cane, and I don't even limp that much, which is nice. An X-ray said it wasn't broken, and I said, "Holy shit, a talking X-ray!"

I really, really, really miss my family, but I've had a great
time being here. As I look back on these two episodes, I see a lot of work I'm
proud of, a lot of people I'm glad to know, some great times out with
good friends … but mostly, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I'm
so grateful for this life, and what I'm able to do with it, that even
on the longest day on set when I'm in a scene that stopped being
interesting and fresh hours ago, I can remember that I get paid to imagine. I make my living making things up to entertain people, to give
them a place to escape to every once and a while, and I just love it. I've said it a lot on Twitter lately, but it bears repeating: I am the luckiest guy in the world. Sometimes, I feel like I'm living someone else's life, and I don't ever want to wake up.

Yesterday, Niall Matter and I went over to Granville Island for lunch and shopping at the public market. Matt Hastings, who is one of the producers, met us, and we had a really nice time sitting on the deck of this restaurant, enjoying the beautiful day, and some great food.

We talked about all kinds of things, and when Matt arrived with some PS3 games in his bag, our conversation turned to gaming.

"I don't own a console," Niall said, "gaming just isn't my thing."

Matt and I looked at him like he was from another planet, which I think was a not-unreasonable assumption.

Niall looked at Matt, then at me, and added, "I don't have anything against it, I just play guitar and drums instead."

"Oh, I play guitar and drums, too," I said, "… in Rock Band."

"Yeah," Matt added, "I play guitar and drums, too … with the Beatles."

We all laughed at that, and I said, "I'm so good, I get to play with The Who, and I went on tour with The Pixies once."

"Really." Niall said.

"Yeah, if you want, I could probably get you on the guest list the next time I play in Moscow."

Relevant to my interests, and perhaps to yours, as well: The Rock Band 3 setlist.

Edited to add: Here's my view from lunch, which you can click to embiggen at Flickr. Can you believe I took this picture with my phone?