“Look at me! Look at me!”
I hear that I’m gonna be all over The Screen Savers today: Kevin Rose is wearing a spiffy new WWdN T-shirt that I gave him when I was there last week, and Sarah Lane is going to be talking about this lame website in her Blog Report. (Thanks to WWdN reader Mary for the head’s up on that!)
So I got to thinking . . . if TechTV takes a screenshot of my site to put on the air, maybe I should do something stupid like this. It’s the onilne equivalent of jumping up and down and shouting “GO KENTUCKY!” in the background while some poor reporter tries to keep it together.
Hey, speaking of Screen Savers, go here, and vote for the hottest geek girl who ever modded a case: Morgan Webb.
Update: Heh. Guess I made the website, but not the broadcast. Did you see Kevin in my cool shirt? That was cool. I like the word cool. Cool. Cool. Cool.
Check out this cool thing I made today. It’s cool.

Mmmm. Cool.

When I started writing Just A Geek back in September or October of last year, I never thought that it would turn into a real book. My plan, honestly, was just to collect some weblog entries, write an introduction, and present it as an off-line version of WWdN.
But the more I wrote, the more I saw a story emerge. It was the story of these two people, who I’ll call Real LIfe Wil and TVsWilWheaton, and how they hated each other, but couldn’t exist without the other. When one of them was happy, the other one usually wasn’t: TVsWilWheaton wanted fame and fortune, and needed to prove to his detractors that he wasn’t just a long-forgotten flavor of the month. Real Life Wil hated the spotlight, hated that he was so addicted to the praise and attention of anyone who would give it, and just wanted to be with his wife and stepkids. The problem was, Real Life Wil couldn’t be happy unless TVsWilWheaton was satisfied. Just A Geek is about how I got these two characters in balance, and more-or-less put TVsWilWheaton on a Bus to Beelzebub, so Real Life Wil can listen to Sugar Free Jazz.
When I started writing it, it was easy. The stories connected together in a logical way, and I discovered lots of stuff about myself as I put them together.
Somewhere along the line, though, I realized the magnitude of what I was doing, and I panicked. After finishing the first draft, I saw stuff I didn’t like, and when I tried to rewrite it, I totally lost my focus. I also lost an editor, my muse, and began to question whether it was even worth finishing. I didn’t work on it for over a month, and seriously thought about giving up on the project.
See, I’m terrified. One thing TVsWilWheaton and Real Life Wil agree on is, we don’t like to do things that suck. We’re both perfectionists, and as much as we shouldn’t, we care what other people think of our endeavors.
If a movie sucks (Book of Days, for example, or Python) there are lots of things to blame it on: weak script, bad editing, lazy actors . . . and I can usually find something about my work that I like. But if this book sucks, if people just hate it . . . they are pretty much hating me, because it’s just me between those covers, you know?
Somehow, I’ve managed to stick with it, and I’m working on the final draft now . . . but I haven’t been able to sleep much recently, and I am filled with self-doubt. I’m too far along to give up, though, so I will keep at it.
My friend Roger once told me that if I ever decided to become a film maker, I’d spend ten years on a project, and never release it, because I’m such a perfectionist. I think he was on to something.

Just do it.
Behold, the power of Fark.

I’ve been registered as a non-partisan/decline to state voter since the day after I turned 18.

I’ve heavily considered Libertarian, Green, and Independent status, and given slight consideration to the Democrats.

I recently became a card-carrying member of the ACLU. I also support Doctors Without Borders, the EFF and a few other progressive organizations.

I regularly write letters to my Senators, both of whom are Democrats (in title, at least.)
So I guess it was just a matter of time before I got a mailing from the DNC.

The clouds speed across the sky, white and grey.
Green leaves rustle, vibrant against the greyness of the impending storm.
The Sun stabs through the clouds. Placid blue pools sit atop shafts of light.
A chill wind blows.
The sky weeps.