Yes, I saw Stand by Me. Yes, I watched “Star Trek: The Next Generation” (STNG), which premiered the season I started dating my husband then boyfriend, a fan of the old series who liked “Deep Space Nine” better. He introduced me to the show and it was responsible for one date every week except during reruns and summer break. Heck, I caught Wil Wheaton’s appearance on “Jeopardy!” wearing a tacky mudflap girl sweater.
Knowing he was a step-father to two young boys, I wondered what kind of impression he made if he wore such a sweater on an intelligent TV show. Not my business, but call it strike one. I started blogging before Wheaton came onto the scene, so it was tough to miss him when he hit it big in blogworld… strike two. The book deal with O’Reilly threw the curveball to make strike three.
No, I was not a member of the “I hate Wesley Crusher” crew. Rather, I liked the character. For once, a smart kid who didn’t wear five pound thick glasses with pimply skin. Instead, he was a teen heart throb.
As of this writing, the book ranked 540 in sales on Amazon plus it received five stars from 40 reviews. Why did I review it when it needs no help and I couldn’t find bad things to say about it? Determined not to like him, he undermined my efforts with his writing and sense of humor. He won me over.
Those interested in Star Trek and famous people will want to go straight to the last and largest chapter in the book, “The Saga of SpongeBob VegasPants.” With 110 pages of material, only about 35 of it is devoted to the other four stories and an enjoyable read they were.
Aunt Val, his aunt, sounded like the aunt we all had or wish we had. His writing about her provided a glimpse of Wil (he would want us to be on a first name basis – after all, I am older by just a notch!) as a nephew who cared about his aunt. He experienced the thoughts and feelings we did when a loved one died.
Ironically, I was sitting outside watching my kids play on a perfect Texas afternoon when reading about his playing Hide-n-Seek with his step-sons. While playing the game, he went back in time remembering different parts of his life. Of course, this led me to do the same in recalling the bike rides in my neighborhood and playing kick-the-can at camp.
The sweet yet simple moment between him and his wife in the rain upped my respect for him. Hollywood marriages failed left and right, faster than a blink. Something about his words said this was real.
The ultimate respect earner… this guy did geeky things like wearing an Atari t-shirt, writing the book on Red Hat Linux with Open Office, and staying up for 72 hours to stuff the ballot on a startrek.com poll to ensure V’ger (Voyager) didn’t beat STNG.
As a kid, I wrote a couple of fan letters and either didn’t hear back or got the templated response. Disappointed, but I was just a kid. Wil got a nasty brush off on the STNG set setting off “office gossip” where everyone knew about it. He humorously cussed his hands off about the famous person (what, me spoil it?). Bold move. Most of us would freak out in fear of the political aftermath.
Were you ever the unlucky fan near the end of the line waiting for an autograph? His perspective of the person sitting in the chair with pen in cramped hand was an eye-opener. Fire fighters, administrative assistants, and teachers have noble jobs, but don’t become famous like actors. Acting is a job and with the job comes admirers who want to be friends or possess something whether it’s an autograph or a worn outfit.
He recollected his days at work just as a friend would over a cup of coffee or in instant messaging. Instead of hearing about days in the world of a corporate office, it took place on a set and at a convention.
Dancing was worth reading. No more jealousy over Wil Wheaton’s online and book authoring successes. He earned it.
VITAL STATISTICS:
TITLE: Dancing Barefoot
AUTHOR: Wil Wheaton
PUBLISHER: O’Reilly & Associates
PUBLICATION DATE: January 2004
ISBN: 0596006748
FORMAT: Paperback
PAGES: 115
PRICE: US$14.95
