I had lunch with Wil Wheaton this past Thursday, at a place in Old Town Pasadena called Yard House. There are lots of great places to eat in Old Town, and after careful deliberation and multiple e-mails back and forth, we settled upon Yard House because it has over 300 beers on tap. Yard House FTW!!1 (I've gotta tell you though, I'd be lying if didn't confess to you that the WWdN fan in me kinda wanted to go to Hooters. But seriously, 300 beers at Yard House? A pox on Hooters and it's storied WWdN history!)
Like so many people on the internet and IRL, I am a huge fan of Wil Wheaton. Not in the, "Oh my god, you used to be that guy on that space show and also in that movie about the dead body, with Rebecca Romijn's husband and Jack Bauer, and holy crap will you please SIGN THIS?" Not that kind of fan. (...yet don't get me wrong, even before I knew Wil, I'd seen every TNG and Stand By Me like, a million...) The thing is, if you live in Los Angeles for any amount of time, it's not unusual to eventually amass a group of friends from various well-known TV shows and movies. These people become your peers and co-workers, and while there is certainly a novelty to having friends that are somewhat recognizable or famous, it's not really a topic that comes up in everyday interaction. It is more often than not, an amusing phenomenon that's interesting to witness, when it sometimes interferes with real life. So my fandom initially arose not out of a kinship with Gordie or Wesley, but out of the written experiences and personal stories that Wil shares on his weblog. As a writer and fledgling blogger, I related to his honest and fearless style immediately. Most importantly, after reading his blog, I felt inspired to write.
An excerpt from my first blog entry, November 2003:
The first "Blog" I ever read was www.wilwheaton.net. Wil is a fellow ACME Comedy guy and I think the URL to his site was in a company wide e-mail or something. Anyway, I checked it out. It was weird.
I knew Wil the way most people do...from "Stand By Me" and "Star Trek:
TNG." At that point, I had never met him and so it was odd to see
someone you grew up watching in movies being SO HONEST with whoever
cared to check in. The other weird thing was that he had (and HAS) a
blog FOLLOWING. Forget about fans who remembered him from movies and
TV, these were people who were now addicted to the WilWheatonDotNet
guy. It may have been his leftover fame that brought them there, but
they stayed because it was good. I'm envious of Wil's ability to be so
honest with himself and with strangers. It's one of the hardest things
in the world to do.
I walked into Yard House right on time, and met him at the front entry by the hostess station. He greeted me with a warm smile, and immediately told me, "I brought gifts," as he handed me a copy of his third book, "The Happiest Days of Our Lives."
"Oh, this is AWESOME! I've been dying to read this," I told him. I tucked the book under my arm and we followed the hostess past the bar. We sat at a fairly large table, with a window facing out onto East Colorado Blvd. It's been a while since Wil and I have actually hung out, so we started with small talk as we settled into our conversation. I looked over the beer menu and selected a delightful Hazelnut Brown Ale (and if I remember right, I think Wil went with the Lagunitas IPA). We caught up on our kids and our jobs and our lives, and both of us shared news about exciting projects on the horizon that are too secret and awesome to even write about.
I've often imagined life to be a giant race. It's a metaphor that's easy to understand if you've ever run a marathon, or even a 5k or 10k. Thousands of people start at the same place, pace themselves differently along the way, use different methods and techniques to get where they are going, and ultimately end up in the same place. There are certain people that run (or walk) at about the same pace as you, that you can't help but run into several times before the race is over. Sometimes you give them a knowing glance, and sometimes you exchange words, and sometimes you lose track of each other, but there is an understanding. There is a common goal and a mutual, mostly unspoken encouragement between fellow runners that keeps you going.
I congratulated Wil on publishing his THIRD book. "It's an amazing accomplishment," I told him. He smiled and nodded. "I'm very proud of it," he admitted. He also congratulated me on my career and all of the stuff I have happening in my life.
"We're almost there, aren't we?" he asked me, with a huge smile. "We're just on the verge of getting to that place we really want to be in our careers."
"I guess we are," I agreed, as that fact washed over me. "It is pretty exciting."
We ate lunch and laughed about old Acme stories and threw around some ideas for collaborative projects, and lamented the simple fact that years pass too fast. After four beers and almost four hours, we both decided it was time to get back home to our families before rush hour. Since Wil brought the book, I bought the beer, and we made plans to have lunch again soon...maybe with our old pal Annie next time. I thanked him again for the book as we walked out, and as he headed off towards the Foothill Transit Line bus, I began the search for my car in the massive public parking garage in Old Town, Pasadena.
On my way home, I realized that I do miss writing here. It's not
always easy or fun, and the scrutiny and ribbing from friends is often hard to bear, but getting out that story you really want to tell makes it almost worthwhile. I also take comfort in the fact that as Wheaton and I both keep running our separate races towards that elusive and ever-changing finish
line, I'll continue to be inspired by his well-documented progress, even as I race to
make my own.
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