Meeting Wil Wheaton from Stand By Me
By JoeBruin88. Filed in Books and Travels |Tags: Books, Travels
OK, so he’s not a kid anymore (32, married with two kids). But while looking at Wil Wheaton from a distance, waiting in line for his autograph, he basically looks the same as Gordie LaChance, except older. I got three autographs of my DVD cover and copies of his two books, Dancing Barefoot and Just A Geek.
Wheaton arrived late due to our wonderful San Diego traffic. And today was a Saturday! Tony and I waited over an hour-and-a-half, but it was worth the wait for two reasons. First, I loved that movie, “Stand By Me” and the two buddies in the movie reminds me of the joys of being young. So seeing Wil Wheaton at this small, independent bookstore in San Diego was a big treat. For a play-by-play of this event, you can read a detailed account from Brian Dear’s web site. (Geez Brian, were you taking notes the whole time?)
Wil was funny, reading excerpts from his new book, JAG. As an aside, because Wil was so late in arriving, I finished his other book, DB (only 115 pages) before he arrived. Having been a fan of Star Trek TNG, it was an enjoyable event to hear from Mr. Crusher himself. I can relate with Wil’s life - early successes in life and then trying to find them again later on. Occasionally, I read his blog, WWDN. And I find that the open, thoughtful, and sincere author is basically the same person in person. I particularly enjoy reading about his experiences with his stepsons, as I can relate very well.
Okay, second reason. Tony and I got to go together. We really had a good time, even waiting for Wheaton to arrive was fun. The time just seemed to pass by unnoticed. Because of the few stories from Wheaton’s blog about his sons, I consciously decided to enjoy this time with Tony and “reflect” on it as it was occurring. When Tony was younger, we did a whole lot together, mostly on the tennis court, but there were so many memories and things we enjoyed together, they are all a blur. And I realize now that I did not take the time to relish those memories . . . does anyone? But I’m blessed that my 19-year-old son still wants to hang around with his dad.
Simple book reading from a tv/movie star we both enjoy, but I’ll probably remember this one outing more than any other just hanging out in the book store, talking and waiting . . . at least for awhile, until the next one. You take for granted that kids will always be there, but they grow up really fast.
I wrote comments about it at WWDN. Wil does not have comment links activated, so if you want to read them, I’m comment #126 (That is so cool to have over a 100 people comment on one entry.)
I have pictures uploaded in my photo album with more to come later after they get developeddone.
Monday, August 23rd 2004 at 10:13 am
Gerry,
Hey, that’s cool. It’s always nice when people who have been blessed with talent and notoriety are humble and friendly in person.
Thanks for sharing…
Scott
Wednesday, August 25th 2004 at 9:05 pm
Fortunately for the gene pool, those are not actually “his” two children.
Wednesday, August 25th 2004 at 9:20 pm
Vitriol:
What makes a child “his” or “not his”, is not the genetics, idiot. Sperm donation can result in fatherhood, but it takes much more to be a DAD. Clearly, biology/genetics does play a role in a person’s character, but I would say that environment, thankfully, plays a bigger role in human character development.
As we can see from your environment, it did not do much good for you. Nothing, no matter how positive, could overcome not only the defective genes in your blood, but the poisoned character molded by the sick freaks who raised you.