On the advice of a friend (Pukka), a while back I began to read Wil Wheaton‘s blog. Though I’d seen Stand By Me and Toy Soldiers, my firmest memories of Mr. Wheaton were of Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. That was one of the few sci-fi shows that my parents were willing to watch and I have to admit while I enjoyed parts of that show (Picard rocks!); I hated Wesley. He always struck me as this smart ass; who’d lucked out his way into working on a starship. Of course, probably what really irked me about it was that it was him and not ME! Even so, that initially made me reluctant to visit the blog, but Pukka has a habit of sending me interesting links. Since he’s rarely wrong (unless I’ve already seen what he’s sent); I checked out Mr. Wheaton’s site and have been faithful reader ever since. Then back when I ordered my copy of Ghosts in the Snow from Amazon.com; I had one of my oddly, cheap moments.
Ghosts didn’t cost enough for free shipping and I didn’t want to pay the shipping charges for 1 book. My solution? Order enough books to get the free shipping; I did warn you that it was an oddly, cheap moment. The books arrived in due course and I read Ghosts first (no offence, Will but that was what I was really after). Once I’d finished Ghosts; I picked up Just A Geek and started to read. This isn’t my normal type of reading; generally I pick up some fiction and this is autobiographical. Just A Geek is a something of a collection of entries that Mr. Wheaton has made on his site, but at the same time it’s more than that. I don’t really know how to describe it, but holding the book in my hand and reading of Mr. Wheaton’s life experiences just feels much more intensely personal than reading it online. Reading this book takes you on an journey inside the life of this geeky guy who’s struggled to find work as an actor and now is a devoted father1 who writes a very good book.
Again, this is another book that I’d highly recommend (5 out of 5 stars) for anybody to read, but especially if you remember sitting down once a week to see what sort of trouble Wesley could get into this week.
1 Yes, I know technically it’s step-father but the obvious pride & affection that Mr. Wheaton feels for his kids overrules any such stupid technicalities and makes his a “real dad”.