Wil Wheaton explains it all

I often think to myself about how hard it was to grow up a nerd.  But, I never considered how hard it must have been to grow up as a famous nerd. 

Enter Wil Wheaton.

Stand By Me

Wil broke into show business at an early age starring in Stand By Me alongside fellow child actors like Jerry O'Connell, River Phoenix and Corey Feldman before going on to play Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation.  It's easy to assume that all kid movie-stars like Wil, once they come into a little bit of money, go crazy like Tom Hanks in Big or that kid with the backwards hat in Blank Check. 

The track record for Wheaton's contemporaries was less about excessive spending, however, and more about partying as most pre-pubescent starlets from the '80s were infamous booze hounds and pill heads.  Lest we be too quick to judge Lindsay Lohan when Robert Downey, Jr and Drew Barrymore were doing the same things if not worse at her age, maybe even younger.

Wil Wheaton, however, was not a strung out, coked up party animal of Generation Me.  He was just a nerdy kid feeling awkward in his own skin along with rest of us dorks, only he had a cooler day job.  Now a card-carrying member of adulthood, Wil has moved on from childhood in both his personal life and career as do most normal people when they pass the age of puberty.  Things change and life goes on, even for famous people. 

However, the thing you may not know about Wil Wheaton is that he is an excellent (and accomplished) writer and has from time to time taken his thoughts about life, fame and nerdery over to his website WWdN: In Exile.  It is here that I found a reminiscent Wheaton waxing poetic about the hardships of being a nerdy kid.  And it was then, that I connected with Wil on a personal level and as he scoffed at his big feet in a childhood photo from some teeny bopper magazine, I found myself lamenting the size of my giant schnoz in high-school and summarily blaming it as the cause of several dateless weekend nights until college.  High-school was ten plus years ago and yet some awkwardness still lingers in the crevices of insecurity where it threatens to come whizzing back at any moment like a bad acid trip that flares when you crack your back.  

Wil Wheaton - Chillaxin'

I feel you Wil Wheaton.  It was tough being a nerd kid but I freaking love being a nerd adult.  Although, I did almost fail out of high-school because I used to stay up until 3 o'clock in the morning watching reruns of TNG on TBS but that's neither here nor there.  It's refreshing to find a little honesty on the Internet these days and from a celebrity no less.  Thanks for your candor and I think I speak for all your fans when I say that I am truly happy that you didn't "crawl into a hole and die" in the throws of your teenage angst.

See kids, we're all a little geeky...even famous people.  So, if you ever feel down about the way you look or because you think nobody likes you, start a blog and you'll feel right as rain in about 500 words.  I know I did.       

Read Wil Wheaton's blog "I'll be the one with my heart in my lap" at WWdN: In Exile