Last Year's Birthday With Wil Wheaton

Today is the big day, I turned 50 years old at 6:35 CST this morning. I woke up to 3 different kinds of dark chocolates strategically placed next to my coffee maker by my youngest daughter Mai. This afternoon she and I will meet up with my oldest daughter Laura for a mani/pedi deal. My girls are fantastic, couldn't want for better kids! Pretty laid back on the planning this year but I do hope to get to see a particular friend of mine at some point this weekend, he's such a sweetie! 

Last year on this day I was still living in McMinnville. I discovered there was going to be a "Wil Wheaton vs. Paul and Storm" event in Portland on my birthday so I let out the inner-geek and bought tickets. It wasn't a full W00tstock but it was close enough for me! I even booked a hotel room for the weekend. I spent the day before the show going to the art museum, eating at neat little cafes and checking out vintage clothing shops. 

Yes I know a vast majority of you may not know what I'm talking about but suffice it to say it was destined to be an evening of fun and fabulous. And it was, at least until the show was over. There were 2 local sisters "The Doubleclicks" who sing all things geek, here let me just show you:

And of course, the main event was filled with songs and jokes that can be enjoyed by anyone but only truly appreciated by those who are geek at heart (or geek-adjacent as Wil's wife called herself then). Wil Wheaton shared some personal stories too. The following is a video of the last 20 or so minutes of the show. It is "The Captain's Wife's Lament" interspersed with tons of insider jokes and geek culture references. It pretty much has something to entertain everyone and yet offend more than a few. I apologize if you are one of the offended but it's overall hilarious. 

             This is from the actual show I attended. I was sitting next to the woman screaming at the beginning of this video.

Anyway, as I said previously, I loved the show and had a terrific time. Until I went to my car. Or I should say, until I tried to go to my car. It was gone, nowhere to be found. I tried to keep calm and went into the bar next to the theater to call the police. All the guys were there from the show but I was not in the mood to fan-girl out at that point. The police kindly informed me that I had parked in front of a driveway and been towed! Apparently the wooden fence I had parked next to had one of those gates that slides in on itself so I didn't notice it. Naturally since it was November in Portland it was dark and raining when I parked. I won't go into excruciating detail of the rest of the night. I'll just say that when all was said and done I had walked several miles, alone, in the middle of a cold and wet night, gotten lost in a warehouse district at 1 a.m. and spent an unplanned $382 to get my car back. Yet, it was still a great night! If they come back I'll go again, I'll just be more careful when I park. Better yet, I'll take the bus!