Tree mating season is a disgusting time of year that tends to make everything look filthy and causes me to have to wash out my eyes multiple times to function like a normal person. And there's the nose bleeds. That's what you get when you try twink out your character by taking a bunch of disads you think are totally trivial... But, yeah, I've always been inclined to think of walking outside in spring time as stepping into the plant version of one of those japanese videos with the one girl and like a hundred guys.

I am so slow to the party sometimes. This isn't my first time reading this story, but it's still a good one. I really enjoyed it when you read it for RFB, since hearing you tell your stories puts so much more emotion into it. Reminds me of the year I first got to help light the fireworks, only in my case I ended up nearly lighting my thumb on fire and getting a nasty under the nail burn. I've been reading for a few years, but I'm the sort of person who always feels embarrassed when I post a comment, but still wanted to let you know I enjoy your writing.

I really appreciate the fact that you actually care as much as you do. It sounds kind of stupid, but thank you for doing your best to keep everything you do in line with your moral code instead of taking the easy way out. It would be nice if the world worked so that I didn't feel a need to say that sort of thing.

One more piping in to say that you got me to donate. You might not have the same sort of reach as some mega-celebrity, but I think you've got more (or at least better) influence. If nothing else, you use it for a lot of good projects.

The problem with Pokemon is that once you get it in the blood, the sight of a new one will call to you like a siren. Maybe you won't care when you hear about it; maybe you won't care when you see it come out in the stores, but sooner or later something will happen and you will snatch it up. I was the right age for Pokemon when it came out, so I watched the show and then obviously had to have the game, and while I haven't picked up literally every Pokemon game, I've somehow been drawn in to every truly new one (they've done a few remakes). So now I'm 26 (not that old, but it feels that way sometimes), and I was going to ignore the new ones because I'm "too old for Pokemon," but then there's someone playing one and of course I have to talk to them about it, and of course they let me see it and... BAM! That same day I'm popping around to the games department and picking up a copy of Pokemon Black... and of course I end up loving it. So, the whole point of this story, Wil, is pretty much the same point of the story you told; Games are for fun, and there's no reason any of us should feel ashamed for picking up a game we know we will love (or have had reliable friends tell us we will love). Also, it felt kind of weird calling you "Wil" up there. In my brain you're usually "Wil Wheaton," or "your friend, Wil Wheaton."

I tend to look at reviews and take them with a grain of salt. Aside from the fact that you might not be able to trust a review entirely, everyone has different tastes and that Call of Duty game might be a 10 for some people and I've enjoyed the hell out of any number of games that were probably 7s or 6s. So, what to take away from reviews? A number can be an interesting gauge for what range to expect a game to be in, but above all else you need to actually dig into the text of things where they hopefully give you a good feel for what sort of game it is, what it's strengths and weaknesses are, and then obviously you have to compare them to your game style. Do you play games for the story or to be the best around in competition or what? That's far more important than any number. As for game sites I trust, aside from enjoying the word of Tycho and Gabe on Penny Arcade, I usually look things up on GamesRadar. Their review format just works for me, because it seems like every reviewer does their best to give the overall feel for the game, and aside from a quick score at the end of things, they also put up a few bullet points about the main positives and negatives and don't mind slipping in some humor. They're also nice enough to give me some non-Wheaton podcasts to take up space while you're busy making awesome stuff with awesome people. Public transportation and walking give a whole lot of time for my ears to get greedy and I've listened to every one of your podcasts more times than most songs on my iPod.