There is a smaller theatre in a mall downtown that I go to. It isn't one of the big theatres with stadium seating or anything. Just the standard type theater from about 15 years ago. All the kids stay away from it because they want the theatres with the arcades and stuff. I hate the megaplexes, as they are basically just night clubs for people too young to get into nightclubs. Other than that and some art house theatres, I don't go to the movies because they just aren't enjoyable otherwise. I still don't go out often anyway... I'm sure there are good films out there, and I do have a list of a few I want to see. I just can't be bothered.

I don't own a TV. When I did the only thing I really watched was Craig Ferguson and the occasional Seinfeld rerun. Most everything else I just thought was crap. I know there are good shows out there like Battlestar Galactica, and maybe one day I'll eventually buy the DVDs or something... I don't like the vast majority of TV so I'm not really able to pick a show and watch it from the start. When I've done this before in the past, the show has either sucked or gotten cancelled. The only show now that is currently airing that I like to watch each week would be Doctor Who. I just download it now whenever a season is running. I'll do the same for Torchwood when a new series airs (which is a guilty pleasure because 70% of it is sooo crap, but 30% is sooo good. Very odd dynamic). So yeah, good shows tend to be running for a season or two before I even know about them... and then it's too late to jump in.

I normally read on my lunch break or on the bus. I have an endless list of stuff I want to read so I have no problems here.

For gaming, I don't play much online anymore. I don't find it very fun. Everyone takes the game either too seriously or not seriously enough. Hate voice chat. Hate it. My gaming either consists of something with good gameplay and a good story (like Half Life) or an RTS that I can just play mindlessly while listening to music. I was a big gamer as a teenager, but now most of the stuff out there just bores me. I've either grown out of it, or the games aren't as good as they used to be. If I had friends who were into gaming it might be a different story.

I'm noticing a common thread in all these activites being that I know there is good stuff out there but I've been burned too many times by spending my money on crap that I don't tend to look anymore.

I laughed out loud for about 2 minutes at this comment.

I read all the time. But being a law student, it usually isn't about anything that I feel like reading for 7 or 8 hours on end.

Still, this column was a lot of fun to read.

I feel exactly the same way. I have so little free time I can only get together to play D&D once avery two months. Of course since I play with the same guys I started with in 1977, none of us have much free time. Hopefully the virtual tabletop for 4th ed will let us play more often.

Makes me want to go back and play Zork again...

I seem to remember typing "Eat Me" in a fit at one point only to be told that "Autocanabalism is not the answer". I miss the snarkiness.

Where is door #5, "Read forums, and masturbate. At the same time."

I love you Wil Wheaton. I have never seen so many fuzzy nostalgic geek references in a single page of text in my life. Awesome.

P.S. If anyone lives in or near Salt Lake City, try Brewvies. It's almost as good as the Alamo Draft House (it's just missing the celebrity endorsements and freaky home-made Indiana Jones remakes starring children).

I miss Zork....

I have found that the less wires that are connected to what you are doing, the better it usually is...the best times I have ever had and remember have not had a single wire hooked up...0 wires- fishing, camping....1 wire- reading a good or great book(one wire going from you to the author, kind of)...video games...after I spent hours beating the Legend of Zelda, I realized I had accomplished nothing in doing that....TV-good if it is a good show- and hate that they turn up the ads...cable- I am paying for more choices but get more ads-Discovery channel +,Sci FI channel+-( do like Enterprise, the original Star Trek, and Next Generation)...and public TV- Red Green, Red Dwarf....and the rest seems to be a lost cause (CSI Newark anyone)?
Sponge Bob needs to die, by the way...and I thought Barney was bad....
Internet: This has become a great, and at the same time terrible thing...can burn hours on it- have found 380 different hot peppers I can plant- If I can order them, and then get off the damn computer and get them planted....at least there we are back down to no wires....null

TV? How quaint.

As always, another high quality column from Wil.

One of the things I love about commuting in New York city is that the 45 minutes each way that I spend (3 hours each way on thursdays) to get to and from work is not time wasted, but time spent reading books. I've averaged 40-50 books read each year since I moved to NYC, almost exclusively from reading on the subway.

An additional benefit is that it gives me actual free time to waste on video games. I have TiVo so I watch a few shows every now and then on TV, and I'll go to the movies every once in a while (mainly so I can eat pot brownies and make fun of what I'm watching) but I'd rather spend my recreational time engaged in an activity rather than passively viewing one.

By the way Wil, have you played Portal yet?

Re #1: I'll tell you the same thing I tell everyone else about going to theaters for movies: go for matinees or weekday shows. It's cheaper and you're a lot less likely to hit irritating people. I was going to a movie a week for most of the past several years and I almost never paid more than $6 for a ticket nor had problems with the other humans nearby unless it was a "kids movie" (i.e., Harry Potter, Pixar.) and not much even then. In fact, around here you can often get in for $4-4.50 if you time your moviegoing right. Also, skip the concession stand (that's where they really gouge you), and pee during the opening commercials or time your arrival to miss them (not that hard, really).

Granted, I don't know how much of this holds true outside the Twin Cities (a lot of the people complaining about how crappy the moviegoing experience has become seem to live in California, which may say more about California than it does about moviegoing.). And none of that helps the periods when the studios refuse to release anything worth watching. But that's another issue entirely.

Re #2: Hell, I just wait for everything on DVD. With Netflix, it's way cheaper and a much more convenient and pleasant experience, especially for someone like me, who hates getting drips and drabs of a serial story and prefers to get big bucketfuls at once.

Re #3: I work at a library. Imagine my backlog of books.

1) Movies: You cannot be a true geek if you are going to the movies when everyone else does. I and several geek-looking people I see when I go, see movies at 10am or noon while the kiddies are in school on opening day/morning.

Alternatively I go after the movie has been playing several weeks and I can get a theatre all to myself, or perhaps 10 other people. Of course, I sit FRONT ROW, CENTER. Most annoyances don't sit that close unless they have to. I have not had this problem yet.

2) I don't watch TV anymore. Last year's season was my last. I now devote all my time to TV shows on DVD. As I write this I'm simultaneously watching Season 2 of The Munsters, Herman is trying to take pictures - I don't believe I have ever seen this one before...

My friend John has not had a TV in years. This year he discovered that at least 3 networks have their new shows online within a day after they aired on TV. There are NO Commercials (except for a 20 second blurb at the usual intervals). This sounds better than Tivo as you don't have to remember to tape the show and you can pause it.

3) Read. With all that I do, I still find time to read. Every other day at least, if not daily.

4) Play games. I have not turned on my PS2 in 2 years, and this was the last console I've bought. I played Guitar Hero II at my nephews house a year ago, and except that I can't bring myself to buy the game to play, or buy a console just to play Hero III, I would play this often.

As it is, I play online games several times a week. I spent $40 for Call of Duty 2 over a year ago and play CTF to this day... while watching tv shows on DVD. I'm in the middle of ST TNG season 2, alternating dvd's daily. I start disc 6 tomorrow. Eventually I'll get to whatever contributions you did for the 20th anniversary collections... after I get through season 7, which at this rate should be in about 2 weeks.

5) Door # 5 for me is my being stupid time. Like going to the nudie bars. This is wasted time for me.

it's all just a matter of where you put your satchel and what you put on it, isn't it?

[edit]
in retrospect, the book door is always the best way. and on a somewhat related note, i finally finished salmon of doubt yesterday. kind of sad, really.
[/edit]

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this column. The internet eats up all my time, and now you've taken your first bite. I hope you chew carefully and savour the taste. ; )

Loved this article. It broke down our use of our limited free time in an entertaining and thought provoking way and , I look forward to the next entry of Geek In Review.

I actually unplugged from my virtual black tar heroin which is also known as World of War Craft to read this article.

I got teary eyed with memories of Zork and console games.

As escapism goes, it's hard for me to beat an mmorpg.

I do still read books occasionally when my mind tells me I can't handle anymore mmo or when I am at work on my breaks.

I normally only check my email, the forums, and fun sights like suicide girls.com or ask a ninja.com when I shell out because I am flying from point A to point B in WoW.

I also realize that I have an addictive personality.

Then again, at 40bucks for the game and 15 a month, I would say I get my moneys worth if you look at a dollar per hour value. It definitely beats how you broke down a movie (which I completely agree with).

Sadly at the same time, I sometimes feel I should be doing something more creative with my time. Like painting a self portrait, or writing the next big hit for Broad Way or knitting or some shit like that.

Oh well, back to doing the daily quests to ensure I have enough gold to cover my repair costs for raiding tonight in Serpent Shrine Cavern. Hrmmm, I will be damned if that doesn't sound almost like work