On Joy and Sadness and Little Plastic Men
I live so much of my life in darkness that bright spots can seem exceptionally bright for a short time and like something I have to latch on to. As a kid I remember watching Star Trek in syndication in the afternoons with my father. Then in 1987 Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered. It was a whole new thing. A new ship. A new crew. New adventures to watch. For me though the standout character was Wesley Crusher. I know over the last thirty years people have had a lot of thoughts about Wesley and that "shut up Wesley" has become a meme. But to me, just starting school, Wesley was my hero. He seemed to be just a little bit older than me, he didn't quite fit in any where. He was like I felt. Much to my dismay when they released the action figures for the series a little while later there was no Wesley action figure. Picard was there,Worf and Riker. Even Yar. But no Wesley. Despite that, those action figures saw a lot of u...