"Lights," I said softly. This had become my favorite word over the past week. In my mind, it had become synonymous with freedom.

I created the OASIS because I never felt at home in the real world. I didn't know how to connect with the people there.

I was a painfully shy, awkward kid, with low self-esteem and almost no social skills. Online, I didn't have a problem talking to people or making friends. But in the real world. interacting with other people - especially kids my own age - made me a nervous wreck. I never knew how to act or what to say, and when I did work up the courage to speak, I always seemed to say the wrong thing.

Being human totally sucks most of the time. Videogames are the only thing that make life bearable.

You were born at a pretty crappy time in history. And it looks like things are only gonna get worse from here on out.

I'm incredibly nostalgic for the '80s, because I think that's when Geek Culture really kicked in to high gear.

I've been invited to speak at about 20 colleges. There's always this moment when I'm having dinner with the college president: 'Ernie, where'd you go to school?'