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Oct. 30th: My Name Is John Green. And I'm a Nerd.

2007-10-30 · John · watch on YouTube · Personal life · personal update

Thanking Hank for sharing 'It Just Isn't Fair', John says the book proves he is a real nerd, then shows highlights from his own childhood box, ending with the 'all-star in our hearts' trophy his parents had made for him, as his nerd credentials.

What is said

00:00:00 — Greeting; accused of not being a real nerd; thanks Hank for sharing 'It Just Isn't Fair'; the cover art and the 'wimpy, wimpy' popular guy: he thought nerds were cool

  • ★★ John says people sometimes accuse him of not being a 'real' nerd because he doesn't read much science fiction and likes sports a lot. — 00:00:12 · nerd
  • ★★★ John thanks Hank for sharing 'It Just Isn't Fair', the book he wrote at eight, because it proves once and for all he is definitely a nerd. (playful) — 00:00:19 · nerd, Hank Green
  • ★★ The book's cover shows John as a quasi-abstract painting and a popular kid saying 'wimpy, wimpy'; John says at eight he thought cool meant hiked-up mismatched plaid pants, so he thought nerds were cool. (playful) — 00:00:30

00:00:54 — Where the box is; highlights: 1981 family portrait, third-grade Thomas Edison report, pink sticker album with military insignia page, the beanie

  • ★★ Hank could not find John's box of childhood treasures in North Carolina because their parents sent it to John's house a few years ago, where it is kept under lock and key. (playful) — 00:00:54
  • ★★ From the box John shows a 1981 family portrait in which he clearly needs to pee, and a third-grade report on Thomas Edison that got an A+ though he used 'interesting' eleven times. (playful) — 00:01:08
  • ★★ John wonders what his parents were thinking with a pink sticker album they gave him for his birthday, with a page for military insignia stickers; he picked the rainbow stickers himself. (playful) — 00:01:32
  • ★★ The beanie in the box was not bought by his parents in third grade: John bought it with his own money as a high school sophomore. (playful) — 00:02:08

00:02:19 — The only trophy: 1984 tee-ball alternate, Thanksgiving trip, 'all-star in our hearts'; nerd credentials proven; sign-off

  • ★ John explains that in tee-ball, instead of hitting a pitched ball, you hit a ball sitting on a tee. — 00:02:38
  • ★★★ In 1984 John, about four years older than the other tee-ball players, missed the all-star team to a kid he thinks was four and was named an alternate out of pity. (playful) (hedged) — 00:02:50
  • ★★ The all-star game fell on Thanksgiving weekend; John didn't want to visit Grandpa in Indiana in case he was needed, and only all-stars got trophies. (playful) — 00:03:00 · Thanksgiving, Indiana
  • ★★★ Partly to get him to leave town and because they love him, his parents had a trophy made reading 'John Green, 1984, all-star in our hearts', his only childhood trophy, which he cannot find. (playful) — 00:03:16
  • ★★ John concludes that these are his nerd credentials and that he has proven his point. (playful) — 00:03:37 · nerd

Humor (significant)

  • John reads the cover of his childhood book, where the cool kid wears hiked-up plaid pants. — 00:00:52 > «Hank, I was such a nerd that I thought the nerds were cool.»
  • John shows his third-grade report on Thomas Edison. — 00:01:20 > «Thomas Edison, you know, who's famous for inventing the boom box.»
  • Four years older than the other tee-ball players, John still missed the all-star team. — 00:02:54 > «I was beat out by a nice kid named Bryce, who was, I think, four.»
  • His parents had a consolation trophy made for him. — 00:03:23 > «And the trophy says "John Green, 1984, all-star... in our hearts."»

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