Skip to content

September 10th: Airports and Whitman

2007-09-10 · letter vlog · John · 2:21 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Personal life, Pop culture) · mode: Personal update · tags: self promotion, on location

From the Indianapolis airport, John says Paper Towns is not finished, that he is going to Orlando for a week to finish a major revision, and that he may read excerpts on Wednesday and Friday.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Greeting; location clues (pretzels like dog biscuits): John is at the Indianapolis airport; Paper Towns is not finished, six months of work left

  • ★ John gives location clues (airport pretzels are 'what dog biscuits taste like to dogs') and reveals he is at the Indianapolis International Airport. (playful) — 00:00:11
  • ★★★ John says many people concluded from one of his videos last week (week of 3 September 2007) that Paper Towns was finished; it is not, and about six months of work on it remain. — 00:00:11 · Paper Towns
  • ★★ John is seven days from turning in what he hopes will be the biggest revision of the book; after that he thinks he will show it to Hank and Katherine. (hedged) — 00:00:11 · Paper Towns, Hank Green, Katherine Green

00:00:49 — John spends the week before his revision deadline in Orlando, where the book is set; Nerdfighters suggest he read Paper Towns excerpts on Wednesday and Friday

  • ★★ John always spends the last week before a revision deadline somewhere quiet; this time Orlando, where the book is mainly set, checking Winter Park High School still looks the same. — 00:00:49 · Paper Towns
  • ★★★ With little time for Brotherhood 2.0, John takes up Nerdfighters' suggestion that he read Paper Towns excerpts on Wednesday and Friday, which would also give him feedback. (hedged) — 00:00:49 · Paper Towns, Nerdfighteria, Brotherhood 2.0

00:01:18 — Feedback would help; John's pilot is very good at Ms. Pac-Man (joke)

00:01:41 — Travelling light with Walt Whitman; John reads Whitman lines and interrupts with a joke; sign-off

  • ★★ Travelling light to Orlando, John brings only a change of clothes, a computer and 'my old friend Walt Whitman', and closes by reading lines of Whitman's poetry. — 00:01:41

Humor (significant)

  • John wonders why Indianapolis's airport is called international. — 00:00:11

    “I don't know why they call it international. Maybe they think Wisconsin's a foreign country?”

  • John's pilot is so good at Ms. Pac-Man that he reached the part where, after 65 years of marriage, Ms. Pac-Man goes to Mr. Pac-Man's funeral. — 00:01:18

    “She cried delicious little dots.”

  • Reading Whitman's line telling readers not to feed on the specters in books, John breaks off. — 00:02:11

    “Actually, I really need everybody to keep feeding on the specters in books or else I'm out of a job.”

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Paper Towns

Also: People: Katherine Green · Walt Whitman

Projects: Brotherhood 2.0

Works: Ms. Pac-Man · Song of Myself

Organizations: Winter Park High School

Places: Indianapolis International Airport · Orlando, Florida · Wisconsin

Replies to

← Previous: September 7th: Fatalities, Dances and Thanks · Next → September 11th: Floorcats, Recycling Bins and Memories