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Hank Tried to Kill Me With a Hammer

2008-07-08 (said on 2008-07-07 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded 1 day later) · Q&A · John, Sydney Green · 3:59 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria (also: Books & writing, Personal life, Internet & YouTube) · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: recurring series, self promotion, guest or collab

In a Question Tuesday of a few long answers, John says Brotherhood 2.0 was his idea, lists his pre-author jobs, and phones their mom, who confirms Hank once tried to kill John with a hammer; he closes with Paper Towns giveaways and the Katherines paperback.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Tuesday July 7th; John is 'really that pale'; a Question Tuesday of a few long answers; changes shirts to stop matching the wall

  • ★★ John announces a Question Tuesday in which, instead of many quick answers, he will answer a few questions at length. — 00:00:12 · Question Tuesday

00:00:24 — Q&A: Brotherhood 2.0 was John's idea; Hank judged it 'not terrible'

  • ★★★ John says Brotherhood 2.0 was initially his idea; he has a crazy idea every 45 minutes and relies on Hank to reject them, but Hank said this one was not terrible. (playful) — 00:00:25 · Brotherhood 2.0, Hank Green

00:00:43 — Q&A: jobs before becoming an author; best books for aspiring writers and the author as selling machine

  • ★★★ Before becoming an author, John worked for most of his post-college life at Booklist magazine, and also as a children's hospital chaplain and on a Steak 'n Shake graveyard shift. — 00:00:43
  • ★ John does not recommend the Steak 'n Shake graveyard shift and jokes that anyone thinking of dropping out of college should 'get thee to Steak 'n Shake'. (playful) — 00:00:53
  • ★★ John jokes his own books are the best inspiration, then says that once you finish a book 'they' want the pale basement-dwelling writer to become a selling machine, though he only wants to stay home, make videos, eat Peeps and hang out with Willy. (playful) — 00:01:11 · Peeps, Willy

00:01:24 — Q&A: the meanest thing John did to Hank; phone call to Mom about the hammer, the cough syrup and the hug

  • ★★ Sydney Green: On the phone, the brothers' mom says it was the other way around (Hank tried to kill John) and answers yes when John asks whether he ever tried to kill Hank. — 00:01:40 · Hank Green, John Green
  • ★★ John protests that he is getting the short end of the stick, since Mom seems to make the case that he was the inferior sibling. (playful) — 00:02:15 · Sydney Green
  • ★★★ John sums up that, according to their mom, the meanest thing Hank did to him was try to kill him with a hammer, and his own was spilling red cough syrup on Hank's bedspread and hugging him too hard. (playful) — 00:02:33 · Sydney Green, Hank Green

00:02:48 — Q&A: getting recognized; the disguise question at Disneyland's Indiana Jones ride

  • ★★ John says he is recognized fairly often in big public spaces and finds it nice to meet Nerdfighters; at Disneyland's Indiana Jones ride a fan's little brother asked if he was wearing a disguise. — 00:02:48 · YouTube, Nerdfighteria

00:03:12 — Q&A: advice on finishing books; no Paper Towns ARCs to give; three discussion guides for question askers

  • ★★ To writers who can't finish their books, John offers little advice beyond 'just keep at it', noting it took him four years to finish Looking for Alaska. — 00:03:12 · Looking for Alaska (novel)
  • ★★ John has no Paper Towns advance copies to give away; earlier winners are still waiting for theirs, which he hopes to rectify tomorrow. (hedged) — 00:03:22 · Paper Towns
  • ★★ John offers three rare Paper Towns discussion guides, which he jokes he stole from his publisher, to viewers who leave a question in comments for his next Question Tuesday. — 00:03:32 · Paper Towns, Question Tuesday

00:03:51 — Plug: the An Abundance of Katherines paperback cover, out August 8 for $3.99

Humor (significant)

  • Asked what books aspiring writers should read for inspiration, John names his own. — 00:01:04

    “get inspired to write is to buy twenty or thirty copies of each of my books.”

  • Unsure whether he or Hank wielded the hammer, John phones Mom to ask if he tried to kill Hank; she says it was the other way around. — 00:01:41

    “He tried to kill me!”

  • Mom says John's attempt on Hank's life was trying to smother him. — 00:01:54

    “I tried to smother him. That's not, that's just hugging.”

  • A fan's little brother at Disneyland asks John whether he is wearing a disguise. — 00:03:08

    “and I was like, "Nope, these are real".”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Sydney Green

Also: Projects: Brotherhood 2.0

Works: An Abundance of Katherines · Looking for Alaska (novel) · Paper Towns

Organizations: Booklist · Steak 'n Shake · YouTube

Rituals: Question Tuesday

Places: Disneyland · Indiana Jones Adventure

Products: Peeps

Memes: pwned

animal: Willy

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