Quotations (And Holden Hats)

2010-03-29 · letter vlog · John · 2:47 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing (also: Personal life) · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion, community lore

John says a line from An Abundance of Katherines has gone viral on Twitter stripped of its context, argues that online people are miscontextualized rather than misquoted, and suggests favorite quotations say more about the people quoting them.

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; tax season and the yearly absence of fishing boat proceeds; 'French the Llama!'

★ At tax season John reports to the IRS, for the 32nd consecutive year, that he has no fishing boat proceeds: they are the unicorns of his tax return. (playful) — 00:00:02 · fishing boat proceeds

00:00:18 — Googling himself; the Holden Caulfield hat appears; interruption: new book with David Levithan and ticketed tour events

★★ John says that in a few days a book he co-wrote with David Levithan comes out and they are going on tour; some tour events are ticketed (link in the description). — 00:00:27 · Will Grayson, Will Grayson

00:00:38 — Not the discovery: the Bigfoot-researcher namesake John Green and his letter about John's Mental Floss article

★ John recalls that after his Mental Floss article calling Bigfoot fictional, a namesake John Green, a famous Bigfoot apologist, wrote to say he was besmirching all John Greens. (playful) — 00:00:38

00:00:59 — A line from An Abundance of Katherines goes viral on Twitter; John was kidding, it is Colin Singleton's view the book refutes; lady-hat aside

★★★ Googling himself, John found that a line he wrote years ago in An Abundance of Katherines has gone viral on Twitter, tweeted more than 10,000 times. — 00:01:03 · An Abundance of Katherines, Twitter
★★★ John says the line ('what is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable') was meant as a joke: it is what Colin Singleton believes at the start and spends the book learning is bull. — 00:01:17 · An Abundance of Katherines

00:01:48 — Online people are miscontextualized rather than misquoted; text means nothing without context; Holden's red hunting cap as example

★★★ John says that in the internet age people are not so much misquoted as miscontextualized: no line, sentence or even chapter can be understood pulled out of its book. — 00:01:48

“instead of people being misquoted, they are miscontextualized”
★★★ John says that, painful as it is in a soundbite, Twitter world, text means nothing without its context. — 00:02:00 · Twitter
★★ As an example, John says Holden Caulfield's red hunting cap makes no sense until you know it is the same color as his dead brother's hair. — 00:02:05

00:02:15 — Favorite quotations may say more about us; ask for viewers' favorite quotes; John's is Robert Frost's

★★★ John suggests our favorite quotations may say more about us than about the stories and people we quote. (hedged) — 00:02:15
★★ John asks Nerdfighters to leave their favorite quote in the comments and to think about what it says about them. — 00:02:21 · Nerdfighteria
★★ John's favorite quote of the moment is Robert Frost's 'The only way out is through'; he does not know what that says about him. — 00:02:29

00:02:40 — Sign-off; outtake: the hat as lady hat or Mario hat

Humor (significant)

At tax season John again reports zero fishing boat proceeds, for the 32nd consecutive year. — 00:00:12

“Fishing boat proceeds are the unicorns of my tax return.”
A Bigfoot-believing namesake John Green wrote to John after his Mental Floss article called Bigfoot fictional. — 00:00:50

“was besmirching the good name of John Greens everywhere.”
Right after explaining the symbolism of Holden's red cap, John points out someone wearing a hat. — 00:02:12

“It's not a metaphor.”

Threads in this video

callback · 'French the llama': John's misreading of FTL as an exclamation of amazement (2009) — John exclaims 'French the Llama!' at tax season. (00:00:10)
told · A line from John's An Abundance of Katherines goes viral on Twitter out of context (2010) — John tells how a line he wrote in An Abundance of Katherines went viral on Twitter, tweeted more than 10,000 times, though it is a view the book rejects. (00:01:03)
first on record · Can a quotation or passage be understood without its context? — John holds that a line pulled from a book cannot be understood: online people are miscontextualized, and text means nothing without its context. (00:02:00)
asked · John asks Nerdfighters to share their favorite quote in the comments (2010) — John asks Nerdfighters to leave their favorite quote in the comments and think about what it says about them. (00:02:21)
callback · John's 'fishing boat proceeds' joke: the income he never has (2007) — At tax season John reports to the IRS, for the 32nd consecutive year, that he has no fishing boat proceeds: they are the unicorns of his tax return. (00:00:02)
update · Will Grayson, Will Grayson: John and David Levithan sell their co-written book (2007) — John says that in a few days a book he co-wrote with David Levithan comes out and they are going on tour; some tour events are ticketed (link in the description). (00:00:27)

Mentioned

Central: An Abundance of Katherines · quoting out of context

Also: People: John Green (bigfoot researcher) · Robert Frost

Works: Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Organizations: Internal Revenue Service · Mental Floss · Twitter

Terms: doobly-doo · fishing boat proceeds · French the llama

Characters: Colin Singleton · Holden Caulfield · Mario · red hunting cap

Myths: Bigfoot

Only in the description or credits: David Levithan

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