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CONCUSSED Question Friday

2011-01-07 · Q&A · John · 3:20 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria (also: Books & writing) · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: recurring series, community lore, civic or action cta

In a rapid Question Friday John answers Nerdfighter questions (the Oxford comma, his fears, childhood fights with Hank, DFTBA, the Kindle, his next book narrated by a girl, David Levithan's The Lover's Dictionary), then 'excessively headdesks', plays the rest concussed, and asks for zombie-killing scenarios for his novella.

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: Question Friday, real questions from real Nerdfighters

00:00:05 — Rapid answers: favorite joke, Oxford comma, cartwheel, Who the F is Hank, wooden shoes, fears, childhood fights, cool for a nerd, finding Nerdfighters, DFTBA, the puppy-sized elephant

  • ★★ Asked his take on the Oxford comma, John answers with a list using it: lovely, unintrusive and absolutely necessary. (playful) — 00:00:10
  • ★★ To 'Who the F is Hank?' John answers that Hank is a city of just over 3,000 people in southern South Dakota known for its pheasant season. (joke) — 00:00:21 · Who the Eff Is Hank
  • ★★ Other than heights, John says he is afraid of geese, mice and oblivion. — 00:00:29
  • ★★ As kids the brothers mainly fought over John rewriting game rules mid-game to ensure his victory, which he saw as an older brother's privilege and responsibility; Hank was 'kind of a wuss' about it. (playful) — 00:00:34 · Hank Green
  • ★ Rejecting the premise that he is cool for a nerd, John offers photos of his middle-school self and thanks his mom for those glasses. (playful) — 00:00:48 · Sydney Green

  • ★★ To find other Nerdfighters at school, John recommends getting or making a DFTBA shirt; DFTBA means Don't Forget To Be Awesome. — 00:00:59 · DFTBA, Nerdfighteria

    “It means Don't Forget To Be Awesome”

  • ★★ John would name his puppy-sized elephant Lewis, and they would be best friends. (playful) — 00:01:08 · puppy sized elephant

00:01:13 — Answers on old jokes, the Kindle, his next book, David Levithan and The Lover's Dictionary, the Mountain Goats, the Yeti, marrying someone smarter

  • ★★ New Nerdfighters can pick up the old in-jokes by listening to Hank's music, reading John's books, watching old videos and hanging around. — 00:01:13 · Nerdfighteria, Hank Green
  • ★★★ Asked about the Kindle, John says he doesn't really care how people read, only whether they read. — 00:01:20
  • ★★★ John confirms that his next book is narrated by a girl. — 00:01:24
  • ★★ John may write another book with David Levithan; meanwhile he recommends Levithan's 'amazing' new solo book The Lover's Dictionary. (hedged) — 00:01:27
  • ★ Asked for his favourite Mountain Goats song, John recites a lyric about Raskolnikov; for a first album he puts a recommendation in the description. — 00:01:34 · doobly-doo
  • ★★ Will viewers ever see the Yeti? After consulting 'Yeti Researcher' magazine, John says he doesn't think they ever will. (playful) — 00:01:48 · Sarah Urist Green, Yeti
  • ★★ Would he date a girl more intelligent than himself? John says yes; in fact he married one. — 00:02:03 · Sarah Urist Green

00:02:07 — 'Your headdesk was lame': John tries harder, excessively headdesks and answers the next questions as if concussed

  • ★★ Told his headdesk was lame, John tries a better one, 'excessively headdesks', and performs the rest of the video as if concussed, forgetting answers, his middle name and the day. (joke) — 00:02:07 · headdesk

00:02:49 — Zombie apocalypse novella nearly finished; asks for zombie-killing scenarios

  • ★★★ John hopes to finish his zombie apocalypse novella within a week or so; he calls it terrible and wants to get back to his real book. (hedged) — 00:02:49
  • ★★ John asks viewers who know any zombie-killing scenarios to leave them 'in the dooblydoo'. — 00:02:55 · doobly-doo

00:03:00 — Concussed sign-off: other questions left, see you on Monday

  • ★★ Signing off, John says he thinks he actually gave himself a concussion with the headdesk, leaving other questions unanswered. (playful, hedged) — 00:03:00 · headdesk

Humor (significant)

  • Asked his take on the Oxford comma, John answers with a list that dictates its own commas. — 00:00:10

    “Lovely, comma space, unintrusive, comma space, and absolutely necessary.”

  • Answering 'Who the F is Hank?' — 00:00:24

    “southern South Dakota known for it's pheasant season”

  • Asked how he is so cool for a nerd, John rejects the premise. — 00:00:53

    “I would like to present you with middle school me”

  • After an 'excessive headdesk' John answers 'What's your middle name?' as if concussed. — 00:02:41

    “I don't know, is today Tuesday? Did I hit my head earlier?”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Question Tuesday · Zombicorns

Also: People: Sarah Urist Green (“the Yeti”) · Sydney Green

Works: The Lover's Dictionary

Groups: The Mountain Goats

Terms: DFTBA · doobly-doo · puppy sized elephant · Who the Eff Is Hank

Concepts: serial comma

Places: South Dakota

Events: 2012 phenomenon

Products: Amazon Kindle

Myths: Yeti (“Yeti Researcher”)

Memes: headdesk

Only in the description or credits: David Levithan

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