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Meeting Greg Mortenson

2011-04-25 · story · John · 3:20 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal update · tags: timely hook, calendar ritual, community lore

In a four-part video John tells how, at a Penguin author dinner, he talked for twelve minutes at a man he took for Greg Mortenson, who was not; he then points Dutch viewers to the description, outsources Hank's birthday to Nerdfighteria and announces a Question Tuesday.

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; ignoring the decapitated parrot; four parts

00:00:05 — Part one: Greg Mortenson in the news; John mistakes another man for Mortenson at a Penguin author dinner

  • ★★ John reports that Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, is in the news over accusations of fabricating part of his memoir and running his charity inefficiently. — 00:00:07
  • ★★ A couple of years earlier, when Paper Towns came out, John was one of about eight authors, with Mortenson, at a Penguin dinner for some 200 young adult librarians at a library convention. — 00:00:24 · Paper Towns, Penguin Books
  • ★ John notes, as an aside to his story, that almost all young adult librarians are women. — 00:00:33
  • ★★ In his two-minute talk John described his book as about Walt Whitman and imagining others complexly; Mortenson followed with a book about nearly dying and devoting his life to education in Afghanistan. — 00:00:50 · Paper Towns, imagine others complexly
  • ★★ Feeling his pee-joke book was outclassed, John remembered that Nerdfighters had helped rebuild a school in cyclone-ravaged Bangladesh and wanted to tell Mortenson. — 00:01:03 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★ At the cocktail party John told the man he took for Mortenson about Nerdfighters' pond sand filters, Kiva loans and the school, talking for twelve minutes without letting him speak. — 00:01:33 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★★★ The man answered that he was not Greg Mortenson: since nearly all the librarians were women, John had simply walked up to the white man, assuming he was Mortenson. — 00:02:00
  • ★ In the punchline of his story John puts the share of young adult librarians who are women at ninety-five percent, which is why he walked up to the one white man. (playful) — 00:02:07
  • ★★ John's addition to the Mortenson discussion: it seems that Mortenson's heart is in the right place, though that does not always matter. (hedged) — 00:02:23

00:02:31 — Part two: Dutch viewers should read the description (Dutch Will Grayson, Will Grayson)

  • ★★ John asks Dutch viewers to read the video description, which has information for them. — 00:02:33

00:02:40 — Part three: Hanko de Mayo outsourced to Nerdfighteria via a Your Pants thread

00:03:11 — Part four: Question Tuesday on Friday for new viewers; sign-off

  • ★★ John will do a Question Tuesday on Friday about things that don't make sense to new viewers, and asks for questions in the comments. — 00:03:11 · Question Tuesday

In the description and comments

  • ★ The description says the Dutch edition of Will Grayson, Will Grayson can be downloaded free for a few days, and asks for votes for it in a Dutch youth-literature prize. — video description · Will Grayson, Will Grayson
  • ★★ The description asks Dutch readers to vote for Will Grayson, Will Grayson to win the Jongerenliteratuur Prijs, saying it will really help. — video description · Will Grayson, Will Grayson
  • ★★ The description announces a few public events with John in the Netherlands and Belgium over the next couple of months, listed by his Dutch publisher Lemniscaat, with probably one more in Amsterdam to come. — video description · Amsterdam

Humor (significant)

  • John explains why he talked at the man without pause. — 00:01:33

    “in this equation, X equals not being able to shut up”

  • After twelve minutes of John's monologue praising his work, the man finally speaks. — 00:02:00

    “Thank you, but I'm not Greg Mortenson.”

  • John offers what he can add to the national Greg Mortenson discussion, echoing his mistaken-identity story. — 00:02:23

    “he looks like a lot of other white guys.”

  • John forbids Hank to read the secret birthday thread. — 00:03:05

    “Hank, don't read it or I will gouge out your eyes.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Greg Mortenson · Hanko de Mayo

Also: People: Walt Whitman

Projects: Your Pants

Works: John's untitled novel (2011) · Paper Towns · Three Cups of Tea

Organizations: Central Asia Institute · Kiva · Penguin Books

Rituals: Question Tuesday

Terms: doobly-doo · imagine others complexly

Places: Afghanistan · Bangladesh · Netherlands

Only in the description or credits: Amsterdam · Belgium · Jongerenliteratuur Prijs · Lemniscaat · Stones into Schools · Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Also centred on Hanko de Mayo: Important (Temporary) Video · The Insurrection of Subjugated Knowledges · HANKO DE MAYO!!!!11!! · IT'S HANKO DE MAYO!! · It's HANKO DE MAYO!!!!!

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