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Beards, Birds, and the Paper Towns Release Date: Question Tuesday!

2015-02-03 (said on 2015-01-30 — implied: date said in the video; uploaded 4 days later) · Q&A · John · 3:16 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Nerdfighteria (also: Personal life, Books & writing, Everyday life, Pop culture, Health) · mode: Q&A & conversation · tags: recurring series, self promotion, community lore

John answers rapid-fire viewer questions on Question Tuesday, recorded the Friday before a vacation: the Paper Towns movie release date, Looking for Alaska's ambiguity, marriage advice, vaccination, and Nerdfighteria's national bird.

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 Tuesday recorded the previous Friday before a vacation

  • ★ John says this Question Tuesday is recorded the previous Friday because he is going on vacation, so he may not know about anything important that happened since. — 00:00:04 · Question Tuesday

00:00:12 — Beard, no siblings in John's books, Holden Caulfield hat, apples or oranges

00:00:30 — Looking for Alaska's ambiguity; the Paper Towns movie release date and footage

  • ★★ Asked a spoiler-blanked question about Alaska in Looking for Alaska, John says he doesn't know; for him the question is whether we can live hopeful, thoughtful lives despite ambiguity. — 00:00:34 · Looking for Alaska (novel)
  • ★★★ John says the Paper Towns movie comes out June 5th. — 00:00:46 · Paper Towns (film)
  • ★★ John says he watched about ten minutes of the Paper Towns movie that Jake Schreier showed him in Los Angeles, and he is very excited. — 00:00:49 · Paper Towns (film), Los Angeles

00:00:54 — Productivity tip: procrastinate, then panic

  • ★ John's only productivity tip: procrastinate until you feel sour panic-adrenaline, then work furiously; he admits it is a terrible tip. (playful) — 00:00:57

00:01:09 — Tootsie Pop licks, favorite Art Assignment videos, favorite Taylor Swift song

  • ★★ John says it takes between 150 and 500 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop, and that there are studies about this (links in the description). — 00:01:11
    • a number in question (doubtful): "Between 150 and 500" — check against the recording
  • ★★ John's favorite Art Assignment video is Christoph Niemann's Emotional Furniture; he also enjoyed the Highlights video in which he made prints with Sarah. — 00:01:16 · The Art Assignment, Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★ John says his favorite Taylor Swift song is probably Blank Space, which Henry calls 'Boys Love Torture'. (hedged) — 00:01:24 · Henry Green

00:01:27 — Is John writing a new book?

  • ★★ Asked repeatedly whether he is writing a new book, John says he is trying to, and that the questioning is not helping. — 00:01:29

00:01:38 — Advice for engaged couples

  • ★★ John's advice for engaged couples: done right, the marriage will be much longer and more important than the wedding, so don't stress too much about the wedding. — 00:01:40

00:01:49 — Rap music from the Paper Towns set; the Mountain Goats in return

  • ★★ John says Nat and Justice introduced him to rap artists on the Paper Towns set, including Earl Sweatshirt, whom he likes a lot; in turn he introduced them to the Mountain Goats. — 00:01:50 · Paper Towns (film)

00:02:00 — Nerdfighteria's national bird: the owl

  • ★★ John says if Nerdfighteria were a sovereign nation its national bird would be the owl, for wisdom, superpower hearing, swallowing mice whole and Hedwig, but he is open to suggestions. (playful, hedged) — 00:02:04 · Nerdfighteria

00:02:17 — Being recognised: a concessions worker's crush on Hank; Dave Green

  • ★★ John says a movie-theater concessions worker, excited and speechless, finally told him it was wild because she had a huge crush on his brother. — 00:02:20 · Hank Green
  • ★★ John says that if Hank thinks it is hard for him, he should imagine what it is like for Dave Green. (joke) — 00:02:34 · Dave Green

00:02:37 — Should all children be vaccinated?

  • ★★★ John says not all children should be vaccinated: immunosuppressed kids, e.g. with leukemia, and infants can't get some vaccines, which is precisely why everyone else should get vaccinated. — 00:02:39 · vaccine

00:02:53 — Nerdfighters anagrams, favorite dinosaur, apostle, toothbrush colour, pet rat name; sign-off

  • ★★ John says there is really only one choice of name for a pet rat: Master Splinter. (playful, hedged) — 00:03:09

Humor (significant)

  • Asked why none of the main characters in his books have siblings, John explains. — 00:00:18

    “It's just my little way of letting Hank know that in my narrative imagination, he does not exist.”

  • John's productivity tip: procrastinate, longer, until panic-adrenaline, then GO GO GO. — 00:01:06

    “That's a terrible productivity tip, but it's the only one I have.”

  • A viewer voice keeps pressing whether John is really writing a new book, louder each time. — 00:01:35

    “Uh, I'm just gonna level with you. That's not helping!”

  • A movie-theater worker told John she had a huge crush on Hank; John turns to Hank. — 00:02:34

    “you think it's hard for me, Hank, imagine what it's like for Dave Green.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Paper Towns (film) · vaccine

Also: People: Earl Sweatshirt · Henry Green · Jake Schreier · Justice Smith · Nat Wolff · Sarah Urist Green · Taylor Swift

Projects: The Art Assignment

Works: Blank Space · Emotional Furniture · Imprint Highlights · Looking for Alaska (novel)

Groups: The Mountain Goats

Rituals: Question Tuesday

Terms: doobly-doo

Concepts: herd immunity · leukemia · measles

Places: Los Angeles

Characters: Alaska Young · Dave Green · Hedwig · Holden Caulfield · Splinter

Products: Tootsie Pop

Only in the description or credits: Christoph Niemann

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