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The Best Days of My Decade

2019-12-17 · list · John · 3:57 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Personal life (also: Books & writing, Sports) · mode: Personal update · tags: civic or action cta

In his last video of the decade, John recalls his favorite days of the 2010s (apart from his kids' births, which he keeps private): An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall, AFC Wimbledon's Wembley play-off win, finishing Turtles All the Way Down after Sarah suggested a time jump, and Hank's first-novel launch, then lists little moments and asks viewers to share theirs.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Last video of the decade; the kids' births left out to keep a privacy line

  • ★★ This is John's last Vlogbrothers video of the decade, so he shares some of his favorite days of the 2010s. — 00:00:01 · Vlogbrothers
  • ★★★ John says the two best days of his decade and his life were the days his kids were born. — 00:00:09 · Henry Green, Alice Green
  • ★★ John won't talk about his kids' births because you have to draw the privacy line somewhere, and that is where he draws it. — 00:00:13

00:00:19 — January 15, 2013: An Evening of Awesome at Carnegie Hall, Chris's surprise, 'You Were Cool'

  • ★★★ John's very favorite day of the decade was January 15, 2013, when he and Hank played a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall in rented tuxedos. — 00:00:19 · Hank Green
  • ★★ That Evening of Awesome included the Mountain Goats, Kimya Dawson, Neil Gaiman and many friends, with Sarah, Katherine and the brothers' parents all there. — 00:00:28 · Sarah Urist Green, Katherine Green, Mike Green, Sydney Green
  • ★★ At the end of the night John found out his best friend Chris had flown in to surprise him, and he cried with happiness. — 00:00:36
  • ★ John jokes he'll probably never again see Hank in a tuxedo, so he is glad he took the chance. (playful, hedged) — 00:00:44 · Hank Green

  • ★★ The Mountain Goats played one of John's favorite songs, 'You Were Cool': it's good to be young, but better to come through those years with hearts still beating. — 00:00:48

    “It's good to be young, but let's not kid ourselves”

00:01:07 — May 30, 2016: AFC Wimbledon win the play-off final at Wembley

  • ★★★ Next favorite day: May 30, 2016, when AFC Wimbledon, with DFTBA on their shorts, played a play-off final at Wembley for promotion to the third tier. — 00:01:07 · AFC Wimbledon, DFTBA
  • ★★ Everything was perfect: singing with fans in a pub, then Wembley with his dad, Rosianna, his friend Stuart and Wimbly Womblies co-founder Meredith. — 00:01:21 · AFC Wimbledon, Mike Green, Rosianna Halse Rojas
  • ★★ Lyle Taylor scored to put AFC Wimbledon into the third tier, and John partied all night with fans, friends, players and his dad. — 00:01:32 · AFC Wimbledon, Mike Green

00:01:45 — December 29, 2016: Sarah's time-jump idea and finishing Turtles All the Way Down in a Michigan cabin

  • ★★★ On December 29, 2016, unsure Turtles All the Way Down would ever be worthwhile, John was alone in a small Michigan cabin with bread, peanut butter and lots of Diet Dr Pepper. — 00:01:45 · Turtles All the Way Down
  • ★★★ Stuck on the ending after a sleepless night, John called Sarah in tears; she suggested a time jump, and he wrote the last 15 pages in one go, joyfully, for Aza and himself. — 00:02:02 · Sarah Urist Green, Turtles All the Way Down

00:02:27 — Hank's support of John's writing since the Paper Towns tour, and Hank's own book launch at Town Hall

  • ★★★ Hank long supported John's writing: when Paper Towns came out in 2008, Hank and Katherine toured libraries and bookstores with him in a rented minivan, Hank singing and playing a turtle professor or sock puppet. — 00:02:27 · Hank Green, Katherine Green, Paper Towns
  • ★★★ On September 25, 2018, Hank's first novel An Absolutely Remarkable Thing was published, and John got to support him at the launch at Town Hall in New York City. — 00:02:53 · An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, New York City
  • ★★ Seeing Hank surrounded by copies of his book was one of the great joys of John's life. — 00:03:05 · Hank Green

00:03:10 — Ask to share memories; a list of little favorite moments; sign-off

  • ★★ John asks viewers to share their best memories of the decade in the comments; he needs that positivity and thinks the world might too. — 00:03:10
  • ★★ Many favorite moments were little: a Joan Mitchell show with Sarah, sprawling at VidCon with Rosianna, hamburgers with Hank, the Pettibon spiral, his mom's painting of his La-Z-Boy, laughing while filming Crash Course with Stan. — 00:03:18 · Sarah Urist Green, Rosianna Halse Rojas, VidCon, Sydney Green, Crash Course
  • ★ John closes by echoing the lyric and toasting the next ten years. — 00:03:50

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In a channel comment John urges viewers to listen to the Mountain Goats, links 'You Were Cool' at Carnegie Hall, and thanks them for sharing their decades. — creator comment
  • ★★ Answering a viewer who says the decade really ends next year (2020), John argues decades are made-up constructs defined colloquially by the third digit of the year, though the viewer is right mathematically. — creator comment · social construction
  • ★★ Asked in the comments for his holiday book list, John says Life's Library is now his ongoing book recommendation engine, and a subscription can be a gift. — creator comment
  • ★★ In a comment John notes that his best days were not career events like the TFIOS movie release but time spent with people he has long been lucky to love. — creator comment · The Fault in Our Stars (film)

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: AFC Wimbledon · Turtles All the Way Down

Also: People: Chris Waters · Joan Mitchell · Katherine Green · Kimya Dawson · Lyle Taylor · Meredith · Mike Green · Neil Gaiman · Raymond Pettibon · Rosianna Halse Rojas · Sarah Urist Green · Stan Muller · Sydney Green

Projects: An Evening of Awesome · Crash Course · VidCon

Works: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing · Paper Towns · You Were Cool

Organizations: La-Z-Boy

Groups: The Mountain Goats

Terms: DFTBA

Concepts: privacy

Places: Carnegie Hall · Michigan · New York City · The Town Hall · Wembley Stadium

Characters: Aza Holmes

Products: Diet Dr Pepper

Only in the description or credits: Life's Library · social construction · The Fault in Our Stars (film)

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