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I did it!

2021-03-30 · letter vlog · John · 3:51 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal essay · tags: self promotion, community lore

John has finished signing 250,000 sheets for The Anthropocene Reviewed book, recalls the flow and the stress of it, loves imagining the books going places he will never see, praises his LectroJog, and on the last day he can change the book reflects on letting it go to its readers.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Finished signing 250,000 sheets; 78 boxes for the Virginia printer; a literal ton; Sarah's 'this is the last time, right?'

  • ★★★ John announces he has done it: he has signed his name 250,000 times. — 00:00:00 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)
  • ★★ On the 250,000th signature John wrote a review of signing your name 250,000 times. — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John has packed 78 boxes of signed sheets to be bound into copies of The Anthropocene Reviewed book at the printer in Virginia. — 00:00:00 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)
  • ★ The 250,000 sheets weigh over 2,200 pounds, so John has literally signed a ton of sheets. (playful) — 00:00:00
  • ★★ John signed every night for some 40 or 50 nights; each time Sarah asked whether this was the last time, and he said yes. (hedged) — 00:00:29 · Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★ Signing 250,000 times showed John there is a limit to how many times you can sign your name while being a parent and having a job. — 00:00:29

00:00:58 — Flow and stress of signing; daydreaming where each book will end up; a book going on adventures its author can't imagine

  • ★★ At times the signing hours passed in a flow-state contentment John needed; at others, with a cramping hand and looming deadlines, he felt frustrated and overwhelmed. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ John says he is absurdly lucky to sign 250,000 times but it was stressful, and he distracted himself by daydreaming about where each book might end up. — 00:00:58
  • ★★ John imagines a copy going to Ocala, Florida, where he saw Halley's Comet with his dad in 1986. — 00:00:58 · Mike Green
  • ★ John imagines copies going to his old high school campus and to Alliance, Nebraska, home of Carhenge, a replica of Stonehenge made of junked cars; he writes about these in the book. — 00:01:27 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)

  • ★★★ Most copies will go to places John has never seen and never will, and he finds it lovely: a book going on adventures its author can't imagine. — 00:01:27

    “a book going on adventures its author can't imagine”

00:01:56 — Can't quite close the door on bulk signing: ode to the LectroJog; hope that this is not his last book

  • ★★ It is definitely the last time John attempts a six-figure number of signatures, but he can't quite close the door and finds himself waffling. — 00:01:56
  • ★★ If he never signs in bulk again, John may never use his beloved LectroJog again, which he calls the greatest piece of machinery in human history. (playful) — 00:01:56
  • ★★ John doesn't think he will ever sign his name 250,000 times again. (hedged) — 00:02:25
  • ★★ Wanting more work for the LectroJog, John hopes The Anthropocene Reviewed will not be his last book. (playful, hedged) — 00:02:25 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)
  • ★★★ John has had a very rough period finishing the book, mostly from things more important than books (family health, managing his brain disorder), but partly from the book. — 00:02:25 · mental disorder

00:02:40 — Rough period finishing the book; last day for changes; pleasure of remaking little choices; vision board and sign-off

  • ★★★ Today is the last day John can change the book; from tomorrow it is in the hands of the Virginia printers, and on May 18 it will belong to its readers. — 00:02:54 · The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)
  • ★★ John can't bear to reread his work after it comes out, so today he is reading the book for the last time. — 00:02:54

  • ★★★ The book has long been finished and John is only futzing with commas and sentences, but he takes pleasure in making and remaking the million little choices that form a book. — 00:03:23

    “making and remaking the million little choices that together form a book”

  • ★ John's vision board reads 'don't sign name' as a helpful reminder. (playful) — 00:03:23

In the description and comments

Humor (significant)

  • The 250,000 signed sheets weigh over 2,200 pounds, so the idiom is literally true. — 00:00:29

    “for me to say that I've signed a ton of sheets over the last few months.”

  • John explains he can't swear off bulk signing because he would lose occasion to use his paper jogger. — 00:01:56

    “the LectroJog really is the greatest piece of machinery ever created in all of human history.”

  • After praising the LectroJog for making perfection out of disorder, John wishes he fit inside it. — 00:02:25

    “Like, I could really stand to be LectroJogged right now.”

  • Having promised Sarah it was the last time, John shows his vision board. — 00:03:23

    “I had to put on my vision board, don't sign name, just as a helpful reminder.”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: The Anthropocene Reviewed (book)

Also: People: Mike Green · Sarah Urist Green

Concepts: flow (psychology) · mental disorder · vision board

Places: Alliance, Nebraska · Carhenge · Halley's Comet · Ocala, Florida · Stonehenge · Virginia

Products: Lectrojog

Only in the description or credits: Bookshop.org · Canada · United States

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