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WHAT AM I DOING

2023-11-17 · announcement · Hank · 6:14 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects (also: Personal life, Nerdfighteria) · mode: Announcements · tags: self promotion, fundraising ask, civic or action cta, community lore

Unsure what his job is after cancer treatment, Hank reveals that during chemo he bought 10% of the mobile word game Gubbins, with his share going to charity, asks viewers to download it, share postcards and suggest override words, and calls such projects his job; he also plugs holiday shipping deadlines and his cancer socks.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — After cancer treatment and turning 43, Hank asks what he is doing

  • ★★★ Hank says some days he doesn't know what his job is; after finishing cancer treatment he has stepped back asking what he is doing and whether this is his life. — 00:00:00 · cancer
  • ★★ Hank says that also happens at 43, and he turned 43 the day before he was diagnosed with cancer; this is new and he doesn't love it. — 00:00:16 · cancer
  • ★ Hank tells viewers who think he talks about his cancer a lot to imagine what it is like inside his head. (playful) — 00:00:23

00:00:29 — The many things the channel has done: the dachshund and the Nintendo, higher education, the cancer socks

  • ★★ Hank recalls that the channel spent a long time trying to figure out whether their childhood dachshund pooped in their Nintendo. (playful) — 00:00:31
  • ★★ Hank says the channel has also tried several high-impact strategies to reduce the barriers to higher education in America. — 00:00:38 · United States
  • ★★ Hank recalls announcing last week (November 2023) the eight pairs of patterned socks he designed during chemo, now sold so more people can get cancer treatment. — 00:00:44 · Hank's Cancer Socks, chemotherapy

00:00:58 — Cancer socks and holiday shipping deadlines at Good.Store, DFTBA.com and other stores

  • ★★ Hank tells viewers outside the US that today is the last day for standard shipping guaranteed by Christmas on the socks, Good.Store, Complexly calendars, DFTBA.com, McElroyMerch.com and the Dropout TV Store. — 00:01:05 · Hank's Cancer Socks, Good Store, DFTBA Records, United States
  • ★★ Hank says US viewers get free shipping on DFTBA.com orders over $50 today and tomorrow, and DFTBA sells for many creators. — 00:01:33 · DFTBA Records

00:01:40 — During chemo Hank buys 10% of the mobile game Gubbins, his share going to charity

  • ★★ Hank says all of this still feels new: there are lots of ways to do things on the internet that people simply haven't thought of yet. — 00:01:46
  • ★★★ During chemo Hank saw a Gubbins gameplay trailer on TikTok, contacted the developers, got early access and loved the game. — 00:02:09 · TikTok, chemotherapy
  • ★★★ Told that publishing a mobile game is hard, Hank offered to buy 10% of Gubbins, giving the developers money to perfect it before launch and him 10% of its revenue forever. — 00:02:25
  • ★★★ Hank says he will donate his share to the Foundation to Decrease World Suck, and announces that he owns a piece of Gubbins. — 00:02:41 · Foundation to Decrease World Suck, world suck
  • ★★ Though told not to make big decisions like buying a car during chemo, Hank paid around the price of a new car for 10% of the game, against some advice, because he wanted to be alive. (playful, hedged) — 00:02:46 · chemotherapy

00:03:07 — Three asks for Gubbins: download it, post postcards, suggest override words; downloading it together

  • ★★ Hank says he doesn't regret it: Nerdfighteria now has a game that is partly its own. — 00:03:07 · Nerdfighteria
  • ★ Hank credits the game's talented artists and developers, who had almost finished it when he came along. — 00:03:16
  • ★★★ Hank says 10% of whatever money Gubbins makes will go into the money distributed through the Project for Awesome. — 00:03:23 · Project for Awesome
  • ★★ Hank explains that Gubbins is a word game in which clearing a word pops up a congratulatory message. — 00:03:37
  • ★★ Hank says some messages are Easter eggs, such as a Star Wars line for OBI; there are hundreds of these 'override words'. — 00:03:45
  • ★★★ Hank asks viewers to download Gubbins: it is free with no ads, one play a day unless you pay six dollars, which he suggests. — 00:03:52
  • ★★ Hank asks players to make and post the game's postcards, or use the Gubbins hashtag, so more people see and play it. — 00:04:06
  • ★★★ Hank asks viewers to suggest override words and their messages through a form in the description. — 00:04:23
  • ★★ Hank says humans will curate the suggestions and not pick all, but the list may grow from hundreds to thousands; the form closes after a week. (hedged) — 00:04:35
  • ★★ Hank says Gubbins is on iOS and Android and is currently the number two word game and number 14 free game in the App Store. — 00:04:43
  • ★ Hank walks viewers through downloading Gubbins together on their phones, typing G-U-B-B into the App Store or Google Play. (playful) — 00:04:55

00:05:29 — Projects like this are Hank's job; sign-off and shipping plug for Good.Store boxes and cancer socks

  • ★★★ Hank says that amid his existential anxiety and confusion, a project like this is his job among his other jobs, and a pretty good one. — 00:05:29

    “doing something like that, that's my job. And that's a pretty dang good job.”

  • ★★ Hank says Good.Store holiday boxes cost $25 to $99, and all Good.Store products donate 100% of their profit to making the world better and more equitable. — 00:05:50 · Good Store

  • ★★ Hank says some styles and sizes of the cancer socks are running out, so viewers who want them should buy now. — 00:06:08 · Hank's Cancer Socks

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In a channel comment Hank says the Studio Folly team asked whether he wanted to be their publisher, and he said no. — creator comment

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Central: Gubbins

Also: Projects: DFTBA Records · Foundation to Decrease World Suck · Good Store · Project for Awesome

Works: Complexly calendars · Hank's Cancer Socks · Toon Blast

Organizations: Dropout · TikTok

Groups: McElroy brothers

Concepts: cancer · chemotherapy · existential crisis · higher education

Places: United States

Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi

Products: Android · App Store · Google Play · Nintendo Entertainment System

animal: Red

Only in the description or credits: Studio Folly

Replies to

  • continues · My Final Chemo Secret — “Like last week, I announced that during chemo I had very meticulously designed eight pairs of socks”

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