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Something Very Strange Has Been Happening to Me

2024-09-26 · announcement · Hank · 3:56 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Projects (also: Personal life) · mode: Announcements · tags: self promotion, song or performance, community lore

Hank tells a mysterious tale of a book he found in a trash can that wanted to become human and to reach more people, then announces a Kickstarter for it ($14 edition, $27 hardcover), saying the book let him do human things away from screens.

What is said

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

00:00:00 — Hank's habit of looking in trash cans: the stolen purse he returned, reselling discarded textbooks in college

  • ★★ Hank says he looks in every trash can he opens and has a thing for trash: most stuff is where it belongs, but in the trash it could be anything. (playful) — 00:00:12
  • ★★ Hank once found a stolen purse in the trash with credit card and ID inside and returned it to its owner, feeling like a hero; Katherine dislikes that he was rewarded for the habit. (playful) — 00:00:29 · Katherine Green

00:00:58 — The tale of the strange book from the trash that wanted to become human

  • ★ Hank says that in college he found old textbooks in the trash at semester's end and resold them on eBay, which might explain his obsession with trash. (hedged) — 00:00:58
  • ★★★ Hank tells, as a strange tale, how a book he found in a trash can seemed to know him, gave him instructions and wanted to become human with his help. (fiction) — 00:01:10
  • ★★ Hank says that spending time with the book made him a bit more human: its sincere appreciation for humans made him appreciate being human. (playful) — 00:02:05

00:02:25 — The book wants more readers: copies for John and friends, then a Kickstarter with two editions

  • ★ Hank says the book wanted to reach more people, so he made a copy for John and then a dozen or so for friends. (playful) — 00:02:40 · John Green
  • ★★★ Hank announces a Kickstarter to see how many copies of the book they can make. — 00:02:50 · Kickstarter
  • ★★ Hank says there are two versions; the first costs $14 so it can reach as many hands as possible. — 00:02:58
  • ★★ Hank says a nicer hardcover with nice paper costs $27, and two extra dollars guarantee shipping by Christmas. — 00:03:06 · Christmas
  • ★★★ Hank calls it a good book: he was desperately grateful for a chance to do human things with a book rather than inhuman things with a screen. — 00:03:15
  • ★★ Hank says that although the book seems to think he is doing it favors, he thinks it is doing favors for him. — 00:03:36
  • ★ Hank says they kept the Kickstarter as simple and cheap as they could and he has no idea how it will go. (unsure) — 00:03:40 · Kickstarter

In the description and comments

  • ★★ In a channel comment, Hank reminds viewers that he invented the Format and John popularized it. (playful) — creator comment

Humor (significant)

  • Hank returned a stolen purse he found in the trash and felt like a hero. — 00:00:29

    “but kind of terrible for Katherine, who does not like that I have been rewarded for this behavior.”

  • A book from the trash tells Hank it wants to become human. — 00:01:26

    “And so I ignored it, of course, because what else do you do in a situation like that?”

  • Hank says the book grew more human, though not human, obviously. — 00:01:56

    “if there's a way to get closer to human it got closer you see what i'm saying”

Threads in this video

Where the stories that moved here went next

Mentioned

Christmas · Credit card · eBay · Katherine Green · Kickstarter · textbook · The Book of Good Times

Later videos replying to this one

  • 2025-05-09 · OK, I MESSED UP. (Hank) — continues — “Seven months ago, I made a video about a book that I found” (00:00:00)