John Green's Blog, page 15

Question Tuesday: TFIOS Movie, Existential Crises, and Symbolism

In which John Green answers real questions from real nerdfighters on a range of issues from why writers use symbols to whether there are more stars or grains of sand on earth.

The Art Assignment: http://www.youtube.com/theartassignment

More stars than grains of sand: http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wild...

Thoughts from a Cruise

I went on a cruise...which is not something I ever thought I'd do. It was marvelous and extremely peculiar and, yes, definitely made me feel guilty. But immensely valuable...not just because I go to do amazing things with amazing people, but because it helped me understand how hard we will work, how much we will pay, the crazy things we'll do...to get to community. People are hardly individuals, there is nothing so valuable as nestling into the warm comfort of a trusted community and I'm so happy to have that and, occasionally, to be able to help others get to it.

Thanks to Paul and Storm and Jonathan and Drew for putting together something so amazing.

Sara Watkins is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBr4...
Jim Boggia is here: https://www.youtube.com/user/JimBoggi...
The Thrilling Adventure Hour is here: http://thrillingadventurehour.com/

Understanding Ukraine: The Problems Today and Some Historical Context

In which John discusses the crisis in Ukraine, and how the influence of Russia and Europe have shaped Ukrainian politics for centuries. REMINDER: Educational videos are allowed to be more than four minutes long.

Thanks to Rosianna for image-gathering: http://www.youtube.com/rosianna

The BBC's Ukraine hub: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europ...
CIA Factbook on Ukraine: https://www.cia.gov/library/publicati...
The wikipedia article about the Crimean War is quite good, especially in contemporary context: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War

The Cost of Fun

In which Hank breaks down the costs of various kinds of fun...though, of course, not all funs are created equal. I do want to say that, whatever you enjoy, don't let anyone belittle that for you. I was kinda disparaging toward TV...but I also love TV...I just don't know if I could love it 34 hours per week. The point of enjoyment is enjoyment so...yeah...whatever floats your boat!

John and Chris Meet in the Middle

Join The Art Assignment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9lpMF...

In which John Green and his best friend Chris go to rather extreme lengths to meet in the exact midpoint between them.

The rules:
1. Pick a friend.
2. Determine the exact midpoint between the two of you. You can use geomidpoint.com to help you out.
3. Agree to meet there at a certain time.
4. Once making the agreement, don't communicate until you meet in the middle!
5. Document the meeting and share it if you want on YouTube, twitter, tumblr, whatever with the hashtag #theartassignment.

Thanks to my friend Chris for being in the video! You can follow him on twitter: https://twitter.com/wategi

Ranting about Books

The Art Assignment, Episode 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9lpMF...

How to Adult: http://www.youtube.com/learnhowtoadult

In which Hank is a somewhat disgruntled lover of books.

18 Great Books You Probably Haven’t Read

In which John shares 18 of his favorite books that aren't wildly popular bestsellers. CLICK SHOW MORE TO GET THE BOOKS:

1. This Bloody Mary is the Last Thing I Own by Jonathan Rendall: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0880...

2. One of Us by Alice Dreger: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674...

3. Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312...

4. The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green by Joshua Braff: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003...

5. Thirsty by MT Anderson: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0763...

6. Boy Proof by Cecil Castellucci: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0763...

7. Fly on the Wall by E Lockhart: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385...

8. The Untelling by Tayari Jones: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0446...

9. The Golden Rule by Ilene Cooper: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0810...

10. Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399...

11. The Enormous Room by e. e. cummings: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486...

12. Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0312...

13. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679...

14. This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005...

15. Kendra by Coe Booth: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0439...

16. The Optimist's Daughter by Eudora Welty: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0679...

17. Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone: The Carter Family and their Legacy in American Music: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0743...

18. The Last Summer of Reason by Tahar Djaout:http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0803...

WILL YOU MISS ME WHEN I'M GONE FROM YOUR PANTS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbvbEM...

Happy Third Chocolate Day!

In which Hank discusses the Valentine's day, one of the three candy-based holidays in America. Why do we have candy-based holidays in America? I don't know, probably because we get to choose the gods we worship and the god we've chosen is chocolate. We could do worse.

Also, he discusses the Olympics and how weird they are and why we value these weird things and how it doesn't really matter why because caring is valuable for it's own sake.

The Art Assignment Trailer! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mab64T...

Emma Approved is Back: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEGm1j...

Am I 1% Nacho? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLFKDD...

HANKGAMESX2 - Pikmin: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRfv6c...

A Middle Aged Man

The Hank video in question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4ALd-...

In which John discusses the revelation that he is a middle aged man, our gleeful fascination with celebrity downfalls, Justin Bieber, and what to pay attention to.

Kill All The Humans

In which Hank tries to figure out whether humans are worth all of the environmental destruction they wreak about the earth.

Things Going On:
DFTBA SALE: http://www.dftba.com/category/28/Sale
Crash Course Psychology: http://youtube.com/crashcourse
HankGames (with Hank): http://youtube.com/hankgames