(no subject)
I mean...I don't even know where on earth to begin. I met John Green today. I spoke to John Green today.
JOHN GREEN RECOGNIZED MY NAME.
...I don't...wow.
I...took notes. I'm a dork like that sometimes.
So Siobhan Vivian introduced him, which was amazing, because I really like her books. The auditorium place was filling up really fast, and we found out that 597 people had shown up to the event. WOW. This is considering most of us were expecting like...100. At most.
Siobhan introduced John by contrasting his awesomeness to Justin Bieber's, which was funny.
John...coming on stage was like someone had punched me and knocked me out or something. Seeing him on screen for years now...and then seeing him IN PERSON...was just like...whoa. We were a few feet away from him the entire time.
He had a powerpoint. It started out with an ADORABLE picture of Henry. He talked about how Henry's world is all about Henry and only Henry, and how Henry is unable to imagine complexly.
Some of the ideas that he talked about that I loved were:
-Reading is getting to see people outside the context of onesself
-Most of our lives are figuring ourselves out in the context of others.
-You can choose what you think about, what you devote your time and attention to, and can use that to turn imagination into reality.
People asked questions after that.
Some of them were annoying.
John kept exclaiming how this was a huge group of people.
Q: Are his videos scripted?
A: Yes and no. Some of the more complicated ones are, some just have ideas jotted down, it varies.
Q: What did he do the hour before the talk?
A: Hung out with Matt, Lauren, and was interviewed for some TV thing
Q: What's up with the Evil Baby Orphanage?
A: He and Hank are trying to figure out ways to incorporate it into new videos but they need ideas.
Q: Why were the "other John's" (uh...David, you mean?) will's words uncapitalized?
A: David's will was more used to communicating online, which typically doesn't usually use many capitals.
(I was surprised by this answer, as I had always thought it was because David's will was depressed and therefore, felt no need for capitalization)
Q: How does he film IRL without being awkward?
A: He doesn't pay attention anymore.
Q: What happened with the punishments?
A: He and Hank do this so consistently now that there's no need for punishments, and they are, in John's words, moving towards videos that are "less fun". They do want to incorporate challenges though!
Q: Stupid super bowl question
A: the colts, whatever that is
Q: Will Looking for Alaska be a movie?
My answer: NO NO NO NO NO SHUT UP
A: Well, no, but John's happy with that, because as it stands, readers can create their own visualizations of the characters instead of automatically seeing the movie actors/actresses while reading. Although John would not hesitate to sell out to Hollywood if that chance came about. But that's the only thing he'll sell out to.
Q: How much was Looking for Alaska changed from the original version?
A: About 90%, if not more. Same character names, same middle event, but everything else...
Q: Was he referencing MT Anderson's book Feed?
A: Yes. He feels like we are already at a stage where we are all, in a way, plugged into feeds.
"Technology is morally ambiguous"
Q: Egypt. Wanna comment?
A: Video forthcoming.
Q: Does John support net neutrality?
A: Duh.
Q: How long does it take to make a video?
A: One hour of shooting, and then extensive editing.
Q: Upcoming novel?
A: scrapped The Sequel, the desert island book, and we got what we got of the Zombie novella. New book, out Spring 2012, is a book set in a children's hospital. It features a girl who has cancer, a hot boy who also has cancer, and a reclusive novelist who is, surprise surprise, obsessed with Swedish Hip-Hop.
(John set out to create a character who was a novelist obsessed with Swedish hip-hop...and ended up becoming a novelist obsessed with Swedish hip-hop)
And then there was the signing.
As we all walked over to the other part of the library...
John walked by us.
He brushed against me.
And said 'excuse me'
And then hi.
=O
I was #15 for getting my books signed (OUT OF 597!) and my friend Katy, who worked on the HPAFTW campaign with me, was #16. John signed my books, and he RECOGNIZED MY NAME because I made the Facebook event. And he commended my organizational abilities, and and and then I said that we're trying to get a Pittsburgh nerdfighters group going and he commended that, and and and and and AAH. Best moment of my life. [I am failing so hardcore at imagining people complexly right now...]
Then a bunch of us just hung out in the teen lounge, where Lauren and Matt were performing (i love how nonchalantly I say that...)
Pictures forthcoming on Facebook.
I'm kind of bummed that I never met the girl I wanted to meet from tumblr, but I got to meet Katy, which makes me extraordinarily happy. And John of course. Katy decided to drive back home tonight, and I feel bad, but I am glad I got to meet her. I was having a bad day, and I'm glad I was able to put all of that aside and be a good person anyways. That always astounds me.
But yeah. Wow. Just...wow.
It really truly felt like we were in Nerdfighteria, if only for a few hours.
JOHN GREEN RECOGNIZED MY NAME.
...I don't...wow.
I...took notes. I'm a dork like that sometimes.
So Siobhan Vivian introduced him, which was amazing, because I really like her books. The auditorium place was filling up really fast, and we found out that 597 people had shown up to the event. WOW. This is considering most of us were expecting like...100. At most.
Siobhan introduced John by contrasting his awesomeness to Justin Bieber's, which was funny.
John...coming on stage was like someone had punched me and knocked me out or something. Seeing him on screen for years now...and then seeing him IN PERSON...was just like...whoa. We were a few feet away from him the entire time.
He had a powerpoint. It started out with an ADORABLE picture of Henry. He talked about how Henry's world is all about Henry and only Henry, and how Henry is unable to imagine complexly.
Some of the ideas that he talked about that I loved were:
-Reading is getting to see people outside the context of onesself
-Most of our lives are figuring ourselves out in the context of others.
-You can choose what you think about, what you devote your time and attention to, and can use that to turn imagination into reality.
People asked questions after that.
Some of them were annoying.
John kept exclaiming how this was a huge group of people.
Q: Are his videos scripted?
A: Yes and no. Some of the more complicated ones are, some just have ideas jotted down, it varies.
Q: What did he do the hour before the talk?
A: Hung out with Matt, Lauren, and was interviewed for some TV thing
Q: What's up with the Evil Baby Orphanage?
A: He and Hank are trying to figure out ways to incorporate it into new videos but they need ideas.
Q: Why were the "other John's" (uh...David, you mean?) will's words uncapitalized?
A: David's will was more used to communicating online, which typically doesn't usually use many capitals.
(I was surprised by this answer, as I had always thought it was because David's will was depressed and therefore, felt no need for capitalization)
Q: How does he film IRL without being awkward?
A: He doesn't pay attention anymore.
Q: What happened with the punishments?
A: He and Hank do this so consistently now that there's no need for punishments, and they are, in John's words, moving towards videos that are "less fun". They do want to incorporate challenges though!
Q: Stupid super bowl question
A: the colts, whatever that is
Q: Will Looking for Alaska be a movie?
My answer: NO NO NO NO NO SHUT UP
A: Well, no, but John's happy with that, because as it stands, readers can create their own visualizations of the characters instead of automatically seeing the movie actors/actresses while reading. Although John would not hesitate to sell out to Hollywood if that chance came about. But that's the only thing he'll sell out to.
Q: How much was Looking for Alaska changed from the original version?
A: About 90%, if not more. Same character names, same middle event, but everything else...
Q: Was he referencing MT Anderson's book Feed?
A: Yes. He feels like we are already at a stage where we are all, in a way, plugged into feeds.
"Technology is morally ambiguous"
Q: Egypt. Wanna comment?
A: Video forthcoming.
Q: Does John support net neutrality?
A: Duh.
Q: How long does it take to make a video?
A: One hour of shooting, and then extensive editing.
Q: Upcoming novel?
A: scrapped The Sequel, the desert island book, and we got what we got of the Zombie novella. New book, out Spring 2012, is a book set in a children's hospital. It features a girl who has cancer, a hot boy who also has cancer, and a reclusive novelist who is, surprise surprise, obsessed with Swedish Hip-Hop.
(John set out to create a character who was a novelist obsessed with Swedish hip-hop...and ended up becoming a novelist obsessed with Swedish hip-hop)
And then there was the signing.
As we all walked over to the other part of the library...
John walked by us.
He brushed against me.
And said 'excuse me'
And then hi.
=O
I was #15 for getting my books signed (OUT OF 597!) and my friend Katy, who worked on the HPAFTW campaign with me, was #16. John signed my books, and he RECOGNIZED MY NAME because I made the Facebook event. And he commended my organizational abilities, and and and then I said that we're trying to get a Pittsburgh nerdfighters group going and he commended that, and and and and and AAH. Best moment of my life. [I am failing so hardcore at imagining people complexly right now...]
Then a bunch of us just hung out in the teen lounge, where Lauren and Matt were performing (i love how nonchalantly I say that...)
Pictures forthcoming on Facebook.
I'm kind of bummed that I never met the girl I wanted to meet from tumblr, but I got to meet Katy, which makes me extraordinarily happy. And John of course. Katy decided to drive back home tonight, and I feel bad, but I am glad I got to meet her. I was having a bad day, and I'm glad I was able to put all of that aside and be a good person anyways. That always astounds me.
But yeah. Wow. Just...wow.
It really truly felt like we were in Nerdfighteria, if only for a few hours.