Dear John: Long Time No See

or revisiting an old, dear internet friend

Okay, so lately I've been wasting ...er, spending an inordinate amount of time discovering a number of interesting websites & blogs via different sites. And by "different sites", I mean Twitter: the Mother-of-all-time-suck that actually enables one to stumble on cool stuff and interesting articles or groovy videos or best-of lists or other random crap you didn't know you were interested in until someone tweeted it and you feel compelled to click on it because, you know, that person actually took the time to cut and paste the address and it would be rude if you didn't at least take a fleeting glimpse at it and.. Good God!?! how is it I have been sitting here at the computer for three hours in my PJs and bed-head hair when I was only going to take 15 minutes to check email?!?

Yeah. That Twitter.

Anywho, during my internet incarceration, I've neglected to keep up with one of my favorite YouTube bloggers, the one and only young adult author John Green. (His tomes are great reads, especially "An Abundance of Katherines". Go buy it.) John is a quick-witted, literate and extremely charming self-proclaimed Nerd. He also has a tendancy to run his hands through his hair when he's upset or nervous, causing a puff factor which has at times reached as high as four inches.

He and his brother, Hank started a video project over two years ago on YouTube in an attempt to get to know one another better. They have successfully created a devout virtual Nerdfighteria empire complete with over 100,000 followers. They now have a music label, sell tons of merchandise and inspire thousands to volunteer and do good works to help reduce world suck. They're really sweet, noble guys. I wrote about them here. Their meteoric internet rise is pretty incredible. Almost as incredible as his crazy-ass coiffure.

Seriously. Look at that thing. It's HUGE! It's so spacious I think there's a family of migrant workers homesteading in the clearing of that Green Forest.

Today I got a chance to catch up on his videos from the last few months. I'd forgotten how much I missed his humor and unique take on the world. Watching his antics again is like eating a big bowl of comfort food on a cold, winter night or slipping into my favorite pair of jeans.

Here are some of the highlights from today's viewing. The brothers Green created an online game named "Truth or Fail". Here's John's entertaining contribution.



One of their very early videos discussed the endless humor of placing the phrase "in your pants" after book titles like "The Unbearable Lightness of Being ...In Your Pants". This also works well when paired with fortune cookie fortunes. As Seinfeld's Banya would say, "That gold, Jerry! Gold!"



He regularly answers viewers questions onTuesdays...known as "Question Tuesdays"



And, of course, he eats weird, disgusting food stuffs like fat sandwiches as punishment for our enjoyment...off of Fiesta Ware, no less.



Yeah. I've missed you John Green.