John: Good morning, Hank, it's Tuesday!
Today's video contains many updates about sports and art which are supposed to be opposites,
but as we shall see today, that dichotomy - like so many dichotomies - is a lie.
Also for reasons that will soon become clear I have to wear a lot of shirts today.
So Hank as previously noted, I am auctioning off my support in the World Cup this year,
which is why I recently acquired gear from all 32 nations participating in the tournament.
Basically if you go to the link in the dooblydoo you can essentially purchase my love on behalf
of the country of your choice.
AND your donation will be 100% tax-deductible, provided that you live in the United States
- this isn't seriously our uniform, is it?
I don't feel like I'm about to play World Class soccer; I feel like a six-year-old dressed
for Thanksgiving dinner.
So to date this crazy plan has raised nearly $6,000 for Nerdfighteria's charity, the Foundation
to Decrease Worldsuck, but starting today, all proceeds are going to benefit sarcoma
research.
Sarcoma is the kind of cancer that Augustus Waters has in The Fault in Our Stars.
It’s also a cancer that lots of actual people have in real life and it sucks and I hate
it, so we’re gonna raise some money to fight sarcoma.
Here’s the deal: every time you donate one dollar, I will donate three, so your dollar
is essentially worth four dollars AND I will support the team of your choice in the World
Cup and I will be the most committed fan in the world!
Unless someone else pays me more.
Like Hank, as it stands I’ll be supporting the Ivory Coast when they play Columbia, and
to prepare myself I have already learned several songs about Kolo Touré.
[singing] Kolo!
KOLO KOLO- right no singing.
Okay but maybe you like your soccer slightly less professional!
Hank, remember how Nerdfighteria uses advertising proceeds from a FIFA video series to sponsor
an actual professional football team that fights homophobia and racism and is owned
by its fans?
Right, well Nerdfightaria-sponsored AFC Wimbledon finished this season in 20TH, avoiding relegation
from the fourth tier of English football- HUZZAH!
Meanwhile, the fictional AFC Wimbledon Wimbly Womblys, led by Bald John Green, Other John
Green, Seb Brown, and Yayayabamba are putting together a great season!
Hank, I suddenly realized how weird this must all sound to new nerdfighters, and also to
old nerdfighters, really just to anyone, come to think of it.
I mean the movie version of my book is coming out in ten days, and I spend most of my free
time worrying about the health and well-being of FIFA 14 players who are technically made
out of 1’s and 0’s.
Although to be fair, so is the movie.
Okay maybe you like games but you don’t like soccer, by the way I think this is Argentina,
but it doesn’t show up well in this light.
Anyway, did you know that there’s an amazing nerdfighter Minecraft server called Nerdcrafteria
that also raises money to decrease worldsuck?
Check it out!
And now, at last – let’s move on to art.
So Sarah’s new show The Art Assignment is going great; there’s a new assignment up
from the brilliant and fascinating artist Kate Gilmore.
And if you like talking about and/or making art, you will find a thriving community over
at The Art Assignment, where people are making everything from, like, gifs to sculptures.
What else is going on?
Oh right, that Nerdfighter Kiva group, that band of suck decreasers, is very, very close
to 4 million dollars in total loans to entrepreneurs in the developing world.
So in case you don’t know about Kiva – you choose a business person to support, you can
make a loan for as little as $25, and then they pay you back over time.
And if you’ve never tried it before, your first loan is free.
It’s hard to believe we’ve almost made 4 million dollars in loans.
And of course Hank, there’s also SciShow Space, which has a great community of space
nerds thinking and talking about our big and beautiful and terrifying universe.
And lastly Nerfighteria’s new community ambassador Valerie2776 has created an amazing
map and calendar of upcoming events and gatherings.
Do you have a point, John?
Yes, I have two points!
First, look how many shirts I can wear in a single video!
Secondly, even within the tiny world of Nerdfightaria, there are lots of ways to connect, via nerdfighter
gatherings, or if you love art, via The Art Assignment, or if you love terrible FIFA playing,
via the Wimbly Womblys.
But Hank, at least for me, the best connections aren’t just about feeling less alone; they’re
about finding ways to look at the universe more broadly and enthusiastically.
Whether it’s contemporary art that takes you there, or soccer, or building worlds in
Minecraft, or learning about space, or working with entrepreneurs around the world, or whatever,
it’s great to feel alive to the world.
For me it’s less about what you like than it is about how you like it.
Like, I’m not a huge fan of boxing, but the poet Richard Katrovas is, and he once
wrote that to him, boxing serves "as a mottled lens / Unto the bifurcated human heart / Whose
one true nature is to break apart."
Hank, I'd like to think that the human heart has more than one true nature, but regardless,
here’s my question for you, nerdfighters – what’s your lens these days?
I did it!
I wore all 32 shirts in a video!
Via Brasil!
Hank, I will see you on Friday.