So. Many. Good. Videos. Lately.

5 Second Films. Slogan? Wasting your time, but not very much.

"...and I don't / use enough / jumpcuts."

Christmas Facts with Hank and John in the same room.
Gesticulation NOW.


Bill covers the Beach Boys and sweetly serenades YouTube.

Project For Awesome is Awesome

Do you see this? This is the Most Discussed on YouTube page 2. See that at the bottom? THAT'S ME!

Yay Charities! Yay P4A!
http://www.livestream.com/projectforawesome

Georgia Who?

Anecdotal Health Care Concerns

In which John Green discusses Health Care Reform by looking at the case of Hank Green, who is cuter and smarter and writes better songs than someone else I once knew.

And if you are concerned that John is being too open about his brother's health problems, you should probably hear this song, which Hank wrote and posted on YouTube, like, 5 months ago.

If you live in Troy, you know: Uncle Sam was a real man

In which Emily makes a video to defend Uncle Sam's good name against John Green's slander.

I'm fascinated: Genderless parenting

I once heard a story on This American Life ( I think the episode was Somewhere Out There) about two transgendered children, two little boys who would like to be recognized as little girls. The thing which struck me most was that they said they didn't think of themselves as boys or as girls, but just as people.

If this is so, then why not accept your gender, but not the socially constructed implications? Sure, I'm male, but I like to wear dresses and play with dolls and have long hair.

A Swedish couple have recieved a lot of attention from their decision to keep their child's gender a secret. I'm interested to see how the child ends up, but unfortunately, the couple is my age. This will not assist me in time to make parenting decisions.


....because if I'm not married by 30, I'm probably going to look into adopting, and 6 years isn't enough time for a kid to grow up.

The article: http://www.thelocal.se/20232/20090623/

EDIT: I might as well take over Ally's blog theme.

John Green's video tonight concerned gender identity:

Good White Person

This morning I rode my bike to the farmers market. As I rode down my street, I said hello to and sort of ended up riding with another kid on a bike. He told me I didn't need a helmet, and asked why I was wearing one.

I figured I would never talk to this kid again, so I told him a friend of mine was hit by a car on her bike and killed. This did happen, but she wasn't someone I knew personally.

I also told him about the deal with my mom (she pierces her nose, I wear my helmet). He asked me how old my mom was, and said that he thought that was pretty cool.

He told me his name is Rashad and asked me if I go to school, and guessed Russell Sage. I had to explain about Goddard and how I don't live in Vermont. "Oh, but you're from there?" No, I'm from this area. I grew up in Saratoga.

"That explains the accent."

Accent?!?

"Yea, sort of country..."

Rashad goes to Hudson Valley. He grew up in Rochester. He is a year older than me, and is impressed that I'm where I'm at in my studies.

At one point he asked me if I had a boyfriend / why I didn't have a boyfriend. I started to explain that I'm looking for someone who loves Jesus and this isn't easy to find. At this point, his demeanor changed a little bit. A little more serious, a little less flirty. He asked me if I had ever looked into Jehovah's Witnesses.

I explained that I'm really opposed to this, because it is a "works" religion - being that you have to be on your toes at all times making sure you're doing everything right so that God will like you. I really believe that it should stem from faith, a love of God, a love of Jesus causes you to want to do things in a certain way. Like, I love my mom so I wear my helmet, because I wouldn't want to be dishonest to her. I don't wear the helmet because I think that not doing so will hurt my relationship with my mom, even if I believe that to be true, it isn't my motivation.

OK, Jehovah's Witness bashing and explanation over.

Rashad told me that he really wanted to be all religious (for the record, I never in my life set out to be 'all religious'), and that he questioned a lot of different religions. He asked me some questions, of which I explained my beliefs or explained why I thought the answers were irrelevant. Then he asked me two questions I found really interesting.

He asked me what I thought about a white, pointy nosed, blond haired, blue-eyed Jesus.

Jesus is from the Middle East, he wasn't from Western Europe. It is a pretty ridiculous notion that he was a white guy.

He asked me if I believed in Adam and Eve, and what I thought about them being white.

If we all came from Africa, and I believe that Adam and Eve started it all, then it follows that they were African.

"African? You believe that?"

Yea, I mean, it makes sense.

"You're a good white person."

I questioned him and he elaborated "There are bad white people and good white people, and there are bad black people and good black people."

This made me think of something John Green said today, about how we like crime shows because they make good and evil very simple and clear cut, when in reality it isn't so simple.

This conversation also is significant because I had spent the last packet discussing race relations.

Synchronicities abound.

Missoula, MT

I woke up early (probably when the sun rose) in Bozeman and drove to Missoula. I parked in what may be a government building lot (city hall?) and fed the meter some quarters.

I went in a Bagel cafe to charge my laptop and use the internet.

I asked a question about a house bagel (turned out to be an "everything" type) and admitted that I was not from around here. I got into a little conversation with the cashier about my road trip. I told her that I'm from NY. "I went to NYC once," she said. "I sat down on the curb and whined: 'I miss my mountains!'"

I've had quite the opposite, complimentary experience. As I drive through the mountains I whine: "I miss my buildings!"

My friend had asked me to bring her a tiny bison she could sew onto a headband, so I decided that Missoula would be the place to find it. I asked someone in the bagel place where I could find this sort of souvenir. He directed me to the "Missoula Mercantile," and I drove my car a few blocks away, according to his directions. Though I didn't find the Missoula Mercantile ("That's Macy's now, it hasn't been Missoula Mercantile for 100 years!"), I DID find a million amazing antique shops.

One I found was packed, every square inch. It was a treat for the eyes, and for the camera. There were so many antique tools I wanted to bring home. So many knicknacks. Oh well.

I walked around a bit, and found a giant antique mall. I picked out a butter churn - $10, paddle, glass jar and all, some vintage maps of the west for myself and for presents, and a hand-crank meat slicer - $50. I approached the counter and asked if I could set my items down while I continued to look. The people at the antique mall talked to each other about what an idiot they think Al Gore is, and how An Inconvenient Truth is filled with loopholes and how he makes things seem urgent when they aren't ever going to effect humans. (I of course judge these folk in this mountain town because of this, and am later surprised to discover EcoGeek Hank Green lives in the same town, and is certainly of the opposite camp).

I ask the woman if she can do better on the meat slicer. She tells me that because it is below a certain amount, she cannot. I tell her that I will not take it, then. I watch her writing up my receipt, and I notice something that I hadn't noticed before ---the true price of the butter churn: $110.

Needless to say, I left only with maps.