Guess who's back? Back again!

Jeskuh's back.  Tell a friend.

Honestly, whoever reads this should know by now that I only blog when I have something to say, or when I'm doing a challenge or a list.  Yes, I'm aware I was in the middle of a list that I didn't finish.  Well, here I am  to tell you that I will be finishing my 30 day challenge one month late.  Hoo-dee-hooooo.  Be on the lookout for those posts coming to a blog near you (aka this blog.  This blog is where they will be.).

Since you came by here to see some new content, here's a video from Mental Floss where John Green teaches you 50 Weird Laws.  Have a good day!  Learn something!

Esther Day 2012: Focusing On Life, Not Death

(As a warning, today's post will be a bit on the stream-of-consciousness side.  I have some feelings; I'd like to get them out.  If you keep reading, I appreciate it.  If not, I still appreciate you.)

This time of year has been weird for a number of years, for a number of reasons.  Mostly it revolves around untimely, tragic, completely unfortunate deaths.  It used to be confined to a week in early September, but circumstances sadly keep appearing which pushes the date back further and further.

However, today is different.  Today is Esther Day.

Esther Day started in 2010, to honor the 16th birthday of celebrated nerdfighter and cancer-fighter Esther Earl.  At that time, she had become a true friend to author John Green, and she'd become somewhat famous in the community due to her friendship with John and her association with The Harry Potter Alliance.  Sadly, she passed away just weeks later, on August 25, 2010.

I never met Esther.  In fact, she had already passed away before I'd even heard of her.  And yet... this girl's life, her words, her presence on this planet means something to me.  In learning more about Esther many moons ago, I stumbled across a vlog she posted during 2009's LeakyCon in Boston.  It was the first time she'd met John Green.  When you hear how excited she was, how she couldn't speak, how she was shaking, how it's clear she's still all amped up from that chance meeting as she retells it in front of the camera... I felt an immediate kindred connection with her.  And it broke my heart that I would never meet the vibrant, hilarious girl in that video.

But Esther Day isn't about focusing on the sadness of death.  Esther Day is about telling the people you love that you love them.  It's about goodness, light, love, family, friendship, hope, LIFE.  The next few weeks are always tough for me, and this weekend especially will be damn near impossible to get through without a potential breakdown.  Instead of concentrating on the sense of loss I feel without these people in my life, I will think of Esther.  I will think of the joy she brought so many people.  I will think of the joy that Mike, Craig, Randy, and Cos brought me.  I will hold onto love and do my damnedest to cast out the darkness that always creeps in.  That's how I'll honor Esther.

Thank you, sweet girl.  Just as you told John years ago, I also believe that the dead live on the memory and the lives of those they have touched.  You still live on in our hearts and in our memories.  Your star will not go out.  I promise.

Happy Esther Day, everyone.  I love you for reading this.

That Time I Met John Green at BEA aka Why Can't Jessica Shut Her Yapper?

I am a storyteller.  It's one of the major reasons I blog.  I feel I have a lot of good stories, and I enjoy sharing them.  What follows is a story of epic proportions, one that I will not be able to replicate in awesomeness for a long, long time.  Buckle up and prepare for what will forever be known as...

The Star Penis story.

It's been clearly stated on this blog that I am a John Green fangirl, or rather, a nerdfighter.  If you are a nerdfighter, you know that John's son Henry LOVES sing-a-ma-jigs, and they have made their way into the vlogbrothers videos and thus into vlogbrothers lexicon.  On our recent trip to Japan, I found a miniature sing-a-ma-jig, so I bought it to give to John at BEA.  Of course, I didn't snap a picture of it before this happened, but essentially, it looks like this.

It should also be noted that the one I got in Japan had a couple of tags on it, specifically a purple star-shaped tag RIGHT in the sing-a-ma-jig's... nether regions.  Hubs stated to me on multiple occasions that I should make sure to point out what he called the sing-a-ma-jig's Star Penis to John Green.  Then, he would giggle.  A lot.

Fast forward a few weeks, and I'm at BEA, Day 1.  It's a madhouse of books and totes and people and Gandalf for President buttons, and I'm loving every second of it.  At one point, I'm waiting in line to get a book signed, and JOHN GREEN himself walks right past me.  I shout, "OmiGOD it's John Green!" and proceed to stare at him.  Unabashedly.  With my mouth wide open.  Frozen to the spot.

Smooth.

That afternoon, I walk through the Penguin booth, and there he is again.  John Green out in the wild like a normal person who does normal things.  I figure, this is my chance to make up for the silent staring moment, so I wait patiently for John to finish his conversation.  And then this happens:

Printz Award Winning Author: (leaning toward bag on table) I bet you want me to sign that for you.

Me: No, I just want you to have it. (holds sing-a-ma-jig out toward PAWA like a talisman)

PAWA: (slightly shocked) Really?  That's so nice.

Me: (excitedly and without abandon) My husband would like me to point out to you that since it has that star tag on its crotch, it looks like it has a little star penis.

Yes, my friends.  That is a direct quote from my mouth to John Green's ears.  Not, "Hello, it's nice to meet you."  Not, "I am such an ardent admirer of your books."  Not, "The Fault in Our Stars is one of the most amazing novels I've ever read, and it affects me even months after I read it."

Nope.  I said star penis.

Thankfully, he laughs out loud (LOLed, if you will) and agrees with me.  THEN, he TAKES THE VLOGBROTHERS CAMERA out of his bag and RECORDS MY PRESENT.  THEN HE RECORDS MY FACE.  My initial reaction is to half-cover my face and say, "Oh, it's not going to be in the video, is it?"  to which John's editor, the incomparable Julie Strauss-Gabel hilariously replies, "You really brought this on yourself, you know."

I am such a nerdfighter that I fangirl Julie Strauss-Gabel.

My new BFF John and I share a few more laughs involving him being a Jeffrey Eugenides silent starer, the John Green/Chris Colfer fanfic and how nothing is sacred, and the Author Breakfast the next morning, and then I get a picture with him.

Thank you Susan for capturing the moment so perfectly.

When he put his arm around me to pose, I lose the little bit of cool I've been able to maintain up to this moment because I know how much John Green does not like to touch people, and my hands start shaking uncontrollably.  In fact, they're shaking so much so that I've never been so aware of anything except that he must be aware of it.  Because I'm crazy like that.  So, I smile and thank him and then I RUN LIKE THE WIND from that spot.  Why?

Because I don't want him to see me doing this:

Yeah.

So that's my story.  Hopefully, you'll see my nerdy mug on John's video on Tuesday, but if not, I still think I'll be dining out on this one for years to come.

UPDATE:
The video has been posted.  And I think the 1:30 mark speaks for itself.

In conclusion, I think I'm dead.  Holy smokes.  French the llama.  

Day 22 – Favorite book you own

First, be prepared for my take on The Hunger Games movie, which will be entirely spoiler-free.  Also, today is my dad's birthday, so Happy Birthday to the nerdiest guy I know!  Third and finally, this was probably the easiest choice I've had thus far.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

That picture above is my actual copy, along with the ticket from the Tour de Nerdfighting event I attended in Bethesda, MD just days after this was released.  The event is why this book is my favorite book I own.  I'm fairly new to Nerdfighteria, and this book is part of the reason I joined that world.  I kept hearing all this buzz about it, and I'd heard John Green's name bandied about so many times in my YA community, so I decided to see what the fuss was about.  I read his debut novel Looking for Alaska, and it blew me away.  Then I started in on the vlogbrothers videos, and that, as they say, is history.

So why is this the favorite book I own?  First, the sticker of the front!  It's a signed copy.  If you go back through some older vlogbrothers videos, you'll see that John signed every copy of the first printing of TFiOS, and I got one of those J-Scribbles!

Isn't it pretty??  It's silver, which is one of my favorite colors of Sharpie, and it's slightly rare as far as TFiOS J-Scribble colors go.  When I picked up the book from Politics & Prose, they originally gave me an unsigned one, figuring I'd get it signed at the event later that week.  However, after seeing the Signing Madness John went through, I wanted a piece of his hard work.

But I still went to the signing.  And this happened:

Not only did I get it personalized to me, but I got it Hanklerfished too!!  I had a fun little chat with both  Green brothers, telling them how Hubs had texted me to send me best wishes for a fun signing and that he hoped I got "a Hankfish."  The Brothers Green and I agreed that, while there's no such thing as a Hankfish, the sentiment was very sweet.  I have a few pictures of the signing itself, but they are all either a- at home or b- blurry or c- look like John Green just saw The Ring.  Later, I'll add in the awesome one Sasha got me actually mid-conversation with them!!  (FYI, if you want to have an awesome line-waiting experience, you need peeps like Sarah Enni and Sash by your side!)

Hank, I'll see you on Friday.

Day 13 – Your favorite writer

I have many!  MANY.  Here they are.


EDIT 2020: I wrote this a very long time ago, and I don’t want to dirty delete. However, I would like to state that I no longer feel this way about Joanne Rowling. She is uninformed, hateful, and harmful. I support trans rights as human rights, because that’s exactly what they are. The art is separated from the artist for me, forever.
JK Rowling, aka The Queen
I love her so much, I often refer to her as Jo, since JK is her pen name. AND I'M A NUTCASE.

John Green
Love you too, buddy.  It's an honor and a privilege to have my heart broken by you.

Stephanie Perkins (image from her website stephanieperkins.com)
Girl is so talented, it physically hurts me but in that good way that inspires you and makes you feel all the emotions and I'm not crazy I swear.

But the winner winner chicken dinner is

Meg Cabot aka The Princess!!

I have been a Meg Cabot mega-fan for years, since The Boy Next Door, which is not YA.  I read all of Meg's adult books as fast as I could and as soon as they were released.  She is definitely one of my pre-order-without-question authors.  A few years ago, armed with a library card and a Paperback Swap account, I decided to read her most famous YA series, The Princess Diaries.  Just when I thought I couldn't love the woman any more than I already did... she went and created one of my favorite male characters in YA literature, Michael Moscovitz.

What I love about Meg Cabot's writing is that it's so down-to-Earth.  She writes in a very universal way, but it's still so good.  It's lyrical and sweet, hysterical and honest.  She does an amazing job establishing a voice for her characters, especially Mia (who I will rave about tomorrow!).  I love simple, attainable, delightful writing, and Meg writes just like that, every time.  I'm never disappointed.

Also, Ms. Cabot?  If I ever get the chance to meet you, I apologize in advance for the extreme amount of fangirling I will do.  Squealing, stuttering, telling an awkward story that has no relevance to the topic at hand- yeah, it's all happening.  Sorry, Meg.

Day 05 – A book that makes you happy

Tough choice, as I tend to be a mega-fangirl flail monster whenever a book makes me happy.  I have rambled, I have raved, I have spewed nonsense words at The Hubs when describing a particularly good book.  However, I chose this book because, immediately after reading the last word, I couldn't stop grinning. And not a regular grin, but one of those ear-to-ear numbers.

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

Reasons this book makes me happy:
*The authors.  John Green & David Levithan are the best dudes in YA.  You know I love John Green like it's my job (which, if it was my job, I'd be Employee of the Month ALL OF THE MONTHS), and I'm a huge fan of David Levithan's collaboration novels.  Their writing styles complement each other in the best ways, though (duh) I like John's chapters more.
*Tiny Cooper.  There's nothing about Tiny that doesn't make me smile.  Just saying his name makes me smile.  Because it's hilarious.
*The ending.  My friend Matt once described the movie Little Miss Sunshine to me like this: "so it keeps getting sadder and sadder and just when you think it can't get any worse, it suddenly explodes into a giant ball of HAPPY like a roller coaster going up a hill and HAPPYYYYYY!" (which is the sound of him singing).  Now, the giant ball of happy roller coaster is the perfect way to describe the ending of WG, WG.  I feel it's impossible to read it without an enormous smile.  I may have cried and clapped while reading it.  I hope you do too!

In non-book challenge news, I saw Gaelic Storm last night, and it was really fun.  Here's a video of their song,  "The Night I Punched Russell Crowe."  It's a pretty good representation of what their shows are like- a lot of nonsense and a lot of fun.  I hope this story is true.

Why I Love Being Called a Nerd aka Thank You, John Green

Two quotes (and the videos in which they appear) from the incomparable John Green about why I value and embrace my nerdiness.


"Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan. Why is that?' In fact, it seems to me that most contemporary insults are pretty lame. Even 'lame' is kind of lame. Saying 'You're lame' is like saying 'You walk with a limp.' Yeah, whatever, so does 50 Cent, and he's done all right for himself.”



"...nerds like us are allowed to be unironically enthusiastic about stuff!  We don't have to be like, 'Oh yeah, that purse is okay,' or like, 'Yeah, I like that band's early stuff.'  Nerds are allowed to love stuff, like jump-up-and-down-in-the-chair-can’t-control-yourself love it. Hank, when people call people nerds, mostly what they’re saying is ‘you like stuff,’ which is just not a good insult at all. Like, ‘you are too enthusiastic about the miracle of human consciousness’.”