DFTBA!!

Okay, I just have to take a moment to write about the Vlogbrothers aka Nerdfighters aka John and Hank Green (even though I really should keep working right now. Heck, it's still winter break until Wednesday. A little procrastination won't kill me.)

Basically, in 2007, two brothers, John and Hank Green, decided to start a project called Brotherhood 2.0. They decided that they would partake in no form a textual communication for a year, but instead would release a video blog every week day (switching off days) for a year. They had rules, did challenges for fun, and even got into funny punishments (if they failed to put up a video). Punishments include waxing a leg, dying hair green, and eating a blenderized happy meal. (Just watched that one... disgusting but hilarious).

But the project evolved. One day, when John was in an airport (he's an author, so he travels a lot), and he found a video game called Nerdfighters, and he and Hank got to talking about nerdfighters - people who are made of awesome and fight with their intelligence to decrease World Suck (their brilliant words, not mine). So, then B2.0 ended at the end of 2007, but they kept online communities going, and kept putting up videos.

Even though this was a few years ago now (that still sounds weird), I recently got into watching their new videos, but couldn't get enough, so I've been watching all the old videos also. I'm currently up to August 2007, and I'm having so much fun. I'm sure my parents are getting tired of hearing about them, so I'll probably be talking about them on here whenever I have something to share.

Basically, I really admire their outlook on life. They're both what you would call "nerds" - one's a writer, and the other is a blogger for a website about green technology. They both have glasses, spend lots of time reading and on the internet, and have gloriously nerdy photos from high school that they've shown on their videos. And, did I mention they started a project where they decided to vlog every day for a year? Yeah. But the way they put it, being nerdy is not a bad thing. Nerdfighters (the group of people who has risen around them) are "made of awesome," and when you spend time with them (okay, it's on the interenet and it's kind of one way through a video), you don't feel bad if you're a little nerdy (which I am). Heck, having more and more people form a group around being awesome is not a bad thing, and being nerdy certainly isn't!

Plus, to me, they represent everything that I love about the internet. They rallied a group of people from all across the globe around them. They're raised money for numerous charities just by suggesting it in their videos. They've built a global community, and made the big wide world a little less scary.

And finally, they're just plain hilarious. Really. Just take Hank's Christmas Song, all about how Jesus never gets anything for Christmas. (Check it out here). They have this joke that they always bring up about "In My Pants." For example, there's the In My Pants rule: that adding "in my pants" to any book title inevitably makes it better. (Just think about it: The Stranger... In My Pants. Yeah. Funny.) They're both very intelligent, talented, and funny, so it's a real delight to watch them.

Now, as I mentioned, Brotherhood 2.0 was in 2007. During 2008, as I understand it, they were basically uploading videos when they had time. But just recently, they announced Brotherhood 2.0.0.9, which is their project for this year. Basically, they have certain days where they will put up certain types of videos. News videos, question and answer videos, songs from Hank, etc.

Yesterday was the first video, and since it was a Sunday, it was John's day to talk about some sort of news. Now, he chose to talk about the situation in Israel/Palestine right now, which is pretty heavy, but he did so while showing pictures of his absolutely adorable puppy. I don't know about you, but it's pretty impressive! John doesn't just blather on about it either - he knows quite a bit about it! I'll share it with you, for reference:


(By the way, isn't Willy (the dog) adorable? I love how he keeps turning his head back and forth! Oh, and John's mismatched socks are hilarious!)

So that's what's occupying my time in cyberspace right now. I'm guessing that the nerdfighters are going to stay quite popular, and I know that they're certainly a part of my life now.

As they say, then, DFTBA! (Don't forget to be awesome!) <--Best sign out ever.

P.S. I mentioned that John is an author, and he's quite a good one. I've recently finished his second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, and I'm now reading his first, Looking for Alaska. I next want to read his most recent, Paper Towns, and then I'll probably blog on them all together. Long story short, they're very good.