469: An Invitation for Chaos and Mayhem (w/ Sarah Urist Green!)

Dear Hank & John

Hosts Hank and John Green, joined by guest Sarah Urist Green, answer a variety of listener questions ranging from art preservation to social

Key takeaways

• Sarah Urist Green discusses the anxiety and process of her 'Hollywood Ending' book tour.
• For displaying signed prints, a gallery wall using varied vintage frames can create an aesthetically pleasing arrangement.

Main topics

• Book tour preparation
• Art framing and gallery walls

Notable quotes

Writing a novel is like taking a firework show that happens in your mind and trying to replicate it in language.

Conclusion

A charmingly chaotic exploration of how structure and community can na

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:01) You're listening to a Speaker 1 (0:02) Complexly podcast. Speaker 2 (0:09) Hello and welcome to Dear John and Hank. Speaker 1 (0:11) Or as I like to call it, Dear John and Sarah. It's Speaker 2 (0:14) a podcast where two spouses give you dubious advice, answer your questions, and bring you all the week's news from both Mars and AFC Wimbledon. I am joined this week by my lovely spouse, Sarah Urist Green. It's nice to see you. Speaker 1 (0:26) It's nice to see you too. Speaker 2 (0:28) We've Speaker 1 (0:29) seen each other at many moments leading up to now, but it's nice to see you anew. Speaker 2 (0:35) Ah, current me is on the road for the Hollywood ending tour, but past me is recording this right before leaving for the Hollywood ending tour. So if you hear a little bit of anxiety in my voice, that's because my book comes out in three days. Did you like it? I hope so. Did you like it? Of Speaker 1 (0:51) course I did. I'm Speaker 2 (0:52) just kidding. No, Speaker 1 (0:54) I really did. Speaker 2 (0:54) I'm constantly looking for outside. No, Speaker 1 (0:56) no, Speaker 2 (0:56) I Speaker 1 (0:56) really did. I Speaker 2 (0:57) know you did, but I'm constantly looking for outside affirmation. Sarah was the first person to read. This is a Speaker 1 (1:02) sensitive time for you. Speaker 2 (1:04) It's a sensitive time for me. My books are sort of ruined for Sarah in the sense that she has to read them all as first drafts. Speaker 1 (1:10) It's very difficult for me to have a complete understanding of one of your books because I read early drafts. Speaker 2 (1:18) Right. I Speaker 1 (1:19) read. different versions, like where half of it is a different story. Speaker 2 (1:25) Yeah. And Speaker 1 (1:25) then I have to hold it all in my head and remember what the finished book is like. And then I read the finished book and I really like it and I've got it in my brain for like 10 days. Speaker 2 (1:38) Yeah, I'm the same way. I mean, people will ask me questions and I'll be like, is that still in the book? I thought I cut that. Speaker 1 (1:43) Right, right. Speaker 2 (1:44) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed Hollywood Ending. We're happy to be here with you. We're going to answer some of your questions, beginning with this one from Madeline, who writes, Dear John and Sarah, I recently had the honor of meeting a few actors at a convention. I feel really lucky to have my signed prints, but I'm not sure how to display them. They are all a size not conducive to being framed together. but I'm not sure if it's smart to frame them all separately or is it any advice is welcome. Best wishes, Madeline. Sarah, you- This is made Speaker 1 (2:09) for me. Speaker 2 (2:09) You are a professional framer. Speaker 1 (2:11) Well, I'm not a professional framer. Oh, sorry, Speaker 2 (2:13) sorry. Speaker 1 (2:14) But I mean, I can frame. So Madeline, you haven't told us what size. I'm wondering if they're headshots. I Speaker 2 (2:24) think they have to be, right? Speaker 1 (2:25) Headshots. Speaker 2 (2:25) Yeah. Speaker 1 (2:26) Okay. Well, you got to think about like an old fashioned steakhouse restaurant that's got all their like celebrity signed headshots on the wall. I definitely think you should frame them separately and display them in some sort of a grid or row or arrangement. You could, if you wanted, if you wanted to be really fun and fancy. but not expensive. Go to a real resale shop or a vintage shop and get some old frames and do like a variety. It should be a pretty standard size. Measure them first or just get a matching set. You can find really inexpensive ones. But the most important thing you'll do is measure very carefully and make sure that they are hung in a straight. Speaker 1 (3:20) precise order. Speaker 2 (3:21) Equidistant from each other. Speaker 1 (3:23) Yes. That Speaker 2 (3:24) is very important. So we have a wall. We don't have a celebrity actor wall. I guess we do a little bit. We have that picture of Cara Delevingne and I in Paris. Well, Speaker 1 (3:34) I put that up. I didn't want that up. I Speaker 2 (3:36) find it very embarrassing. Speaker 2 (3:39) We have that picture along with our family pictures. That's what I think is so embarrassing is it's like, here's a picture of our best friends and their kids. And here's a picture of my parents. And here's a picture of your uncle. And here's a picture of Cara Delevingne with my husband. Speaker 1 (3:54) It's great. It makes me laugh. It makes me laugh. It's very hilarious. I am a fan. Nobody asked me. why don't I share since I'm here? Yeah. Speaker 2 (4:04) When Speaker 1 (4:04) you do a gallery wall, like a big wall of varying items at varying sizes. Yeah. I like to mix in things that are not like the other. Like I like to mix in an artwork. Speaker 2 (4:17) Right. Speaker 1 (4:18) A certificate, some photos, some old photos, some new photos. I like things from different eras. You Speaker 2 (4:27) know what's framed on that gallery wall that I love? And I think that that, gallery wall in our house that's like a mix of art. Speaker 1 (4:36) It's in a stairwell. Speaker 2 (4:37) It's in a stairwell. And it's a mix of art works and family photos and stuff and me and Cara Delevingne. I think that what makes it so magical is precisely that, the way you've included different stuff from different parts of our lives. So it has the picture of me when I won the Prince Award. It also has the letter that Bill Ott wrote me. at book list saying now more than ever watch harvey yeah Speaker 1 (5:03) and it has like a birthday card i made for you the first year we were together like i Speaker 2 (5:09) used to get great birthday cards from sarah Speaker 1 (5:13) that has passed we went on a bike ride this year yeah Speaker 2 (5:18) we went on a bike ride for my birthday it was lovely it was lovely i don't need a card every year you spend so much time on those cards All right, we got another question from Nick who writes, Dear Sarah and John, I'm lying in bed struggling to fall asleep. I've been there, Nick. And I'm wondering, remember when TV used to end for the night? Speaker 1 (5:35) Oh, yeah. Like they'd Speaker 2 (5:36) play the national anthem and then it'd be nothing for hours until morning? Why and when did that begin? And why and when did it end? Do other countries do that too? Or just the US sleepless in the Southeast, Nick? Speaker 1 (5:46) Do Speaker 2 (5:47) you remember that? Speaker 1 (5:48) You know, I feel like we just, I do have a dim memory of that, but I mostly remember my best friend growing up would always play Nick at Night. Yeah. And that would go all night. Oh, okay. And like play old shows, you know. No, this Speaker 2 (6:07) was in the era before we anyway had cable. Right. Speaker 1 (6:12) So Speaker 2 (6:12) like there would be, there were like five channels, one of which. signed off for the night after showing like a monster movie, like a B movie from the 60s. And Speaker 1 (6:22) would it just be static? I can't remember. It would Speaker 2 (6:24) be like- Just like nothing. It would be either music playing over a blank screen or like the national anthem and then just, I can't remember what it was. But at any rate, I do also dimly remember it. And what it made me think of, Sarah, is when the internet used to end. Like in like 1994, 1995, I would go on the very early versions of the World Wide Web. Speaker 1 (6:49) And Speaker 2 (6:49) then you'd get to the end of the web. Speaker 1 (6:52) Yeah. Speaker 2 (6:52) Like you'd get to the end of whatever you were looking at. Right. I'm going to, oh God, Sarah, something terrible is about to happen. Okay, Speaker 1 (6:57) I'll do it. You're going to sneeze. Watch out. Speaker 2 (7:00) Oh no. You Speaker 1 (7:01) know what that is? Speaker 2 (7:02) Not normal. Very, very Speaker 1 (7:03) normal. Nope. Very normal. It's not Speaker 2 (7:05) normal. Well, Speaker 1 (7:06) I know this is a thing. I never sneeze. In your world, but. I sneeze regularly and I think it's very helpful for expelling undesirables from your nose. Speaker 2 (7:17) No, I was told by a doctor that it is not normal to sneeze. Speaker 1 (7:21) Okay. All right. So I love the idea of things ending. It's like when I get my alert on my phone, that's like you have reached your limit that you've set. for Instagram today. Speaker 2 (7:35) And then it's over. Speaker 1 (7:37) And then it's over. And I like that. I think what we're missing in this world is endings, like not constant stream. And when someone stops streaming, another one picks up. Maybe, Nick, you need it to end to go to sleep. Speaker 2 (7:55) Maybe. I remember in 2008, we had an early meeting with YouTube and they said there's a thousand minutes of content uploaded every minute. Speaker 1 (8:05) Yeah. And Speaker 2 (8:06) I realized that it was impossible to catch up with the internet. And now there's millions of minutes of content uploaded every minute. Well, Speaker 1 (8:16) Nick's question is a historical question and we are not truly answering it. Speaker 2 (8:23) Well, I don't know the answer. Speaker 1 (8:24) I don't know the answer offhand. We could have done some research, but we didn't. Nick, I encourage you to do this research and to report back. Speaker 2 (8:33) Get back to us. Yeah. Speaker 1 (8:34) Can you figure this out? Yeah. And John and Hank will share it. Speaker 2 (8:38) We're delegating. Speaker 1 (8:40) We want to know and how it happened in other countries. I want to know too. I'll read the next question. You read the Speaker 2 (8:46) next question. Speaker 1 (8:47) Okay. Dear Sarah and John. What will you do on your book tour if you don't like press tours and don't want to give away book spoilers? Speaker 1 (8:57) I am writing my own book, and I'm afraid when I finally finish it, I won't have anything to say about it, even if I'm privileged enough for people to be asking me about it. Thanks, April. Speaker 2 (9:08) So, April, it is true that I don't love press tours, but I do do them. And I'm grateful to be able to do them because I remember vividly, as you do, Sarah, when no one wanted to talk to me about my book. Like a book would come out, and that would be a regular Tuesday. Speaker 1 (9:24) Yeah. Speaker 2 (9:25) And I would not have anything to do. I wouldn't go on the road. I wouldn't like the first couple