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Culture

10 things that made us smile this week​

uplifting, happiness, hope

Looking for a reason to smile? Here are 10 of them.

Feeling blah? Need a little pick-me-up? Having a "no-bones" day? Unsure of what a "no-bones" day even is?

No worries, we've got you covered on all counts.

Each week, we round up 10 tasty morsels of joy to help you hop through the weekend with more pep in your step. If you're feeling even a little bit blue, here are 10 doses of dopamine to flip that frown upside down. (Trying to see how many cheesy colloquialisms I can squeeze into one intro. Forgive me. It's Friday.)

Enjoy, friends!


1. First, let Noodle the pug predict if it's a bones day or a no-bones day.

@jongraz

plan your day accordingly 🔮🦴🔮 #nobones #bonesday #noodletok #pug

Noodle the 13-year-old pug has become a huge viral sensation with his daily fortune telling. If Noodle stands on his own four feet, it's a bones day. That means a day filled with energy, productivity, ambition—all the things! But if Noodle flops back down onto his bed, it's a no-bones day. That's a day to take it easy, practice some self-care, leave the hard stuff for a bones day. "No hard pants on a no-bones day," as Jonathan says. Read more about Noodle and his predictions here.

2. Ever seen a baseball player do ballet on the field? Now you have.

The fact that there's actual baseball being played in the background while Zack Frong dances ballet is hilarious. But that's intentional. The Savannah Bananas are a bit like the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball, selling out all of their "baseball circus" home games since they formed in 2016.

Check out the amazing story of how the Savannah Bananas got their start, thanks to the vision of one man:

3. Sweet puppers anxiously waits for her bestie to get off the school bus.

That tail wag, though! She can hardly contain her excitement, even though this probably happens every day. It's too dang much.

4. Speaking of cute puppers, this chihuahua is the cutest bather everrrrr.

Why is this so cute? Why? Literally everything about it makes me want a dog, and I'm 100% a cat person.

5. If you need a boost of confidence, just watch this pony overcome a humongous, enormous, practically insurmountable hurdle.

Can't you just hear the pony's internal pep talk? And that little"Yes! I did it!" dance at the end! If this pony can push through her fear of That Big Gigantic Step, you can do anything.

6. Son being surprise-woken-up by his dad who had been on deployment—PHEW.

Sorry to make you cry when we said we'd make you smile, but tears of joy borne of love totally count. Father-son love is a beautiful thing.

7. Keep that tissue handy, cuz here comes another good dad tears of joy video.

This is one lucky, lucky baby girl.

8. Squishy the chipmunk. Enough said. 

Squishyyyyy! (Seriously, though, how does a mouth that small hold so many nuts that big?) Brad the human has a page where he shares videos of his chipmunk friends he's made in the past five years: Dinky, Squishy, Mooshy, SpongeBob, Boris, Stinky, Bubba, Hershel, Crazy, Chippie, Shooshi, Inky, Squeaky, Hishkabibble, Mr. Fuji, Betty, Squeegee, Cookie, Stubby, SweetPotato and Friends. SERIOUSLY, BRAD? You are the best.

9. 4-year-old called the police in New Zealand to show them his toys.

How adorable is this? All of the adults handled it so perfectly. And there's seriously nothing cuter than a preschooler with a New Zealand accent. Read the full story here.

10. One more sweet dad-kiddo video, but this one is just pure, unadulterated joy.

BRB, starting a petition for every flight to have the pilot's adorably proud kid on board from now on. So darn precious.

Hope that brought a little joy to your day! Join us next Friday for another roundup of happiness and hope.

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

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Jason K. Pargin shares his controversial theory on lobster.

Novelist Jason K. Pargin has inspired an online food fight after his video about lobster received over 500,000 views on Tiktok and nearly 6 million on Twitter. Pargin believes that we’ve all been tricked into liking lobster and that people only like it because it’s considered high class.

Pargin is the author of the “John Dies at the End” and “Zoey Ashe” series and the former editor of Cracked.com.

"I don't think anyone actually enjoys eating lobster. I think they've just been convinced that it's a high-class food for a really specific reason,” Pargin says in his controversial video. He then describes how just a few centuries ago lobster was once used as prisoners' food and ground into fertilizer.

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An 8-year-old snuck his handwritten book onto a library shelf. Now it has a 56-person waiting list.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel— written by "Dillon His Self"—captured the hearts of his local librarians and their patrons.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel captured the hearts of his local librarians.

Writing a book is no easy task, even for adult professional writers. Many would-be authors dream of a day when their work can be found on library shelves, unsure if it will ever come.

But for 8-year-old Dillon Helbig, that day has already arrived—in truly unconventional fashion—thanks to his own determination to make it happen.

Dillon wrote his 81-page graphic novel, "The Adventures of Dillon Helbig's Crismis" (written by "Dillon His Self") in a hardcover journal with colored pencils over the course of a few days. He even put a label on the back of the book that reads "Made in Idho" [sic] and put an illustrated spine label on it as well. Then, without telling anyone, he brought it to his local library in Boise, Idaho, and slipped it in among the books in the children's section.

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Pop Culture

This 1940s guide on 'how to be pretty' for teen girls has some surprisingly modern suggestions

In a resurfaced video from the 1940s, Mary Stuyvesant, a Ponds beauty consultant, spoke to a group of high school girls about "how to be pretty."

1940s guide on "how to be pretty" is surprisingly modern.

Often, when we think of the 1940s and the messaging that was sent to women and girls back then, we tend to imagine lessons about how to get and keep a husband. But it turns out that all messaging wasn't the same and some girls were receiving a much more progressive message about their appearance.

In a resurfaced video from the 1940s, Mary Stuyvesant, a Ponds beauty consultant, spoke to a group of high school girls about "how to be pretty." Surprisingly, the advice is rather timeless and not at all focused on becoming the best wife and mother you can be, but on learning to care for yourself. Stuyvesant refers to your physical appearance as icing on a cake and that good icing tastes nice but the cake is the most important part.

She goes on to explain to the girls that who they are as people is the cake and that's the part that needs the most attention.

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Weatherman rescues a chicken in a blizzard and now they're friends.

There's a little-known saying that every weatherman needs a chicken. OK, it's little known because I totally just made it up, but you have to admit, it's just random enough to make you wonder if you missed out on a weird colloquialism. But in this case, it may be a new saying because weatherman David Neal found a stray chicken while reporting on a blizzard, and they've somehow become best friends.

The chicken, now named Penelope, was running around in the snowstorm while Neal was filming, so he tried to catch her so he could make sure she was warm. Penelope had other plans and gave Neal a literal run for his money. Eventually, with the help of a bystander who was likely as confused as the chicken, Neal was able to get Penny in his arms.

Of course, he had some explaining to do once the cameras were rolling again, and he handled it like the pro he is, holding a live chicken.

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Today Info/Youtube

Taylor Swift "diving" below the stage of her Eras Tour concert

The highly anticipated, Ticketmaster-bustingTaylor Swift Eras Tour has officially begun. And it’s looking like the pop star is pulling out all the stops to deliver a heap of spectacle.

Case in point—a video from the “Anti-Hero” pop star's kick-off concert that’s making quite the splash online.

In a mesmerizing blend of live performance and hologram wizardry, audiences saw Swift, clad in a flowy red dress, dive into a pool built into the stage. She then swam across to emerge through waves in a shimmery jumpsuit, just before climbing a ladder and disappearing into a cloud.

Basically, it was like a romantic fairy tale brought to life.

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