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Joy

10 things that made us smile this week

Upworthy's weekly roundup of joy.

Squirrel and acorn man, haka, dad making pancakes with daughter

Looking for a reason to smile? Here are 10.

Need a little dose of joy? How about 10?

Welcome to this week's roundup of delights, which includes an inspiring haka, a gorgeous duet between Pink and Kelly Clarkson, the sweetest little pancake maker, the most adorable acorn people you've ever seen and more.

If you're looking for some reasons to smile, we've got you covered. Enjoy!

1. The magical world of "Becorns" taps right into our childlike wonder.


David Bird was a toy designer at LEGO before he started creating the acorn characters he dubs "Becorns." The scenes he creates by setting up Becorns and waiting for wildlife to find them are peak joy. They even have their own names and personalities! See more and learn about how the idea came about here.


2. Students greet their teachers and classmates with a back-to-school haka in New Zealand.

These Māori students from the tribe of Raukawa are showing their utmost respect to their teachers and fellow students with this traditional haka. So beautiful.

3. Pink and Kelly Clarkson met up on Clarkson's show and delivered a stunning duet of "What About Us?"

Not only is this an awesome message, but both of these singers are known for their rich, powerhouse voices, so putting them together was a stroke of brilliance. A whole album of duets, please! Read the full story here.

4. Daddy and daughter pancake day—can we make this a whole show?

It's just cuteness upon cuteness. What a sweet relationship these two have, and it's also a masterclass in encouraging language development. Good job, daddy.

5. Adele's reaction to this man holding up his late wife's picture is what it's all about.

@adeleaccess

A very special moment from Adele’s concert this past Friday ♥️ #adele #weekendswithadele #adelevegas #adelelive #someonelikeyou #whenwewereyoung

Genuine human-to-human connection. Love to see it. Read the full story here.

6. Kid snuck his family's toaster to school so he could share their stash of Pop-Tarts.

Scroll through for the whole story. What a guy. (These are the kinds of kids teachers actually adore. If only all kids were this thoughtful!)

7. Keanu Reeves surprised a small town pub with an unexpected visit.

Keanu Reeves at The Robin Hood pub

Keanu Reeves with a chef at The Robin Hood.

The Robin Hood Tring/Facebook

The staff at The Robin Hood pub in Tring, Hertfordshire, about 30 miles outside of London, got the surprise of a lifetime when Keanu Reeves walked in the door. He enjoyed a pint and some fish and chips and then, in typical Keanu style, praised the kitchen crew while shaking their hands. Read the full story here.

8. Seriously, the kid who wrote this poem deserves some kind of prize.

And the illustrations! So flippin' clever and cute.

9. The cast of "Saturday Night Life" couldn't keep it together during the "Lisa from Temecula" skit.

SNL may have its ups and downs, but there is nothing funnier than when the comedians themselves can't keep from laughing. "Lisa from Temecula" will definitely go down in cast-cracking history. Read the full story here.

10. If none of that got you smiling, this almond-obsessed ninja cat surely will.

Everyone's cat is its own brand of weird, but oh. my. goodness. "Her best friend is an almond." It's too much. What a treasure of a cat this lady landed.

Hope you enjoyed this week's roundup! To get these posts sent to your inbox each week, sign up for our newsletter, The Upworthiest, here.

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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via Google and Freepik

Google's new personal information removal submission page.

In the internet era, the idea of personal privacy is all but a myth. With a few keystrokes just about anyone can get your home address, phone number, email, age and the names of your family members. The fact that this information is readily available puts us all in the dangerous position of being the victim of fraud, stalking and violence.

What makes the situation even worse is that our information was put online without any of our consent.

The good news is that Google just made a big change that gives us all a little more control over our personal information. On April 27, the company announced it will allow anyone to request removals of their personal information from its Search feature.

“Open access to information is a key goal of Search, but so is empowering people with the tools they need to protect themselves and keep their sensitive, personally identifiable information private. That’s why we’re updating our policies to help people take more control of their online presence in Search,” Michelle Chang, Google’s Global Policy Lead for Search, announced on the company’s blog.

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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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Becca Moore and Raul Torres having margaritas.

Becca Moore is a popular TikToker with over 800,000 followers who's known for her funny, laid-back takes on dating. Like any influencer-type she was at the Coachella music and arts festival in Indio, California recently. While she was at Coachella, she was robbed of her phone, rental car keys and wallet.

“I went to Coachella this weekend and I thought this guy was kinda hitting on me but then he just robbed me,” Becca says at the beginning of her three-minute TikTok video with over 3 million views. After the festival, she was left with no ride, money, or means to get in contact with friends and family. She was stranded in the desert.

Becca’s friend’s hotel called her an Uber so she could get to a local store to buy a new phone. The driver she was incredibly lucky to be connected with was a lot more than a guy with a car in a time of need, he was a guardian angel named Raul Torres from Fresno, California, six hours north of Indio.

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44 years ago he became her protector after a terrible act. Today, they've been reunited in love.

Betsy and Irv are finally getting the happy ending they deserve. Together.

It’s pretty safe to say that everyone loves a good love story.

There’s a whole genre of music and movies dedicated to the idea of someone being swept off of their feet after circumstances tried to keep them from their true love. Romance novels could single handedly keep public libraries and bookstores afloat. Everyone loves "love" and the story of Betsy and Irv just takes the cake. Betsy Sailor attended Penn State University as a business major, which was almost unheard of in 1978 and Irv Pankey attended the university while playing football. The pair’s paths never crossed, until an unfortunate incident bonded the two forever.

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This old adage was brought to life in a whole new way after two friends who thought they booked tickets to Budapest, Hungary, instead found themselves heading to Bucharest, Romania.

Just a minor 500-mile difference, but who’s counting?

TikToker @SophAlice posted a video of the pair realizing their mix-up, which went viral and set them off on an impromptu adventure based entirely on the comments they received.
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