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10 things that made us smile this week

10 things that made us smile this week

Need a break from the doom and gloom headlines? Of course you do. We all do.

Here's this week's round-up of fun, joyful, uplifting things to bring some peace to your heart and a smile to your face.

1. This mom sent a photocopy of her phone in the mail, which prompted a flood of endearing tech fail stories.

It's hard to call these stories "tech fails" when they're so fabulous. They're more like time capsule stories that remind us of the incredible advances our elders have seen during their lifetimes. Read them here.

2. A mom turning 50 next month shows off the skateboarding skills she's worked on for the past nine years.

How many people pick up a sport like skateboarding in their 40s? This is just awesome. Go, mama, go.


3. You think it's just a baby goat noshing on some berries, but then you see its companion.

Why? No idea. Totally unexpected, and totally adorable.

4. This fussy baby lights up at hearing Rick James, and who can blame her really?

"My daughter has an out-of-control obsession with Rick James," says the caption. Look at her face when he starts singing!

5. Kids and music are always a winning combo. These second graders dancing just proves it.

Dance is one of the most instinctual forms of artistic expression, and kids dancing is just too delightful.

6. Old folks dancing is pretty delightful, too.

May we all have this much joyful energy this late in life.

7. A new insulin that doesn't need refrigeration is a game-changer for people with diabetes.

Diabetics have to figure out how to keep their insulin cold when they're away from home, which is a pain when traveling and a hindrance to many activities. Yay for scientists coming up with thermostable insulin. Read the story here.

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8. Supermarkets in the Netherlands are adding "chat checkouts" for lonely people.

Seniors in particular can often feel isolated, so grocers in the Netherlands have created slower checkout lanes geared toward the elderly to combat loneliness. Clerks are encouraged to take time to talk with their customers, rather than get them through the line as quickly as possible. How sweet is that? Read about the initiative here.

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9. Rainbows are actually full circles and my mind is blown in the best way.

No need to look for the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, because there is no end. Because rainbows are circles. I REPEAT, RAINBOWS ARE CIRCLES. I had no idea, and this video is amazing.

10. If you're still searching for some zen, these dolphins ought to do it.

Gorgeous blue water? Check. Dolphins playing in the surf? Check. Rainbow? Check. All is well.

Hope that gave you the mood boost you needed! There truly is so much joy and beauty in our world. We just have to remember to look for it and share it with others when we find it.


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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Family

Pediatrician shares two simple tips that could save a child's life at a pool party

"The more folks present, the safer the pool is, right? Wrong."

Photo by Ash Dowie on Unsplash

If there's a body of water anywhere, a designated adult needs to have their eyes on it.

It's that time of year when the weather across the country is warm enough for families to enjoy outdoor barbecues, picnics and pool parties. That means it's also the time of year when tragedy will strike a certain percentage of families who get blindsided by how quickly and easily a child can drown in a backyard pool, even when they're surrounded by people who care about them and their safety.

We've all been at a gathering where adults are coming and going, chatting, setting up food, taking trips to the bathroom, all while kids are busy playing in the water. In such scenarios, it's easy to assume that someone else is keeping an eye on the pool.

But as pediatrician Diane Arnaout has shared, the harrowing reality is that the more people there are at a pool party the more likely it is that a child could slip into the pool or become distressed in the water without anyone noticing.

In a Facebook post that has been shared more than 77,000 times, Dr. Arnaout wrote:

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Drew Barrymore speaks during the FLOWER Beauty launch at Westfield Parramatta on April 13, 2019, in Sydney, Australia.

Drew Barrymore, 48, has been in the public consciousness since she starred as Gertie in 1982’s mega-blockbuster, “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial,” a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. So, it makes sense that many people of a certain age feel as if they’ve grown up with her.

Now, she’s an even more significant part of people’s lives as the host of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” which runs every weekday on CBS.

On May 25, the show’s Instagram page posted a touching video of an off-the-cuff moment between Barrymore and a fan during a taping of her show. In the clip, Barrymore realizes that someone in the audience is crying. So, instead of ignoring the fan, she jumps to action to see what is the matter.

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Pop Culture

Musician uses traditional Chinese instrument to create hypnotic cover of 'Hotel California'

There are literally hundreds of covers of this song floating around on the internet, but this one has its own unique flair.

Moyun/Youtube

Moyun peforms "Hotel California" on the guzheng.

The Eagles' hit song, “Hotel California,” has been covered countless times over the years by a variety of artists, including the likes of Nancy Sinatra, the Gypsy Kings and that guy at your local karaoke spot.

And while every rendition gives the song a fresh dynamic, one musician with a penchant for mystery has transformed the rock n’ roll staple into something entirely new.

Using a traditional Chinese string instrument called a guzheng, Moyun plays the song focusing mostly on its two guitar solo arrangements, creating a sound that has all the otherworldly beauty of an ancient folk tale.
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Pop Culture

Man rewatches shows from his childhood and his recaps of the bonkers storylines are priceless

Rob Anderson's hilarious recaps of shows like "Mighty Ducks," "Beethoven," and "7th Heaven" might make you wonder how they got made in the first place.

@hearthrobert/TikTok

These plots makes zero sense.

While there are no doubt some timeless classics from our childhood that remain every bit as amazing as we remember, many are straight-up cringey upon a later viewing. Really, it’s to be expected as societal viewpoints change…sort of a marker of how far we’ve collectively come.

And so, what do we do with these problematic pieces of old-school pop culture? Well, we can certainly update them to better reflect a more modern attitude, but that also comes with a set of potential problems. Or we could simply never watch them again. Certainly an option given all the content out there. But then we might miss an opportunity to better understand what seemed to work for the mainstream then, and why it doesn’t work now.

And then there’s the third option—allow ourselves to be entertained by their cringiness.

That’s certainly the route taken by Rob Anderson. Over on TikTok, Anderson has taken ultra-popular movies and television shows from his childhood and given them hilarious recaps capturing how absurd some of the storylines are.
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Joy

Woman decides that she is the love of her life and marries herself at her retirement home

“I said, you know what, I’ve done everything else. Why not?”

77-year-old woman decides she's the love of her life and marries herself.

We joke about marrying ourselves or a platonic friend if some arbitrary amount of time has passed without a proposal from an imaginary suitor. And sure, some people do wind up marrying a friend in more of a business arrangement, but it's not very common that someone follows through with marrying themselves.

Dorothy "Dottie" Fideli, decided that she was going to break the mold. The 77-year-old sat down and thought about all of the things she had done in life and who was with her the entire time cheering her on. It was an easy answer: herself. She was her biggest cheerleader, the person who always showed up and the love of her life, so Fideli made the plan to marry herself.

On a beautiful May day, friends and family gathered in the O’Bannon Terrace Retirement Community, where Fideli is a resident, to witness the ceremony.

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