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Culture

10 things that made us smile this week

10 things that made us smile this week

10 tidbits of joy to round out the week.

It's a new year, y'all! Cue the fireworks, the resolutions, the confusion parents are feeling over pandemic schooling in the midst of the omicron wave and the continued uncertainty of American democracy. Weeeee!!!

I'm sure I'm not the only one who could use a little light-hearted content to balance out the existential angst of the era. While we work on solutions where and how we can, we also need mental breaks sometimes to keep ourselves sane.

In that spirit, I offer these 10 sweet and silly things to lighten your load and brighten your day.


Enjoy!

Ever seen penguins get weighed? And where can I get a job weighing penguins? 

They're like adorable little toddlers who honk. Why are they soooooo cute?

Classic slapstick comedy that just gets funnier and funnier.

The poor guy in the bear suit keeps slipping and falling as they try to film the commercial—but the faceplant at the 0:42 mark is worth waiting for.

This toddler has the cutest reaction to her dad shaving his beard.

Some kids freak out when their dads shave for the first time, but this kiddo had the best reaction ever.

This baby is a 25-year-old man from 1970 in a baby's body.

Where did this baby's 'do come from? I feel like he's about to try to sell me a used car or some life insurance or something.

People shared their most embarrassing moments and it's painfully funny.

Imagine someone you have a crush on holds their fist out for a fist bump, but you mistake it for a pretend microphone, so you lean over and say "hi" into it. GAH, the hilarious, vicarious embarrassment of this collection of stories has people rolling.

Grandpa learns to bake at age 90 and makes a cake for every visit.

We all deserve a grandpa like this in our lives.

We can all appreciate this woman's boyfriend's reaction to his first pair of lefty scissors.

Sometimes we don't appreciate the simple joys and conveniences in life until we see what it's like not to have them.

People are discovering Elmo's decades-long beef with Zoe's pet rock, and it's hilarious.

Elmo has been feuding with Rocco, his best friend Zoe's pet rock, since 1999, and every time he loses it over a rock it's pure comedy. This clip prompted people to share other Elmo vs. Rocco moments and discuss the ongoing drama, which you can check out here.

Wordle the simple, wholesome and addictive daily word game. 

Wordle is a simple word game with a sweet origin story.

Most word games are wholesome, but this one has a particularly pure origin story. Josh Wardle created Wordle for his partner who loves word games. There are no ads, there's no data collection and you can only play it once a day, so even though you'll want to play more, it's not a huge time suck. Wardle just wants people to enjoy it. Mission accomplished. Learn more about it here.

Sweet baby being so gentle with another sweet baby.

I don't actually know what this is—a gosling? A duckling? Definitely a big baby bird of some sort, and the little baby human with it is so dang precious.

Hope that brought some joy to your day! Tune back in next week for another roundup of smile-worthy finds from around the internet.

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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Joy

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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