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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.

Marc Martel sings with the audience in Santiago, Chile, in May of 2022.

Freddie Mercury was known for many things—his dramatic showmanship, his larger-than-life personality, and his untimely death during the peak of the AIDS epidemic—but he is most remembered for his clear, powerful voice, ranging from rich bass notes to impressive soprano coloratura.

It's hard to do Freddie's voice justice, but Marc Martel has managed to wow millions with his impersonations of the Queen lead singer. If you close your eyes and listen, there are seconds when you might swear you were hearing Freddie himself singing again.

Martel's cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody" has been viewed 56 million times on YouTube. And another of his videos showcases Martel's ability to captivate an audience with his—or Freddie's—voice.

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Democracy

These before-and-afters will make you question everything about how our economy works

You'd think it was some sort of natural disaster. Nope. Totally man-made.




Images via GooBingDetroit.

Yup. These images were taken only two years apart. And what you're seeing was not an accident.

When the economy crashed in 2008, it was because of shady financial practices like predatory lending and speculative investing, which is basically gambling, only the entire economy was at stake.

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Teacher starts period in front of class, turns into a lesson

Teachers are almost always teaching even when it's not in their lesson plan.

Those that were born to be teachers find teachable moments everywhere and one woman found herself in one of those moments. Though this one was likely just a bit more personal than she probably would've liked.

Emily Elizabeth posted a TikTok video about how she found herself in a predicament in front of her classroom full of 10 and 11-year-old kids. The teacher explained that she was noticing a lot of commotion and whispering among the little girls in her class while she was wearing white pants. After reminding the girls to stay on task, the whispering continued, prompting Emily to be more direct.

That's when one of the girls asked to speak with her privately dropping the bomb that no one that gets periods wants to hear in public.

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Photo by Adam Gonzales on Unsplash

A seafaring lifestyle from the comfort of home.

Imagine spending every day exploring wondrous locations, eating expertly crafted meals, enjoying year-round indulgence … could there be anything better?

Taking a lifelong cruise might sound like something out of a dream, and an unrealistic one at that. But leaving the land behind and adopting a seafaring lifestyle is now more attainable than ever.

By 2024, cruise line Storylines will launch a 741-foot ship dubbed the MV Narrative, a huge vessel containing 547 fully furnished rooms available for purchase or lease.

The cruise will definitely be the stuff of luxury, with its high-end spas, movie theater, yoga sun deck, state-of-the-art fitness center, art studio … it even has a bowling alley, for crying out loud. But being a “residential community at sea,” there will also be things like a library, post office, school and bank.
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Riley's face lights up after being called a "good boy."

A TikTokker named Peli Roja (redhead in Spanish) runs a doggie daycare in the Boston, Massachusetts, area where she cares for an adorable group of four-legged friends. Her super-sweet videos have earned her nearly 350,000 followers, and a recent video is so sweet it’s received over 13 million views.

In the video, the dogs dramatically change their facial expressions after being told they’re a “good boy.” They go from having resting dog faces to appearing to be proud and happy. The video has undoubtedly brought smiles to millions of human faces, and it’s a great reminder to tell your dog they’re a “good boy” or “good girl” whenever you can.

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Melissa Pateras explains how dry cleaning works.

Have you ever wondered what happens at the dry cleaners? Or are you like me, who just assumed the people at the dry cleaners were wizards and never questioned their magic? Turns out, dry cleaners aren't magic and there's actually a pretty interesting explanation of how they came to be and what they do.

Melissa Pateras is known on Tiktok for her laundry knowledge. Seriously, her ability to fold laundry is hypnotizing. This time, she created a video explaining what actually takes place at the dry cleaner and the internet is aghast.

Before Pateras explained what happens in the mysterious world behind the counter of a dry cleaner, she asked a few of her friends what they thought dry cleaning was. Their answers were...interesting to say the least.

One friend surmised, "You put it in a box, right...and then you let some wind, really fast wind, blow around on your clothes and it wipes off all the dirt." The friend, whose username is @unlearn16, continued with her working hypothesis, saying that the clothes are then blasted with infrared heat to sterilize the garments. While that is certainly an interesting theory, that's not what happens.

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