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How a DIY dress helped one woman reclaim the power words had on her body.

'We should all be able to celebrate and love ourselves without fear of criticism from others, whatever shape or size we are.'

News flash: Words have power. This is something Jojo Oldham knows all too well.

Whether you're a soap star hearing lewd comments made by a politician 10 years ago or the average woman getting catcalled on her way home from work, what other people have to say about your body leave a lasting impression.

Over Oldham's 31 years of existence, she's received countless comments about her body — both good and bad.

After years of letting these words affect how she sees herself, however, Oldham was finally ready to release them and embrace herself.

She took all the comments she's heard about her body over the years and painted them on a dress. Posing for pictures, with a smile on her face, she took the power those words had over her and refused to let them dictate her self-worth any longer.

Photo via Jojo Oldham/Lovely Jojo's, used with permission.

"The love I have for my body these days is something I've had to learn. And it requires constant maintenance," Oldham wrote on her website.

Photo via Jojo Oldham/Lovely Jojo's, used with permission.

Like so many of us, Oldham says she's been in a love-hate relationship with her body for as long as she can remember. There are days when she's thrilled with how she looks, and then there are days when she wants to delete every unflattering photo ever taken of her. The comments she would receive fanned the flame of her own insecurities.

"I had 31 years-worth of other people’s comments about my body swirling around my head and popping into it on a daily basis, and I wanted to do something positive with them," Oldham explained over email.

The dress is a badge of honor, symbolic of the fact that, while Oldham may have been called these things, she is not defined by them.

Photo via Jojo Oldham/Lovely Jojo's, used with permission.

"The comments that made the final cut have all stuck with me for different reasons," Oldham wrote. "Some because they’re really weird, some because they’re really lovely, some because they’re funny, and some because they’re particularly nasty and they really crushed me at the time."

Photo via Jojo Oldham/Lovely Jojo's, used with permission.

"Once I learned how to be happy with myself as I am, the negative things that other people said about my body just stopped mattering to me," Oldham explained.

Photo via Jojo Oldham/Lovely Jojo's, used with permission.

Comments can do serious damage to even the strongest, most self-confident people. Oldham hopes her dress will help curtail some of that damage.

"We should all be able to celebrate and love ourselves without fear of criticism from others, whatever shape or size we are," she wrote on her website.

She hopes the work will inspire women to remember they are not the sum of the comments made about their bodies; they are so much more.

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Naming twins is an art. Here are some twin names people say are the best they've ever heard.

With twins, all the regular pressures of having a baby are doubled, including choosing a name.

Photo credit: Canva

Are you in favor of rhyming twin names? Or is it too cutesy?

Having twins means double the fun, and double the pressure. It’s a fairly known rule to name twins in a way that honors their unique bond, but that can lead to overly cutesy pairings that feel more appropriate for nursery rhyme characters than actual people. Plus, it’s equally important for the names to acknowledge each twin’s individuality. Again, these are people—not a matching set of dolls. Finding the twin baby name balance is easier said than done, for sure.

Luckily, there are several ways to do this. Names can be linked by style, sound or meaning, according to the baby name website Nameberry. For example, two names that share a classic style would be Elizabeth and Edward, whereas Ione and Lionel share a similar rhythm. And Frederica and Milo seem to share nothing in common, but both mean “peaceful.”

Over on the /NameNerds subreddit, one person asked folks to share their favorite twin name pairings, and the answers did not disappoint.

One person wrote “Honestly, for me it’s hard to beat the Rugrats combo of Phillip and Lillian (Phil and Lil) 💕”

A few parents who gave their twin’s names that didn’t inherently rhyme until nicknames got involved:

"It's the perfect way! Christmas cards can be signed cutely with matching names, but when they act out you can still use their full name without getting tripped up.😂"

"The parents of a good friend of mine did this: her name is Allison and her sister is Callie. Their names don’t match on the surface, but they were Alli and Callie at home."

“Alice and Celia, because they’re anagrams! Sound super different but have a not-so-obvious implicit connection.”

This incited an avalanche of other anagram ideas: Aidan and Nadia, Lucas and Claus, Liam and Mila, Noel and Leon, Ira and Ria, Amy and May, Ira and Ari, Cole and Cleo…even Alice, Celia, and Lacie for triplets.

Others remembered name pairs that managed to sound lovely together without going into cutesy territory.

twin names, twins, babies, baby namesThese matching bunny ears though. Photo credit: Canva

“I know twin toddler boys named Charlie and Archie and they go so well together,” one person commented.

Another wrote, “Tamia and Aziza. I love how they follow the same sound pattern with the syllable endings (-uh, -ee, -uh) without being obnoxiously matchy matchy.”

Still another said, “Lucy and Logan, fraternal girl/boy twins. I think the names sound so nice together, and definitely have the same 'vibe' and even though they have the same first letter they aren't too matchy-matchy.”

Other honorable mentions included: Colton and Calista, Caitlin and Carson, Amaya and Ameera, Alora and Luella, River and Rosie, and Eleanor and Elias.

One person cast a vote for shared style names, saying, “If I had twins, I would honestly just pick two different names that I like separately. I tend to like classic names, so I’d probably pick Daniel and Benjamin for boys. For girls my two favorites right now are Valerie and Tessa. I think Val and Tess would be cute together!”

Overall though, it seems that most folks were fans of names that focused on shared meaning over shared sound. Even better if there’s a literary or movie reference thrown in there.

twin names, twins, babies, baby namesMany adult twins regret that their names are so closely linked together. Photo credit: Canva

“My mom works in insurance, so I asked her. She’s seen a lot of unique ones, but the only twins she remembers are Gwenivere [sic] and Lancelot... bonus points... little brother was Merlin,” one person recalled.

Another shared, “If I had twin girls, I would name them Ada and Hedy for Ada Lovelace and Hedy Lamarr, both very early computer/tech pioneers. Not that I’m that into tech, I just thought it was a brilliant combination.”

Other great ones: Susan and Sharon (think the original “Parent Trap”), Clementine and Cara (types of oranges), Esme and Etienne (French descent), Luna and Stella (moon and stars), Dawn and Eve, plus various plant pairings like Lily and Fern, Heather and Holly, and Juniper and Laurel.

Perhaps the cleverest name pairing goes to “Aubrey and Zoe,” since…wait for it… “they’re A to Z.”

It’s easy to see how naming twins really is a cool opportunity for parents to get creative and intentional with their baby naming. It might be a challenge, sure, but the potential reward is having the most iconic set of twins ever. Totally worth it!


This article originally appeared last year.

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Leading psychologist shares the trick to learning new skills when it feels so frustrating

What are the frustrating barriers holding you back?

via Business Wire and Canva

A girl is frustrated learning piano and Dr. Becky Kennedy.

Everyone has a particular skill they’d like to learn, but many of us fall short of our goals due to frustration. After a few hours of playing guitar, your fingers hurt. It’s upsetting to shank the golf ball every time you try your pitching wedge. You want to finish a novel, but the writer’s block gets in the way.

Dr. Becky Kennedy, a clinical psychologist, mom of three, and author of Good Inside: A Practical Guide to Being the Parent You Want to Be, says that instead of seeing frustration as a hindrance, it’s time to recognize it for what it is: a sign that you’re acquiring a new skill. “The more we understand that the frustration and struggle is actually a sign we’re [learning], not a sign we’re doing something wrong, it becomes a lot easier to tolerate,” Kennedy told CNBC's Make It.

How to fight back against frustration when learning something new

Kennedy’s advice is eye-opening because we often label temporary feelings of frustration as signs of failure when, in reality, it’s a sign that we are building a new skill. There is no way to learn anything new that doesn’t feel frustrating or require resilience.

@aarondinin

Hope you enjoy learning from @Dr. Becky | Psychologist as much as my class did! #learningtofail #dukestudents #resilience

In a video posted to TikTok, Kennedy notes that there are two stages of learning something new—“Learning” and “Not Learning”—and that the only thing in between those two stages, the "Learning Space," is nothing but frustration. “Being resilient doesn't feel resilient at all. It feels so messy,” she tells the students in the video. “No matter what, you're learning something on a job, something from puzzles, learning to read, you don't know how to do it, you want to know how to do it. And what I think is really empowering to know is the Learning Space has one feeling associated with it: Frustration. That's literally how learning feels.”

What is the Learning Space?

The key is to reframe the feeling of frustration from one of failure to progress. Once you see frustration in a new way, you’ll be more likely to power through it.

A great way to visualize frustration is to imagine that the uncomfortable feeling you have in your head is neurons in your brain realigning to help you get through the task and wire the new skill into your brain. It’s a brief moment of being under construction, and soon, a new you will emerge with a talent you never had before.

In another video, Kennedy explains how many of us were taught to avoid frustration as children, which means a lot of us stop short of reaching our full potential. But those of us who can stay in that Learning Space will be able to go to it again and again, drastically improving our potential.

@drbeckyatgoodinside

You may have seen the video of me guest lecturing at my alma mater, Duke University, in a class called Learning to Fail, which is part of the resilience curriculum. I spoke about the concept of the Learning Space, and the video has now been shared 246,000 times. 🤯 I’m absolutely blown away by your reaction to this video. The Learning Space is something I feel deeply passionate about, and it’s a concept I’m always trying to instill in my own kids. At Good Inside, we focus on building capability, not fragility. We don’t prioritize short-term gratification; our goal is to build skills today that will help our kids thrive as adults in the future. So to everyone who’s sharing this idea, drawing your own versions of “The Learning Space,” and instilling this concept in your kids, thank you. Together, we’re raising a generation of strong, resilient children.

“When I think about my kids and learning to fail, or really, in my language, learning to struggle, I want them to become experts,” Kennedy said. “Not experts at knowing, experts at staying in the learning space. My goal with my kids is like, I want you to get comfortable in that space. Because the knowing and the success happens whenever it happens, but it always happens in more areas of life and more quickly for the people who can stay in the frustration.”

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Passenger on 274-day cruise is surprised to learn the one word you can't say on the ship

"It's like saying 'Macbeth' in a theater."

via Mattew Barra/Pexels
There's one word you can't say on a cruise ship.

There are some things you just don't say. You don't yell out "bomb!" on an airplane, make jokes about carrying weapons while going through security, or, as Michael Scott from The Office knows, loudly proclaim that a boat you're currently on is sinking.

Those are all pretty obvious examples, but sometimes etiquette and decorum are a little more subtle. If you're not experienced in the ways of the venue you're in, you might not know all the unspoken rules. And you might find out the hard way. Cruise ships, for example, have their own very specific set of rules and regulations that guests should abide by.

On December 10, 2023, Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas set sail on the Ultimate World Cruise—a 274-day global trek that visits 11 world wonders and over 60 countries.


cruise, 9-month cruise, Marc Sebastian, cruise life, vacation, titanic, unspoken rules, etiquette, cruise etiquette, royal caribbean 9 months is a very long time to be aboard a boat, even a giant cruise ship. Photo by Peter Hansen on Unsplash

This incredible trip covered the Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Mediterranean and Europe with a ticket price that ranges from $53,999 to $117,599 per passenger.

With such a unique and incredible offering, it's understandable that Royal Caribbean wanted to invite plenty of influencers to help them get the word out.

Aboard the Serenade to the Seas was popular TikToker Marc Sebastian, who documented his experience throughout the journey. In one video with over 4.3 million views, he revealed what he’s learned over his first few weeks aboard the ship; the biggest was the one word you’re not allowed to say.

"So here's [what] I've learned about cruising since I've spent 18 nights on this floating retirement home with a Cheesecake Factory attached. First, number one, you're not supposed to talk about the Titanic," he says in the clip.

Titanic! It's the ultimate taboo when you're on a giant ship traversing the ocean. Even after all these years, it's still too soon to make even lighthearted comparisons or jokes.

@marcsebastianf

someone get whoopi on the line girl i have some goss for her #ultimateworldcruise #worldcruise #serenadeoftheseas #cruisetok #cruise #9monthcruise #titanic

“Who knew that? I didn’t,” Sebastian said. “I brought it up to an entire room of people having lunch that our ship is only 100 feet longer than the Titanic — when I tell you that utensils dropped. Waiters gasped. It’s dead silent.”

Sebastian was flabbergasted. "It wasn't in the... handbook," he joked. "Not that I read the handbook, clearly."

After the unexpected reaction, his cruise friend told him, “You’re not allowed to talk about the Titanic.” It makes sense.

Who wants to be reminded of the tragedy that killed around 1,500 people while sinking one of the most impressive engineering feats of the era? More experienced cruisers chimed in that they were familiar with the unique piece of etiquette.

cruise, 9-month cruise, Marc Sebastian, cruise life, vacation, titanic, unspoken rules, etiquette, cruise etiquette, royal caribbean Pro tip: Don't ask the band on board to play "My Heart Will Go On" by Celine Dion Giphy

"When I went on a cruise, my mom told me saying Titanic was equivalent to screaming ‘bomb’ at an airport," Mikayla wrote in the comments.

"It’s like saying Macbeth in a theatre, it’s an unspoken rule" another commenter added.

"I’m sorry you’re telling me you had a Harry Potter like experience saying Voldemort at Hogwarts but it was the titanic on a modern day cruise I’m cryingggg" joked another.

Later in the video covering little known cruise facts, Sebastian admits he was surprised to learn that cruise ships have godmothers and that the pools are filled with seawater.

In an update from June of 2024, Sebastian explains that he only stayed on the cruise for 18 nights. He was not booked to stay throughout the entire voyage, and for him, that was a relief.

He initially jokes that he was kicked off the boat for saving a penguin that had jumped aboard. But in the end, he admits he was more than happy to deboard early.

"I walked off that ship not a happy man," he said, saying the ship was overstimulating and stressful. In another video, he films as the ship navigates the Drake Passage, one of the most notoriously dangerous and choppy stretches of water in the world. It looks stressful indeed, to say the least.

Cruising isn't for everyone, let alone for 274 days straight! But now Sebastian knows the golden rule for his next cruise.

This story originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

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People are shocked after learning that maple syrup needs to be refrigerated

"I learned that one the hard way."

Image via Canva/JazzIRT

This kitchen staple must be refrigerated after opening, and people are shocked.

Properly storing food once it's been opened or used is key to preventing foodborne illnesses and food poisoning. However, deciphering which foods need to be refrigerated and which foods don't can be tricky.

The topic became a mind-blowing discussion for a group of home chefs who were stunned to learn that a beloved kitchen staple they frequently use must be stored in the fridge after opening. Member GiuseppeZangara posed the following question to fellow chefs on the subreddit r/Cooking: "What is something that should be refrigerated that people often don't? What is something that does not need to be refrigerated that people often do?"

The shocking food most people have not been refrigerating? Real maple syrup.

syrup, maple syrup, maple syrup gif, elf, elf syrup Santa Claus Christmas GIF by Cameo Giphy

Real maple syrup does not have preservatives, and has a high water content that can encourage mold growth.

"As someone who lives in Vermont let me say as a PSA to everyone: Maple syrup should be refrigerated after opening no matter what kind of climate you live in!" one commented. Someone replied, "Yeah. I learned that one the hard way. I always assumed it was shelf stable like honey, until I had a big bottle [of] mold."

Other people shared their maple syrup horror stories after realizing it needed to be refrigerated. "Found this out when I went to pour syrup over a stack of pancakes I had just made from scratch. Green blobs spreading over the stack and I almost vomit. I always do a test pour now even if it’s refrigerated," one wrote. Another shared, "I found out the hard way what happens when you don’t. Not a pleasant realization halfway through eating waffles that there was green mold everywhere in that maple syrup container 🤢🤢🤢."

@littlehandskitchen_

How did I not know that you should refridgerate maple syrup?#kitchenstaple #PSA #maplesyrup #randomrealization


Other members noted they prefer buying glass bottles of maple syrup for this reason, which helps them more easily spot mold. "This is why I only buy maple syrup in clear glass jars. I hate surprises, especially fuzzy ones," one wrote. Another commenter noted, "If it's moldy you'll notice. Unless you're shaking it. Don't shake it. The mold forms (visibly) where it comes into contact with the air, so you should see it from the outside (assuming a clear glass container). When you open the bottle, also check the underside of the lid as well as the top of the syrup," another wrote.

Maple syrup storage tips

To properly store your maple syrup, stick it in the fridge once the bottle has been opened. Make sure the lid is tightly sealed. According to Michigan State University, maple syrup should remain safe to eat in the fridge for up to one year. You may also notice changes to its color and flavor within six to eight months of opening, per Purdue University. For long storage, maple syrup can also be frozen, and will last several years, according to Ohio State University.

maple syrup, maple syrup pancakes, pancakes, pancake gif, syrup gif Hungry Maple Syrup GIF Giphy

The surprisingly good news is that if you do notice mold in your maple syrup, you don't have to throw it out, says Ohio State University. To salvage your maple syrup, skim off the mold and bring it to a boil. Wash out the original container, then simply repack it.

Artificial maple syrup (brands flavored like maple syrup that are typically made of high fructose corn syrup--such as Hungry Jack or Mrs. Butterworth's) does not need to be refrigerated. That's because they contain preservatives that keep them shelf-stable. As one home chef noted, "My kids get the corn syrup cheap one cause most just is wasted in the dishwasher after they poured too much lol."

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Music

That song you love may have been written by AI. But how can you tell?

It's frustrating not knowing if what you're listening to is real.

Photo Credit: Canva

A woman listens to music, while a robot looks on.

There you are scrolling the Internet, when a catchy song comes on to accompany a reel. Before you know it, it becomes a gentle little earworm you can't escape. All the elements of "good music" seem there: a soulful lead singer, nice melody, rockin' (okay, competent) drum beat, and maybe even relevant lyrics?

You're vibing with it, so you do some research. Who is this band? How long have they been around? When did this song come out? But then—plot twist!—you learn there were actually no humans involved in the making of this folk song (other than coders who created the software). And yet, that didn't stop it from climbing to number one on the UK charts.

- A song by The Velvet Sundown www.youtube.com, Bangers Only

The comments under this YouTube clip are genius. One person writes, "You can hear the pain in his motherboard." Another quips, "Loved this song since I was 8-bit old, now at 64GB this brings back a lot of memories." Maybe the best? "My wife used to love this song, we (would) just listen to it while driving on the highway. She passed in 1998. She was a toaster, I'm a calculator."

And while people are making these jokes with hindsight, a lot of folks didn't realize it was a super deep fake until after the fact. The song, entitled "Dust on the Wind" (you read that right—they merely changed a preposition), comes from the band The Velvet Sundown. The only problem is...there is no such band.

Self-described musician and teacher David Hartley asks on his YouTube channel, "How did this totally generic-sounding band gain over a million listeners and trick everyone along the way?"

-David Hartley explains The Velvet Sundown phenomenon www.youtube.com, David Hartley

Hartley explains, "The Velvet Sundown first appeared on Spotify in June 2025, releasing two full albums just weeks apart." (The albums are called Floating on Echoes and Dust and Silence.) He notes that the music is reminiscent of soft '70s rock, which he admits is "pleasant."

What's even more mind-boggling is Spotify lists the band members' names in a bio section. But when people began to look up these listed artists, there is no trace of them online. "They have no photos. No social media presence. Nor do they ever appear to have played a live gig before."

This would definitely not be the first AI band invented. Pablo G. Bejerano who writes for Spanish-language newspaper El PaÍs, gives another example: "The description of the album Rumba Congo (1973), uploaded to YouTube, tells the entire story of the musicians that recorded it. The band is called Concubanas. Founded in Havana in 1971, the group played a unique fusion of Cuban and Congolese music. They disbanded in 1992, but not before leaving behind countless musical gems. At the very bottom of the description beneath the YouTube video, there’s a note that the content is 'altered or synthetic.' This phrase is a euphemism to indicate that the music in the video was generated using AI. The band isn’t real."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

Recently, The Guardian reported that, "Up to seven out of ten streams of artificial intelligence-generated music on the Deezer platform are fraudulent, according to the French streaming platform." They further assess, "AI-generated music is a growing problem on streaming platforms. Fraudsters typically generate revenue on platforms such as Deezer by using bots to 'listen' to AI-generated songs – and take the subsequent royalty payments, which become sizeable once spread across multiple tracks."

But Hartley asks, "Why did THIS band make it to the top, eventually passing real artists?" He points to a tweet on X, where the band (which, remember, is not real) put out a statement that read: "Many news outlets are falsely reporting that we are an AI-generated band. Nothing could be further from the truth. #VelvetSundown #NeverAI"

He claims Spotify is well aware of these "ghost artists" and that it turns a profit for them. "The Velvet Sundown was strategically placed into a number of popular user-curated playlists."

In essence, the algorithm got tricked. Because the songs were being placed onto playlists (not unlike that morning when a new U2 album showed up in our iTunes music folders), the albums were getting hundreds of thousands of listens. The more listens, the more popularity, creating a never-ending feeding loop, like a snake eating its tail.

A man eventually came forward, and in an interview with Rolling Stone, claimed the whole thing was an "art hoax." But ultimately, this AI band has taken on a life of its own and has countered this claim. The guy himself admits that the hoax claim itself was a hoax and that he was ultimately tricking the media.

music, records, bands, vinyl, AI music A record player plays a record. Giphy

On the subreddit r/Let'sTalkMusic, someone asks in part, "What's the best way to verify if an artist is real or not?"

This received over one hundred comments. One person states, "The only guaranteed way to never hear AI-generated music is to stop letting algorithms pick what you listen to." This fan of punk music adds, "Bands play live, bands are made of people with lives and experiences. An AI band is not going to have a real presence or history. I know Rancid is a real band, I’ve seen them. I follow Matt Freeman on Instagram and it’s actually him because he likes to talk about playing bass and will often play some of his favorite riffs. I don’t think it’s hard to figure out if a band is real."

Many highly suggest simply unsubscribing from algorithms, reading music reviews, and buying vinyl again. AI will probably find a way around it, but it's a start.


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