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Nobody came to his 'Stranger Things' birthday party. The show's cast found out.

Nobody came to his 'Stranger Things' birthday party. The show's cast found out.

Aaron Alambat had a "Stranger Things" birthday party. It looked badass.

There was a cake made in honor of the Netflix series, Demogorgon blood (punch) to drink, and — of course — holiday lights strung up to communicate with those stuck in the Upside Down. (If none of that made sense to you, you really need to watch the show.)

The only thing the party could have used were more of Aaron's friends.

Aaron's sister, Ayen, pointed out in a disheartening tweet that, even though Aaron invited eight of his classmates, "none of their punk selves showed up."



Ugh.💔

The good news is that other Twitter users wanted to make sure Aaron still had a great birthday party. So they started replying to the tweet.

A radio DJ wanted to give him a shoutout on air.

Someone else said that his whole supportive "Twitter fam" will show up for a good time next year.

One encouraging user opened up about a similar experience they had as a kid, writing, "In 5th grade I made invitations to a laser tag party and none of my friends showed up. ... This past weekend I had a surprise birthday and it was laser tag."

Internet star Bretman Rock chimed in, too, noting how delicious all the Filipino food looked in the pics.

It didn't take long before the tweet made its way to the feeds of a few "Stranger Things" cast members.

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Netflix.

Actress Millie Bobby Brown, who plays Eleven on the show, said she wants to come to Aaron's birthday party next year. "You can let them all know that everyone on behalf [of] 'Stranger Things' would’ve come! I think [you're] awesome and next year I would like an invite ... Please?"

Actor Gaten Matarazzo, who plays Dustin, replied to Brown's tweet: "Count me in too! I'll bring the chocolate pudding."

All the positive vibes and well-wishes seemed to turn Aaron's birthday into an experience he'll never forget — in a good way!

In a tweet posted the following day, Ayen updated all those wondering how her brother was doing in the aftermath of her viral tweet.

Aaron is "chillin now" and doing just fine.

Sharing tough life experiences with complete strangers can actually bring out the best in humanity sometimes, it seems. And who knows? A few celebrities may even chime in to show their love and support for you, too.

Stranger things have happened.

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How do you convince people to vote? A marketing writer shares her attention-getting secrets

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Anne Hebert, a marketing writer living in Austin, TX, jokes that her closest friends think that her hobby is "low-key harassment for social good". She authors a website devoted entirely to People Doing Good Things. She's hosted a yearly canned food drive with up to 150 people stopping by to donate, resulting in hundreds of pounds of donations to take to the food bank for the past decade.

"I try to share info in a positive way that gives people hope and makes them aware of solutions or things they can do to try to make the world a little better," she said.

For now, she's encouraging people through a barrage of persistent, informative, and entertaining emails with one goal in mind: getting people to VOTE. The thing about emailing people and talking about politics, according to Hebert, is to catch their attention—which is how lice got involved.

"When my kids were in elementary school, I was class parent for a year, which meant I had to send the emails to the other parents. As I've learned over the years, a good intro will trick your audience into reading the rest of the email. In fact, another parent told me that my emails always stood out, especially the one that started: 'We need volunteers for the Valentine's Party...oh, and LICE.'"

Hebert isn't working with a specific organization. She is simply trying to motivate others to find ways to plug in to help get out the vote.

Photo by Phillip Goldsberry on Unsplash

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A Starbucks barista's reaction to a customer's anti-mask, anti-BLM rant was perfection

Eight months into the pandemic, you'd think people would have the basics figured out. Sure, there was some confusion in the beginning as to whether or not masks were going to help, but that was months ago (which might as well be years in pandemic time). Plenty of studies have shown that face masks are an effective way to limit the spread of the virus and public health officials say universal masking is one of the keys to being able to safely resume some normal activities.

Normal activities include things like getting a coffee at Starbucks, but a viral video of a barista's encounter with an anti-masker shows why the U.S. will likely be living in the worst of both worlds—massive spread and economic woe—for the foreseeable future.

Alex Beckom works at a Starbucks in Santee, California and shared a video taken after a woman pulled down her "Trump 2020" mask to ask the 19-year-old barista a question, pulled it back up when the barista asked her to, then pulled it down again.

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Husband-wife pastor team built a network of support across Houston

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Glenda moved to Houston from Ohio just before the pandemic hit. She didn't know that COVID-19-related delays would make it difficult to get her Texas driver's license and apply for unemployment benefits. She quickly found herself in an impossible situation — stranded in a strange place without money for food, gas, or a job to provide what she needed.

Alone, hungry, and scared, Glenda dialed 2-1-1 for help. The person on the other end of the line directed her to the Houston-based nonprofit Bread of Life, founded by St. John's United Methodist pastors Rudy and Juanita Rasmus.

For nearly 30 years, Bread of Life has been at the forefront of HIV/AIDS prevention, eliminating food insecurity, providing permanent housing to formerly homeless individuals and disaster relief.

Glenda sat in her car for 20 minutes outside of the building, trying to muster up the courage to get out and ask for help. She'd never been in this situation before, and she was terrified.

When she finally got out, she encountered Eva Thibaudeau, who happened to be walking down the street at the exact same time. Thibaudeau is the CEO of Temenos CDC, a nonprofit multi-unit housing development also founded by the Rasmuses, with a mission to serve Midtown Houston's homeless population.

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Pete Buttigieg brilliantly explains the problems with Constitutional 'originalism'

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Pete Buttigieg is having a moment. The former mayor of South Bend, Indiana keeps trending on social media for his incredibly eloquent explanations of issues—so much so that L.A. Times columnist Mary McNamara has dubbed him "Slayer Pete," who excels in "the five-minute, remote-feed evisceration." From his old-but-newly-viral explanation of late-term abortion to his calm calling out of Mike Pence's hypocrisy, Buttigieg is making a name for himself as Biden's "secret weapon" and "rhetorical assassin."

And now he's done it again, this time taking on the 'originalist' view of the Constitution.

Constitutional originalists contend that the original meaning of the words the drafters of the Constitution used and their intention at the time they wrote it are what should guide interpretation of the law. On the flip side are people who see the Constitution as a living document, meant to adapt to the times. These are certainly not the only two interpretive options and there is much debate to be had as to the merits of various approaches, but since SCOTUS nominee Amy Coney Barrett is an originalist, that view is currently part of the public discourse.

Buttigieg explained the problem with originalism in a segment on MSNBC, speaking from what McNamara jokingly called his "irritatingly immaculate kitchen." And in his usual fashion, he totally nails it. After explaining that he sees "a pathway to judicial activism cloaked in judicial humility" in Coney Barrett's descriptions of herself, he followed up with:

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Teen ballerina boldly and beautifully challenges 'dancer body' stereotypes​

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When you picture a ballerina, you may not picture someone who looks like Lizzy Howell. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't.

Howell is busting stereotypes and challenging people's ideas of what a dancer should look like just by being herself and doing her thing in her own body. The now-19-year-old from Delaware has been dancing since she was five and has performed in venues around the world, including Eurovision 2019. She has won scholarships and trains up to four hours a day to perfect her skills in various styles of dance.

Jordan Matter Photography shared a documentary video about Howell on Facebook—part of his "Unstoppable" series—that has inspired thousands. In it, we get to see Howell's impressive moves and clear love of the art form. Howell shares parts of her life story, including the loss of her mother in a car accident when she was little and how she was raised by a supportive aunt who helped her pursue her dance ambitions. She also explained how she's had to deal with hate comments and bullying from people who judge her based on her appearance.

"I don't think it's right for people to judge off of one thing," Howell says in the video. And she's right—her size is just one thing.

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