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31 Days of Happiness Countdown: a girl's super funny interview with her cat. (Day 30)

Thanks for stopping by for Day 30 of Upworthy's 31 Days of Happiness Countdown! If this is your first visit, here's the gist: Each day between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, we're sharing stories we hope will bring joy, smiles, and laughter into our lives and yours. It's been a challenging year for a lot of us, so why not end it on a high note with a bit of happiness? Check back tomorrow (or click the links at the bottom) for another installment!

"Cat Person," the uncomfortably relevant short story from The New Yorker, was the viral hit of the holiday season. This ... is not that.

This is, however, another piece of cat-related content that really, really, really deserves your undivided attention right now. Instead of making you queasy or hitting too close to home, this one will bring you oodles of sheer unbridled joy.

Earlier this year, a 10-year-old girl named Gabi decided to sit down and interview her cat, Coco, which is a totally normal thing to do. She then transcribed that interview, and it is honestly one of the best pieces of journalism I've read this year.

Her dad, Paul Duane, tweeted a photo of Gabi's hilarious transcription, and it went viral. For obvious reasons.

Interview with Coco!!!

ME: Coco, can I rub you on the head?

COCO: Absolutely

ME: The back?

COCO: Sure.

ME: The tummy?

COCO: YOU-ARE-FORBIDDEN-TO-EVER-TOUCH-MY-TUMMY!!!

ME: The legs?

COCO: NO!!!

ME: The tail?

COCO: ABSOLUTELY NOT!

ME: The butt?

COCO: IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU?!?! THIS INTERVIEW IS OVER!!!























The single tweet racked up over 62,000 retweets and nearly 200,000 Likes, making Gabi and Coco major internet celebs.

According to her father, Gabi was pretty pumped about all the attention and seemingly hopes to springboard her 15 minutes of fame into some kind of literary career.

Kids really know how to ask the tough questions, don't they?

Props to Gabi for bringing us all a much-needed laugh as 2017 draws to a close. This girl is truly going places.

More days of happiness here: DAY 1 / DAY 2 / DAY 3 / DAY 4 / DAY 5/ DAY 6 / DAY 7 / DAY 8 / DAY 9 / DAY 10 / DAY 11 / DAY 12 / DAY 13 / DAY 14 / DAY 15 / DAY 16 / DAY 17/ DAY 18 / DAY 19 / DAY 20 / DAY 21 / DAY 22 / DAY 23 / DAY 24 / DAY 25 / DAY 26 / DAY 27 / DAY 28 / DAY 29 / [DAY 30] / DAY 31
Heroes

31 Days of Happiness Countdown: This cooking show in space is just so delicious. (Day 17)

Thanks for stopping by for Day 17 of Upworthy's 31 Days of Happiness Countdown! If this is your first visit, here's the gist: Each day between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, we're sharing stories we hope will bring joy, smiles, and laughter into our lives and yours. It's been a challenging year for a lot of us, so why not end it on a high note with a bit of happiness? Check back tomorrow (or click the links at the bottom) for another installment!

[rebelmouse-image 19471358 dam="1" original_size="400x224" caption="GIF via "Parks & Recreation."" expand=1]GIF via "Parks & Recreation."

I'm pretty sure the only thing that kept me from being an astronaut is the face-melting liftoff ... well that, and the decades of advanced math and science. But mostly the liftoff. I get nauseous on carnival rides, so exploring the final frontier just wasn't in the cards for me.

However, I am kind of obsessed with the astronauts who live and work in space. You know, the folks living in the space station, speaking to school children on Skype while their hair stands on end, and doing somersaults and experiments all the time. That's the kind of anti-gravitational fun I live for.

GIF via NASA.

So when I found European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti's videos, my mind basically exploded.

While living on board the International Space Station, Cristoforetti made cooking videos. Yes, cooking videos! THIS IS TASTY IN SPACE, Y'ALL!

Generally, the meals in the final frontier are pretty standard, but every astronaut gets "bonus food" that reminds them of the flavors of home. In this video, Cristoforetti takes us lowly Earth-dwellers through the process of making turmeric chicken and whole red rice with mushrooms and peas. Forget outer space, Cristoforetti is living in flavor country.

I don't want to spoil the whole thing, but here are some highlights.

First, Cristoforetti doesn't use plates because that would be pointless. Instead, she plates her meal on a tortilla. This is a tip I will incorporate into my own life.

GIFs via ESA/YouTube.

To get the food to stick to the tortilla, she uses smashed pea cream as an adhesive. This is a tip I will not incorporate into my own life.

Also as she cooks, her dinner just keeps floating away which is hilarious the first time, and even better as she adds more food to the tortilla. #spaceprobz

You can (and totally should) watch Cristoforetti make a mean dinner below. It's got everything: space travel, mushrooms, floating tortillas. WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT, PEOPLE?

(Plus, it's probably the most delightful meal you'll see all day, unless you know an otter eating Christmas cookies.)

Oh, and if you're as hungry as I am, here's a walk-thru on how to make Cristoforetti's exact meal — weightlessness on the side. Bon appétit, space nerds!

More days of happiness here: DAY 1 / DAY 2 / DAY 3 / DAY 4 / DAY 5 / DAY 6 / DAY 7 / DAY 8 / DAY 9 / DAY 10 / DAY 11 / DAY 12 / DAY 13 / DAY 14 / DAY 15 / DAY 16 / [DAY 17] / DAY 18 / DAY 19 / DAY 20 / DAY 21 / DAY 22 / DAY 23 / DAY 24 / DAY 25 / DAY 26 / DAY 27 / DAY 28 / DAY 29 / DAY 30 / DAY 31
Heroes

31 Days of Happiness Countdown: the googly-eyed river barge that eats litter. (Day 16)

Thanks for stopping by for Day 16 of Upworthy's 31 Days of Happiness Countdown! If this is your first visit, here's the gist: Each day between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, we're sharing stories we hope will bring joy, smiles, and laughter into your life. It's been a challenging year, so why not end it on a high note? Check back tomorrow (or click the links at the bottom) for another installment!

Picking up trash isn't the most glamorous job, but it is an important one. In Baltimore's Inner Harbor, that effort is led by a wise-cracking, anthropomorphic, googly-eyed conveyor belt named Mr. Trash Wheel. At a time when America is gearing up to make coal smog its national bird and give oil companies unfettered access to public lands, it's hard not to feel a tiny twinge of hope that one city now sports a 16-foot-long floating dumpster whose job it is to eat litter. Not to mention, he's awesome.

I mean ... just look at him:

[rebelmouse-image 19533487 dam="1" original_size="700x364" caption="Photo by Dicklyon/Wikimedia Commons." expand=1]Photo by Dicklyon/Wikimedia Commons.

Mr. Trash Wheel was installed in 2014 by the Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore. So far, he's cleaned up over 1 million pounds of refuse from the city's waterways. His heroics have inspired T-shirts, dozens of Halloween costumes, a beer, several Choose-Your-Own-Adventure stories, and even a tribute song.

If you don't live in Baltimore, you should follow him on Twitter, where he makes waterway conservation weird and hilarious on a daily basis.

In December 2016, the Waterfront Partnership installed a second garbage collector, named Professor Trash Wheel, expanding the trash clean-up effort further down the harbor.

Her up-river colleague welcomed her with open arms.

Thanks to the project's success, other cities have begun installing similar devices. Mr. Trash Wheel, naturally, is a big fan — but occasionally offers some unsolicited notes.

Getting people invested in the tireless work of conservation is no mean feat. For managing to make the process of hauling empty beer bottles, used tires, and the occasional pet snake out of the water 1,000% more entertaining, Mr. Trash Wheel earned national respect, local hero status, and a fanatically devoted following.

Your holiday season will be a billion times more magical if you hitch a ride on the Trash Wheel bandwagon.

More days of happiness here: DAY 1 / DAY 2 / DAY 3 / DAY 4 / DAY 5 / DAY 6 / DAY 7 / DAY 8 / DAY 9 / DAY 10 / DAY 11 / DAY 12 / DAY 13 / DAY 14 / DAY 15 / [DAY 16] / DAY 17 / DAY 18 / DAY 19 / DAY 20 / DAY 21 / DAY 22 / DAY 23 / DAY 24 / DAY 25 / DAY 26 / DAY 27 / DAY 28 / DAY 29 / DAY 30 / DAY 31
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31 Days of Happiness Countdown: where to find some real fantastic beasts. (Day 15)

Hello and welcome to Day 15 of Upworthy's 31 Days of Happiness Countdown! Each day between Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, we're sharing stories we hope will bring joy, smiles, and laughter into our lives and yours. It's been a challenging year for a lot of us, so why not end it on a high note with a bit of happiness? Check back tomorrow for another installment!

Finding a Strange Animals post in my Twitter feed is like finding a toasted marshmallow Jelly Belly in a sea of juicy pear.

Because ... listen, there's a lot of crap in the world right now and things can seem really bad. Really bleak.

When I was a kid and I felt this way, I'd often retreat into fantasy stories. I'd read about Harry and Buckbeak the hippogriff, or Sam Vimes and the swamp dragons, or Dinotopia's dinosaurs. I still do that, leaning into fantasy worlds when the real world's just a little too much.

But when you get to see real fantastic beasts, well, that's kind of like someone taking you aside and saying, "Hey, I know things are tough right now. But don't forget, there's still amazing things out there."

I mean just check out some of these critters.

Strange Animals puts a little fantasy back in your day and you can't help but love it for that.

More days of happiness here:DAY 1 / DAY 2 / DAY 3 / DAY 4 / DAY 5 / DAY 6 / DAY 7 / DAY 8 / DAY 9 / DAY 10 / DAY 11 / DAY 12 / DAY 13 / DAY 14 / [DAY 15] / DAY 16 / DAY 17 / DAY 18 / DAY 19 / DAY 20 / DAY 21 / DAY 22 / DAY 23 / DAY 24 / DAY 25 / DAY 26 / DAY 27 / DAY 28 / DAY 29 / DAY 30 / DAY 31
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