Had a few kindness/good news items bookmarked and it felt like a good day share them. Just got back from seeing my dad, after a long winter of not being able to travel across the frozen mid-west. He’s home and doing great. Brightened my entire mood.
So thought I’d share the feeling – here are tonight’s offerings:
Listen to this one with CC on – it’s super quiet and difficult to hear.
Feb 6, 2021 Greenwood football’s motto this season was “We Over Me.” There might not be a better testament to that message than this story. The team surprised its janitor, Jamie Freeman, who has cerebral palsy with his own state championship ring this week.
=================
This will be the 10th anniversary of the bombing of the Boston Marathon….
When Cal Calamia takes off from the starting line in Hopkinton on Monday to run the 2023 Boston Marathon, they will do so as part of a group of athletes who are making history in the 127th running of the renowned 26.2-mile race.
The 2023 Boston Marathon is the first time runners who identify as nonbinary have been able to officially register in a division that matches their gender identity, and Calamia is one of 27 runners who registered for the race in the new category.
Speaking with Boston.com ahead of the April 17th event, Calamia said that the Boston Athletic Association has “proven its allyship” within the mission of creating an inclusive race by establishing the nonbinary division.
“The running world is a microcosm for the world at large,” Calamia said. “And if we can just have people begin to acknowledge that people do exist beyond the gender binary of male and female or man and woman, then that opens up a more inclusive space where as many people as possible can enjoy running.”
Having the BAA and Boston do that, they said, feels “so good.” READ MORE HERE
Laura Failner is a SkyWest flight attendant. On July 7th, she witnessed this moment of kindness.
“I love looking for the good in the world! As I flew up to Washington today, I had this cute little 94-year-old lady get on my plane. She was frail and had a hard time getting back to her seat. There was a bit of confusion about where she was supposed to be seated. In first-class, this wonderful gentleman saw her plight and flagged me down. He said, “can you please get her and put her in my seat, and I will take hers.” He walked back with me to get her and take her to first class.
She was so touched. The woman gave him a big hug and said, “Never in my 94 years has someone done that for me. Thank you, young man.” She had tears of gratitude. It was amazing how his thoughtful act changed the attitude of everyone on the flight. May we all look for the little things we can do to help others around us and show kindness. In this crazy world, let’s all try to be the good.” ❤️❤️❤️
=================
=================
A fun bit from Gable Farms here in CO:
=================
This is one of my favorite YouTube follows. He plays the cello outside with the beautiful landscape of Ireland in the background.
=================
And finally, since I have no pet pics for you tonight, here’s my newest obsession – Billi the cat. She’s a sassy 14 yr old, whose favorite word is “mad” and second is probably “food.” I’ve watched videos where she puts sentences together and vowed that I would never get my cats buttons, because I don’t want to spend my day arguing, more than I already do, with my feline roommates.
Apr 10, 2023
I never anticipated so much of my life being verbal arguments with my cat 😹 ✨ ✨ ✨ Billi is a female domestic shorthair, she’s 14 years old, her favorite word is mad. Inspiration for learning to “speak” with buttons from Hunger4Words (check her out on IG).
That’s it for now. This is a good news open thread. What’s good in your neck of the woods?
Church forgives $3 million in medical debt for Davidson County residents
DAVIDSON COUNTY — More than 3,000 Davidson County residents no longer have to worry about being hassled by debt collectors after a local church recently purchased, and forgave, almost $3 million in their medical bills.
This is the second year the members of Trinity Moravian Church in Winston-Salem have taken on the Debt Jubilee Project, which focuses on paying off the past-due medical bills of residents in the Triad. Last year the group purchased $1.65 million worth of debt for 1,356 people in Forsyth and Davidson counties.
@gratuitous: Oh, shoot that reminds me of an article I now can’t find about a local church turning it’s lawn into a community garden. I’ll see if I can find it for the next post.
She’s a sassy 14 yr old, whose favorite word is “mad” and second is probably “food.”
I thought it was “fan toy”. Billi is a lot of fun to watch.
4.
C Stars
@gratuitous: Our church does this too, as part of a consortium of churches that collect money to pay off people’s medical bills. It shouldn’t have to happen but I’m glad that it does.
5.
PsiFighter37
I’m in downtown Phoenix for business and have a clear night after client meetings earlier. Anyone want to do a BJ meet up on the fly? I’m currently drinking at The Rose Garden.
I would strongly recommend going to Pizzeria Bianco while you’re in town. They have a strong claim at making the best pizza in the country. I definitely took advantage when I was in Phoenix.
7.
Eric S.
10 years since Boston. That seems forever ago and sorta yesterday. That year in Cincinnati, was the first year my brother and I ran a half marathon “together.” He finished almost 15m ahead of me so we were only side-by-side at the start.
8.
cain
I see a new place for MAGA agitators – getting into marathon committees and trying to be anti-trans.
With that cheery bit of news.
I’m going on vacation soon – and I’m going to eat a lot of kebabs. :D
9.
PsiFighter37
@Roger Moore: Not to be ‘that guy’ but there’s no way in hell a pizza shop in Phoenix makes better pizza than where I live (Manhattan). Fight me.
10.
geg6
No way am I getting my Cleo buttons. In fact, I cannot play that video anywhere near her. She will be even more demanding than she already is. And that’s pretty fucking demanding.
11.
UncleEbeneezer
@PsiFighter37: Is there any pizza ingredient that can only be found in NYC? Plenty of people move from NYC and open pizza shops elsewhere using the same recipes. I know bagels in NYC are unique due to the water, but I’ve never heard of that applying to pizza. I’m a huge pizza lover and do t really get into the city/regional arguments because as long they are above average, I love all of them.
12.
zhena gogolia
@geg6: I saw a show with a woman who did this with a standard poodle and it was cute. But with a cat it would be insane.
13.
PsiFighter37
@UncleEbeneezer: I do think it is more about technique than anything. But I also do think that more places apply themselves to the art of doing great pizza in NYC that anywhere else. Arguably my favorite slice in NYC is at Upside Pizza, which is run by the same folks who run the (in)famously cheap Two Brothers pizza but wanted to perfect the prototypical NYC slice. And there are plenty of other shops that are fantastic. Even the random thin-slice chain that was next to my old apartment did amazingly good pizza. That kind of variety simply doesn’t exist anywhere else in the country. And don’t get me started on fucking Chicago deep-dish or Detroit pizza (which has somehow become a thing).
I had a layover on Southwest in Huston on my way back from the National Championship game in January (the day the system crashed). There was a ton of fussing at the gate and when I got to my seat I saw that they had decorated the entry of the plane with happy birthday stuff for this little girl.
They handed out little gift bags to random folks as they checked in and they gave them to the peanut when they boarded. I think the thing was organized by someone from Southwest who was related to the child but it was still really sweet
@PsiFighter37: You should go to the Bitter and Twisted! I miss it so much. In the former Arizona Prohibition Office, Central and Jefferson.
21.
suzanne
@PsiFighter37:
He’s right. Pizzeria Bianco is the best.
I will fight people on that.
Chris Bianco is brilliant.
22.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@UncleEbeneezer: New Haven pizza all the way! Of course we are weird and put things like Clams on pizza, I actually got my husband a pizza oven attachment for his Webber grill a few years ago for Fathers day. He loves it. Me I love mashed potatos , bacon and shredded cheddar with a black pepper aioli, on my pizza. A purist I am not!
Sounds like Labs. There is no bigger eating machine than a Lab. My Koda would eat all day long if she could. In 11 years, I’ve never known her to refuse food of pretty much any kind. She’ll gulp down salad or broccoli. She loves asparagus. She’ll do anything for yams or sweet potatoes. Pasta and rice. And any and all seafoods and meats. Nothing dropped in the kitchen goes to waste. We had to start getting her lactose-free ice cream so she wouldn’t beg for desserts.
24.
kalakal
This is very sweet. Some construction workers making a little kids day
@suzanne: Yep. The wiseguy at Bianco is some of the best pizza I’ve ever had.
26.
Suzanne
@C Stars: Chris Bianco, like many Phoenicians (and me), is a New York transplant. I love all of his restaurants. I got his cookbook this year and it makes me feel better.
I spent the early part of my life in Huntington, NY, on Long Island. I used to run into people from Huntington, like, at least once a month.
Now everyone’s gotta bail because there’s no water left!
27.
Jackie
That young man buying the homeless man dinner brought tears to my eyes. His mom DOES deserve a “Well Done, Mama!” And bless the woman observing and, in turn, generously tipping him!👏🏻👏🏻
28.
Anoniminous
Not specifically Good News or Acts of Kindness.
Just an AMAZING cover of “Blue Monday” by the one-off Orkestra Obsolete
Contrast the faith of Jamie Freeman with the professed faith of the wear-it-on-your-sleeve theocrats. It’s like day and night (respectively). Good on the team and good on him!
Thinking about the Boston Marathon… and had a blinding flash of what now seems embarrassingly obvious.
The anti-trans hate surely comes from no longer being able to tell “at a glance” how badly a conservative cis-het white guy can treat a stranger. It’s a double dis to them: status as a white man is something that can be abandoned and is worth the effort; status as a white man, or indeed any man, can be adopted, with effort. Both dissed, and stolen, by one political movement.
OMG – My Sam (35 years gone now), If you sat her on a mountain of milkbones she would eat until she exploded. Labs are “food-insented” creatures, god love them. She ate everything she was offered, even salad with vinegar on it. She growled and barked at the vinegar smell, but she still ate the salad.
It should be noted, there was a specific command that told her she was allowed to eat the offered food. Otherwise, she would refuse it.
— at least a couple times, if you kept forcing it she’d take it and then do her “oh no, I’ve been bad” dance.
She was a magnificent dog; I still love her.
35.
C Stars
@Suzanne: I heard a lot of New York accents when I worked in Scottsdale. I began to think of it as a Scottsdale accent. Also remember quite a few folks from Chicago and Minneapolis. I left AZ in 2003 but was in downtown Phx a couple of years ago and saw that pizzeria bianco was still open–the spouse and I got in without much of a line and it was, of course, amazing as ever.
@geg6: Nothing dropped in the kitchen goes to waste.
I was sitting the neighbor’s 3-yo when she spilled her little bag of popcorn: on the hardwood floor, the vinyl couch, in the cracks between the cushions… luckily, sleeping on my feet was their lab/mastiff cross. Better than a DustBuster!
Comments are closed.
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!
War for Ukraine Day 412: Time Is Fleeting
gratuitous
A friend posted this story on Facebook:
TaMara
@gratuitous: Oh, shoot that reminds me of an article I now can’t find about a local church turning it’s lawn into a community garden. I’ll see if I can find it for the next post.
Roger Moore
I thought it was “fan toy”. Billi is a lot of fun to watch.
C Stars
@gratuitous: Our church does this too, as part of a consortium of churches that collect money to pay off people’s medical bills. It shouldn’t have to happen but I’m glad that it does.
PsiFighter37
I’m in downtown Phoenix for business and have a clear night after client meetings earlier. Anyone want to do a BJ meet up on the fly? I’m currently drinking at The Rose Garden.
Roger Moore
@PsiFighter37:
I would strongly recommend going to Pizzeria Bianco while you’re in town. They have a strong claim at making the best pizza in the country. I definitely took advantage when I was in Phoenix.
Eric S.
10 years since Boston. That seems forever ago and sorta yesterday. That year in Cincinnati, was the first year my brother and I ran a half marathon “together.” He finished almost 15m ahead of me so we were only side-by-side at the start.
cain
I see a new place for MAGA agitators – getting into marathon committees and trying to be anti-trans.
With that cheery bit of news.
I’m going on vacation soon – and I’m going to eat a lot of kebabs. :D
PsiFighter37
@Roger Moore: Not to be ‘that guy’ but there’s no way in hell a pizza shop in Phoenix makes better pizza than where I live (Manhattan). Fight me.
geg6
No way am I getting my Cleo buttons. In fact, I cannot play that video anywhere near her. She will be even more demanding than she already is. And that’s pretty fucking demanding.
UncleEbeneezer
@PsiFighter37: Is there any pizza ingredient that can only be found in NYC? Plenty of people move from NYC and open pizza shops elsewhere using the same recipes. I know bagels in NYC are unique due to the water, but I’ve never heard of that applying to pizza. I’m a huge pizza lover and do t really get into the city/regional arguments because as long they are above average, I love all of them.
zhena gogolia
@geg6: I saw a show with a woman who did this with a standard poodle and it was cute. But with a cat it would be insane.
PsiFighter37
@UncleEbeneezer: I do think it is more about technique than anything. But I also do think that more places apply themselves to the art of doing great pizza in NYC that anywhere else. Arguably my favorite slice in NYC is at Upside Pizza, which is run by the same folks who run the (in)famously cheap Two Brothers pizza but wanted to perfect the prototypical NYC slice. And there are plenty of other shops that are fantastic. Even the random thin-slice chain that was next to my old apartment did amazingly good pizza. That kind of variety simply doesn’t exist anywhere else in the country. And don’t get me started on fucking Chicago deep-dish or Detroit pizza (which has somehow become a thing).
TaMara
Steeplejack just emailed me and said my ==== were breaking the margins. Hopefully it’s fixed. Let me know in the comments if it’s still an issue.
CindyH
@PsiFighter37: I’m with you – there’s a lot of really good pizza in Philly but the best I’ve had is in NYC – not sure why
Percysowner
@zhena gogolia: I have a beagle. It would be Food, Food, Food, Food, Treats, Walk, Food. Beagles are pretty single minded when it comes to Food.
Steeplejack
@TaMara:
Fixed. Thanks!
Josie
@Percysowner:
Sounds like corgis.
raven
I had a layover on Southwest in Huston on my way back from the National Championship game in January (the day the system crashed). There was a ton of fussing at the gate and when I got to my seat I saw that they had decorated the entry of the plane with happy birthday stuff for this little girl.
They handed out little gift bags to random folks as they checked in and they gave them to the peanut when they boarded. I think the thing was organized by someone from Southwest who was related to the child but it was still really sweet
Then everyone sang happy birthday to her.
suzanne
@PsiFighter37: You should go to the Bitter and Twisted! I miss it so much. In the former Arizona Prohibition Office, Central and Jefferson.
suzanne
@PsiFighter37:
He’s right. Pizzeria Bianco is the best.
I will fight people on that.
Chris Bianco is brilliant.
EmbraceYourInnerCrone
@UncleEbeneezer: New Haven pizza all the way! Of course we are weird and put things like Clams on pizza, I actually got my husband a pizza oven attachment for his Webber grill a few years ago for Fathers day. He loves it. Me I love mashed potatos , bacon and shredded cheddar with a black pepper aioli, on my pizza. A purist I am not!
geg6
@Josie:
Sounds like Labs. There is no bigger eating machine than a Lab. My Koda would eat all day long if she could. In 11 years, I’ve never known her to refuse food of pretty much any kind. She’ll gulp down salad or broccoli. She loves asparagus. She’ll do anything for yams or sweet potatoes. Pasta and rice. And any and all seafoods and meats. Nothing dropped in the kitchen goes to waste. We had to start getting her lactose-free ice cream so she wouldn’t beg for desserts.
kalakal
This is very sweet. Some construction workers making a little kids day
https://www.reddit.com/r/aww/comments/12e61y8/these_construction_workers_filled_a_kids_toy/
C Stars
@suzanne: Yep. The wiseguy at Bianco is some of the best pizza I’ve ever had.
Suzanne
@C Stars: Chris Bianco, like many Phoenicians (and me), is a New York transplant. I love all of his restaurants. I got his cookbook this year and it makes me feel better.
I spent the early part of my life in Huntington, NY, on Long Island. I used to run into people from Huntington, like, at least once a month.
Now everyone’s gotta bail because there’s no water left!
Jackie
That young man buying the homeless man dinner brought tears to my eyes. His mom DOES deserve a “Well Done, Mama!” And bless the woman observing and, in turn, generously tipping him!👏🏻👏🏻
Anoniminous
Not specifically Good News or Acts of Kindness.
Just an AMAZING cover of “Blue Monday” by the one-off Orkestra Obsolete
Albatrossity
Good news here is that Scissor-tailed Flycatchers returned to my patch of Flyover Country today.
bbleh
Contrast the faith of Jamie Freeman with the professed faith of the wear-it-on-your-sleeve theocrats. It’s like day and night (respectively). Good on the team and good on him!
Steeplejack
@kalakal:
That’s great!
No One You Know
Thinking about the Boston Marathon… and had a blinding flash of what now seems embarrassingly obvious.
The anti-trans hate surely comes from no longer being able to tell “at a glance” how badly a conservative cis-het white guy can treat a stranger. It’s a double dis to them: status as a white man is something that can be abandoned and is worth the effort; status as a white man, or indeed any man, can be adopted, with effort. Both dissed, and stolen, by one political movement.
They won’t ever get over it.
TaMara
Thanks for sharing the good stuff! Those comments just made my night.
Also, too, now I want pizza.
A Man for All Seaonings (formerly Geeno)
@geg6:
OMG – My Sam (35 years gone now), If you sat her on a mountain of milkbones she would eat until she exploded. Labs are “food-insented” creatures, god love them. She ate everything she was offered, even salad with vinegar on it. She growled and barked at the vinegar smell, but she still ate the salad.
It should be noted, there was a specific command that told her she was allowed to eat the offered food. Otherwise, she would refuse it.
— at least a couple times, if you kept forcing it she’d take it and then do her “oh no, I’ve been bad” dance.
She was a magnificent dog; I still love her.
C Stars
@Suzanne: I heard a lot of New York accents when I worked in Scottsdale. I began to think of it as a Scottsdale accent. Also remember quite a few folks from Chicago and Minneapolis. I left AZ in 2003 but was in downtown Phx a couple of years ago and saw that pizzeria bianco was still open–the spouse and I got in without much of a line and it was, of course, amazing as ever.
SteverinoCT
I was sitting the neighbor’s 3-yo when she spilled her little bag of popcorn: on the hardwood floor, the vinyl couch, in the cracks between the cushions… luckily, sleeping on my feet was their lab/mastiff cross. Better than a DustBuster!