Quote of the Day: “Baseball is nothing but a great slow contraption for getting you to pay attention to the cadence of a summer day.” ― Michael Chabon
Photo: by Joel Olives, CC license via Flickr
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
These music boxes may be small, but they are having a huge impact on the families who use them.
The Music Memory Box was created as a means of using photographs, objects, and music to help people with dementia to remember their past.
The box is programmed to play certain songs that are associated with the various possessions and photos. When one of the objects is placed in the center of the box, a sensor triggers box’s speakers so that it plays the song that corresponds with the object.
28-year-old designer Chloe Meineck says that her great-grandmother’s experience with dementia served as the inspiration for the box. Whenever Meineck when to visit the senior at her nursing home, the woman always failed to recognize her. Upon hearing certain songs, however, Meineck’s great-grandmother would suddenly begin to recall heartfelt stories from her past.
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Meineck developed the first box in 2011 when she was taking a 3D-printing course at the University of Brighton. After graduating from school one year later, she designed several dozen prototypes to send to families for testing – and they apparently had remarkable results.
74-year-old Monica Garrity told SWNS that she and her husband Steve, who has dementia, began using the box in 2017 as a means of helping him to remember events from their marriage – and they’ve been regularly using the box ever since.
MORE: Canada’s First ‘Dementia Village’ is Set to Open its Doors Next Year
“We have been able to connect again, it is wonderful,” says Monica. “He doesn’t usually communicate with me but when the music plays, he hums along and even holds out his hand to grab mine. It takes us back to when we got married.”
In addition to receiving dozens of awards for her design, Meineck recently held a Kickstarter campaign in order to fund the manufacturing of the first batch of Music Memory Boxes.
Within two weeks, she was able to raise the necessary funds – and she is now preparing to send out the first batch of pre-ordered boxes.
(WATCH the boxes in action in the heartwarming video below)
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This Saturday, music stores around the world will be abuzz with special events and releases for Record Store Day 2019 – so here are some of the key highlights.
In addition to the plethora of albums that will be released this weekend, one of the more notable new releases is an album of live performances recorded on the popular “WTF With Marc Maron” podcast.
All of the proceeds generated from the album sales will be donated to Musicians On Call, a charity that uses music to help heal hospital patients.
Additionally, the record – which features intimate garage performances from artists including Aimee Mann, Nick Lowe, and Jason Isbell – is the first album to be released under the official new Record Store Day record label.
Other Record Store Day vinyl releases include new tunes, live sets, raw recordings, collaborations, and new EPs from artists across all genres, only some of which include Bob Dylan, David Bowie, Greta Van Fleet, Janis Joplin, John Lennon, Miley Cyrus, Motorhead, Prince, and Weezer.
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For a complete list of the Record Store Day releases, you can visit the event website.
Additionally, Pearl Jam was nominated as the official ambassadors for Record Store Day – and they were delighted.
“Independent record stores are hugely important to me, and have been ever since I was 12 years old. Before I even really knew what they were, there was a certain feeling of ‘this is a dream come true,’ and it’s a wonderland and there’s so much to learn in here… and it’s still that way,” says Mike McCready, guitarist and a founding member of Pearl Jam.
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“Support every independent record store that you can. They’re really a good part of society. Know if you love music, this is the place to find it. And it helps people who work here and that’s important, too. And it kind of takes an effort, you have to look for something that you want; you have to talk to people. I had to talk to people to figure out which Aerosmith record to get first or anything back in the day. It’s a place to learn. It’s a place to have fun. And it’s a place to discover new music.”
To find a participating record store near you, check out the event’s online store locator for a complete list.
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When this 18-year-old girl found that she had nowhere to pray in her new city, her neighbors were quick to open their hearts – and their doors.
Atul, as her friends call her, is an exchange student who recently moved from Malaysia to Arcata, California so she could attend the public charter school Northcoast Preparatory Academy (NPA).
Because Atul is also a Muslim, she is required to pray five times per day. Though the teen has been happy in Arcata, she quickly found that the city was not equipped with the prayer rooms that she was accustomed to in Malaysia.
“In my country, they are everywhere, as my country is a majority Muslim country,” said Atul.
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Shortly after she began raising awareness for her plight in the city, however, several schools and organizations offered up their facilities for her to use as prayer rooms.
The assistant manager of local bookstore Tin Can Mailman even offered up two of their spare rooms for Atul to use for prayer.
“I was so touched by the kind-hearted support I found,” Atul said in a school statement. “Tin Can Mailman gave me two spaces: they explained that one of the spaces might sometimes not be available if there are books on the floor, and in that case, I could always use the other room.”
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The teenager says that the offers of support and hospitality have also reaffirmed her faith in humanity, which later prompted her to make a video about her new prayer rooms on Youtube as a thank you to the contributors.
“I was scared at first because I was still wondering ‘What is it like to be a Muslim in America?’” said Atul. “But with my community support, I know that even if we have many differences such as in religion and faith, we still can be connected as human beings. We will never be disconnected as long as we are being kind-hearted to each other.”
(WATCH Atul’s thank you video below)
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In one of the largest studies of its kind, researchers are using “powerful” new gene-editing technology to pinpoint the weaknesses in cancer cells.
If surgery or localized therapy is not an option, then patients are generally forced to undergo chemotherapy and radiation as a means of attacking cancer cells.
Unfortunately, that also means that patients have to endure all of the debilitating side effects and potential health risks that come with it.
Thankfully, scientists from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Open Targets have developed a groundbreaking new road map that identifies and pinpoints the weakest genetic points of different cancer cells.
In a study that was published in Nature this week, the team used CRISPR technology to disrupt every gene in over 300 cancer models from 30 cancer types and discover thousands of key genes essential for cancer’s survival. The team then developed a new system to prioritize and rank 600 drug targets that show the most promise for development into treatments.
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The team focused on common cancers, such as lung, colon and breast, and cancers of particular unmet clinical need, such as lung, ovarian and pancreatic, where new treatments are urgently needed.
However, the team also managed to discover a new genetic weakness called Werner syndrome RecQ helicase, which is common in many stomach and colon cancers – and this discovery could lead to the first treatments capable of targeting the gene and treating the cancers.
The results accelerate the development of targeted cancer treatments and bring researchers one step closer to producing the Cancer Dependency Map, a detailed rulebook of precision cancer treatments to help more patients receive effective therapies.
“The Cancer Dependency Map is a huge effort to identify all the weaknesses that exist in different cancers so we can use this information to empower the next generation of precision cancer treatments,” said Dr. Mathew Garnett, co-lead author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Open Targets.
“This tool will be freely available for scientists across the world to understand what makes a cancer a cancer, and how we might target different types of cancers much more effectively than we do today.”
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Scientists and pharmaceutical companies are exploring new targeted therapies that selectively kill cancer cells, leaving healthy tissue unharmed. Currently, producing new effective treatments is very difficult; it costs approximately $1-2 billion to develop a single drug, but around 90% of drugs fail during development. Therefore, selecting a good drug target at the beginning of the process can be seen as the most important part of drug discovery.
Dr Francesco Iorio, co-first author from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and Open Targets, said: “To give a new drug the best chance of succeeding in the very final phases of clinical trials, it is crucial to select the best and most promising drug target at the beginning of the drug development process.
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“For the first time, in a data-driven way, we provide guidance at a genome-scale on which new therapeutic targets should be put forward for the development of new anti-cancer drugs,” he added.
Professor Karen Vousden, Cancer Research UK’s chief scientist, said: “What makes this research so powerful, is the scale. CRISPR provides a unique tool to accelerate discovery of oncology drug targets, and this study is a salient leap in a positive direction.”
(WATCH the explanatory video below)
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No one is happy about missing their bus – but if young Thomas Daniel had successfully made it onto his school bus last week, he would have never met Officer Lynema.
Lynema, who is with the Grand Rapids Police Department in Michigan, says that he saw the 9-year-old boy chasing after a school bus early in the morning.
Lynema asked Thomas if he wanted a ride to school, which the youngster gratefully accepted (with his mom’s permission).
On the way to school, Thomas invited Lynema to his birthday party that evening. The boy also said that he was worried none of his classmates would show up for the party because he is often bullied in school.
When Lynema attended the party later in the day, he was heartbroken to discover that he and Thomas’s siblings were the only people who had shown up for the party – and the youngster didn’t even have a cake.
The next day, Lynema rallied his fellow police officers and returned to Thomas’s house to throw him a second birthday party.
After Thomas got back from school, he was shocked to come home and find presents, a Krispy Kreme donut cake, and a singing quartet waiting to surprise him – all courtesy of Lynema and his colleagues.
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Thomas later said that it was the “best birthday ever.”
The police department posted photos of the youngster and his new friends in hopes that it would inspire other people to take action against bullying.
“No kid should get bullied, and no kid should worry if anyone will come to the party,” wrote the police department Facebook page. “Next year Thomas Daniel, make sure you drop us that invite a little sooner. We wouldn’t want to miss it!”
(WATCH the video below)
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Quote of the Day: “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” – Leonardo da Vinci
Photo: by Joel Olives, CC license via Flickr
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Most pet owners keep spray water bottles on hand in order to discipline their pets – not to delight them.
But when Nido the mini dachshund was introduced to a spray bottle for the first time earlier this week, she could not contain her excitement.
(WATCH the cute clip below)
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Most students are eager to leave school on Friday so they can go back to their homes for the weekend – but not at West Side High School.
Every Friday evening after classes are over, hundreds of students continue to flood the hallways of the Newark, New Jersey school.
The students spend their evenings at the school as a means of seeking solace and safety from the violence and gang activity on the streets. Principal Akbar Cook says that since he first launched the after-school Lights On program four years ago, it has had a dramatic impact on the livelihood and wellbeing of the students.
Volunteers and community role models with the Lights On program host dozens of different activities and clubs throughout the evenings. When school is out for the summer, the program is hosted at the school three nights a week. The staffers even serve up free hot meals to keep the youngsters fed during their stay.
WATCH: Principal Reads Books in Her PJs Online So Students Always Have a Bedtime Story
In addition to running Lights On, Principal Cook recently installed a laundry room facility inside of the school so homeless and underprivileged students could have a place to do their laundry.
Since opening the laundry room last year, the principal says that student attendance has improved by 10%.
“I haven’t lost any more kids to gun violence since the start of the school year,” Cook proudly told WABC.
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by Lights On Program
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In a historic feat by @EHTelescope & @NSF, a black hole image has been captured for the 1st time. Several of our missions observed the same black hole using different light wavelengths and collected data to understand the black hole's environment. Details: https://t.co/WOjLdY76ve pic.twitter.com/4PhH1bfHxc
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2019
Reprinted from Chandra X-Ray Observatory
There are a lot of clichés that get thrown around when talking about big scientific discoveries. Words like “breakthrough” or “game changing” are often used. They grab people’s attention, but it’s fairly rare that they apply.
Today’s announcement of the first image ever taken of a black hole (more precisely, of its shadow) truly rises up to that standard.
By definition, nothing not even light, can escape the gravitational grasp of a black hole. This, however, is only true if you get too close, and the boundary between what can and cannot get away is called the event horizon.
This dark portrait of the event horizon was obtained of the supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy Messier 87 (M87 for short) by the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), an international collaboration whose support includes the National Science Foundation. This achievement is certainly a breakthrough, and we at NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory congratulate and applaud the hundreds of scientists, engineers, and others who worked on the Event Horizon Telescope to obtain this extraordinary result.
As is well documented in today’s announcement, it took a remarkable effort and coordination from scientists and organizations around the world to even have a chance to make this happen. The result being heralded stems from an observing campaign during April 2017, when this global network of radio dishes observed M87 together.
While Chandra can’t see the shadow itself, its field of view is much larger than the EHT’s, so Chandra can view the full length of the jet of high-energy particles launched by the intense gravitational and magnetic fields around the black hole. This jet extends more than 1,000 light years from the center of the galaxy.
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As for the investigation of the black hole in M87, Chandra has been on the case for quite some time. M87 is an elliptical galaxy in the Virgo galaxy cluster, about 60 million light years away from Earth. For years, scientists have known that a supermassive black hole weighing several billion times the mass of the Sun sits at the center of M87.
Surrounding the elliptical galaxy is a reservoir of multimillion-degree gas, which glows brightly in X-ray light. Chandra’s studies of this hot gas have given astronomers insight into the behavior and properties of the giant black hole. For example, astronomers have used Chandra data to discover ripples in the hot gas, which provide evidence for repeated outbursts from the black hole roughly every 6 million years or so.
What does today's black hole image news mean? Our @ChandraXRay Observatory team puts it into perspective and shares just what a difficult feat it was for @NSF and @EHTelescope to obtain the new black hole image. Read more about #EHTBlackHole: https://t.co/s9xoxt8l3S pic.twitter.com/TQD8HSdbGG
— NASA (@NASA) April 10, 2019
Scientists will be poring over the new EHT image and the papers that are being published in connection with this result for weeks, months, and even years to come. As they do, they will continue to pull in every resource they can — including famed black hole hunter, the Chandra X-ray Observatory — to learn as much as they can about these exotic and fascinating objects.
For more live-streamed updates on the groundbreaking discovery from the National Science Foundation, click here.
(WATCH the video below)
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Quote of the Day: “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one.” – George R.R. Martin (A Dance with Dragons)
Photo: by Shawn Harquail, CC license via Flickr, cropped
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
These middle school students are being hailed as heroes after they helped to talk a woman out of committing suicide last week.
The 12 young heroes, all of whom are members of the boys volleyball team from Kepler Neighborhood School in Fresno, California, had been jogging through the streets for their training when they saw the woman climb over the edge of a bridge.
Had she let go, she would have fallen 100 feet onto the train tracks below – but luckily, the boys took action.
The team members ran to their coach Elliot Murray, yelling for him to call 911. When he saw the woman hanging from the bridge, he told the boys to run back and do everything in their power to keep her from jumping.
“I immediately told the kids, ‘Do everything you can, chant, say ‘Stop, your life is worth it’ – and they just kept on chanting,” Murray told WPVI.
Sure enough, the boys spent the next 10 minutes with the 47-year-old woman, yelling words of encouragement and urging her to climb up from the ledge.
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Upon hearing their compassionate chants, the woman finally crossed back over to safety just before police officers arrived on the scene.
The woman was then assigned to a 72-hour mental health evaluation, and though her current circumstances and condition are unknown, Murray is positive that his team members were the reason why she felt compelled to step back from the ledge.
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by WPVI
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Petco has just become the first and only major pet food retailer to remove artificial ingredients in dog and cat foods starting in May 2019.
In celebration of the achievement, Petco also launched Cleaning House, a marketing campaign that will call on pet parents to reconsider what they feed their pets by offering a gritty reminder: “If it doesn’t meet our new standards, you won’t soon find it on Petco shelves.”
“Last year, we put the entire pet industry on notice by introducing new standards for nutrition because we firmly believe it’s the right thing to do for pets,” said Tariq Hassan, Petco Chief Marketing Officer.
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“This campaign breathes life into that decision and the journey that lies ahead for Petco,” added Hassan. “It’s a departure from anything we’ve done before, and a direct reflection of our ongoing brand transformation to meet the evolving demands of pet parents.”
The campaign, which will run throughout the company’s fiscal year on Jan 31st, 2020, is designed to reinforce Petco’s industry-leading stance on pet nutrition, while educating pet parents on the new standards and empowering them to act accordingly.
For more information about Petco and its new nutrition standards, you can visit the company’s website.
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Through referencing available guidelines provided by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) and the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Petco defines artificial colors, flavors and preservatives as:
(WATCH the promo video below)
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The soil of Northern Ireland has always been reputed to have healing properties – and while it may have previously just been the stuff of local folklore, scientists have found that there is actually some truth to the legends.
Upon analyzing the fabled Irish soil, a team of researchers discovered that it contains a previously unknown strain of bacteria that is effective against four of the top six superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics.
Antibiotic-resistant superbugs could result in over one million European deaths by 2050, according to recent research. The World Health Organization (WHO) describes the problem as “one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today”.
Thankfully, the bacteria’s discovery could be a huge breakthrough in fighting antibiotic-resistant superbugs.
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The search for replacement antibiotics to combat multi-resistance has prompted researchers to explore new sources, including folk medicines: a field of study known as ethnopharmacology.
The new strain of bacteria, which was named Streptomyces sp. myrophorea, was discovered by a team based out of Swansea University Medical School.
The soil they analyzed originated from an area of Fermanagh, Northern Ireland, which is known as the Boho Highlands. It is an area of alkaline grassland which has long been fabled to have healing properties.
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Dr. Gerry Quinn, one of the research team members and a former resident of County Fermanagh, had been aware of the healing traditions of the area for many years.
Traditionally, a small amount of soil was wrapped up in cotton cloth and used to heal many ailments, including toothaches, throat and neck infections. Interestingly enough, this area was previously occupied by the Druids, around 1,500 years ago, and Neolithic people 4,000 years ago.
The main findings of the research were that the newly-identified strain of Streptomyces inhibited the growth of four of the top six multi-resistant pathogens identified by the WHO as being responsible for healthcare-associated infections: Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecium (VRE), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Klebsiella pneumonia, and Carbenepenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumanii.
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It also inhibited both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, which differ in the structure of their cell wall; usually gram-negative bacteria are more resistant to antibiotics
It is not yet clear which component of the new strain prevents the growth of the pathogens, but the team is already investigating this.
“Our discovery is an important step forward in the fight against antibiotic resistance,” said Professor Paul Dyson of Swansea University Medical School. “Our results show that folklore and traditional medicines are worth investigating in the search for new antibiotics. Scientists, historians and archaeologists can all have something to contribute to this task. It seems that part of the answer to this very modern problem might lie in the wisdom of the past.”
Dr. Quinn added: “We will now concentrate on the purification and identification of these antibiotics. We have also discovered additional antibacterial organisms from the same soil cure which may cover a broader spectrum of multi-resistant pathogens.”
The research was published in Frontiers in Microbiology in December.
(Source: Swansea University)
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A hospital in California has come up with a clever way to soothe anxious young patients on their way to the operating room.
Rather than being wheeled into surgery on a gurney, youngsters at Doctors Medical Center in Modesto can now drive into surgery in little toy mini-cars.
The tiny surgical patients have the choice of driving either a black Mercedes or a pink Volkswagen Beetle – and if the children are incapable of driving the hot rods, they can also be piloted by an adult with a remote control.
Though the Mercedes was purchased by the hospital last year, the Volkswagen was recently donated by an employee and her family.
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Thus far, the cars have been a huge hit amongst the patients, and staffers say that they have been hugely successful in relieving the children’s anxieties.
“When they find out they can go into the operating room riding in a cool little car, they light up and in most cases, their fears melt away,” hospital spokeswoman Krista Deans told KTVU. “And when parents see their children put at ease, it puts them at ease as well.”
The hospital started using the cars after one of their nurses started researching how she could help her pediatric patients cope with the stress of surgery. Upon investigating various techniques, she found that using the toy cars was surprisingly successful.
“It can be traumatizing for a young patient to be peeled away from their parents as they head into surgery,” added Deans. “[But] this truly helps everyone involved.”
(WATCH the cars in action below)
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Rather than calling the cops on a teenage boy who was caught stealing snacks, this compassionate 7-Eleven owner sent him home with even more food.
Jitendra Singh had been managing his branch of the convenience store in Toledo, Ohio over the weekend when one of his employees alerted him to the young man’s suspicious activity.
Upon reviewing his security footage, Singh saw that the youngster had been secretly pocketing snacks as he wandered the aisles.
When the teen approached the counter, Singh asked him to reveal all of the merchandise hidden in his clothes – otherwise, he would call the police.
RELATED: School District Turns Unused Cafeteria Food into Take-Home Meals for Kids in Need
The teen responded by saying that he was only stealing food because he and his younger brother were hungry and had nothing to eat.
Singh then told the teen to go and collect more pizzas, chicken, sandwiches, fruits, and meals from the aisles so he could take them home – all free of charge.
Cedric Bishop, who is a regular customer at the store, said that he was stunned as he watched the event unfold. He later described the incident in a Facebook post, praising the owner for his kindness.
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“The cashier had the 911 operator on the phone and the owner told her to hang up,” recalled Bishop. “The owner [then told the teen] ‘This is not food. You want food, I’ll give you food.’”
In addition to Sing sending the teen home with several bags of free food, Bishop also felt inspired to give the youngster $10.
“I thought that was an amazing thing the owner did,” said Bishop. “Some young people just need to know that someone cares.”
Singh, on the other hand, was very nonchalant about his good deed. Since he has been a store owner for the last five years, he says that he always tries to use his position to help the community – and this was just another chance for him to give back to someone in need.
“It’s not going to make any difference to me if I give him some food because we make a lot of food, we sell a lot of food,” Singh told WTVG. “If he goes to jail then he’s definitely not going to do anything good in life.”
(WATCH the news coverage below) – File photo by chrisinphilly5448, CC
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Quote of the Day: “Everyone has a gift for something, even if it is the gift of being a good friend.” – Marian Anderson (on the 80th anniversary of her Lincoln Memorial concert)
Photo: by Pascal Böhme, CC license via Flickr, cropped
With a new inspirational quote every day, atop the perfect photo—collected and archived on our Quotes page—why not bookmark GNN.org for a daily uplift?
Today is MOTH Monday on Good News Network: In partnership with The Moth, a nonprofit dedicated to the art of storytelling, we bring you the most uplifting speakers from live stages across the world.
Roseanne Cash may be the eldest daughter of the legendary Johnny Cash, but that does not mean that she has not experienced her fair share of hardships and difficulties.
In her earlier years, her music achieved commercial success and she became a trailblazer for female artists in the music industry.
Rather than continuing to make chart-topping hits, however, she decided to create an album that embodied her truest self. She then released Interiors, a “dark and troubling” record that received its fair share of bad reviews from critics.
Cash’s life then took some harsh turns, and as she lived paycheck-to-paycheck in the harsh urban landscape of New York City, she struggled to find hope.
Then, she received a very unexpected phone call that taught her the importance of being true to oneself.
Listen to her story below…
The Moth gives people an opportunity to tell a true story in front of a live audience, and sometimes their stories are chosen to air on the radio show, now celebrating its tenth year, and broadcasting on 485+ public radio stations—and on The Moth podcast, which is downloaded over 52 million times a year.
The Moth’s third book, Occasional Magic: True Stories About Defying the Impossible is now available for purchase through your favorite booksellers.
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Art enthusiasts and world travelers are being given the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend the night with a legendary host: the Mona Lisa.
You and a lucky friend now have the chance to participate in a one-night slumber party at the Musée du Louvre on April 30th.
The Parisian museum joined forces with AirBnb in order to launch the historic contest this week. The winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will be able to spend a special evening in the institute after the tourists are finally sent home.
As the sun is setting on the French city, the contest winner and their guest will be led on a specialized art-history tour of the museum – an experience that has also been offered to the likes of the Obamas, Jay-Z, and Beyoncé.
After that, the guests will share a Renaissance-inspired aperitif with the Mona Lisa painting followed by an extravagant feast alongside Venus of Milo in a pop-up dining room.
The guests will then end be treated to an acoustic concert in the lavish living quarters of Napoleon III.
As the evening comes to a close, the two guests will be able to cozy up for a good night’s sleep in a luxury tent underneath the Louvre’s iconic glass pyramid.
“We are happy to offer this unique and special experience for two people to stay in the museum overnight, in a bespoke pyramid shaped bedroom,” said Anne-Laure Béatrix, Deputy Managing Director of the Musée du Louvre.
“We know that many people would love the opportunity to wander alone at night through the Louvre and we want this to be a magical and unforgettable experience. With Airbnb’s partnership, we hope to encourage more people to discover how truly accessible and inspiring the wonders of art can be.”
“Paris is one of the most attractive cities in the world and the Louvre is one of the most loved and celebrated institutions in Paris,” added Emmanuel Marill, General Manager of Airbnb France. “We are thrilled to partner with them and to offer exciting and unique experiences that will celebrate our community and welcome Parisians and international travelers to rediscover the museum in a new and authentic way.”
If you would like to enter the contest, you simply have to apply on the AirBnb website before April 12th and answer the question: “Why would you be the Mona Lisa’s perfect guest?”
(WATCH the promo video below) – Photos courtesy of AirBnb
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Last week, a beautiful thing occurred in the classroom of a 4th grade teacher at Chino Valley School District.
It is Autism Awareness Month and every classroom on the California campus had been asked to have each student decorate a paper puzzle piece and hang it on their classroom doors.
When Ms. Lisa Moe handed out the puzzle pieces, most of her students were familiar with the idea of autism—and they were aware of the reason for decorating the puzzle pieces. What her students did not know was that autism was present within their own classroom in their fellow classmate: Rumari.
With excitement, Rumari rose his hand and said “May I please say something?” Moe nodded and said “of course”, but never could she have imagined what was to follow.
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She explained in a Facebook post: “Rumari has faced challenges and barriers beyond what any of us will ever be able to fully understand. But today, he stood in front of the classroom with full confidence, enthusiasm, and courage and showed us that there is no challenge or barrier that can stop him.
“He brought to life the meaning of ‘Yes I Can’ as he explained to his fellow classmates that he was autistic. With full knowledge, he explained the differences that may come when being autistic and how the spectrum is vast. He courageously spoke about his own differences and quirks, while defining what it means to make everyone feel like a someone.”
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Both teacher and students were enraptured and hanging on every word he spoke. For a long time, Moe never thought to get out her phone to capture this moment – but finally, she realized the treasure that was unfolding, and without any of the students knowing, she hit record and captured the final moments of Rumari’s talk, along with the authentic and raw reactions of the other students as they raised their hands to ask questions.
Moe’s daily classroom mottos of “Be Kind” and “Yes I Can” merged in that moment and the tears could not be stopped, as his peers expressed their admiration and love for him.
Rumari’s mother was thrilled by the video and told Moe: “Watching Rumari so courageously speak about autism and how it relates to him and others is beyond what I can properly express. It brings me great joy to watch him be so unapologetically proud to be autistic… Thank you for creating such a comforting, loving and supportive environment that my baby felt safe to express himself. You’re doing great things and giving others the courage to do the same. ”
Moe told Good News Network, “One of the biggest lessons I have learned through this is that kids are still kids. They sometimes say things they shouldn’t or do something they know isn’t right.”
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“When they entered my class at the beginning of the year, many lacked confidence and struggled with a negative mindset. But in the right positive environment where I stress the importance of kindness, empathy, compassion, and self-confidence every day through our class motto of ‘Yes I Can!’, to me, it solidified my position as an educator and the impact and influence of being the ‘positive teacher’. We can make our world a feel-good, happy place.”
“If I were unable to ever teach again or if there was ever a question to my path into this role as an educator, this moment solidified my purpose.”
(Note: Ms. Moe got permission from all parents whose child spoke on camera.)
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