Best of the web — and in the world

Best of the web? Yes. Best of the world? That, also. I reached a tipping point this week when I was watching some ass-clown I refuse to reference by name at a white supremacist meeting (Call it what you want, National Policy Institute) give a speech that essentially set civil rights and basic, human ethics back 100 years. The next day I watched another bigot announce to his “conservative” brothers and sisters that they needed to boycott Target because of their extreme leftist policies — you know, the ones that embrace diversity and compassion. (And by the by, I am filled with warmth seeing how many people liked and shared this tweet yesterday and today. Keep up the good work!)

I realized that today, tomorrow and in the days following, I need to keep my focus on some of the good in the world because there is plenty of it left, no matter how the news makes us feel. So please know that while I am still filled with the fire of a thousand suns, in this little pocket of the universe, in this moment, there is only goodness and warmth.

• Take a moment and watch just a little of the ceremony held at The WHite House this week wherein President Obama gave out 21 Presidential Medals of Freedom. President Obama has given out more of these Medals than any other President in our history.

• You may not recall, but three years ago, President George H.W. Bush shaved his head in solidarity with a young boy, Patrick, who was battling Leukemia. Now three years later, former President Bush has let everyone know on Twitter that Patrick is better!
• Michael J. Fox joined Dave Matthews on stage at a recent show to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research… and banged out an impressive guitar solo:

• Meet Ed Moseley, an 86-year-old grandfather in Georgia, who doesn’t believe you are ever too old to learn something new. He recently taught himself to knit so he could make caps for premature newborns.
• Get ready for pure, complete joy. This mom surprised her children with a puppy adoption.

And if that doesn’t do it, more goodness…

• COMEDY IS GOOD! Putting some good old-fashioned pragmatism to work here, I realized that if I need a laugh, I just need to watch something funny, right? I’ve been watching the hell out of comedy specials on Netflix. John Mulaney’s is my favorite.

• MUSIC IS GOOD! Especially holiday music. I do recognize that first, it’s early, and second, some people are not the type to listen to this music too much nor too often, but for me, bring it. It cheers me right up. I create a playlist for holiday music every year on Spotify and working on the playlist alone brings a smile to my face.

• PUPPIES ARE GOOD! Kittens are also welcome. Please see BUZZFEED ANIMALS for all the cuteness you will ever need and more. I subscribe to their “puppy a day” newsletter and I love to read this page for a pick-me-up. Like this story about “Quantico” star Priyanka Chopra who liked the puppies at her Buzzfeed photoshoot so much, she just adopted one of them on the spot.

Just to be clear, I’m not trying to diminish how messed up things are right now. Because they are. And I promise I will not sit idly by and do nothing about it. Sometimes I get indescribably furious and sometimes I just cry. But most of the time, I allow what I am feeling to empower and inspire me. Here is a good site that may do the same for you (but if you don’t like curse words, stay away). I admire my strong friends who are taking a big stand and have jumped full-throttle into activism (read this – GO MEGHAN!). But for these few minutes spent writing (and for you, reading) this post, everything was positive — I think it’s important we remember things like these are happening. Now more than ever.