After my recent quarantine post, I decided that I should be doing something to contribute to the spread of positive news as I continue to do something to slow the spread of the virus. From hence forth, I declare that this blog post will be riddled with nothing but positive energy for all those who need it. Also, I cannot wait to have a blast writing mini-headlines for these happy thoughts.

A Walk-By Sitting-Down Stand-Up Stand

A six-year-old boy was looking forward to opening a lemonade stand this summer, but as the coronavirus outbreak spanned across the world, he decided to get creative.

Callaghan McLaughlin received a kid’s joke book in the fall and decided it was time to finally share some of his comedic one-liners with the world. He and his mother have set up a joke stand at the end of their driveway for people to walk- or drive-by and share a laugh together (at a reasonable 6-foot distance, of course).

His mother took to Instagram to share her son’s project and it has since been featured on various news outlets, including Fox News and Good News Network.

An Un-bee-lievably Good Idea

The Dutch city of Utrecht has produced a bee-autiful response to the worldwide declining bee population. All across the city, more than 300 bus shelters have undergone a transition to bee-coming a bee-friendly sanctuary.

A variety of wildflowers and grass are planted on the roofs of the bus shelters, creating a safe haven for various bees in the area.

In addition to bee-ing a bee sanctuary, the roof also collects fine dust, stores rainwater, and provides cooling for especially hot days. Very little maintenance is needed!

All right. I’ll buzz off.

Dancing Queen…Only Seventy…Keeping the Beaches Clean

(OoooOOOooh!) In early 2019, A seventy-year-old grandmother celebrated her successful New Years Resolution to clean up the beaches she visits with her grandchildren.

Pat Smith, more commonly referred to as “Action Nan,” spent every week of 2018 cleaning up the trash off of a different beach along the coast. After conducting 52 individual beach cleans, she says that her campaign is never finished.

She kept a journal throughout her entire journey, detailing all of the beaches she visited and what she found while there. Smith hopes to continue cleaning any and all of the beaches she finds, citing that she wants to protect our planet for her children and grandchildren.

I Believe They Can Fly

I believe they will touch the sky. What am I going on about? Well, VariaLift Airships is an all-aluminum airship design and manufacturing company that is striving to produce a green airship!

VariaLift’s website states that its “design allows our airships to offer a leap forward in efficiency, durability, reliability and safety. It is a unique craft, allowing cargo access to remote areas with no infrastructure at a tiny fraction of the cost of cargo helicopters.”

Its main features include: being made of aluminum, vertical take-off and landing, needs no airport, burns 80-90% less fuel than the equivalent aircraft, costs 80-90% less than equivalent payload aircraft to purchase and operate, and at least 40 years working life expected.

It utilizes helium gas to fly, a much cleaner alternative to our current carbon emission pollution problem.

Building Knowledge

The building block company LEGO has introduced a fun and creative way for people to learn Braille.

LEGO released a product line called Braille Bricks that is being marketed as an opportunity to teach Braille to visually impaired and blind children. The LEGO toolkit will include adjusted LEGO bricks that have studs that correspond to Braille letters.

The company hopes that this pedagogical concept will build a bridge between children with various capabilities of sight and help them learn together.

WhO’s A gOoD bOy?!?

This just in: you know that ridiculous voice we all fall into when talking to dogs? Well, good news. They LOVE it.

Scientists at the University of York state that utilizing “dog-speak” when communicating with your furry companion is an important part in establishing a relationship.

Studies have shown that dogs paid more attention to people when they used “dog-speak.” You can read the whole research paper here if you want to learn more! (P.S. I wrote my headline before I saw the research paper title and I refuse to change it.)

Encore! Encore!

Phoebe Waller-Bridge is a gift from the heavens, but in case you don’t know who I’m talking about, she is the artist responsible for Fleabag. Fleabag is the critically-acclaimed television series that earned two Golden Globes and Six Emmys during its 2-season storyline. The series spawned from Waller-Bridge’s celebrated stage monologue of the same name.

The monologue opened up in London’s West End theatre and recently concluded it cherished theatrical run. However, Waller-Bridge, being the God-send that she is, helped to re-release the monologue for home-viewing pleasure on Amazon Prime for $5 per rental. All proceeds are being directed to charities to support coronavirus victims.

A little under two weeks since its initial release, the Fleabag monologue helped raise over one million dollars! Due to its resounding success, the monologue will continue to be available on Amazon Prime through May 31st. So get out there and watch and re-watch Fleabag.

A Cause for Claus

Christmas has come early (or maybe late?) for some families across the United States. Apparently, COVID-19 has even Santa working from home, and he is using this time to call and raise the spirits of children stuck inside.

Santa also decided to get a Facebook, thank goodness. On his page, parents can schedule a call with him to talk to their kids!

I’m just hoping that this Santa resurfacing doesn’t inspire any more snow in my backyard! You can also bet your finest cow that I indeed signed up to give ol’ Kris Kringle a jingle (on his phone).

Some *More* Good News

Everyone’s new favorite dad, John Krasinski (known for his role as Jim Halpert on The Office), has created a YouTube channel to do exactly what this blog post is attempting to do… except better in every way.

The YouTube channel, titled SomeGoodNews, already has five episodes as of this posting. A new episode is released once per week and features star-studded faces such as Guy Fieri, Martha Stewart, Brad Pitt, the original Hamilton Broadway cast, and Steve Carell.

If you’re looking for something extra to pick you up, (finish this post first, then) jump over to YouTube and revel in the fifteen-twenty minute pick-me-up series hosted by America’s dad!

The Show Must Go On!

National Theatre Live takes the best of British theatre and brings it to cinema screens spanning from San Francisco to Tokyo for people who would otherwise be unable to attend the performances. Their state-of-the-art filming techniques are utilized to unique degrees with every play showcased in British Theater, allowing audiences from all over the world to feel as if they are actually present at the production.

Since the dramatic spread of COVID-19 took root, National Theatre Live launched a program called National Theatre at Home. If you visit their website or YouTube channel, you will gain free access to various critically-acclaimed plays for a limited time. New plays are released every Thursday and are available for one week.

Shakespeare’s classic comedy Twelfth Night is currently available until April 30th, and then Frankenstein starring Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller will take its place (sign me the heck up!).

Help the arts live on! Click here!

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Thank you for joining me in this optimistic journey, and I hope that you will share some of this good news with others in your life. It can be so hard to keep a positive attitude with everything happening around us, but I hope that any of these activities/stories will be able to help in some way.

Just remember that the world will soon return to what it was, and we will be stronger because of it. Stay happy, stay healthy!

Oh, My Word! Jacob would love to hear from you after reading this post. If you have any good news to share, post down in the comments to continue spreading the joy!

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Oh, My Word! is a weekly updated blog featuring fiction, poetry, drama, and essays for the world. #OhMyWordWednesdays

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