Every morning when I arrive at my gym, there is always a game of pickup basketball already in full force. These dudes (well, mostly dudes), representing every possible age, shape and background, have already worked up a sweat at barely 6 a.m. It's so fascinating! Who are they? What drives them to wake up at heaven knows when and hit the court with a bunch of other guys they likely don't even know? I asked a few friends who were familiar with pickup basketball (since I obviously am not) what the deal was: Are these guys all friends? "No, probably not." What if you're bad at basketball, do people get mad? "No, probably not." Do they plan it out in advance? "Not really." Do they have like, a group text or something? "AJ, no." What do they talk about? "Uh ... basketball?" One friend told me he played pickup basketball with a rotating group for years and barely knew any of their first names. This was astonishing to me. Astonishing, and weirdly pure. With no formalities or expectations and just the barest amount of planning, these people meet, day after day, to just have fun.
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| Our favorites this week Get going with some of our most popular good news stories of the week
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Father figure
As a boy, Peter Mutabazi lived on the streets of Kampala, Uganda, for years. However, his experiences with homelessness led him to his calling as a role model foster dad. Since becoming a foster parent in 2016, Mutabazi has hosted about three dozen kids of all races and cultures. Some of his foster children have been reunited with their families, while others remain in his care. Mutabazi also has adopted children of his own: Anthony, 17, Isabella, 8, and Luke, 7. As a single dad, an immigrant and a Black man, he represents a vanishingly small demographic of foster parents. He says he cherishes his role as a father because he is able to give others what he needed so desperately as a kid: Love, security and a sense of belonging. Mutabazi shares moments of his family's life with more than 328,000 Instagram followers, where encourages other men to be more active fathers. "I can't believe that this once homeless and hopeless person has now created this crazy family filled with love," he says. Read the whole story here. |
A family flight
On a recent Southwest Airlines flight, flight attendant Hannah Heck made an impromptu addition at the end of the cabin crew's safety announcement. "Does everyone see this sweet little lady wearing the life vest? That's my grandma. So everyone better be extra nice to her," she said. Their passengers were delighted. After all, how often do you get to see a grandmother-granddaughter flight attendant duo? Cynthia, 72, has worked for Southwest Airlines for almost 20 years. Her granddaughter Hannah, 24, decided to follow in her footsteps following a year of feeling unfulfilled at college. Cynthia was present at Hannah's flight attendant graduation in 2022 and pinned on her granddaughter's wings. She also made sure she was on her granddaughter's first flight. Whenever Cynthia retires, Hannah hopes she gets a chance to be on her last flight in return -- but she doesn't want to think about that now. "I know a lot of people don't get this experience. And I know that she's not going to be flying forever," she said. "So just having gratitude and just lots of love for this ... I know it's so special that we got to fly together." Read the whole story here. |
Great Scott!
Ever since its appearance in the "Back to the Future" franchise, the DeLorean has been a cult classic for car lovers. The futuristic (well, for the time) sports car featured in the "Back to the Future" franchise is a DeLorean DMC-12 specifically, manufactured for just three years from 1981-1983. Given its rarity, you can imagine the excitement when one of the exact models was found in a Wisconsin barn with just 977 miles on it. Michael McElhattan and Kevin Thomas of auto restoration company DeLorean Midwest bought the car from its original owner and are stoked to refurbish it and get it back on the road. McElhattan said the parts are what really captivated him about the find. Nothing has been changed about the car — even down to the original tires. "It's literally like a time machine in that way, traveling back to 1981 when it was manufactured," he said. Fitting, isn't it? Read the whole story here.
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OK, it's time for a guessing game! These two images are among the top 20 chosen for their science and artistry in Nikon's Small World Photo Microscopy Competition. What do you think they are? I'll put a few lines so you can guess before we talk about them. . . . . . . . If you guessed "the venomous fangs of a tarantula" for the left and "a match igniting by friction" on the right, you're correct! (You're also scarily good at identifying microscopic images.) The rest of the photos are just as cool, showing the tiniest biological structures of man and beast, and the interior workings of plants that are just as beautiful as the plants themselves. Read the whole story here.
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Global publisher Time Out has named its Top 40 picks for the World's Coolest Neighborhoods. What makes a neighborhood cool, you ask? According to the staffers polled for this year's list, a "cool" neighborhood is fun, interesting, artsy and sustainable. This year's top honors went to Laureles, in Colombia's bustling city of Medellin. According to Time Out, the up-and-coming Laureles area has a "pretty laid-back reputation" and is a mixture of old and new. It's home to the Estadio Atanasio Girardot soccer stadium and a thriving nightlife scene, but streets are still frequented by fruit sellers pushing their carts. Here's the rest of Top 10 Coolest Neighborhoods of 2023: 1. Laureles: Medellin, Colombia
2. Smithfield: Dublin, Ireland
3. Carabanchel: Madrid, Spain
4. Havnen: Copenhagen, Denmark
5. Sheung Wan: Hong Kong
6. Brunswick East: Melbourne, Australia
7. Mid-City: New Orleans, US
8. Isola: Milan, Italy
9. West: Amsterdam, Netherlands
10. Tomigaya: Tokyo, Japan
Read the whole story here. | |
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Some machine made us; it is your turn to address it, to go back asking what am I for? What am I for?
- from "Mother and Child," by celebrated American poet Louise Glück, who passed away earlier this month.
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Rec of the week Brought to you by CNN Underscored |
Vanna White shares nine of her favorite beauty products We were so lucky to catch up with the legendary Vanna White to learn about her beauty secrets. As it turns out, it doesn't cost much to have radiant skin like hers. Shop her essentials, from her favorite $7 drugstore face wash to her $2 jack-of-all-trades product. |
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Shameless animal video There's always time for cute animal videos. That time is now. |
So this video of wild horses disrupting a flamingo feeding party isn't "cute," but "Shameless Majestic Animal Video" just doesn't have the same ring to it. (Click here to view) |
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