Month: August 2024

When it comes to love, thoughtfulness is a far more important ingredient than spending lots of money. Sometimes having a nice bubble bath drawn for you at home feels just as lavish as any spa date. Sometimes when your partner says “I picked up this one special snack for you cause I know it’s your favorite” feels just as special as a fancy meal out.

There’s something just so personal about these moments, and that’s what makes them magical.

And it was this kind of moment recently shared between a husband and a wife on their 10 year anniversary, which they chose to celebrate with Taco Bell.

Turns out, there’s a very sweet story behind this unexpected meal choice.

In a reel posted to her Instagram, Ashley Olson shared that in April 2014, she and her now husband Willie got married at a courthouse at 23 and 25 years old.

It had been raining on their drive home, so “naturally” they drove through Taco Bell. Once back at the “cheap lil motel” they were staying at, they fashioned a table out of the room’s ironing board, and thus, their first meal as husband and wife was had.

Flash forward to their 10th year anniversary, which happened to fall on their kid’s spring break. The family had enjoyed a big trip to Europe the previous year, so nothing was really planned for the milestone. Or so Ashley thought.

Ashley had taken the kids to her parents to stay for their break, while Willie stayed home. After putting the kids down for the night, she noticed lights flickering out on her parents pier and went to check it out.

That’s when she saw an ironing board, covered in candles, and Willie (who had driven over five hours to get there) with a bag of their favorite Taco Bell items.

See on Instagram

“We laughed, cried, ate our food, drank cider, and danced to our wedding song at the end of my parent’s pier,” Ashley recalled, adding, “10 years + 2 kids later this man still pursues me, still dates me, and still surprises me.”

Ashley wasn’t the only one moved by her husband’s sweet gesture.

“Not me shouting ‘THE IRONING BOARDDD’ 😭😭😭😭 my heart cannot with this,” one person wrote, while another said “Not me sobbing over Taco Bell 🤧”

Still another commented, “Well…this guy is forcing the rest of us to up our game!! 😂”

A few had their own similar simple, yet poignant love stories…involving fast food. One person said, “My marriage has started of similar too, but it was us eating Chick-fil-A in the car with our witnesses. I love my wife so much more than a grand wedding. She’s my world.”

A few others noted how this way of celebrating seemed more attractive than other more traditional (i.e. expensive) approaches.

“Crazy how this marriage outlasts a lot of couples who had big beautiful extravagant weddings just for them to divorce a few years later. 🤣🤣👏🏼👏🏼 good for you two 🖤,” one person said, perhaps citing a study from 2014 that did indicate that people who splurge on wedding were more likely to divorce.

Another reflected, “I understand when people get married for logical, and financial reasons. But if I ever get married, this is what I want my marriage to be based on. Love, pure joy of being around your partner. Seeing their face and having a reason to smile. That natural, genuine love.”

There can be so many unspoken expectations in relationships, but at the end of the day—as long as you’re celebrating the love you have for one another in the way you both want, that’s what ultimately matters.

World championship competitions like the Olympic Games determine the best of the best in every sport. As athletes from around the globe gather to compete, we see the cream of the crop rise to the top, but ultimately only one person or team in each event can claim the coveted gold medal and No. 1 title.

Whether you win a gold, silver or bronze medal, making it onto the podium is an enormous accomplishment; to be among the top three in the world at anything is incredible. But one of the top three medals is considerably less desirable than the other two, and surprisingly, it’s not the third place one.

Objectively speaking, silver is better than bronze, but from a psychological perspective, it’s not. Studies that examined the facial expressions of Olympic medal winners found that athletes who win silver are less happy than those who win bronze. A study of Paralympic medal winners also found that silver medists appeared angrier and sadder than gold medal winners and angrier and more disgusted than bronze medalists.

Why does winning silver so often seem like a disappointment? There are a few theories these studies point to. One is that silver medalists tend toward more “counterfactual thinking”—engaging in thoughts like “I could have gotten gold if I’d only done this or that differently.” Silver medalists tend to look up at what they didn’t achieve and feel like they lost, while bronze medalists tend to look down and be thankful that they’re up on the podium at all.

Another theory is that silver and bronze medal winners often have different expectations coming into the competition. Silver medal winners may expect to get the gold, or at least feel it’s within their reach, so silver feels like they didn’t perform as well as they’d hoped. Bronze medalists, on the other hand, may go in just hoping to do well enough to medal, so getting any medal at all is an achievement unlocked.

Case in point for silver medal disappointment: Team USA’s men’s 4 x 100 medley relay in swimming at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The United States has won the gold medal in that event in every Olympics for the past 64 years, so expectations were extremely high. But China took the gold in a major upset, leaving the US with a silver medal win that felt more like a loss. The more favored you are to win, the harder it is to be happy coming in second place.

— (@)

Silver medal disappointment can also come from how the medals are doled out in different sports. In a sport like gymnastics, scores are compared over the entire field of finalists and the top three scores win gold, silver and bronze. But in many sports, medals are determined by elimination rounds, which means individuals or teams compete in one-on-one matches until all that’s left is a bronze medal match and a gold medal match. In those sports, you win your match to get the bronze but lose your match to get the silver. So winning a silver medal feels like a loss because in that final match-up, it literally is. For a bronze, though, it’s literally a win.

However, the way silver and bronze medal winners interpret their medal also depends on how close their finishes were. A silver medal winner who came very close to winning gold tends to be less happy than one with a wider margin of loss. It may be ironic that the better a silver medalist does the worse they end up feeling about the outcome, but getting close to gold just intensifies that “I could have won” feeling. Essentially, not reaching your ultimate goal is harder swallow the closer you get to it.

Of course, some silver medalists are thrilled with their standing, and again, being a top three contender in any competition is a huge achievement. That’s why mindset is so important. A winning mindset means giving it your all and doing your best; it doesn’t have to include comparing yourself to others on the podium or being deflated by expectations of winning.

For instance, the expectations on Simone Biles are sky high, and for good reason, but she walked away from her last two individual events in Paris with a silver medal on floor and no medal at all on beam—yet she did so without feeling disappointed.

“”I’ve accomplished way more than my wildest dreams, not just at this Olympics, but in this sport,” Biles told reporters. “So I can’t be mad at my performances. A couple of years ago I didn’t think I’d be back here at an Olympic game. So competing and then walking away with four medals, I’m not mad about it. I’m pretty proud of myself and it’s always so exciting to compete.”

Perhaps winning gold so many times has inoculated Biles to disappointment. On the other hand, being accustomed to winning could easily lead to more of the counterfactual thinking and high expectations that plague silver medalists, but that doesn’t seem to have happened to Biles. In fact, she joyfully celebrated her competitor Rebeca Andrade’s gold medal win right on the podium from her silver medal spot.

— (@)

Perhaps her ability to do that comes from having a specific mindset about what constitutes winning.

“A successful competition for me is always going out there and putting 100 percent into whatever I’m doing,” Biles said in 2016. “It’s not always winning. People, I think, mistake that it’s just winning. Sometimes it could be, but for me, it’s hitting the best sets I can, gaining confidence, and having a good time and having fun.”

Wise words that could save some silver medalists from torturing themselves too much, as if second-best in the world somehow isn’t good enough.

Lil Wayne proudly boasts about not writing his lines down. But that wasn’t always the case for the “A Milli” rapper.

Back during his time as part of Cash Money Records group Hot Boys, Lil Wayne certainly put pen to pad. Now, according to Billboard, a piece of that hip-hop history is up for sale.

The outlet reports that Lil Wayne’s notebook filled with handwritten lyrics from that era is on the auction block starting at $5 million through Moments In Time.

One lucky bidder will take home the handwritten lines from Lil Wayne’s verses on Hot Boys songs such as “We On Fire” and “I Feel.” This stationary was first revealed back in 2019.

At the time, the company revealed the seller stumbled upon it inside a vehicle once-owned by Cash Money Records. But the memorabilia was quickly tied up in a legal despite over proper ownership. In February, a civil court judge ruled in favor of the present owner.

Before you place your bid, it is important to note, you will want to read the product’s description. On the auction webpage, the seller noted that Lil Wayne’s notebook does contain water damage due to Hurricane Katrina. However, it remains in “fairly good condition.”

Find more information here.

The United States has cruised to the knockout round of the men’s basketball tournament at the Paris Olympics. The Americans won all three of their games in group play convincingly, and now, they’re set up nicely for a run to the championship game, as they would play Brazil in the quarters and either Australia or a Serbia team they already beat in the semis.

All of this is coming in a tournament that was billed as a potentially serious challenge for the United States, which has won gold in each of the last four Summer Olympics. Perhaps that will still end up being the case, but on the latest episode of Podcast P, both Charles Barkley and Paul George expressed their belief that the U.S. should be able to take care of business — and if not, Barkley said, something serious needs to happen.

“Have the international teams gotten better? One-hundred percent,” Barkley said. “They still not better than the United States. You take away Joker, and Giannis, and Luka, all three guys are great, great players. Shai is great, also. But we still got the next 10 best players in every game. Ain’t nobody bringing nobody off the bench better than Jayson Tatum, ain’t nobody bringing anybody off the bench better than Kevin Durant. The international teams have gotten better, but there’s never an excuse for the United States not to win a gold medal. We got the best team, we got the best players, by far.”

George then identified Canada as a team that can challenge the U.S. due to their guards, but expressed his belief that they don’t have enough size. He said the inverse about France, which has great bigs but guards that really struggle.

“You can’t find teams internationally that can put it all together the way a USA team can,” George said. “If we’re locked in, there’s no shot that USA loses.”

“Listen, if they lose, we can’t let ’em back in the country,” Barkley replied. “We can’t. I told ’em, they can’t come back.”

I think that is a joke by the Chuckster, but frankly, I am not sure.

Uproxx cover star Chlöe wants her music to step for itself. Today (August 5), the “Have Mercy” singer announced her sophomore album’s official title and release date.

Over on her official X (formerly Twitter) profile, Chlöe shared the news with her followers by way of a steamy vacation photo. She seemingly confirmed that the enticing neon visual was the forthcoming project’s official cover art, as she wrote: “A storm is coming. Trouble In Paradise, 8/9 .”

While most supporters were excitement for the reveal, others shared their concerns over Chlöe’s decision to forgo a traditional rollout.

But in the singer’s eyes, this isn’t a worry she shares with her Clovers (super fans). Although the tracklist hasn’t been revealed, over on the upcoming album’s pre-save webpage the music video for her past song “Boy Bye” is prominently embedded, a record Chlöe has spoken at length about.

Also, the songwriter’s Instagram feed served as a hint as to her creative direction this go around. While her risqué vacation flicks received all the attention, clips of her hard at work let the public into her next musical era beyond her solo debut, In Pieces.

Trouble In Paradise is out 8/9 via Parkwood/Columbia. Find more information here.

Listen, we are all aware that social media is but a carefully curated highlight reel of everyone’s best angles and biggest wins. But even knowing this, it can be almost impossible not to compare ourselves to what we see day in, day out on Instagram.

Of course, many folks actively try to combat this societal norm by sharing their less-than-perfect selves. And honestly, they’re often a breath of fresh air.

Recently, mom and wellness coach Ashley LeMieux decided to post her own version of this. For each totally Insta-worthy photo she took while on vacation, she also posted the “unedited, zero filtered, real life moments” that happened seconds later.

Alongside images of a flattering bikini pose, a sweet daddy-daughter interaction, and a glamorous beachside date night were also images showing a little cellulite, a toddler meltdown, and the “unseen anxiety” felt during that date.

In her caption, LeMieux wrote:

“Just a small reminder that it’s impossible to see it all on social media. We get glimpses into other people’s stories, not the entirety…It’s easy to compare our whole life to small parts of someone else’s, and think that we must have something wrong with us. Comparison impacts our mental health so deeply, and it’s unfair to ourselves, and to each other, to think that everyone else has what we wish we had for ourselves.”

See on Instagram

In an interview with Good Morning America, LeMieux shared that part of her inspiration behind the post came from the women she works with everyday that “don’t feel good enough,” thank in part to comparing themselves to what’s seen on social media.

“I think that when we can see other people having this real life that is similar to ours, we’re like, ‘OK, maybe there’s not something wrong with me, or maybe it’s not that my life is so different from theirs,'” she said. “We can never fully see the bigger picture, which is why I think that conversations like this are so meaningful and important, so that we can have this quick reminder of, we’re all human, we all have our stuff, we just don’t see the entirety of it happening all the time.”

So, so, so many people commented to say how much they really needed to hear and see this. One person even admitted that “sometimes I don’t post because I feel like a fraud because my life isn’t as perfect as I would post.”

Others shared their own love for the unfiltered side of social media.

“I so appreciate this!! I love the unfiltered side, and am always excited to see the nitty gritty you post!! Real life is beautiful, as are you mama ❤️,” one person wrote.

Another added, “The content everyone on Instagram (especially teenagers) need to see and absorb. 👏”

We might know that no one’s life is truly perfect, but clearly a little reminder every now and then can work wonders. Don’t let the false narrative of social media rob you of real joy.

Lil Yachty, getting a rise out of older New Yorker men: a tradition that is widely discussed, and by now, moderately pretentious. First, there was the uproar over him not knowing any of The Notorious B.I.G. or 2Pac’s music, something that he admitted to when he first emerged a little more than ten years ago. It was in that era where he would begin to say that he did not classify himself as a rapper; it was in that era when “Minnesota,” one of his first sugary hooks, came to be an example of exuberant youthfulness.

It would be a recurring theme: Yachty saying something that got old school New Yorkers shaking their heads in frothing anger; Yachty making music that was immensely catchy, allowing his words to die on the vine as opposed to ringing in an old man’s ears. Here he was, a Miley Cyrus in rap -— as The Ringer’s Justin Charity likes to say —- spewing a type of carefree mystique that flew from his pink braids all the way to the ears of the grown and grumpy.

Yachty, now 27, is no longer a member of the youth. In hip-hop years, he is now in what should be the prime of his career. He’s made some noise in the 2020s so far, jumping on different scenes and becoming adventurous in them, while maintaining the overwhelming positivity that he has as an artist. Michigan Boat Boy helped legitimatize the Detroit sound to the masses, although Yachty’s lyricism pales in comparison to the hot steel of the Detroit rappers he rhymed with.

Then, came the snippet-as-song, “Poland”, perhaps the finest moment of his career so far. Anyone who thought Yachty was an alien sent by a corny executive who wanted to commercialize the game had to eat crow when “Poland” came out; the song was, and remains, a sincere disruption, weirder than any of the Super Mario maximalism he made when he first came on the scene.

Sometimes, Yachty’s minor successes will lead to excitement, as if he is turning the corner and becoming the acclaimed star that he always had the potential to be. But, whenever he decides that people are zigging to his tune, he zags, only to make people more frustrated. Let’s Start Here was, in the eyes of many hip-hop fans, a misstep in the form of a zag, the kind of record that doesn’t have lasting power and only exists to make white people think you are well-rounded.

Why is Yachty never comfortable in one mode? Why does he always seem to be leaving traditional hip-hop, as opposed to making the world of hip-hop deeper and bigger? Maybe it is because he still harbors feelings of annoyance at the old men who once questioned his masculinity and rap skills. Despite being a decade old, those uncomfortable conversations might still be on Yachty’s mind. Many contemporary rappers are addicted to being considered “artists” and not rappers because they think it sounds more chic; more artistic. Calling yourself an artist that is above hip-hop is a baptism of sorts, for the fashion runways and the creative control that rappers from a post-Kanye West world tend to crave.

It confuses me on why that phrase is a thing. Hip-hop is fashion. So, when rappers say they are artists and not just rappers, all it seems like is they’re craving a certain white freedom, as opposed to giving hip-hop — the Blackest innovation of the past fifty years of American life — its credit for being fashion’s greatest collaborator. But, when Yachty collaborates with North Carolina rapper J. Cole, it feels more openly honest than when he does an album with James Blake. (He also has a collaboration with the white rapper sensation Ian, and Ian washes him, as sad as it is to admit).

Yachty’s career can’t always be pinned down by critics and fans. He’s not the subversive auteur or daring vocalist that Playboi Carti is; he’s not the hook machine that Gunna is; he’s not the rapper that Young Thug or even Kodak Black is. His biggest skill is being the adventurer-in-chief, the inspiration to do more. In a piece, I once said “he was free from class-consciousness; he’s a pink-braided wonder.” The PR battles he won came from his vibes, his vitality got people out of their comfort zones. He wants to be all things for everyone. Maybe that prevents his music from being as focused as you’d like it to be. Sometimes, his life seems delightful: he is often out in public in the downtown scene, enjoying life as if he was a regular person, not someone who would star in Nautica commercials. But that downplays how famous he is.

Before, Yachty was winning all of the public relations battles, now he’s seemingly in the news much more than he needs to be. Comments from his podcast A Safe Place went viral last week, as Yachty mentioned that he thought that New York was behind in fashion, and that The Bronx and Queens are behind Manhattan; a straight up lie, in relation to the Bronx and Manhattan. “I don’t think there’s sh*t goin’ on when it comes to New York fashion,” is what he said in full. (Twitter people noted that this is odd, because Yachty sometimes dresses like a New Yorker).

The podcast made me wonder about Yachty’s complicated relationship with New York. There’s been foul play on both sides, but last week was Yachty escalating for fun, not any reason other than wanting to stir an imaginary pot. Then, he mentioned that Drake was not affected by the Kendrick Lamar beef. It’s nice that Drake has someone in the industry that did not join Kendrick’s team of disgruntled co-workers, but it’s not in Yachty’s interest to deliver Drake’s messages for him. There’s also been trouble brewing within his own collective: while confirming, or announcing, that Karrahboo was leaving Concrete Boys on Instagram Live, he looked insincere, looking elsewhere while speaking. Who knows why she left? Industry politics are often messy, but it reflected oddly on Yachty.

To see Yachty is to see someone who will never conform to the expectations of Black culture, or even white people. One can consider him a reactive artist, someone who will change his tune immediately after playing something that the audience stood up and clapped for. With his tour coming up in September, it begs to wonder what his follow-up to Bad Cameo will be. This could be a legacy-defining time for Yachty, as he is now coming up on ten years in the rap game. It’s rare that a career lasts that long to begin with, a testament to Yachty’s resourcefulness. But, he’s getting older: people want more from him. He’s no longer just the kid arguing with Ebro.

It’s pretty common to hear a story about a man whose life is turned upside down after a DNA test proves that he’s not the father of a child he thought was his. However, hearing a mother dealing with the same scenario is rare. That’s why a recent post on Reddit has so many people talking.

A user named ThrowRA-3xbetrayal claims that a DNA test shows her husband is the father of the 2-year-old boy they’ve raised but she isn’t the biological mother.

The story began 6 years ago when the couple tried to conceive but had no luck. The woman then discovered she had a “medical condition” that meant she couldn’t bring a baby to term, which resulted in a partial hysterectomy. The woman, who refers to herself as the family’s “breadwinner” took on multiple jobs to pay a surrogate to have their child.

“I still had my ovaries so we started looking into cost of a surrogate. It is really expensive! My close friend since college who’d already had 2 kids of her own, offered to serve as the surrogate for us to cut down on costs. After two disappointing IVF sessions that did not result in pregnancy, she became pregnant on the 3rd try and carried a boy to term for us,” ThrowRA-3xbetrayal wrote.

The couple was over the moon after the birth of the boy and the surrogate became a bigger part of their lives.

A woman in distress being comforted.via Liza Summer

“My friend and my husband started talking more and I would sometimes come home from my weekend job to find her already hanging out at our house when my husband was there,” ThrowRA-3xbetrayal wrote. “I chalked it up as innocuous and it’s good for her to know my husband better since she was in the process of hopefully carrying our child for us. I was grateful to have someone helping us have a child.”

But the mother became suspicious because the baby’s eyes were brown when she and her husband’s were blue.

The mother took the child to a doctor’s appointment and she received some devastating news. She discovered that her son’s blood type is B+ while his father’s is O+ and She is A+. The doctor said it was “biologically impossible” for her son to have that blood type given his parents’.

ThrowRA-3xbetrayal thought the fertility clinic made a horrible mistake. She took a DNA test and found that her husband was the boy’s father, but she was not the mother. “Then my husband confessed that he’d slept with my friend (our surrogate) on a few different occasions during our struggle to have her get pregnant with our embryos,” ThrowRA-3xbetrayal wrote. “This means what I thought was our son conceived by IVF and carried with a surrogate isn’t my son at all and was, in fact, conceived the old-fashioned way, which I can’t ever do.”

The woman says that the terrible news felt like a triple betrayal. The woman has decided to divorce her husband and wants to give up any parental rights to the child. Her husband, the surrogate and her family all believe that she’s wrong to give up rights to the child that she’s raised for 2 years.

She asked Reddit’s AITA forum to tell her if she was in the wrong and the community responded with overwhelmingly positive support, affirming her tough decision.

A happy toddler playing on the beach. via Taryn Elliott/Pexels

The most popular commenter said that she should sue the surrogate for taking her money without having her baby. “One of the things that gets me is that you were working extra jobs to pay for the surrogacy which I am assuming included her medical bills and financially supporting her. I would speak to a solicitor about suing her for your money back. She knew that if she was having sex then there was always a chance that the child was biologically hers,” they wrote.

Another affirmed the wife’s decision to leave her husband and to surrender any parental rights. “He cheated… it’s not yours. I will absolutely tell you what I tell men posting this. It would be wonderful if you love the kid enough to stay, but if you’re in shock and damaged too much to do so, you aren’t the A**le for walking away,” they wrote.

Another pointed out that if a man were in this position, no one would judge him for giving up his parental rights. “If these roles were reversed and you were a man saying that his wife had cheated and had another man’s baby, people would have no problem telling him that he’s within his rights to leave and have nothing to do with the child if he doesn’t want to,” the commenter wrote.

If the story that ThrowRA-3xbetrayal wrote tells is true, it’s an incredible tragedy. She fought so hard to have a child only to realize she was living a lie two years later. So, let’s hope she found some solace in the hundreds of people who supported her decision to move on with her life while also sharing some great advice on going forward.

The first John Wick movie hit theaters a decade ago, and all of the gratuitous violence definitely could have been avoided if those guys didn’t kill that dog, but we’re in too deep now. The movie led to three sequels: John Wick Chapter Two in 2017, John Wick: Chapter John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum in 2019, and John Wick Chapter 4 in 2023. We thought that would be the last of it, but now a follow-up series is in the works, picking up where Chapter 4 left off. It looks like we’ve all quietly yet collectively decided not to talk about… that other show.

Deadline reports that a new series titled John Wick: Under The High Table is currently in the works from writer Robert Levine and Chad Stahelski, who is set to direct the pilot episode. While Reeves won’t be starring in the sequel series, he will be involved, to some extent.

Reeves is on board to executive produce the series, and Deadline reports that he is “very hands-on with the project.” It would be better if he were fists-on, but we can’t have everything. The series, which does not have a streamer or network atatched yet, aims to “combine new and old and thrust the Wick universe into a new age,” as the assassins deal with the aftermath of John Wick abandoning his assassin ways… again. Though it did seem pretty permanent this time.

This new project is separate from the upcoming prequel movie, Ballerina, and the previously announced John Wick 5, which is currently being developed by Stahelski. Maybe Reeves will pop back in for that one because he loves a reunion!

(Via Deadline)

Field events at the Olympics typically do not get a chance to take center stage, as the track events tend to hog the spotlight, but on Monday night the pole vault competition was the headliner at Stade de France in Paris. That’s not because there was any drama about who would win the gold, as Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis (who is from Louisiana, but represents his mother’s homeland of Sweden) was the biggest favorite of any event at the Games.

Instead, everyone was waiting to see if Duplantis, who held nine of the top 10 jumps in history, would break his own world record of 6.24 meters. Duplantis won gold over American Sam Kendricks when he jumped 6.00 meters — Kendricks went 5.95 meters — but his competition was just beginning, because his battle isn’t with the rest of the field but with himself and history.

He started by taking down the Olympic record with a jump of 6.10 meters, clearing it easily, and setting the stage for a world record attempt.

In front of a frenzied crowd, Duplantis clipped the bar on his way down on his first two attempts, needing more speed to get deeper over the bar — he had the hip height — to complete the jump. On his third and final attempt, he did just that, and the stadium went absolutely nuts.

It’s insanely cool to be so good at your sport that the main attraction is not whether you’ll win, but whether you will set a new world record — which you’ve owned for two years. Duplantis keeps upping that bar, one centimeter at a time, and made some Olympic history with the stage all to himself.