Being married is like being half of a two-headed monster. It’s impossible to avoid regular disagreements when you’re bound to another person for the rest of your life.
Even the perfect marriage (if there was such a thing) would have its daily frustrations. Funnily enough, most fights aren’t caused by big decisions but the simple, day-to-day questions, such as “What do you want for dinner?”; “Are we free Friday night?”; and “What movie do you want to see?”
Here are some hilarious tweets that just about every married couple will understand.
“I Wanna Be Software” musician Grimes has never been one for labels. Typically, Grimes doesn’t care to clarify any online chatter linked to her name (especially surrounding her relationship with Elon Musk). However, regarding her children and ideology, she is always ready to clap back.
Today (December 31), Grimes took to her official X (formerly Twitter) page to blast users for labeling her a Nazi after expressing her appreciation for white culture. “I’m called a Nazi because I happily am proud of white culture. But every day, I think fondly of the brown king Cyrus the Great, who invented the first ever empire, and the Japanese icon Murasaki Shikibu, who wrote the first novel ever. What if humans just loved each other,” wrote Grimes.
She added, “History teaches us that we have all been, and always will be – great.”
I’m called a Nazi because I happily am proud of white culture. But every day I think fondly of the brown king Cyrus the Great who invented the first ever empire, and the Japanese icon Murasaki Shikibu who wrote the first novel ever. What if humans just loved each other?…
Users online chimed with further criticism hurling other damning designations, including referring to Grimes as a white supremacist. “I’m a human suprematist – humans are amazing,” wrote Grimes in response to the claim.
After her initial post caused a firestorm of backlash, followers begged Grimes to delete the statement and step away from her account for a while. Both of which, she admittedly refused to do, writing, “I don’t care. I will always ride for the beauty and ingenuity of all humans. It is only those who refuse to look at history who think anyone superior or inferior, and I will happily die on this hill.”
I don’t care. I will ride always for the beauty and ingenuity of all humans. It is only those who refuse to look at history who think anyone superior or inferior and I will happily die on this hill
…according to the Pennsylvania Ballet, which reported encountering the post on the social media site.
The Pennsylvania Ballet, whose company members regularly wear tutus, had a few choice words for anyone who thinks their light, frequently pink costumes mean they’re not “tough.”
Commence epic reply…
(full text transcribed under the post).
A Facebook user recently commented that the Eagles had “played like they were wearing tutus!!!”
Our response:
“With all due respect to the Eagles, let’s take a minute to look at what our tutu wearing women have done this month:
By tomorrow afternoon, the ballerinas that wear tutus at Pennsylvania Ballet will have performed The Nutcracker 27 times in 21 days. Some of those women have performed the Snow scene and the Waltz of the Flowers without an understudy or second cast. No ‘second string’ to come in and spell them when they needed a break. When they have been sick they have come to the theater, put on make up and costume, smiled and performed. When they have felt an injury in the middle of a show there have been no injury timeouts. They have kept smiling, finished their job, bowed, left the stage, and then dealt with what hurts. Some of these tutu wearers have been tossed into a new position with only a moments notice. That’s like a cornerback being told at halftime that they’re going to play wide receiver for the second half, but they need to make sure that no one can tell they’ve never played wide receiver before. They have done all of this with such artistry and grace that audience after audience has clapped and cheered (no Boo Birds at the Academy) and the Philadelphia Inquirer has said this production looks “better than ever”.
So no, the Eagles have not played like they were wearing tutus. If they had, Chip Kelly would still be a head coach and we’d all be looking forward to the playoffs.”
Happy New Year!
In case it wasn’t obvious, toughness has nothing to do with your gender.
Gendered and homophobic insults in sports have been around basically forever — how many boys are called a “pansy” on the football field or told they “throw like a girl” in Little League?
“They played like they were wearing tutus” is the same deal. It’s shorthand for “You’re kinda ladylike, which means you’re not tough enough.”
Toughness, however, has a funny way of not being pinned to one particular gender. It’s not just ballerinas, either. NFL cheerleaders? They get paid next to nothing to dance in bikini tops and short-shorts in all kinds of weather — and wear only ever-so-slightly heavier outfits when the thermometer drops below freezing. And don’t even get me started on how mind-bogglingly badass the Rockettes are.
Toughness also has nothing to do with what kind of clothes you wear.
As my colleague Parker Molloy astutely points out, the kinds of clothes assigned to people of different genders are, and have always been, basically completely arbitrary. Pink has been both a “boys color” and a “girls color” at different points throughout history. President Franklin D. Roosevelt — longtime survivor of polio, Depression vanquisher, wartime leader, and no one’s idea of a wimp — was photographed in his childhood sporting a long blonde hairstyle and wearing a dress.
Many of us are conditioned to see a frilly pink dance costume and think “delicate,” and to look at a football helmet and pads and think “big and strong.” But scratch the surface a little bit, and you’ll meet tutu-wearing ballerinas who that are among toughest people on the planet and cleat-and-helmet-wearing football players who are … well. The 2015 Eagles.
You just can’t tell from their outerwear.
Ballerinas wear tutus for the same reason football players wear uniforms and pads:
Is “Hurt You” singer Toni Braxton going into 2024 as a married woman? Yesterday (December 30), her younger sister Tamar Braxton certainly made it appear that way. During an Instagram Live broadcast, fans bombard Tamar with questions about the status of Toni and Cash Money Records CEO Birdman’s relationship, brought forth by a rumor spreading across social media that the duo eloped in a private ceremony in Mexico.
Toni Braxton marrying Birdman is very Libra of her lmao
Joined by her fiancee Jeremy “JR” Robinson, Tamar joked, “Let me find out they (Toni and Birdman) got married before us,” adding, “But, they’ve been together 14,000 umpteen years!”
So, did Toni Braxton and Birdman get married? According to Toni, the answer is flat-out and unequivocally no. The notoriously private singer rushed to her official Instagram page to shut down the chatter. “My dear friend Birdman and I are not married. [We’ve] never been married. We are both single,” wrote Toni.
Not only are the pair not husband and wife, but based on Toni’s note, the duo are no longer dating. Toni and Birdman established a working relationship in 2022 after working on the song “Baby You Can Do It.” Their friendship remained over the decade until they took things to another level in 2016, when they confirmed their relationship. By 2018, they were engaged. It is unclear when they officially split.
Kara Coley, a bartender at Sipps in Gulfport, Mississippi, got an unusual phone call on the job last week.
“Good evening,” Coley answered. “Thank you for calling Sipps!”
A woman on the other end of the line asked, “Is this a gay bar?”
Sipps welcomes everyone, Coley explained to her, but indeed attracts a mostly LGBTQ crowd.
“Can I ask you a question?” the caller followed up. “Are you gay?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Coley said.
Then things got interesting.
“What was the one thing you wanted from your parents when you came out?” the woman continued.
Coley, who’s tended bar for about 17 years, was a little caught off guard. In all her years of experience fielding requests and helping others working in the service industry, she’d never received a question like that.
“My son just came out to me,” the woman continued on the other end of the line. “And I don’t want to say anything that may mess him up in the head.”
Coley thought for a moment. Then she asked the woman if she accepted her son for who he is.
The woman answered “yes.”
“You should definitely let him know that you love and accept him!” Coley said. “I think everything will be OK from there!”
The woman thanked Coley for her input and they parted ways.
Later that night, in the early hours of Jan. 19, Coley decided to post the entire interaction to her Facebook page, noting how “random” it all had been.
In the days following, her post went viral, amassing over 1,500 likes and hundreds of shares.
So I got the most random phone call at the bar tonight! 😀Me:Good evening Thankyou for calling Sipps!Lady on phone: Is… Posted by Kara Coley on Friday, January 19, 2018
The post’s comment section soon filled with love and gratitude for Coley’s simple but endearing answer.
“My heart is truly touched by this,” one Facebook user wrote. “A parent wanting to support correctly, and a beautiful response. This is progress. This is love and acceptance in the rawest form.”
“Kara, this old granny lesbian is so grateful for you, and for a parent that thought outside the box to get advice!” another user chimed in. “Keep being you!”
“[The response] has been amazing,” Coley writes. She believes her post struck a chord with friends and strangers alike because people are looking for encouraging news: “Every day people wake up and there’s so much negativity in the world — people just need a breath of fresh air!”
For parents to an LGBTQ child, it’s still vital to understand the facts too, Coley noted: “Educate yourself [on LGBTQ issues] and do a little research.”
Ideally, parents should have access to better resources than their local gay bar when it comes to getting help with LGBTQ parenting. At the end of the day, though, the best thing you can do as a parent is make sure your kid understands you’re there through thick and thin.
“Just knowing you have someone in your corner takes a little weight off your shoulders,” Coley wrote.
Learn more about being a good ally as a parent of an LGBTQ child at PFLAG (Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). If you’re a young LGBTQ person who needs help, resources are available at The Trevor Project.
This article originally appeared on January 24, 2018
When you are a child who has been abused by people who are supposed to protect you, how do you feel safe?
That question is the heart of Bikers Against Child Abuse International (B.A.C.A.), an organization dedicated to creating “a safer environment for abused children.” With specific training and extensive security checks, the frequently big and burly members of B.A.C.A. serve as protectors of chid abuse survivors, giving vulnerable children people to call on when they feel scared, and even showing up in court when a child asks them to.
In short, they become an abused child’s “biker family,” and they let the child—and everyone else—know that no one messes with their family.
As the B.A.C.A. mission statement says:
“We exist as a body of Bikers to empower children to not feel afraid of the world in which they live. We stand ready to lend support to our wounded friends by involving them with an established, united organization. We work in conjunction with local and state officials who are already in place to protect children. We desire to send a clear message to all involved with the abused child that this child is part of our organization, and that we are prepared to lend our physical and emotional support to them by affiliation, and our physical presence. We stand at the ready to shield these children from further abuse. We do not condone the use of violence or physical force in any manner, however, if circumstances arise such that we are the only obstacle preventing a child from further abuse, we stand ready to be that obstacle.”
B.A.C.A. members do whatever they can to make abused kids feel safe, which is huge for children who have been hurt, especially by the adults who are supposed to love and protect them.
First, they set up an initial ride to welcome a child into the biker family. Kids are offered a vest and a patch, which they have the option of accepting or not—there’s never pressure put on a child. They take a photograph with the child, which the child keeps to remind them that they have family to call on whenever they feel afraid. They serve as escorts when kids feel frightened to go somewhere. They show up at court hearings to help kids feel less intimidated. They come to kids’ houses when called to help support the family or serve as a deterrent for further abuse.
Though B.A.C.A. absolutely does not physically confront perpetrators, simply their presence provides the message that a child has a band of protectors behind them. Watch these bikers in action:
2019 Bikers Against Child Abuse International informational video. Visit www.bacaworld.org or find us on Facebook – Bikers Against Child Abuse International
And check out the B.A.C.A creed to see how dedicated these folks are to this work:
“I am a Member of Bikers Against Child Abuse. The die has been cast. The decision has been made. I have stepped over the line. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past has prepared me, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I’m finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.
I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by the faith in my works, and lean on the strength of my brothers and sisters. I love with patience, live by prayer, and labor with power.
My fate is set, my gait is fast, my goal is the ultimate safety of children. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are tried and true, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I won’t give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and showed up for all wounded children. I must go until I drop, ride until I give out, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me, for He will see my B.A.C.A. backpatch and know that I am one of His. I am a Member of Bikers Against Child Abuse, and this is my creed.”
There’s no shortage of advice for getting through difficult times. Unfortunately, most of that advice is either painfully unrealistic or reeks of toxic positivity. Solid advice that is both helpful and comforting is hard to come by, which is why this advice is going viral for all the right reasons.
In difficult times, you move forward in small steps.
Do what you have to do, but little by little.
Don’t think about the future, or what may happen tomorrow.
Wash the dishes.
Remove the dust.
Write a letter.
Make a soup.
You see?
You are advancing step by step.
Take a step and stop.
Rest a little.
Praise yourself.
Take another step.
Then another.
You won’t notice, but your steps will grow more and more.
And the time will come when you can think about the future without crying.
Can we all just pause for a minute to take a deep breath and maybe wipe the tears from our eyes? Because I don’t know about you, but this advice is just what I’ve needed to read almost every day lately.
I suspect I’m not alone in this either because Mikhalkova’s advice is being shared all over the internet.
.
With COVID-19 raging again and many of us (dare I say, all of us?) struggling with one thing or another, this quote hits. Unlike the clichéd “one foot in front of another” advice that can seem both demeaning and overwhelming, this advice offers concrete steps to take.
Wash the dishes. Make soup. Rest, and praise yourself.
These are things I can do. Well, maybe not soup, per se. But cookies. I can make cookies. And maybe you can make soup. Or knit a scarf. Or sweep the kitchen floor. This is enough.
What this advice taps into that other tidbits lose sight of is that when we’re in the midst of a calamity, even the most simple and everyday tasks are more difficult. Making lunch can seem monumental and the mere thought of doing virtual school for another few weeks can make us take to our beds, sobbing in the fetal position. Advice to “look on the bright side” can be patronizing and counterproductive. This advice does none of those things but, instead, acknowledges that even a small step matters. It doesn’t dismiss the pain, but recognizes that even thinking about the future can be painful and that progress sometimes looks like making it through the day without crying
This advice also goes beyond the “sun will come out tomorrow” reminders and acknowledges that things might not be better tomorrow or the day after that. It will take time for wounds to heal and difficult times to pass, but we need not passively wait for this time to come. We can make soup, rest and be kind to ourselves.
In the early days of the pandemic, I remember feeling like there was so much more I should be doing with all this extra “at home” time. Yet I found even the most basic tasks to be more difficult. In turn, I felt guilty for not being more productive. But what I’ve learned—or rather amlearning—is that allostatic load and decision fatigue are very real. Productivity looks different on different days, and sometimes being patient with ourselves is the most productive thing we can do.
Mikhalkova’s advice taps into a mantra that I often recite when I’m struggling: Just do one good thing. Unload the dishwasher. Return an email. Fold the laundry. Hug my kids. Then do the next good thing. Eventually these things add up. Time passes and small steps turn into something bigger.
What I love most about Mikhalkova’s advice—and what is easy to forget in difficult times—is the reminder to praise ourselves along the way. Because sometimes that pat on the back we need the most is our own.
This article originally appeared on 02.07.22
Christine Organ is a writer who lives in the Chicago area with her husband, two sons, and rescue dog. You can find her on Facebook and Instagram.
Social media has become a fertile breeding ground for conversations about hygiene. Whether it’s celebrities bragging about how little their family bathes or battles over how often people should wash their sheets or bras.
One of the debates that gets the most diverse responses is how often people wash their denim jeans.
Denim atelier Benjamin Talley Smith tells Today that jeans should be washed “as little as possible, if at all.” Laundry expert Patric Richardson adds they should be cleaned “after nine or 10 wearings, like to me, that is the ideal.” At that point, they probably have stains and are “a little sweaty by that point, so you need to wash ’em,” Richardson says.
Still, some people wash and dry them after every wear while others will hand wash and never hang dry. With all these significant differences of opinion, there must be a correct answer somewhere, right?
The CEO of Levi Strauss, Charles Bergh, has stepped up to set the record straight on when and how to wash your jeans. He caused a stir in 2014 when he said he only washes his jeans once a year, but it was for environmental reasons more than hygiene.
Reading: The Dirty Jeans Manifesto https://t.co/nAQbdbdpn2
He later clarified his thoughts in a blog post, “The Dirty Jean Manifesto” he posted to LinkedIn.
“I made this provocative statement because I believe strongly in what our brands stand for: quality, durability and lasting products made sustainably. I also said it because I believe we don’t need to wash jeans as often as most people think we do,” Bergh wrote.
“We learned that an average pair of jeans consumes roughly 3,500 liters of water — and that is after only two years of use, washing the jeans once a week,” Bergh wrote. “Nearly half of the total water consumption, or 1,600 liters, is the consumer throwing the jeans in the washing machine. That’s equivalent to 6,700 glasses of drinking water!”
To add to the problem, denim jeans are often manufactured in places where water is scarce, such as India, Pakistan, Mexico, China and parts of California.
“True denim heads, people that really love their denim, will tell you to never put your denim into a washing machine. So that’s what I do,” Bergh explained. “If I drop some curry on my jeans, I’m gonna clean it. But I’ll spot-clean it. And if they get really gross you know, if I’ve been out sweating or something and they get really gross, I’ll wash them in the shower.”
However, when Bergh washes his jeans in the shower, he does it while wearing them and washing them with soap. The image that the scene conjures is of a cowboy bathing in a cartoon, clothes on and all.
There are a lot of different opinions on how often one should wash and dry their jeans and many of them boil down to personal preference. But the debate on the topic has brought up one very big point we should all consider: when choosing how often we wash our jeans, a big part of the decision should be considering the amount of water we use.
The cost of living in the United States has gone up so much in recent years that living on a cruise ship has become a reasonable idea for some retirees. When Nancy and Robert Houchens of Charlottesville, Virginia, retired, they decided to sell almost everything they had and live out their golden years hopping from cruise ship to cruise ship.
“We had a 3,000-square-foot home full of furniture…and everything we own now would fit in the back of a pickup truck,” Robert told USA Today.
“We sold all of our estates except for a little condominium we have in Florida, so when we get too old to cruise, we have somewhere to live,” Nancy added. “And we did keep two vehicles, and what we kept is in half of (Robert’s mother’s storage unit), which is, I don’t know, 10×10 or something. We just walked away from everything.”
Life on a cruise ship is stress-free for the couple because their needs are taken care of on the ship. “It’s been great. I don’t cook. I don’t clean,” Nancy told the Miami Herald.
The couple has found that living on a cruise ship isn’t as expensive as some may assume. Even though inflation has driven up the cost of travel in the U.S., it hasn’t significantly impacted the cruise industry.
“It’s much cheaper than a nursing home or assisted living. It was just a good fit for us. It’s a good fit for a lot of people,” Robert told the Miami Herald.
The couple plans their trips differently than someone who is going on vacation. “We look for the best deal, not the destination,” Nancy told Cruise Passenger.
The couple initially planned to spend $4,000 a month living on the ships. “Our original budget was $4,000 a month. This included gratuities. Of course, things are more expensive now, so that budget has had to increase a little. Depending on where we go, we may or may not need the internet,” she told Cruise Passenger.
“Our phone plan covers most everywhere for 25 cents a minute to call with free internet and texting,” Nancy continued. “We have an annual travel insurance plan, and one of our credit cards also has travel insurance.”
For the Houchens, living on board a cruise ship is definitely cheaper than assisted living. According to the 2020 Genworth Cost of Care Survey, the average monthly cost per person to live in assisted living in Virginia is $5,250 a month, which would cost Houchens over $10,000 a month as a couple.
Further, the roughly $4,000 the couple spends a month includes food, and they don’t have to bother paying for a car. They also try to book their cruises consecutively so they don’t waste money paying for expensive hotels when transferring between cruise lines.
Last July, the Houchens celebrated their 1,000th day sailing with Carnival Cruise Line since the 1980s, and they look forward to countless more days at sea with each other and the new friends they’ve made on their never-ending cruise.
“We cruise Carnival because of the people,” Richard told Travel Pulse. “It isn’t the destinations for us anymore, it’s the journey—and the biggest part of the journey is the people.”
On this last day of 2023, we’ve been looking forward to some shows that will premiere in 2024. On that list is STARZ’s BMF which is set to begin its third season with a premiere in spring 2024. BMF recounts the story of Detroit’s Black Mafia Family which was founded in the 1980s and grew to nationwide prominence and recognition by the 2000s before they were taken down by the DEA in 2005. The third season of BMF dives into the group’s expansion across the United States. With the season premiere just months away, here’s everything you need to know about BMF season three.
Is There Going To Be A BMF Season 3?
Yes! BMF was renewed for a third season nearly a year ago just two episodes into season two.
When Does BMF Season 3 Come Out?
Season three of BMF will premiere on STARZ on March 1. The new season will arrive just a couple of weeks shy of the the season two finale which aired on March 17, 2023.
BMF Season 3: Who Is In It?
The cast of BMF is expected to remain the same compared to season two. This includes:
The recurring cast is also expected to stay the same for season three. Those names include:
Snoop Dogg as Pastor Swift
Serayah as Lori Walker
Jerel Alston as Kevin Bryant
Mo’Nique as Goldie
2 Chainz as Stacks (new)
Ne-Yo as Rodney “Greeny” Green (new)
Michael King as RIP (new)
Lil Baby as Payne (one of Stacks’ foot soldiers) (new)
Saweetie as Keeya (new)
BMF Season 3: What’s It About?
STARZ released the official synopsis for season three ahead of the season’s first episode:
Season three of BMF resumes the storyline inspired by brothers Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory (Demetrius Flenory, Jr.) and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory (Da’Vinchi), who established one of the most infamous crime families in the country known as, Black Mafia Family. We kick off Season Three in the early ’90s when the Flenory Family has reinvented themselves. Meech has moved to Atlanta on a mission to build up the BMF empire in the south that he and Terry created in Detroit. The series continues to humanize the choices of the brothers’ business and their pursuits of the American Dream.
Is There A BMF Season 3 Trailer?
STARZ has yet to release an official trailer for BMF season three. Despite this, the platform shared a small preview through its fall and winter 2023/2024 trailer, which you can watch below:
How Many Episodes Are In BMF Season 3?
Just like its previous two season, BMF season three is expected to have ten episodes. Here is the project season three episode schedule for BMF:
March 1: Episode 1
March 8: Episode 2
March 15: Episode 3
March 22: Episode 4
March 29: Episode 5
April 5: Episode 6
April 12: Episode 7
April 19: Episode 8
April 26: Episode 9
May 3: Episode 10
How To Watch BMF Season 3
BMF season three episodes will be available to stream weekly through the STARZ app. They will also air weekly on the STARZ television channel.
When Will BMF Season 3 Episodes Come Out?
New episodes in BMF season three are available to stream on the STARZ app every Friday at 12 am ET/PT. The new episodes will also air on the STARZ TV channel at 8 pm ET/PT.
‘BMF’ season three debuts on STARZ on March 1, 2024. Seasons one and two are available now to stream on the STARZ app.
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