GoneTrending

Grandparents can be a wealth of history and knowledge. But one TikTok user, Reagan Jones, was blown away by her grandmother’s ability to write in shorthand, so she did what a lot of people do in this century—uploaded it to TikTok. Not surprisingly, most people who viewed the video had no idea what shorthand was and some thought the whole thing was made up. The reaction to it certainly makes you question if it’s more than a lost art, but a forgotten part of history.

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Shorthand is a method of quickly writing that has been around for a centuries. The first recorded history of a form of shorthand being used was in the 4th century B.C.. In the 1800s, two different types of shorthand became popular, Pitman in 1837 and Gregg in 1888. Looking at the shorthand alphabet may make you furrow your eyebrows because a lot of the symbols look ridiculously similar. It’s full of lines that are straight, slightly curled or partially looped and some that just look like a squiggle. It’s something to behold and resembles a super secret language.

Judging by the comments on the video, other people feel the same way. One commenter, Jamie wrote, “I’ve heard the term shorthand but I think my brain always took it as abbreviations not this 😳😅”

Another commenter, Samantha said, “Nah this has to be a glitch in the timeline I’ve never heard of this from any of my family member.”

@reaganjones176

This is called “short hand” and its a real form of old-style note-taking. She uses this to write herself notes daily. 😂#coolgrandma #funwithgrandma #grandparents #handwriting #shorthand

In a reply to a commenter, Jones revealed, “My grandma was a legal secretary for the railroad 🙂 She won a lot of awards for her work and shorthand in school.”

Now, that’s just cool. Sure there are still professions like court reporters and such that use shorthand, but it’s not as common as it was back when most people’s grandparents and great-grandparents were young adults. This was such a neat blast from the past. It’s clear that Jones’ grandma could probably still take home some awards for her unique skill.

This article originally appeared on 09.13.22

If you’ve ever stayed in a hotel, you know there’s an additional lock you can latch as an added layer of protection. But sometimes weird things happen that make us rethink the comfort and security many of us take for granted. TikTok user TayBeepBoop had a disturbing experience when a hotel front desk person attempted to enter her room while she was inside. Some readers may find the story to be unsettling but it’s a powerful reminder of exactly why situational awareness and caution are so important in today’s world.

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Tay, obviously frightened, uploaded clips from the event on her TikTok page, which has since garnered 6 million views. In the video, which is mostly the floor, door and bed, you can hear the man outside of her room knocking loudly asking to be let inside.

Tay asks the man repeatedly why he attempted to walk into her room using the hotel key to which the man explains there’s a problem with the woman’s car. There’s only one problem. Tay doesn’t own a car and is only in town on business where she did not rent a car to get around town, relying only on other modes of transportation. So, what the heck was the man doing at her door?

@taybeepboop

Replying to @dani klarić this was a really long and hard video to make, it was sort of traumatizing and I’m kind of freaked out about staying anywhere now and I dont leave my house much anymore tbh because I already was dealing with PTSD about my safety. I’m OKAY which is why im able to go through this footage now. I genuinely don’t want anything to do with this hotel, this is a PSA to stay safe and cautious. I don’t want people to go after this worker because I still don’t know what his intentions were and he could have just been trying to do his job

Tay was staying at the hotel alone and made sure to latch the additional lock on her hotel room door, which is the only thing that prevented this hotel staff member from getting into her room. Since the situation was so scary and went on for quite some time according to her video, she called friends on FaceTime to be a witness and help comfort her. Eventually the man leaves after repeated attempts to get the scared woman to open the door and Tay was able to get a male business partner to escort her safely to another hotel.

But the comments were filled with stories from women who have had similar experiences. Many people explained the danger of admitting you’re alone upon check-in, while other commenters sympathized with the woman not thinking to call the police right away. With people traveling more as COVID-19 restrictions subside, there could be a greater chance for things like this happening so it’s best to be prepared and err on the side of caution when traveling alone.

Women on the Road has several tips for hotel safety including making sure your door lock works, putting a chair under the handle of the door or buying a rubber door stop. The site also highlights the importance of locking your windows if they open and not opening the door for people you don’t know.

Another site geared towards safety is Solo Female Traveler and it recommends getting a floor higher in the hotel to make it more of a hassle for someone from outside to break in. It, too, reiterates the importance of locking the additional lock in the hotel room while you’re inside.

While it’s statistically unlikely you’ll be a victim of a hotel robbery or whatever was happening with Tay, her experience is a reminder to research hotels and practice caution when traveling. Always, always, lock the deadbolt or chain.

This article originally appeared on 09.13.22

It should go without saying that it’s not cool to steal from your Airbnb. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still happen.

However, when one Airbnb host recently discovered a guest had—for some strange reason—stolen one of her paintings, then replaced it with a completely different painting, she decided to make the best out of a very uncool situation by sharing the story on TikTok.

As a result, viewers got to witness an continuously unraveling, truly bizarre modern-day art heist.

Okay, let’s get into it.

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“OK the weirdest thing just happened,” host Amy Corbett says at the beginning of her video.

She then shows what the living room in the listing normally looks like—with a painting of a map hanging on a wall over a couch.

But when Corbett shows up to the unit, we see that it is definitely not a painting of a map hanging on a wall over a couch. Instead, there’s a painting of an orange airplane.

“I have never seen the picture before in my life!” Corbett exclaims in the video.

@allbelongco The weirdest thing a guest has ever done. #airbnb #airbnbstory #airbnbguest #airbnbthief #crazystory #story #fyp ♬ original sound – allbelong.co

Creeped out, she looks around the apartment to see if the oil painting is anywhere to be found. Nada. Zilch.

Needless to say, commenters had their theories. Several mentioned hearing similar stories involving the same painting, leading them to believe this was all part of some long and involved paint-swapping prank. Others went the more traditional route of assuming this guest was trying to cover up some damage inflicted to avoid fees. Others still thought this person was an artist trying to do some sort of clandestine self-promotion.

In a follow-up video, Corbett debunked those theories, saying that not only could that airplane image be found “all over the web,” but the wall it was hanging on was “pristine,” not to mention the fact that the original artwork was next to impossible to accidentally damage.

@allbelongco Replying to @exploration_of_love Let’s debunk some theories while we wait to hear from Airbnb… #airbnb #airbnbguest #fyp ♬ original sound – allbelong.co

As for whether or not this person had swapped out other paintings, Corbett has reached out to one of the guest’s previous hosts, who confirmed that it had not taken place there.

Corbett kept audiences in the loop with several follow-ups, including actual security footage of the guest caught in the act.

The video shows a man (now dubbed the Airbnb Bandit) walking from his car carrying the airplane painting. Next, he’s seen in a different-colored hoodie carrying out the map painting, which is bundled up in a blanket.

@allbelongco Camera footage doesn’t lie…🤷🏻‍♀️ #airbnbstory #airbnbguest #fyp #airbnb #airbnbthief #allbelongco #story ♬ original sound – allbelong.co

As if things couldn’t get any stranger, when Corbett sent an official claim through Airbnb about the artwork, the Airbnb Bandit did pay, but only a portion of what was asked. Then when she asked when he could pay the rest of it…he asked for a 5-star review.

Wow. Just…wow.

While the actual identity of this unusual art thief remains a mystery, Corbett is being reimbursed by Airbnb. Plus, she has decidedly made her “negative story into a positive one” by hiring a local artist to create a new painting to hang above her couch, one that features a waterfall view and the Jamestown River visible just outside the listing. Plus, she’s raffling off the airplane painting to raise funds for affordable housing in her area.

This might be one of the weirder Airbnb stories out there, but at least it has a pretty happy ending.

This article originally appeared on 4.30.23

Ron DeSantis is reportedly getting a wake-up call from his donors. Despite once being touted as a potential threat to Donald Trump, the Florida governor has stumbled on the national stage as he attempts to make the case to Republican voters for why she should be on the top of the ticket. Instead, DeSantis has doubled down on culture war issues, like his ill-fated video that essentially argued he’s more anti-LGBTQ than Trump, and it’s not going over great. It’s never a good sign when your donors are telling major media outlets that they’d like it if you could be a little stupid.

“People want to support Ron but don’t like this kind of stupid stuff,” a DeSantis fundraiser told CNN. “There are people on his team who are trying to win petty wars that make Ron look stupid. If they get that taken care of and just let Ron and Casey be Ron and Casey, then they’ll be much better off.”

Conservative media has also not been impressed with DeSantis:

“Put bluntly, people in Ohio or Iowa do not want to be Florida, they don’t care about Florida, and they are tired of hearing about Florida,” [Erick] Erickson wrote to his subscribers.

Jeff Angelo, an influential conservative radio host in Iowa, said DeSantis risks coming off as “too technocratic.”

“DeSantis’ weakness is that he doesn’t tell a good emotional story about why he believes what he believes,” Angelo said. “You gotta give people all the feels.”

Interestingly, the news of DeSantis donors wanting him to get his act together arrives on the heels of a report that his campaign sent out a “confidential memo” that assured backers that the governor has a plan to secure the nomination. Namely, by building momentum in early states like New Hampshire instead of worrying about Super Tuesday.

However, sources close to the campaign told NBC News that if they don’t see a “bump in the polls,” they’re going to “shut down the idea of a national operation” a.k.a. pack it in.

(Via CNN)

If Allison Russell has anything to say about it, disco music’s triumphant comeback is far from over. The Grammy-nominated singer’s upcoming The Returner album blends a multitude of sounds, including elements from the intoxicating dance sound. Her latest single, “Stay Right Here,” is a flashy tribute to the genre’s leading ladies.

Pulling in the instrumental assistance of her Rainbow Coalition ensemble and Sista Strings, Russell incorporated nods to the late Irene Cara’s 1980 smash “Fame” and Gloria Gaynor’s 1978 breakout hit “I Will Survive.” In the official video, directed by Seck, the high-spirited nature of the record shines through as Russell fearlessly dances in nature with the same vigor she has on stage.

As Russell sings, “Maybe if it hasn’t killed me yet / It’ll make me stronger in time / All that my body can never forget / Why do good things make me cry / Ooh they make me wanna fly on back / Through that hole in the sky,” you feel her yearning for freedom.

Russell shared the inspiration behind the track in a statement, saying, “[‘Stay Right Here’] is about resisting the siren songs of self-hatred, apathy & oblivion. It’s about fighting the nihilistic forces of bigotry, fear & fascism. Right here, right now. The good fight, good trouble, it’s a Freedom Song. It’s about leaning into the fierce survivor’s joy & the power of our worldwide rainbow coalition to reduce harm for all our children, our planet, and all those yet to come.”

Watch the video above.

The Returner is out 9/8 via Fantasy Records. Find more information here.

Bob Iger made himself the main villain of the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes thanks to the Disney CEO complaining that writers and actors are making demands that are “just not realistic.” Fran Drescher wasn’t having it. As president of SAG-AFTRA, Drescher took to the picket lines on Friday where she laid into Iger for his remarks and suggested that Disney put him some place where he can’t talk for a while.

“I found them terribly repugnant and out of touch. Positively tone deaf,” Drescher said about Iger’s comments. “I don’t it served him well.”

Via Variety:

“If I were that company, I would lock him behind doors and never let him talk to anybody about this, because it’s so obvious that he has no clue as to what is really happening on the ground with hard working people that don’t make anywhere near the salary he is making. High seven figures, eight figures, this is crazy money that they make, and they don’t care if they’re land barons of a medieval time.”

Iger made the comments during a lengthy interview with CNBC where he lectured the actors and writers for not taking a deal like the Directors Guild of America did. The remarks immediately earned him backlash.

“We managed, as an industry, to negotiate a very good deal with the directors guild that reflects the value that the directors contribute to this great business,” Iger told CNBC. “We wanted to do the same thing with the writers, and we’d like to do the same thing with the actors. There’s a level of expectation that they have, that is just not realistic. And they are adding to the set of the challenges that this business is already facing that is, quite frankly, very disruptive.”

He just made The Nanny his enemy. May God have mercy on his soul.

(Via Variety)

Imagine your 12-year-old son is helping take part in his school’s Valentine’s Day fundraiser. You’d probably be proud and encouraged at the way he’s getting involved and doing something good, right?

Now imagine, as part of that effort, he decided to email the CEO of Costco, one of the most beloved big box retailers in the world. Well, that’s cute, right? But what if he told you the CEO not only wrote back but went out of his way to donate exactly what your son asked for?

It may sound too good to be true, but that’s exactly what happened when Grant Cerwin sent an email to Costco CEO Craig Jelinek. The sixth grader emailed Jelinek asking if he would donate one of Costco’s famous 93-inch teddy bears to his middle school’s fundraiser in Los Angeles:

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“Hi Mr. Jelinek,

My name is Grant Cerwin and I am 12 years old. I go to [removed] Middle School and am the 6th grade class rep. We want to raffle one of your giant bears as a Valentine’s Day fundraiser for our school. We are part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Is there any chance Costco might donate one? My dad has a truck and we could come get it at the store. I would make sure everyone knew you gave it to us in our school newsletter, on social media and with a big sign by the bear. I know it is a long shot but I thought it couldn’t hurt to ask. We are also seeing how we might get enough money to buy one. Thanks for considering. Your friend, Grant.”

Well, it turns out the long shot was perfectly timed.

Jelinek not only saw the email but jumped into action, asking his colleague “Can we find him a teddy?” Then his lieutenant emailed their colleagues to quickly find a bear for Cerwin’s school, writing: “Do whatever it takes to find a Big Bear and set up pick up for Lesley. Keep me posted.”

Grant then received the following message from Costco:

“Good morning Grant. I am the Toy Supervisor at our Costco’s LA Regional office. I have good news, Costco will be donating a 93” Plush Bear to your school to use in your Valentine’s Day fundraiser! We could have it delivered to the school directly so your parents don’t have to worry about transporting it.”

With time to spare, the Big Bear was delivered to Grant and his school was able to include it in their fundraiser. And while moments like this don’t happen every day, they are a great reminder that even the biggest companies are run by real people and those people often have big hearts. Big, as in 93” plush bear big.

And let’s be honest, we’re not entirely shocked that this happened at Costco, a company that has built a well-earned reputation for treating both its customers and its employees with dignity and respect.

“It speaks volumes about the leadership at Costco that Grant got the response he did,” Grant’s mother Lesley Cerwin told Upworthy. “He is a boundlessly optimistic child and as a parent you worry the world will chip away at that positivity. I’m grateful that the team at Costco reaffirmed my son’s belief that the world is full of good people.”

“I couldn’t believe that they responded so fast and that so many people helped,” Grant told Upworthy. “They didn’t want anything, just to help our school.”

Something as seemingly simple as a donated teddy bear might not sound like much, but it’s examples like this that show the power of bridge-building between companies and communities.

An act of kindness in itself can go a long way. And when that is coupled with the impact it had not only on Grant and his mom, but on Grant’s classmates, you can start to see a real impact that all started with a single email.

“My teachers and friends at school are excited,” Grant said. “We all can’t believe how big it is. It takes a bunch of us to move it around. Our ASB class is working on a thank you card.”

Plus, let’s be honest, a personal touch from someone as high-profile as Craig Jelinek and his team isn’t a bad way to build customer loyalty either. As Lesley told us, “I’ve always liked Costco. Will I be even happier to shop there now? You bet. It is a great store and now I am acutely aware that it is run by amazing people.”

This article originally appeared on 2.16.23

It’s been a few weeks since Damian Lillard requested a trade from the Portland Trail Blazers, and in that time, two things have become clear: Lillard wants a trade to the Miami Heat, and the Blazers aren’t going to just send Lillard to Miami. As such, there’s been a bit of a stalemate in this entire situation, with Portland general manager Joe Cronin telling the press that the team’s plan is to be patient, going as far as to say “if it takes months, it takes months.”

While we’ll see if the Blazers ultimately decide to just do a deal with Miami, but it appears that Cronin is practicing what he preached. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Portland hasn’t been acting like a team that is desperate to make a trade with the Heat happen.

Miami’s big issue is that the Blazers aren’t really under any obligation to make a trade with them, as Lillard’s contract doesn’t possess a no-trade clause and, as Jackson noted, the All-Star guard hasn’t indicated that he’ll turn to a nuclear option, like not reporting to training camp if he’s still in Portland by the time that rolls around. That, obviously, would force Cronin’s hand a little bit, but for now, he can sit, wait, and tell the Heat (or any other team) that they need to bring their best offer to the Blazers.

Back in 2018, the Joseph James DeAngelo, a.k.a., the “Golden State Killer,” was arrested and later convicted for a string of murders that spanned decades. This had finally happened after new analysis of DNA information and largely due to the dogged determination of author Michelle McNamara, whose true crime masterpiece, I’ll Be Gone In the Dark, was completed after her 2016 death (by Billy Jensen and Paul Haynes) at the behest of her then-husband Patton Oswalt. Fast forward several years, and DNA may have sealed the deal again for another long-pursued murderer, the Gilgo Beach serial killer.

The New York Post reports that a 59-year-old NYC architect, Rex Heuermann, who was named as a person of interest in four murders about a year ago, was nabbed in an unusual way. The publication notes that he was finally “caught after DNA from a hair of victim Megan Waterman matched that of his, taken by investigators from a discarded pizza crust in January.” On Thursday, he was arrested as a suspect:

The suspected serial killer arrested over the notorious Gilgo Beach murders in Long Island had been pinned as a person of interest more than a year ago after a DNA match, sources told The Post Friday.

Rex Heuermann, 59, was taken into custody over the slayings of four women who were found wrapped in burlap and dumped within days of each other in late 2010, multiple sources said.

The married father-of-two’s arrest marks the culmination of what appears to be a slow and methodical probe by investigators, which saw them eventually arrest him at his office in New York City on Thursday evening, the police said.

Heuermann had a home on Long Island in the hamlet of Massapequa. Actor Billy Baldwin was shocked to hear the news, given that he went to his school with the suspect. Baldwin took to Twitter:

Woke up this morning to learn that the Gilgo Beach serial killer suspect was my high school classmate Rex Heuermann.

Berner High School
Massapequa, New York
Class of 1981

Married, two kids, architect.
“Average guy… quiet, family man.”
Mind-boggling… Massapequa is in shock.
23andMe strikes again???

Heuermann was arrested in conjunction with the 2010 murders of four women (Melissa Barthelemy, Megan Waterman, Amber Lynn Costello, and Maureen Brainard-Barnes), who were aged 22-27 at their time of death. He is expected back in court sometime on Friday.

(Via New York Post)

It’s every father’s dream: to blow up their child in a movie that comes out the same day as Barbie.

While she had time off from college, director Christopher Nolan‘s eldest daughter, Flora, joined him on the set of Oppenheimer. The highlight of the visit wasn’t meeting Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, or Albert Einstein, it was being cast in the movie as “a nameless young woman who appears to the title character in a hellish, conscience-pricking vision, in which the flesh is flayed from her face by a piercing white light,” according to the Telegraph.

Nolan explained that “we needed someone to do that small part of a somewhat experimental and spontaneous sequence, so it was wonderful to just have her sort of roll with it.” The director recognizes how detonating his daughter’s face sounds, but “I try not to analyze my own intentions,” he continued. “The point is that if you create the ultimate destructive power it will also destroy those who are near and dear to you. So I suppose this was my way of expressing that in what, to me, were the strongest possible terms.”

Men will literally explode their child instead of going to therapy.

(Via the Telegraph)