The Goods (Feb. 15, 2022)

Some good news to get you through the week.

(credit: Getty Images // Tim Robberts)

Happy Tuesday, dear friends! It’s time for another edition of The Goods, in which I offer up some fun, positive, and uplifting items that’ll help you get through the week.

YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, ANTHONY HARRIS

Last year, 11 year-old Audrey Soape of Plugerville, Texas lost both her father and grandfather within months of each other. As reported by The Washington Post’s Sydney Page, the young lady had no one to take her to the annual father-daughter dance at her church in Round Rock (where I lived during high school, incidentally) and on a whim, she sent an Instagram DM to her favorite NFL star, Anthony Harris of the Philadelphia Eagles.

To her surprise, he flew down and accompanied her. There’s a lot more good stuff in this story, including several cute pictures, but whew, just that part was enough to get my water works going.

BRILLIANT PARODY VIDEO INSERTS CAT INTO “TITANIC”

A four year-old cat in Portland named Lizzy has become the latest viral sensation through a series of incredibly clever videos in which she’s inserted into classic movies by her parents, Tibo Charroppin and Olivia Boone.

For Valentine’s Day, Lizzy (whose stage name is “Owl Kitty”) was edited into several iconic scenes of “Titanic”. Look, no description I can provide is going to do this justice, so just watch and enjoy. Trust me:

OwlKitty @Owl__Kitty

Happy Valentine’s Day 🚢😻 #OwlKitty #Titanic #ValentinesDay #LeonardoDicaprio #AdoptDontShop

THIS TWITTER THREAD IS ONE OF THE FUNNIEST I’VE EVER READ

When I was imagining what content I’d want for The Goods, I decided to make a conscious effort to avoid politics. Everything else I write for y’all is political, and good lord, we need a break from that shit.

But this is different. Yes, it’s about the ridiculous and dangerous truck blockade in Canada, but the storytelling here by Buzzfeed political reporter Paul McLeod is sublime and hilarious. Click the tweet below, and it’ll take you to the full thread, which is very much worth reading over your lunch break.

Paul McLeod @pdmcleod

Anti-mandate protesters are holding a twitter space “emergency meeting” in response to the state of emergency. One who was at the Windsor/Detroit border blockade tells a story of how their communications were infiltrated, leading to organizational collapse...

OKAY, THIS IS POLITICAL, TOO, BUT I LOVE IT AND IT MADE ME HAPPY

Chrystia Freeland is the Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and the first woman to hold the position of Minister of Finance, which she does so concurrently with the former and more senior role.

Check out this statement she posted via Twitter thread. This is what a leader looks like:

Chrystia Freeland @cafreeland

This is about following the money. This is about stopping the financing of these illegal blockades. We are today serving notice: if your truck is being used in these protests, your corporate accounts will be frozen.

NATHAN CHEN DELIVERS AN ICONIC PERFORMANCE

In 2018, then-teenager Nathan Chen had a rollercoaster experience in the individual men’s skate competition at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. Following a frustrating showing in the short program (placing 17th), he proceeded to dominate the free skate, earning the highest Olympic score to date and vaulting to 5th place in the final standings, nearly pulling off one of the greatest podium comebacks of all-time.

Returning with Team USA this month to the Winter Olympics in Beijing, the young man, who’s currently studying at Yale (no biggie, right?), came ready to kick some ass on the ice.

It’s not surprising that he won gold. What’s surprising is that even with the sky high expectations placed on his shoulders in this competition, he still managed to astonish everyone with his free skate, a routine that included five quad jumps, set to Elton John’s “Rocket Man”. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and I watched it about a dozen times this weekend.

Partial video is embedded below, and you can check out the full program here.

NBC Olympics @NBCOlympics

What a Free Skate from Nathan Chen! Nathan is AN OLYMPIC CHAMPION. #WinterOlympics

Y’ALL RAISED A TON OF MONEY FOR CHILDREN’S TUMOR RESEARCH

This weekend, y’all got a very late email from me on Friday night with a last minute request: to donate to my team for the Cupid Run in D.C., which goes to support the Children’s Tumor Foundation.

I had literally agreed to be on the team and got registered just a few hours before, and my goodness, y’all saved the day.

In less than 24 hours, nearly $15,000 was raised for cancer research for children through our team’s efforts. Far less importantly, our team placed 2nd overall in fundraising, which is rather astonishing, and all the credit goes to y’all.

As promised, all those who donated will be 1) followed on Twitter, 2) entitled to a RT of their choice, and 3) entitled to a 30 min. chat with me via Zoom.

Obviously, that last bit is gonna take some time to complete because I’m pretty sure more than 200 of you donated. Whew, I got a lot of video chats ahead of me.

Unfortunately, Cupid Run’s website is currently malfunctioning, so I’m unable to access the list of donors at the moment, but I’m certain that will be resolved soon. Please be on the lookout in your inboxes for scheduling requests.

If you didn’t donate and wanna do that Zoom chat, no worries! I’m sure I’ll be raising money for some other great cause in the very near future, and I’d love to have your support.

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Hi, I’m Charlotte Clymer, and this is Charlotte’s Web Thoughts, my Substack. It’s completely free to access and read, but if you feel so moved to support my writing, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription: just $7/month or save money with the $70/annual sub. You can also go way above and beyond by becoming a Founding Member at $210.