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15 Spot-On Parenting Quotes From Idina Menzel

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You’d think that being the voice of Elsa from “Frozen” might help you reach parenting perfection. But Idina Menzel says she still deals with ups and downs as a divorced working mom dealing with guilt and double standards. 


The actress and singer and her ex-husband, Taye Diggs, have a 7-year-old son named Walker. Following their 2014 divorce, she and Diggs have committed themselves to amicable co-parenting as they balance their careers as performers with giving Walker a childhood filled with love and support.


In honor of Menzel’s 46th birthday today, we’ve compiled some of her standout parenting quotes ― from her thoughts on mom guilt and the messy reality of motherhood to her son’s relationship with “Frozen.” 


On co-parenting:


“Your child comes first, that’s all. It’s all about that. He comes first and you have to get past your own egos and you never talk bad about each other.”


On the double standards moms face:


“The guilt is the thing we as women all feel, whether we stay at home or we work. There are a lot of double standards with the way the men in our lives see how we make those choices. I think there’s an accounting for how much time I spend with my son, and men don’t have to account for how much time they spend with their child. It hurts to feel that’s a judgment being made. Because we’re already judging ourselves.”



On the messy reality of motherhood:


“I’m a mom ― I’m lucky if I get to shower in the morning. Luckily, nail polish stays on my toes. I’ve been so bad on the upkeep, though.”


On parenting as a performer:


“I’m pretty disciplined. I really take care of my voice. But what do you do when you have a show and your kid wakes up with a fever in the middle of the night before? You go on stage, you think you’re never going to get through this, and that’s when you say to yourself, ‘Well, you weren’t going to not sleep next to your sick son, were you?’ Are you going to be mad at yourself because your voice is scratchy? No. You’re just going to change the melody a little and people will care because you’ve made them feel something, not because you’ve hit a certain note.”


On “Let It Go”:


I just feel bad that some parents may be sick of me because of it.”



On dating as a single mom:


It all sucks. I don’t want to keep introducing [my son] to people and having him form bonds and then take ‘em away, you know. It’s bad enough his mom and dad are getting divorced.”


On parenting guilt and divorce:


“You have a lot of regret with a child, and feeling like you’re failing them in some way. Not giving them the idealistic scenario.”


On singing for her son:


“He doesn’t like to hear Mommy sing! The few times I’ve tried — I’d say, ‘Want to hear what Mommy did in the studio today?’ — the first song on the album is called ‘Small World’ and he started cry! He said, ‘Mommy, it makes me miss you.’ I said, ‘What do you mean? I’m here!’ He said, ‘It just makes me think about when you go onstage and I miss you!’”



By the way. My son face painted me between shows. He said I was going to be a #kindaprettywitch.

A post shared by Idina Menzel (@idinamenzel) on




On telling her son about current events:


“It’s hard to know what’s age-appropriate as far as educating your child and how much to teach him about what’s out there, and that there are bad people out there and there are people who don’t like other people. You want to keep him insulated and safe and not ruin his perspective of the world.”


On work-life balance:


“I’ve struggled with putting off having a child, worried that it would distract me from my ambition and my career. And then I realized once I had a child how that enriched my life, and me as an artist and as a woman. It’s constant, the balancing motherhood now with my performing and my career and the guilt that I’m constantly slaying myself with. But it’s wonderful to have a show that I can at least go and assess those things and work through them on stage.”



On her son’s relationship with ‘Frozen’:


“The only time he really likes it is when I was volunteering in this kindergarten class last year and doing arts and crafts and he started talking to one of the little girls. The girl is looking at me and he says, ‘Do you want my mom’s autograph? She’s Elsa!’ That’s like his game, he’s got game.”


On raising a son:


“I want to do the right thing by my son, and that means balancing my work and my quality time with him. I know he needs to grow up seeing a really happy, confident mother, then he’ll be drawn to those kinds of women.”


On reliving childhood through parenting:


“You get to relive your childhood when you have a baby and you see these toys and these books you read when you were little — the innocence that you are able to maintain … to connect with your child keeps you in a special state of mind.”



On how parenthood changes you:


“Motherhood has helped me to stop overanalyzing things. It’s been liberating because I used to be somewhat neurotic. I attribute that to having something bigger than myself.”


On living in the moment:


“[I] better about myself because I like who I am as a mother ... Between changing diapers and touring preschools, I’m still getting some other stuff done. I think that’s why being a mommy keeps you in the moment more. You can’t really think much about other stuff because you have life happening right in front of you — you have to feed him, and change his diapers, and play with him, and read to him.”

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Inside The 'Circular Madness' That Made The 'Psycho' Shower Scene So Terrifying

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Movies are defined by their music ― particularly horror movies, where a score can convince us that any given scene contains more terrors than it actually does.


Take, for example, Janet Leigh’s murder in “Psycho.” The famous shower scene is fairly elusive; you hardly see any violence, but the score is terrifying enough to suggest its grisliness.


HuffPost has an exclusive clip from “Score: A Film Music Documentary” that demonstrates the effectiveness of the famous Hitchcock moment. Remove the screeching melody, and the impact is lost.


Opening in limited release on June 16, “Score” explores the art of movie music and how Hollywood composers bring stories to life. 

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People Across Manchester Are Getting Bee Tattoos To Honor Bombing Victims

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A bee for Manchester. 


Hundreds of people across the U.K. are getting bee tattoos in honor of the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing that claimed 22 victims during an Ariana Grande concert.


U.K. tattoo artist Sam Barber started a fundraiser, dubbed the Manchester Tattoo Appeal, which took place Sunday and Monday with the goal of raising £50,000 for victims of the attack and their families. 


“We’ve actually got a lot of family members of some of the victims coming forward who want it as a memorial tattoo now,” Barber told the BBC late last week. “Paramedics and health workers who were on the scene, who were there in the aftermath, who also want to come together and get that tattoo done.” 


The bee, she explained, is a “symbol of strength.”




The worker bee is also the symbol of Manchester, meant to represent the city’s “hard-working past” during the Industrial Revolution, when textile mills were described as “hives of activity,” according to the Manchester Evening News.


Those looking to show their permanent love and support for the city lined up for their worker bee tattoos at participating tattoo parlors across Manchester. 





Two tiny bees in aid of the #manchesterbee #menappeal today. Grandmother and daughter.

A post shared by Long Time Dead Tattoo Studio (@longtimedeadtattoo) on






Andrew, the studio manager at Blue Cardinal Tattoo, felt “overwhelmed by the support everyone has given,” telling HuffPost the response had been “incredible.” The shop, located in Rochdale, helped raise £5,725 over the weekend. “It’s been amazing.”


Beau Redman, who also works at Blue Cardinal, told Vice News that the line outside the shop was “over a mile long.” 


“It’s just nice people coming together and getting it not just for charity but to show that they’re also committed to Manchester,” she said. “We’re a good city, aren’t we?”



Prints for sale and bees to be tattooed today #manchestertattooappeal #manchestertattoo #manchester #ilovemanchester

A post shared by Blue Cardinal (@blue_cardinal_tattoo) on









The first two i did this morning, 9 down, trying to squueze in a quick tea break #manchesterbee #manchestertattooappeal

A post shared by Zoe Lorraine Tattoos ♡ (@zoelorrainee) on



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'The Bachelorette' Nonchalantly Praised Therapy And It Was Great

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“The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette” aren’t exactly known for pushing positive mental health habits. (In fact, it’s usually quite the opposite.) But on Monday night’s episode of Rachel Lindsay’s season of “The Bachelorette,” a routine exchange during a date turned into a refreshing endorsement for therapy.


Rachel goes on her first one-on-one date of the season with 31-year-old business owner, Peter Kraus. They have an idyllic time as they play with dogs at “Bark Fest,” hang out in a ball pit, bond over their gap teeth and generally become “smitten” with each other. During the second half of the date ― traditionally the time when contestants are encouraged to “open up” and “be vulnerable” ― Rachel asks Peter why he’s still single. Peter explains that he’s been brokenhearted a few times, specifically citing a relationship he jumped into after moving from L.A. back to Wisconsin, which didn’t work out and left him “really confused.”


“So, I decided to go see someone for it,” he continued. “I saw a relationship therapist, and it actually helped me a lot, and I think it’s helping me a lot now to be more calm in my thoughts.”


Rachel responded enthusiastically, talking about the end of her own long-term relationship, and how therapy helped her work on herself after it ended. 


“I went to a therapist,” she said, “and it was the best decision that I made that entire year and again it prepared me to realize what I really want for myself and what wasn’t working for me.”


(Watch the exchange above, beginning around to 50-second mark.)


The scene is a sweet and romantic one, in which therapy is presented as a dating plus! Rachel is totally taken with Peter’s anecdote, especially because she relates to it. She even jumps right from discussing mental health care to giving him the rose ― any “Bachelorette” one-on-one date’s ultimate prize.


Viewers reacted enthusiastically to the therapy talk, noting how unusual it is to hear mental health spoken about candidly: 


















In an ideal world, this wouldn’t even be notable. After all, mental health struggles are incredibly common in this country. Anxiety disorders alone impact 40 million adults in the U.S. ― that’s about 18 percent of the population. However, only about one-third of those people get treatment.


This gap exists for a few reasons: a lack of comprehensive coverage for quality mental health care, the persistent idea that mental health isn’t “real” health, and the stigma that still follows admitting that you might need mental health care in the first place. (Incidentally, there are still few worse labels in “The Bachelor(ette)” dating world ― and the real dating world ― than “crazy.”)  


Because of the persistence of this stigma and the tangible impact it has on people seeking help, it’s notable that a show like “The Bachelorette,” which brings in millions of viewers from across the country each week, is normalizing therapy ― even making it something romantic. And truly, why shouldn’t it be? Recognizing that sometimes you need help, and having the wherewithal to seek that help out when needed, can only be a positive in a new relationship. 


If even “The Bachelorette” gets that mental health care is both necessary and pretty damn sexy, maybe the rest of America can get on board. 


For more on “The Bachelorette,” check out HuffPost’s Here To Make Friends podcast.




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41 Perfect Tweets About 'The Bachelorette' Season 13, Episode 2

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For more on “The Bachelorette,” check out HuffPost’s Here To Make Friends podcast below: 





Do people love “The Bachelor,” “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise,” or do they love to hate these shows? It’s unclear. But here at “Here to Make Friends,” we both love and love to hate them — and we love to snarkily dissect each episode in vivid detail. Podcast edited by Nick Offenberg.


Want more “Bachelor” stories in your life? Sign up for HuffPost’s Entertainment email for extra hot goss about The Bachelor, his 30 bachelorettes, and the most dramatic rose ceremonies ever. The newsletter will also serve you up some juicy celeb news, hilarious late-night bits, awards coverage and more. Sign up for the newsletter here.

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This Indonesian All-Girl Heavy Metal Band Is Many Kinds Of Awesome

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With their heads covered with Islamic headscarves, the three members of the Indonesian band VoB (”Voice of Baceprot” or “Noisy Voice”) do not look like your typical heavy metal group.


Formed in 2014, the band of teenagers met at school in Indonesia’s most populous province of West Java, and use their music to combat the stereotype of Muslim women as submissive or voiceless.



Wearing a hijab, or Islamic head scarf, should not be a barrier to the group’s pursuit of its dream of being heavy metal stars, said Firdda Kurnia, 16, who plays guitar and sings.


“I think gender equality should be supported, because I feel I am still exploring my creativity, while at the same time, not diminishing my obligations as a Muslim woman,” she added. 




Invited to perform at a recent graduation ceremony at another school, the trio quickly had fans dancing and head-banging at the front of the stage.


“I don’t see anything wrong with it,” said one fan who attended, Teti Putriwulandari Sari. “There’s no law that bars hijab-wearing women from playing hardcore music.


“This also relates to human rights. If a Muslim girl has a talent to play the drums or a guitar, should she not be allowed?”


Besides covering classics by groups such as Metallica and Slipknot, the band perform their own songs on issues such as the state of education in Indonesia.



Muslims make up nearly 90 percent of a population of 250 million, the vast majority practising a moderate form of Islam, although there are some conservative strongholds.


Not everyone in the town of Garut, where the band was formed, and which is home to several Islamic schools, feels the community is ready for them, or that their music is appropriate for performance by young Muslim women.



“It is unusual to see a group of hijab-wearing girls playing metal music or even women shouting,” said Muhammad Sholeh, a teacher at the town’s Cipari Islamic boarding school, adding that religious pop music was popular with many young Muslims.


“But we’re talking about metal here, which is loud.”




Maudya Mulyawati, a student at the school, felt the band should focus on singing “Salawat”, an invocation to the religion’s founder, Prophet Mohammad.


An official of a top clerical body said although the group might trigger a culture clash in a conservative area, he did not feel it broke with Islamic values.


“I see this as part of the creativity of teenagers,” added Nur Khamim Djuremi, secretary general of the Islamic Art and Culture Division of Indonesia’s Ulema Council.


 


(Writing by Ed Davies; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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From 'Scandal' To 'House Of Cards,' Political Dramas Are Suffering In The Trump Era

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Television is like a time capsule. Inevitably an era’s anxieties and priorities are reflected through entertainment. If we want to pinpoint what was going on socially, culturally and politically at any given moment looking to the kinds of shows that appear on television isn’t the worst way to do it. 


That’s why the new series that networks announced earlier this month as part of their 2017–2018 schedules can offer some insight into how Donald Trump’s presidency is affecting both what viewers are watching and the kinds of shows networks are programming.


Back in December, ABC Entertainment president Channing Dungey told audiences at the Content London media summit that the network was questioning its programming philosophy in the aftermath of Trump’s victory.


“With our dramas, we have a lot of shows that feature very well-to-do, well-educated people, who are driving very nice cars and living in extremely nice places,” she said. “There is definitely still room for that, and we absolutely want to continue to tell those stories because wish-fulfillment is a critical part of what we do as entertainers. But in recent history we haven’t paid enough attention to some of the true realities of what life is like for everyday Americans in our dramas.”


Ratings might have prompted that kind of self-reflection as much as Trump’s win. Nearly every politically driven show on both network and cable TV ― “Scandal,” “The Americans,” “Homeland,” “Madam Secretary,” “Designated Survivor” and “Quantico” ― saw a decline in viewership numbers through the election season and dropped further after Trump won. 


Cable news networks enjoyed huge ratings increases ahead of the election and continue to see impressive numbers as news of White House scandals break nearly every week. But a network like ABC, which airs “Scandal,” “Quantico,” and “Designated Survivor,” is definitely feeling the effects of political fatigue.



“Scandal,” in particular, feels like victim of the Trump era. Though the show’s ratings had been declining since 2015, it wasn’t in danger of being canceled. After the election, creator Shonda Rhimes would often say in interviews that she no longer knew what to do with the series now that Trump was president — the on-screen scandals handled by Olivia Pope and her Gladiators were still far more dramatic than anything on the nightly news, but the latest season’s first few episodes, which aired right after Trump’s inauguration, forced viewers to endure yet another election narrative and relive the loss felt on election night all over again. 


Even after the runaway success of the show’s early seasons, the announcement that “Scandal” would end after its seventh season didn’t come as a surprise. 


“I used to know how it ended, and then Donald Trump was elected. We had a destination, and I don’t know if that’s our destination anymore,” Rhimes told The Hollywood Reporter in April.


Similarly, she told The New York Times, “Our show is basically a horror story. Really. We say the people in Washington are monsters and if anybody ever knew what was really going on under the covers they would freak out. So they can do anything, they can murder people, they kill people and they get away with everything all the time.”


She added, “But that was based on a world in which Obama was president and our audience was happy about what was going on in Washington and they felt optimistic. You can always tell any horror story you want to when the light is on. But now the lights are off, and now I think people don’t want to watch horror stories, they want you to light a candle somewhere.”  


As for “Designated Survivor,” ABC’s freshman drama starring Kiefer Sutherland, the series premiered to strong ratings in September and then began hemorrhaging millions of viewers each week as the election drew closer and Trump won. Though the network wouldn’t flat-out blame ratings on Trump, Dungey came as close as she could.


“I think some of that has to do with White House politics fatigue ... It’s challenging right now in terms of making political shows just in general because there are big changes afoot in the world we live in, ” she told Entertainment Weekly in January, adding that the network planned on delving into the characters and their relationships. Which is another way of saying, they’re going to focus less on hard political storylines and rev up the romantic ones. 


After all of this, it seems that ABC didn’t rethink its programing philosophy after all. Rather than focus on series that show the reality of life for “everyday Americans” ― code for Trump voters ― when the new crop of shows were announced, Vanity Fair wondered if the network, which canceled its conservative-leaning hit “Last Man Standing,” was actually “quietly trolling” Trump?  


Counted among ABC’s new shows is “The Crossing,” in which “refugees from a war-torn country seek asylum in a small American fishing town, only the country these people are from is America ― and the way they are fleeing hasn’t happened yet.” There’s also “The Mayor,” which follows a rapper who runs for mayor as a publicity stunt and ends up winning. Both shows feel pretty pointed ― Dungey even called “The Mayor” “a timely riff on current events” ― but what might be even more telling are the pilots that ABC passed on.


The network declined to pick up the comedy “Libby & Malcolm” from “Blackish” creator Kenya Barris. Felicity Huffman and Courtney B. Vance were set to star as “two polar opposite political pundits, who fall in love despite all odds and form an insta-family as well as a work partnership.” ABC also passed on “Red Blooded,” a new drama from showrunner Marc Cherry, which was set to star Reba McEntire as the sheriff of a small town in Kentucky, “who finds her red state outlook challenged when a young FBI agent of Middle Eastern descent is sent to help her solve a horrific crime.”


Not having seen either show, it’s hard to say anything about either one, but both shows sound a little too on the nose when it comes to the let’s-put-our-differences-behind-us rhetoric. Given that political dramas (and even political comedies, in the case of “Veep”) are faltering in the Trump era, it’s not shocking that ABC would pass on these series.


That’s not to say audiences aren’t still thrilled by politics ― they just made MSNBC No. 1 in weekly primtime viewers for the first time in history ― but viewers are understandably exhausted and want to keep politics out of their entertainment. Plus, if anyone wanted to watch “two polar opposite political pundits” fall in love, they could just watch recently engaged co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski  bicker on “Morning Joe.”


Dungey previously told reporters that the current political climate was something ABC took into consideration when they crafted the fall schedule.


“There’s a lot of news, and I think people are definitely looking to television as a place where they want to feel — they want to laugh, they want to cry, they want to enjoy,” Dungey said during the network’s conference call before their presentation to advertisers earlier this month. “What the mood of the country has told us is that television is a little bit of an escape … That did frame a lot of our development thinking this season.”


If people are looking for an escape, that helps to explain why there are no less than eight superhero shows scheduled to premiere in the 2017–2018 season. “The Big Bang Theory” currently reigns supreme as TV’s  No. 1 show, suggesting audiences want to laugh more than they want to see political intrigue. “This Is Us” topped the charts among dramas, suggesting a yearning for stories focused on interpersonal relationships. Networks are doing their best in this new TV season to literally recreate the kind of programing that seems to be working ― see “Young Sheldon.”


The desire for some TV catharsis in the current political climate also explains why “Saturday Night Live” just wrapped its highest-rated season in years and why Stephen Colbert was just officially crowned the king of late-night for the 2016–2017 season. Audiences might be tired of watching what they perceive as a heavy-handed lecture on current events disguised as a soapy drama, but they are hungry for satire.


It’s been harder in the past couple of years at ‘SNL’ because the culture is so fragmented. If you do a parody even of a huge show like ‘Game of Thrones,’ it doesn’t have the full cultural resonance of a ‘Cheers’ or ‘Friends,’” “SNL” writer and “Weekend Update” co-anchor Colin Jost told The Hollywood Reporter of the show’s increased popularity. “Whereas politics right now is probably the closest we’ve come to a full-blown national phenomenon as anything in a long time, and anytime people are paying more attention to politics, it’s good for our show. But you almost feel like a war profiteer at times because we’ve benefited from a situation that’s so tough.”



If politics feels all-consuming, then what becomes of the political drama? Shows like “House of Cards,” whose fifth season premieres on Netflix on May 30, are routinely being written off as “irrelevant,” with critics claiming writers couldn’t possibly come up with anything more outlandish than what’s actually happening in the IRL White House. Even Robin Wright, who plays Claire Underwood, recently joked that Trump stole all the show’s ideas for Season 6. Trump has yet to actually match “House of Cards” in its full absurdity, but there’s still time. 


With themes of nepotism, populism, voter suppression, constitutional crises, the possibility of impeachment and a growing body count, the fifth season of “House of Cards” is by no means boring, but it’s just not as binge-able in this current administration.


Netflix doesn’t release viewership data, so it’s impossible to know how many people have ever watched “House of Cards,” but its subscribers are probably feeling the same political fatigue that network and cable the viewers are experiencing ― something showrunners Melissa Gibson and Frank Pugliese acknowledge.


“Politics surrounding the presidency, in particular, has become more like a TV show than our TV show has become like politics, in a way,” Pugliese told HuffPost in a recent phone interview.  “So yeah, sometimes I feel like we are competing with a show that is on every day ― it’s the Trump Show. It’s 24 hours a day. But there is nothing we can do about that.”


The plot of “House of Cards” Season 5 isn’t ripped from the headlines — the show was already filming some of its last episodes on election day. But many of the show’s themes and plot points again parallel what’s actually happening in our government today and it blurs the line between fantasy and reality. If anything, viewing the show in the wake of Trump’s seemingly numerous scandals adds a layer of realism. It’s increasingly difficult to convince yourself the entire show isn’t a commentary on the current president.


Of course, Francis Underwood wormed his way into the White House long before Trump did.


I think we are uniquely positioned to be in dialogue with the real world,” Gibson told HuffPost when asked if she thought it was inevitable that viewers would try to connect the show to Trump. “But of course, our world is distinct and a really fundamental difference is that Francis Underwood came up through the system. He’s a through and through politician, who is of the system. He’s trying to explode it, but he’s trying to explode it from within. Whereas Donald Trump is a proud outsider trying to blow things up from the outside.”


There are many more differences between Francis Underwood and Trump ― one is one of the most articulate characters on TV, while the other has a vocabulary of about 67 words ― but this is part of Trump’s effect on TV. Suddenly everything is about him, even when it’s not.


“We’re just reacting to a moment in time both culturally and politically. The same moment in time that sort of created Trump and in a sense has created Francis,” Pugliese added. “So the similarities are there just because they came out of something that’s been going on for the last few years. In a way, Francis is talking about nationalism and populism seasons ago. So there has just been stuff in the air that we tapped into.”

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Everyone Should Listen To This Middle Schooler's Viral Poem On Girlhood

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A seventh grade student named Olivia recently presented a spoken word poem for a writing class. Her passionate performance impressed not only her class, but the internet as well. 


On May 25, Arizona’s 12 News station published a video on Facebook of Olivia performing the poem in her Queen Creek Middle School writing class. Olivia wrote the poem as part of an assignment to create a slam poem about a topic she felt strongly about, according to 12 News


As of Tuesday morning, the video had over 320,000 Facebook shares, 185,000 likes and 20 million views. 


Olivia’s beautiful performance gives a peek inside the mind of a young teenage girl and the struggles she faces every day. Throughout the poem she breaks these struggles down into 12 different points such as body image and the intense pressures to fit in.


“You take each comment, each judgement, each assumption, each opinion, each strange look, each remark, each criticism, each review, each report, each assessment and with it your self esteem plummets like a sinking ship,” Olivia says at the beginning of her performance.


Olivia says that middle school is a time to find yourself, but it takes time. 


“Going through your middle school years, you are on your own journey to find yourself, on a small jet,” she says. “And sometimes you cannot control what happens to you. The turbulence will throw you off course.”


In the Facebook comments section of the video, the teacher who assigned the slam poem to Olivia, Brett Cornelius, wrote that the class was “moved to tears” by her performance. 


“She’s brilliant beyond words...” Cornelius wrote on Facebook. “What’s even more incredible is that she worked on this for over a month, truly digging into the raw depths of teenage hood and expressing her feelings of the good, the bad, and the ugly of walking the halls of the school as a young woman. She’s humble and honest, that’s for sure. I’m proud to have met this little lady!”


Olivia sums up the poem by delivering a powerful rallying cry for young girls to love themselves ― just the way they are. 


“You are loved. You are precious. You are beautiful. You are talented. You are capable. You are deserving of respect. You can eat that meal. You are one in 7 billion,” she says. “Most of all, you are good enough.” 

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'The Bachelorette' Season 13, Episode 2: 'Here To Make Friends' Podcast

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One brainy beauty with a thousand-watt smile. Thirty-one strong-jawed suitors. It’s the 13th season of “The Bachelorette,” featuring Dallas attorney Rachel Lindsay’s journey to love.






This week, Rachel hosted Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar; Copper the dog was treated to a big day out; and one bachelor was sent home in ignominy after an ex-girlfriend turned up to air some grievances. On the podcast, Claire Fallon, Emma Gray, and guest Kevin Nguyen discuss the etiquette of ghosting, dog pool parties, and being husband material:












Do people love “The Bachelor,” “The Bachelorette” and “Bachelor in Paradise,” or do they love to hate these shows? It’s unclear. But here at “Here to Make Friends,” we both love and love to hate them — and we love to snarkily dissect each episode in vivid detail. Podcast edited by Nick Offenberg.




Follow Claire Fallon and Emma Gray on Twitter. 




Want more “Bachelorette” stories in your life? Sign up for HuffPost’s Entertainment email for extra hot goss about Rachel, her 31 bachelors, and the most dramatic rose ceremonies ever. The newsletter will also serve you up some Netflix and podcast recs, hilarious late-night bits, awards coverage and more. Sign up for the email here.







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'Animaniacs' Is The Latest '90s Show To Get The Reboot Treatment

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Warner Bros. is letting the Warner brothers and Warner sister out of the water tower. 


That’s right: “Animaniacs” is the latest show from your childhood getting the reboot treatment. Clearly this is part of The Brain’s plan to take over the world, right? 


According to IndieWire, Steven Spielberg (who directed the original series) is on board to help develop the reboot along with Amblin Television and Warner Bros. 


As of now, the project hasn’t found a network to call home, though in today’s age of the reboots and revivals, the show probably won’t have an issue. There’s always Netflix ― the ‘90s cartoon joined the streaming service’s lineup last year. 


“Animaniacs,” which consisted of multiple segments (such as “Pinky and the Brain,” which got a spinoff) aired from 1993 to 1995 on Fox Kids and from 1995 to 1998 on Kids’ WB, with a total of 99 episodes. The animated series won eight Daytime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.


The series officially ended in 1999 with the straight-to-video release of “Animaniacs: Wakko’s Wish.” 






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Former 'Bachelorette' Contestant Michael Nance Dead At 31

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Michael Nance, a former contestant on “The Bachelorette,” has died. He was 31. 


A representative for the Austin Police Department confirmed the news to TMZ, telling the outlet they received a call around 2 a.m. on Monday. Nance was unresponsive when police arrived at the scene. He was pronounced dead shortly after. 


A cause of death has not been released, People reports, though the outlet notes it does not seem to be the result of foul play. A spokes An autopsy was performed Tuesday but it may take weeks to get results from toxicology reports.


In his “Bachelorette” introduction video, Nance, who was a musician, revealed he struggled with an addiction to prescription pain meds in the past. 


Nance appeared on Season 8 of “The Bachelorette,” which featured Emily Maynard. Upon hearing the news, Maynard took to Twitter to express her condolences. 






Other members of “Bachelor” Nation, such as Sean Lowe and Chris Bukowski, also expressed their grief on Twitter. 














ABC has yet to release a statement addressing the sad news, but we have reached out and will update this post accordingly. 

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Squatty Potty Dumps Kathy Griffin Over Beheaded Donald Trump Picture

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Squatty Potty has pulled commercials featuring Kathy Griffin after a backlash over a snap of the comedian posing with a bloody mask depicting President Donald Trump’s decapitated head.


CEO Bobby Edwards confirmed Wednesday that the Utah toilet company had suspended its ad campaign in which Griffin starred.


We were shocked and disappointed to learn about the image Ms. Griffin shared today, it was deeply inappropriate and runs contrary to the core values our company stands for,” Edwards said in a press release.










“In response, Squatty Potty has suspended its ad campaign featuring Ms. Griffin,” added Edwards, whose foot stool product allows users to elevate themselves while on the toilet.


It appeared on “Shark Tank” in 2014. The company has also gained fame through its unicorn rainbow commercial.


“We have acted swiftly and decisively to demonstrate our commitment to a culture of decency, civility, and tolerance,” Edwards said.


Griffin has since apologized for the photograph, which celebrity photographer Tyler Shields snapped and released Tuesday.


In a video she posted to Twitter, Griffin said she “went way too far” and acknowledged that the image was “too disturbing.”


“I understand how it offends people. It wasn’t funny. I get it,” she added.






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12-Year-Old Ventriloquist Blows Away 'America's Got Talent'

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Before performing on Tuesday’s “America’s Got Talent,” a nervous and giggly Darci Lynne Farmer told the judges that she “would really like to keep ventriloquism alive because it’s not common, you know?”


The 12-year-old from Oklahoma City then did her part in a big way. As Farmer provided the skillfully hidden vocals, her puppet rabbit Petunia belted out a dazzling “Summertime.” The duo earned wows from the panelists and host Tyra Banks (making her “AGT” debut) before Mel B. pushed the Golden Buzzer to vault Farmer into the live show round.


A well-deserved happy ending.




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These Stunning Photos Capture The Loneliness Of Insomnia

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Insomnia can be a debilitating, lonely experience. Need proof? Look no further than haunting photos from artist Michael Massaia.


The 39-year-old New Jersey photographer, who has been dealing with the condition since he was 13, often operates on only a few hours of sleep every few days. As a teen, he used to frequently hope sleep would come just so he didn’t feel bored.


“It was a bit maddening trying to fill up all the hours,” Massaia told HuffPost. “My desire to sleep wasn’t to try and get rest, it was to simply help pass the time.”


Now Massaia resigns to the fact that the chronic sleep disorder is something he will always need to manage. And when rest eludes him, he puts that time to use through his artwork.


His most recent results are a series of photos taken in Central Park at night, which aim to capture the loneliness of insomnia. The images are a stark contrast from how the park normally is during the daylight hours ― bustling and filled with wide-awake people.



While the nighttime project wasn't recommended by a doctor (and treatment varies depending on the person), Massaia says it allows him to turn the disorder into something positive. He also hopes the photos inspire other people with health conditions.


“I hope people take away from the project a kind of compelling isolation, or perhaps something as simple as being able to turn a defect into something useful,” Massaia said.


An estimated 60 million Americans deal with insomnia in a given year. The condition causes severe fatigue, low energy, mood issues and more. Doctors are increasingly working to find effective treatments, some of which include over-the-counter or prescription sleep aids and cognitive behavioral therapy.



Massaia stressed that anyone dealing with a disorder like insomnia isn’t alone, even though it may feel that way sometimes. He also said it helps to embrace the condition and transform it into something productive and positive.


“I guess what I tell myself regarding any deficiency ― including insomnia ― is that sometimes you’re just not made to live a ‘normal’ life,” he said. “Abnormalities force you to see and approach the world differently, if you can bring something tangible back with you from that perspective, then I think you’re onto something.”


We have to agree.


Take a look at the rest of Massaia’s photos below:


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2017 Is So Ridiculous, Real Words Can't Describe It Anymore

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The past year in language has been closely tied to the speech patterns of the current president. If Donald Trump lambastes “bad hombres” or describes something as “bigly,” people rush in droves to look up the words or mock his vocabulary on Twitter. Other language kerfuffles have surrounded his eccentric use of punctuation and his haphazard spelling, which Merriam-Webster patiently continues to correct for him.


On Tuesday night, Trump took to Twitter, but this time he had no ordinary misspelling in store. “Despite the constant negative press covfefe,” he wrote in a now-deleted tweet that remained up for several hours and sparked an almost giddy reaction from Twitter users. 






Observers have previously commented on the president’s relatively limited working vocabulary; he often resorts to favorite modifiers, like “bigly” (or “big league”) and all-purpose insults. He calls terrorists and political opponents alike “losers.” His preferred terms have been carefully observed, defined and discussed for the nation over the past year.


Despite that, he’s managed to make news once again for his diction ― and this time, it was likely just a typo. 


Trump himself embraced the furor (likely a welcome distraction from reports that he plans to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord):






Merriam-Webster, for once, took a pass on the assignment:






The cool thing about language is its plasticity. Groups of people are quick to assign meaning to new words or to expand what a word signifies. All that is to say that “covfefe” already has an Urban Dictionary entry, and it’s pretty on point:






Not sure that’s what President Trump had in mind. Unlike his previous boast that he invented “prime the pump,” he did, in a way, coin the term “covfefe.” It’s a far cry from the neologisms created by William Shakespeare, John Milton and other creative linguists, to be clear ― they created intentionally, typically using building blocks from existing language to craft meaningful new terms. Given Trump’s later tweet, it seems clear that he did not tweet “covfefe” on purpose and has no idea what it should mean.


Now that it’s happened, this epic typo seems like an inevitable step in this presidency’s effect on language. First we’re gripped by the simplicity of his language, then his frequent inability to spell it, and now we dedicate hours to finding a use for a nonsense cluster of letters.


Language matters ― in politics, in diplomacy, and, of course, in all interpersonal relations. In a time when it seems many long-established norms of how we operate politically, how we ensure international peace and cooperation, and how we treat other people no longer apply, it’s little wonder that a carelessly made-up word, with no long-established meaning, becomes a touchstone. Real words don’t seem to matter anymore either, or not in a way that makes sense.


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Map Of 'America's Most Misspelled Words' Will Have You Shaking Your Head

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Need help spelling Wisconsin? Maybe don’t ask someone who actually lives there.


A new spelling map released by Google this week shows each U.S. state’s most Googled word for its spelling, and yes, Wisconsin’s word is Wisconsin.







The map was released in honor of the 90th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, which began on Tuesday.


According to the map, which is based on data collected between January and April of this year, “Beautiful” is the most commonly misspelled word across a number of states, frequently searched in California, Minnesota, Ohio and New York. 






Maine and Washington appeared to struggle with “pneumonia,” while Arkansas and South Carolina pondered over “Chihuahua,” Indiana and Delaware over “hallelujah,” and Connecticut and West Virginia over “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”


We should note, an earlier list released by Google mistakenly identified the word “tomorrow” as Wisconsin’s word (Nevada and Colorado also appear to have difficultly with its spelling). A Google spokesperson confirmed to HuffPost on Wednesday that “Wisconsin” is indeed the state’s most misspelled word.


Perhaps unsurprisingly, online reactions to the map involved a hefty amount of disbelief.


Fortunately, there were some Twitter users who were happy to offer tips on how to spell words like “banana” and “beautiful.” Others pitched words that they were surprised didn’t make the list.






























This story has been updated to include mention of Google’s previous error.

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Game-Changing Architect Zaha Hadid Gets The Google Doodle She Deserves

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”My work is not within the accepted box,” the late architect Zaha Hadid previously told HuffPost. “Maybe because I am a woman. Also an Arab. There was a certain prejudice about these things.”


Today, that same outsider is being honored with a Google Doodle, one that celebrates her status as a game-changing designer of the contemporary world.



Throughout her life, Hadid spoke openly about the misogyny and racism she encountered as a woman of color working in the world of architecture. As a student at the Architectural Association School in the 1970s, women made up just 6 percent of her field, fellow architect Yasmin Shariff estimated. When Hadid died of a sudden heart attack in 2016, that percentage had jumped to a still-paltry 24 percent. Still, she forged ahead.


Surrounded by men, Hadid’s tenacity was often interpreted as egotism, her drive to be heard seen as a symptom of bad manners. “Who needed a mouthy diva in a world where men got by perfectly nicely, talking politely and shaking hands on the golf course?” The Guardian’s Simon Hattenstone asked, facetiously. This was the unnerving reality faced by a woman who graduated with a degree in mathematics from the American University of Beirut.


“They’re not used to an opinionated woman,” Hadid has said of men in Britain in particular. “They’re scared of women.”


Despite the obstacles, Hadid, born in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1950, rose swiftly to fame. Her professor, the celebrated architect Rem Koolhaas, once described her as “a planet in her own inimitable orbit,” and she’d prove the adage correct. She opened her own architectural firm, Zaha Hadid Architects, in London in 1980. She went on to design a number of recognizable buildings throughout her career: the Guangzhou Opera House, Rome’s MAXXI National Museum of the 21st Century Arts and the London Olympic Aquatic Centre. Her neofuturistic style, heavy on smooth curves and concave shapes, earned her more accolades than most. In 2004, she became the first woman, as well as the first Muslim, to win the prestigious Pritzker Prize, dubbed the “Nobel Prize of architecture.”


“Zaha Hadid was widely regarded to be the greatest female architect in the world,” a representative for her company told HuffPost on the day she died, March 31, 2016, at age 65.


You can explore Hadid’s work more thoroughly over at Google Arts & Culture. In the meantime, check out a few of her notable designs below.



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ABC Cast A Guy Who Thinks The NAACP Is 'Racist' To Date First Black Bachelorette

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Lee Garrett is a 30-year-old singer/songwriter from Nashville, one of 31 men cast to date Rachel Lindsay, the current star of ABC’s “The Bachelorette” (and the first black lead the franchise has ever featured). He admires Matthew McConaughey, has a horseshoe tattoo on his left arm, and loves “Gone with the Wind.” Oh... and he once tweeted that the only difference between the NAACP and KKK is that “one has the sense of shame to cover their racist ass faces.”


A simple scan of Garrett’s Twitter feed suggests that he has some strong and predominantly negative feelings about women (”Guys... When is the last time YOU actually saw a pretty feminist?”), black-led organizations (”Thousands sign petition to recognize as terrorist group after Dallas”), Islam (”I don’t hate Muslims, I do hate Islam”) and the LBTQ community (”After all this ‘gay community’ talk, all these rainbow flags instead of American flags”). He has also expressed a fervent support for President Trump.


Below is a sampling of tweets from Garrett’s feed, none of which have been deleted as of Wednesday morning:






















This raises the question: Why would ABC cast a man who does not seem to think highly of women or people of color to date a beloved lead who is both? Did the casting people simply not look at his Twitter feed? Or did they want to use Garrett’s racial biases to drum up drama among the most racially diverse cast in “Bachelorette” history


HuffPost reached out to ABC, but the network declined to comment. 


The choice to cast a white contestant to date a black lead, when said contestant seems to harbor some racist resentment towards black people, eerily mirrors a plotline in “UnREAL” ― a show co-created by a former producer of “The Bachelor” that fictionalizes the behind-the-scenes drama of a very “Bachelor”-like dating show.


The Lifetime show’s second season, which aired last summer, followed the casting of the first black male lead (called a suitor) of “UnREAL’s” dating show within a show, “Everlasting.” On night one, one of the contestants, Alabama girl Beth Ann, shows up in her own Confederate flag bikini ― at the urging of producers, naturally. The goal is to provoke a “catfight” between the racist white contestant and the black contestants.





On “UnREAL,” Beth Ann functions as a naive pawn rather than being actively malicious, with producers pitting her ignorant embrace of so-called “Southern pride” against the just horror of the suitor, Darius, and the black women cast to date him. The showrunners sought out and played up a racial conflict in order to gin up drama, at the expense of their cast ― particularly Darius, who is then pressured to keep Beth Ann on the show.


Casting Garrett looks to be a move from the same playbook, but instead of a fragile-seeming young moron, they’ve cast a 30-year-old man who unapologetically details his racist opinions on social media.


Without access to the men’s backgrounds, or a computer to Google them, “Bachelorette” leads rely on the producers to background check and winnow the dating field for them. It’s understood that some clowns will be included for TV’s sake, but casting a man who openly professes bigoted views toward the lead’s race and gender falls into a different category: It sets the Bachelorette up for humiliation, heartbreak, and a deep sense of betrayal when the truth comes to light. And that’s just the best-case scenario.


For more on “The Bachelorette,” check out HuffPost’s Here To Make Friends podcast.




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These Shoes Are Changing The Lives Of Single Mothers And Seniors In Colombia

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Soles for Change knows the right pair of shoes can help someone go far.


The artisanal shoe company’s main mission is to benefit the Colombian artisans, mostly single mothers and seniors, who handcraft the colorful espadrilles it sells online.


Laura Viveros co-founded the company in March 2016 after traveling to her native Colombia for a family Christmas trip. During their visit to the small, picturesque town of Curití, in the department of Santander, the financial advisor tried on some of the local artisans’ espadrille flats in the hopes of giving her sore feet some relief.


The 33-year-old says her feet immediately felt better in the handmade shoes and she began to wear them everywhere. Viveros raved about the shoes to her cousins and friends.


She and her husband, Juan Carlos Rodriguez, then began brainstorming ideas with her brother Juan Camilo Viveros and his wife, Carolina Gutierrez, about how to help the artisans’ business in a sustainable way. 


“I want[ed] to support these artisans because what they do is such an art,” Viveros told HuffPost. “They needed someone who believed in them. They needed someone who could show the world what they proudly do with their own hands while incorporating ancient weaving techniques.” 




That’s when the foursome decided to start Soles for Change.


“Their work is truly amazing,” she added, in reference to the artisans. “Given the social inequality in my country, they had no one who was capable of helping them out and show[ing] their products in the international markets. I met them and they have truly changed my life.”


The artisans craft each shoe from the natural fibers that come from the fique plant in Colombia. They produce the raw material, treat it, dye it and then weave it into the espadrilles. The shoes are sent to the Colombian capital, Bogotá, for quality control and then Soles for Change ships it to a U.S. distribution center in Miami Beach, Florida, or Queens, New York. 




The handmade espadrilles are sold on the Soles for Change website or at pop-up shops from $37 to $45 a pair, and 25 percent of the sales are “re-invested” in the artisans and their day-to-day life.


“We strive to contribute to the improvement of their quality of life,” Viveros told HuffPost. “We want to buy them new machines for faster production as well as [facilitate] better education in the art of shoe making. Also, every year we fulfill a dream. This year our plan is to take them all to see the ocean for the first time.”


Last year, the artisans voted to travel outside their small town, many for the first time, and Soles for Change paid for a trip to the thermal hot springs in Paipa, Colombia.


“This company is about them,” Viveros said. “It makes me so proud to see them work representing our brand. Giving us ideas about new materials and new designs. They know now this project is for them and by them.”



Viveros says Soles for Change has been life changing for many of the artisans simply because it provides them with a steady income.


“Before they had to rely only on the local market to sell their shoes and bring food to the table,” she said. “With Soles for Change they know they have a more stable source of income as we will purchase their production no matter what.”


Both Viveros and her husband have careers apart from Soles for Change. She works as a vice president investment counsellor for HSBC Private Bank USA while Rodriguez is a project director for Emovis Technologies. Both moved to New York City last year after many years living in Miami, where they first launched the shoe retail brand.



Despite their other responsibilities, the couple and their business partners hope to expand Soles for Change.


“We have had thousands of emails from people like us who want to make a difference in their countries and want to make a program similar to ours,” Viveros said. “We started in Colombia but our plan is to replicate this model all around Latin America.”


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J.K. Rowling Shuts Down Homophobic Twitter Troll Perfectly

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Once again, J.K. Rowling has no time for homophobia. 


The Harry Potter author, who has never shied away from expressing her political views on social media, found herself the target of an anti-gay Twitter troll on Tuesday. The user blasted the 51-year-old scribe for criticizing President Donald Trump when he appeared to shove Montenegrin Prime Minister Dusko Markovic out of the way at the NATO summit in Brussels last week. 


“JK Rowlings thinks shes tough. Stupid dyke,” the Twitter user, who reportedly had no followers, wrote. 


True to form, Rowling wasn’t feeling it. An outspoken LGBTQ rights advocate, she shot back: 






The author has come under fire a number of times for expressing her political views on Twitter, but her responses are often priceless. Look at what happened earlier this month when another conservative Twitter user suggested Rowling, who resides in Scotland, relocate from the U.S. 






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