Taylor Swift Makes Unprecedented Move On Instagram

[From: http://thebull.cbslocal.com/2014/09/04/taylor-swift-makes-unprecedented-move-on-instagram/]

I'll go ahead and say it for all the rude Taylor Swift haters:

Who Cares?

I can’t stand her.

She’s not even country.

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let me first tell you that I met Taylor Swift 2 years ago. I got to talk to her mom for about 10 minutes and I couldn’t tell you who was nicer between the two of them. Taylor took significant time with EACH and EVERY person in the meet & greet area. Her most excited fans, especially the youngest, got extra attention but when she came around to you, regardless of your “fandom” she made sure you knew that you had her attention.

On top of that, she sent me (and everyone else in the meet & greet that day) a handwritten letter on a greeting card thanking me for being at the meet & greet and even added tiny details to show she was truly paying attention!

With that said, yesterday, a girl was being bullied on her Instagram account and Taylor Swift posted this amazing and inspiring response to her:

“Hannahhhh…Reading this made me so sad because I love seeing you in your videos and photos being so happy and wide eyed, like the world isn’t as harsh and unfair as it actually is. I hate thinking about your pretty face covered in tears, but I’ve been in your place. This isn’t a high school thing or an age thing. It’s a people thing. A life thing. It doesn’t stop. It doesn’t end or change.People cut other people down for entertainment because, amusement, out of jealousy, because of something broken inside them, or for no reason at all. It’s just what they do, and you’re a target because you live your life loudly and boldly. You’re bright and joyful and so many people are cynical. They won’t understand you and they won’t understand me. But the only way they win is if your turn your tears to stone and make you bitter like them. It’s okay to ask why. It’s okay to wonder how you could try so hard and still get stomped all over. Just don’t let them change you or stop you from singing or dancing around to your favorite song. You’re going into high school this week and this is your chance to hit the reset button on how much value you give the opinions of these kids, most of whom have NO idea who they are. I’m so proud of you and protective of you because you DO. If they don’t like you for being yourself, be yourself even more. Every time someone picks on me, I’ll think of you in hopes that every time someone picks on you, you’ll think of mee…and how we have this thread that connects us. Let them keep living in the darkness and we’ll keep waking up in the sunlight. Forever on your side, Taylor.”

see: http://twitter.com/SimplySFans/status/506280182903472128/photo/1

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- Originally posted on September 4, 2014 5:37 am

Dodgers rookie Joc Pederson gets pranked by teammates after first hit

Wow. How did this (poorly written) article make it up onto Yahoo?

Article posted at Sept. 2, 2014 11:35 pm

LOS ANGELES – A couple hours before, when Joc Pederson's first major-league hit fluttered to the grass in center field, that baseball found its way to the Dodgers' dugout and now was being presented to him in the clubhouse. Adrian Gonzalez did the honors, even sold it with a hug. [?]

Pederson looked at the ball, smudged with grass and dirt from Dodger Stadium. This would go to his parents, he said. His family was at the ballpark on Tuesday night; father Stu, an outfielder for the Dodgers for a short while in 1985, mother Shelly, brothers Champ and Tyger.

He noted shyly his first name was not spelled correctly. He shrugged. No big deal.

"Oh," Gonzalez said. "That's not how you spell, 'Joc?'"

Pederson didn't want to complain. Still, he said, "You're oh for two. 'Pederson' is misspelled too."

"Sorry," Gonzalez said. "Spelling's not my thing. But congrats."

And he hit him with he hug. [<- typo]

"OK," Pederson said.

He rolled the ball in his fingers. There was an inscription.

"Fister off Fister," it said.

"Ha," Pederson said.

See, he'd singled softly off Washington Nationals right-hander Doug Fister. So it was what they call a fister. Off Fister.

If he's really very lucky, and he works his rear off, and an organization believes in him, a man gets exactly one first big-league hit. And if he's lucky, that ball comes back to him and he holds it in his hand, and it stands for something big. Forever. Little jokes on the ball, therefore, aren't really necessary.

But, hey, Pederson was happy. He'd gotten his first start. He'd swung hard. He'd had a hit. And one day he could explain to his children, even his grandchildren, how he'd stood in there against a very good pitcher on a perfect night in Los Angeles in the midst of a pennant race and sort of lined a ball into center field to start his career. (It's his story. He gets to tell it.) And then he could explain to them the whole fister/Fister thing.

"Hey Joc," clubhouse manager Mitch Poole said, "you get your ball?"

Pederson held it up. Poole, one hand behind his back, looked it over.

"Fister off Fister," he murmured. "Huh."

Pederson nodded.

Poole took his hand from behind his back. In his hand, a plastic baggie. In the baggie, a baseball.

"Here's the real one," he said, ending Gonzalez's time-honored rookie prank.

Untouched. Smudged with grass and dirt.

Pederson smiled. That one would go to his parents.

"Thanks," he said.

(from: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/dodgers-rookie-joc-pederson-gets-pranked-by-teammates-after-first-hit-062902699.html)

The Moment An Alzheimer's Patient Remembers Her Daughter Will Melt Your Heart

Originally seen at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/09/02/alzheimers-mother-daughter_n_5752676.html

"It's the most painful part of Alzheimer's, when your own parent can't remember your face, let alone your name. But for one daughter of a dementia patient, she got to experience the joy of having her mother recognize her, if only for a moment.

YouTube user Kelly Gunderson uploaded this touching video of a visit with her mother, simply stating, "My 87 year old mother with Alzheimer's knew who I was, even if just for a moment."

The short clip shows the moment Gunderson's mother remembers her daughter's name, much to her daughter's surprise. "Didn't I name you Kelly?" the mother says.

"I thought a while ago you didn't know who I was?" Gunderson says.

Her mother tries to explain her struggle with the disease, which ultimately robs sufferers of the ability to remember names. She jokes that she has moments when, "I'm thinking, 'My Lord, what in the world am I thinking about?'"

The two share some heartwarming "I love you's" as they lay side-by-side in what appears to be a hospital bed, saying, "Oh isn't it wonderful."

Beautiful."