When I posted the new birthday portrait of Prince George yesterday, I grabbed what turned out to be the cropped image on Prince William and Kate’s Instagram account. The image on the Kensington Palace Twitter account wasn’t cropped as tightly, and you can see both of George’s hands and wrists. Look there, the eleven-year-old kid is wearing what appears to be a friendship bracelet or some kind of woven bracelet of some variety.

People Magazine suggests that George has possibly gotten into friendship bracelets via Princess Charlotte, because Charlotte is a major Swiftie. Notably, Prince William took George and Charlotte to one of Taylor Swift’s London concerts, and while they were ensconced in a VIP balcony area, I bet somewhere along the line, there were some friendship bracelets swapped with some of the other youths. So, maybe. Or maybe Charlotte just gave her brother one of her bracelets, or maybe one of George’s school friends made it for him. Who knows? One thing I will say is that the bracelet reminded me of Prince Harry, who wore bracelets and necklaces from his teenage years through adulthood. Harry loves some casual, cool accessories. So of course the Daily Beast’s Royalist column invoked Harry… but in the weirdest way possible: “Prince George’s Elegant Rebuke to Critics (Harry) of a Royal Childhood.”

Gone are the scalloped collars, short trousers, and knee-length socks that characterized so many of his childhood photographs. Instead, George, his hair neatly pushed to one side, wears a chic dark suit and a white shirt open at the neck.

However, in an unprecedentedly casual touch for a formal portrait, George is also seen wearing that perennial adolescent and pre-adolescent favorite, a handwoven bracelet on his left arm.

The telling personal detail shows photographer Princess Kate’s effortless mastery of the casual, common touch, the simple beach-side favorite of so many children eloquently pushing back against narratives arguing that the Windsor children are being brought up under unacceptable pressure.

Chief among those who have made the case that growing up in the royal bubble is harmful to children is Prince William’s estranged brother, Prince Harry. In his memoir, Spare, Harry said: “William and I have talked about it once or twice, and he has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility.”

[From The Daily Beast]

Yeah, as I said, the visual of George embracing the same kind of accessory his Uncle Harry wears is not giving “take that, Harry!” It actually looks like someone wanted to draw a visual comparison TO Harry. That’s all I’ll say.

Photos courtesy of the Princess of Wales/Kensington Palace, KP’s social media and Taylor Swift’s social media.

Here are some photos of Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House on Monday. This was her first public appearance since President Biden dropped his re-election bid and threw his support and endorsement to her. It cannot be overstated that the “palace coup” to ratf–k Joe Biden did not anticipate Pres. Biden endorsing VP Harris and Harris quickly emerging as a fundraising powerhouse and consensus Democratic nominee.

VP Harris’s first public appearance since all of that was at a reception/event for the 2023-2024 NCAA Championship teams. After that event, VP Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff traveled to Delaware, to the Biden Campaign Headquarters, which Harris has now inherited. Those are her people, her campaign staffers now. She and Doug gave wonderful speeches, and President Biden called in to give her support once again. Which is how this happened:

President Biden to VP Harris: “I’m watching you, kid. I’m watching you. I love you”
pic.twitter.com/q61AUBAi7L

— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) July 22, 2024

“I’m watching you, kid. I love you.” Y’all, I have cried too many times in the past week. President Biden is an American hero and everything that is happening with and around VP Kamala Harris is incredible. Speaking of, you know how President Biden held a huge delegate count, enough to ensure that he would be the Democratic presidential nominee at the convention? When he bowed out, there could have been a delegate free-for-all. There was not. VP Harris quickly worked the phones, and I imagine President Biden did too. Less than 48 hours after Pres. Biden’s withdrawal, Kamala Harris has the delegates to become the Dem nominee:

Vice President Kamala Harris moved swiftly to assert herself as the de facto Democratic nominee for president on Monday, her first full day as a candidate, as virtually every potential remaining rival bowed out and she clinched the support of enough delegates to win the nomination.

The Associated Press said late Monday that Ms. Harris had secured the backing of more than the 1,976 delegates needed to capture the nomination in the first round of voting. The pledged support is not binding until the delegates cast their votes, which party officials said would take place between Aug. 1 and Aug. 7.

“When I announced my campaign for president, I said I intended to go out and earn this nomination,” Ms. Harris said in a statement. “Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee.” She added, “I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon.”

[From The NY Times]

This is amazing and once again, this was not guaranteed. Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, Chuck Schumer, those douchebag podbros, they all wanted Dems-in-disarray, they wanted a fight over delegates and a messy convention. VP Harris said nope, we’re going to finish this in 48 hours. Something else which should not be underestimated is how many Democrats are impressed by VP Harris’s immediate fundraising successes. In one day, the Harris campaign raised over $100 million. That is record-breaking. As is the sudden influx of support for VP Harris. She’s not only the presumptive nominee, she already has coattails.

This needs to be a campaign ad:

VP: I was a courtroom prosecutor. In those roles I took on perpetrators of all kinds. Predators who abused women. Fraudsters who ripped off consumers. Cheaters who broke the rules for their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump’s type. pic.twitter.com/eRpjxwJlOc

— Acyn (@Acyn) July 22, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.

It’s just been announced this morning: Angelina Jolie is going to Venice!! I mean, I hope she’s going to Venice, because Pablo Larrain’s Maria has been accepted into the Venice Film Festival’s in-competition line-up. Maria is Larrain’s latest bio-pic of a famous and complicated woman, this time Maria Callas, with Angelina starring as Callas. Maria will compete against Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux, Pedro Almodovar’s The Room Next Door, Luis Ortega’s Kill the Jockey and many others. I seriously hope Angelina gears up and shows up in Venice.

Unfortunately, there might be some complications in Venice. Venice organizers have also added Jon Watts’ Wolfs to their out-of-competition line-up. Wolfs is the dumb buddy-comedy starring that ratf–ker George Clooney and his good buddy Brad Pitt. The Hollywood Reporter previewed this potential situation last month, that Clooney would want Wolfs to premiere in Venice and the two premieres (Wolfs and Maria) would cause some issues. The festival better do everything to ensure that Angelina gets prioritized and that the two premieres are several days apart.

Meanwhile, some more film festival news for Angelina: her directorial effort, Without Blood, will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Without Blood stars Salma Hayek and Demián Bichir, and Angelina directed it before the actors and writers strikes last year. So we’ll get Angelina in Toronto too! What a year.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.

Forbes has officially called it: Bruce Springsteen, first son of New Jersey, is now a billionaire. $1.1 billion, to be exact, according to Forbes’ conservative valuation of The Boss. The biggest single contributor to this fortune is undoubtedly the $500 million Bruce got for the sale of the masters and rights to his music in 2021. But he also recently had a hit Broadway show, high-grossing 2023 tour, and is working with producers to adapt a bestselling novel — about the making of 1982 album Nebraska — into a film (starring Jeremy Allen White as a young Bruce, no less). At 74, The Boss is still plenty busy! People Mag did a roundup of all the fruitful gigs that helped carry Bruce across the billionaire finish line:

Bruce Springsteen has reached a new milestone in his career!

The legendary hitmaker, 74, is now a billionaire, according to a new report from Forbes. The publication recently updated his net worth valuation with a “conservative” estimate of $1.1 billion.

Reps for Springsteen did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

The “Glory Days” singer previously touched on what he believes to be the secret to his success in Deliver Me From Nowhere, Warren Zanes’ 2023 book about the 1982 album Nebraska. “I was into crafting an identity that was very, very personal to me as a man,” he explained. “I wanted to connect that identity with the very big picture of the country at large… So I needed people who were going to be willing to go in as deep as I needed and was willing to go myself.”

In developing a unique, yet familiar identity through his music that continues to resonate with legions of fans to this day, Springsteen earned himself accolades including 20 Grammys, an Oscar, two Golden Globes, a Tony Award and placements in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Some of the singer’s other career highs include releasing a No. 1 New York Times bestselling memoir, helming 236 sold-out Broadway performances and earning a Kennedy Center Honor as well as the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

“The act of performing is psychologically centering,” Springsteen told CBS News in 2019. “And when you come off, you’ve had some experience that contextualizes your life. Why you’re here, what you do, who you love, how you love and approach your work. I’m lucky that I work with my friends alongside me. There’s no other job where the same people you work with at 18… 16 in some cases, that you work with when you’re 70.”

Springsteen has made several savvy business moves in recent years, including the sale of his entire music catalog for $500 million in 2021.

In 2023, Pollstar reported that Springsteen’s tour alongside The E-Street Band brought in an average gross of $3,961,273 with a total of 673,277 tickets sold.

Decades into his career, Springsteen is still making plenty of moves creatively. Most recently, he released a collaborative track with Zach Bryan titled “Sandpaper” as a part of the latter’s new album The Great American Bar Scene. The singer is also the focus of an upcoming biopic based on Deliver Me From Nowhere that’ll star The Bear actor Jeremy Allen White.

[From People]

Since People listed his Oscar, Tony, Grammy, and Golden Globe awards, I had to check about any Emmys. Bruce has been nominated three times, but no wins. He may be a billionaire, but he still hasn’t locked up the full EGOT!! Not to worry, I have every reason to believe Bruce will tie up the loose ends. He seems like the kind of artist who will be compelled to keep doing some form of creative work until it is physically impossible for him to do so. While he could just take his riches and ride through the mansions of glory, he’s still writing, collaborating, producing, and performing as he can, even if he’s no longer a tramp like us.

But since Bruce has reached rarified billionaire status, I have a request: he’s already bought up all the vintage ponies for his hometown Asbury’s Park carousel. I learned of this last summer when I took a mini, solo beach vacation. As I understand it, though, Bruce has acquired the ponies so the town can revive the carousel. Um, Bruce, not to be a moocher, but how about helping AP out to finish the whole project? I wanna take a spin on a vintage carousel pony! Baby I was born to ride!!

photos credit: IMAGO/Peter Hartenfeser / Avalon, Jules Annan / Avalon, IMAGO/Kevin Estrada / Avalon, Faye’s Vision/Cover Images/Instar, Wenn / Avalon,

Before now, I never knew that Bill and Hillary Clinton were part of KHive. I’m so pleased that they are, in fact, huge supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris. In the wake of President Biden’s sudden Sunday-afternoon announcement that he was dropping his reelection campaign and throwing his support and campaign apparatus to VP Harris, there was an influx of tributes to Pres. Biden’s presidency and decades of service. Within those tributes, many Democrats immediately followed Pres. Biden’s lead and threw their support behind VP Harris. The Clintons were two of the first to do so, and many others followed their route:

Statement from President Clinton and Secretary Clinton pic.twitter.com/R7tYMFWbsu

— Bill Clinton (@BillClinton) July 21, 2024

In case you’re looking for the specific KH endorsement: “We are honored to join the President in endorsing Vice President Harris and will do whatever we can to support her….Now is the time to support Kamala Harris and fight with everything we’ve got to elect her. America’s future depends on it.” As I said, the Clintons were very quick out of the gate, issuing this statement roughly eighty minutes after Pres. Biden dropped out of the race. Many Democrats followed suit – praising President Biden, then in the next moment, throwing their support behind VP Harris.

President Obama was not one of those Democrats. He issued a statement about President Biden, and he was completely silent on his endorsement. Considering many of Obama’s former staffers were front and center in the effort to push Biden out of the campaign and Obama sat by and did nothing publicly to support Biden in his time of great need, this all has left a really bad taste in my mouth over all things Obama. Here’s Obama’s statement:

Joe Biden has been one of America’s most consequential presidents, as well as a dear friend and partner to me. Today, we’ve also been reminded — again — that he’s a patriot of the highest order. Sixteen years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I knew about Joe’s remarkable career in public service. But what I came to admire even more was his character — his deep empathy and hard-earned resilience; his fundamental decency and belief that everyone counts.

Since taking office, President Biden has displayed that character again and again. He helped end the pandemic, created millions of jobs, lowered the cost of prescription drugs, passed the first major piece of gun safety legislation in 30 years, made the biggest investment to address climate change in history, and fought to ensure the rights of working people to organize for fair wages and benefits. Internationally, he restored America’s standing in the world, revitalized NATO, and mobilized the world to stand up against Russian aggression in Ukraine.

More than that, President Biden pointed us away from the four years of chaos, falsehood, and division that had characterized Donald Trump’s administration. Through his policies and his example, Joe has reminded us of who we are at our best — a country committed to old-fashioned values like trust and honesty, kindness and hard work; a country that believes in democracy, rule of law, and accountability; a country that insists that everyone, no matter who they are, has a voice and deserves a chance at a better life.

This outstanding track record gave President Biden every right to run for re-election and finish the job he started. Joe understands better than anyone the stakes in this election — how everything he has fought for throughout his life, and everything that the Democratic Party stands for, will be at risk if we allow Donald Trump back in the White House and give Republicans control of Congress.

I also know Joe has never backed down from a fight. For him to look at the political landscape and decide that he should pass the torch to a new nominee is surely one of the toughest in his life. But I know he wouldn’t make this decision unless he believed it was right for America. It’s a testament to Joe Biden’s love of country — and a historic example of a genuine public servant once again putting the interests of the American people ahead of his own that future generations of leaders will do well to follow.

We will be navigating uncharted waters in the days ahead. But I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges. I believe that Joe Biden’s vision of a generous, prosperous, and united America that provides opportunity for everyone will be on full display at the Democratic Convention in August. And I expect that every single one of us are prepared to carry that message of hope and progress forward into November and beyond.

For now, Michelle and I just want to express our love and gratitude to Joe and Jill for leading us so ably and courageously during these perilous times — and for their commitment to the ideals of freedom and equality that this country was founded on.

[From Obama’s Medium post]

“I have extraordinary confidence that the leaders of our party will be able to create a process from which an outstanding nominee emerges.” Motherf–ker, the outstanding nominee has already emerged – President Biden said it’s Kamala Harris. The party establishment – minus Obama and Nancy Pelosi – are all throwing their enthusiastic support behind VP Harris. Obama seems to be endorsing disarray at the convention. What the f–k is he doing? What the f–k has he been doing for the past month?

Embed from Getty Images

Embed from Getty Images

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Getty.

Just so we’re clear, everything I said last week still holds. I’m still convinced that this whole “Biden must drop out” movement was one giant interparty ratf–k. The media went into a giant feeding frenzy post-debate, which spooked Democratic donors, who then applied pressure on elected Democrats to knife President Biden in the back on or off the record. The Democratic in-fighting drove down Pres. Biden’s poll numbers because he was being constantly attacked by his allies and by the Beltway media, and those poll numbers were cited as a self-fulfilling prophecy that Biden must drop out. So an old man, who still has Covid, was finally convinced that he needed to drop out. Politico has a new story about what happened behind-the-scenes over the past week.

Two of Biden’s senior aides came to Delaware: Early Saturday, Biden told senior aides it was “full steam ahead” for the campaign. But by later that evening, he had changed his mind following a long discussion with his two closest aides. Steve Ricchetti, who’s been with Biden since his days in the Senate, drove to see the president at his house on the Delaware shore on Friday. Mike Donilon arrived on Saturday. The two men, both of whom had been by Biden’s side during key decisions about whether to seek the presidency in 2016 and 2020, sat at a distance from the president, still testing positive for Covid, and presented damning new information in a meeting that would hasten the end of Biden’s political career.

Biden’s internal polls: In addition to presenting new concerns from lawmakers and updates on a fundraising operation that had slowed considerably, they carried the campaign’s own polls, which came back this week and showed his path to victory in November was gone, according to five people familiar with the matter, who, like others interviewed for this article, were granted anonymity to discuss private conversations. Biden asked several questions during the exchange.

Biden is sick of his own people: The announcement, which shocked the political world, almost immediately flipped the narrative around Biden: His own party, after three weeks of deriding him privately as an isolated, deluded lion in winter dragging other Democrats down with him, was showering him with loving tributes, praising his record, career of public service and a selfless decision they said put his country first. It wasn’t that the president had grown tired of the drip of defections from within his own party — although he had. Rather, it was that Biden himself was finally convinced of what so many other Democrats had come to believe since his poor debate performance last month: He couldn’t win.

Pelosi is Brutus: Senior Biden aides were bracing for former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who’d worked behind the scenes to encourage others in the party toward the kind of collective action that might finally push the president to end his campaign, to go public this week and possibly even disclose Democratic polling clarifying Biden’s dire political straits. “Nancy made clear that they could do this the easy way or the hard way,” said one Democrat familiar with private conversations who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. “She gave them three weeks of the easy way. It was about to be the hard way….We were giving him the respect of the weekend to make his decision. We were hopeful that this is the decision we would make.”

Congressional leaders were pushing Biden privately: “He got the message,” said the House Democrat, granted anonymity to speak frankly. Referring to the Senate Majority Leader, House Minority Leader and Speaker Emeritus, the lawmaker said: “It was from Chuck, Hakeem, Pelosi.” Over three days late last week, Biden spoke privately with Pelosi, Jeffries and Schumer. The Senate leader traveled to visit the president last Saturday at his vacation home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

Obama’s role: Those leaks [from Congressional Dems], which coincided with a Washington Post report that former President Barack Obama was also expressing concerns about Biden’s campaign privately, signaled to other Democrats who’d yet to express private concerns publicly that the time to do so was at hand.

[From Politico]

There will be some who say that Pelosi did what she needed to do and that she’s still got her finger on the pulse of the party. But I disagree. To me, Pelosi wasn’t reading the tea leaves as much as she was orchestrating the entire operation. What should have been a moment in which Democrats overcame a few bad newscycles, they instead folded at the first sign of bad news. It’s a horrible precedent and something which will not be forgotten by the Democratic Party’s foot soldiers. The thing is, after Biden’s withdrawal, the vibes have been close to perfect… in spite of Pelosi, Obama, et al. I feel strongly that Biden made his withdrawal conditional on Democrats quickly getting behind VP Harris. If you go back and look at what all of the ratf–kers were saying before Biden’s statement, they had NO PLAN for what came after they knifed Biden in the back and convinced him to withdraw. President Biden’s last act as a presidential candidate was to ensure that the party quickly coalesced behind Kamala Harris.

Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.

One of the reasons why so many Democrats still kept the faith with President Biden is because we feared utter party chaos if Biden stepped away. It’s been less than 24 hours since Biden ended his reelection campaign and while everything is not perfect, it’s been a shockingly good moment for Democrats and for Vice President Kamala Harris. The enthusiasm for VP Harris was immediate, the fundraising got a huge jolt and endorsements for Harris are still pouring in. Another weird/positive spin on the past three weeks of utter Democratic dysfunction is that “Dems-in-disarray” overshadowed all things Donald Trump. While the Trump campaign saw polling gains in many states, the campaign still sent a babbling, slurring, white supremacist moron on stage at the RNC and the “acceptance” of Trump was contingent on the fact that President Biden is even older and that he did so poorly against Trump at the debate. All of which to say, Cheeto and his people are panicking about Kamala Harris. From The Atlantic:

Republicans I spoke with today, some of them still hungover from celebrating what felt to many like a victory-night celebration in Milwaukee, registered shock at the news of Biden’s departure. Party officials had left town believing the race was all but over. Now they were confronting the reality of reimagining a campaign—one that had been optimized, in every way, to defeat Biden—against a new and unknown challenger. “So, we are forced to spend time and money on fighting Crooked Joe Biden, he polls badly after having a terrible debate, and quits the race,” a clearly peeved Trump wrote Sunday on Truth Social. “Now we have to start all over again.”

For months, in talking with Wiles and LaCivita, I was struck by their concern about the potential of a dramatic switch—Democratic leaders pushing out Biden in favor of a younger nominee. They told me that Trump’s campaign was readying contingency plans and studying the weaknesses of would-be alternatives, beginning with Vice President Kamala Harris. By the time of the debate, however, they believed that Democrats’ window had all but closed. Even in the immediate aftermath—as Democratic officials openly called for Biden to quit—Wiles and LaCivita were betting on the status quo. More than anything, Trump’s allies believed that the president’s stubborn Irish ego wouldn’t let him back out of a fight with a man he despised.

But they couldn’t take any chances. Two weeks ago, according to a campaign source who spoke with me on the condition of anonymity, Trump’s pollster Tony Fabrizio went into the field to begin testing the outcomes of a Harris-versus-Trump matchup. These surveys, conducted across several battleground states, represented the most concrete step taken to prepare for the possibility of a new adversary. Still, with the polling a tightly held secret—I couldn’t verify the results—there were no outward signs of Trump’s operation expecting a reset. When convention speakers reached out to the GOP nominee’s campaign, gauging whether to hedge their speeches with attacks on Harris, they were told to keep the focus on Biden.

[From The Atlantic]

Yeah, Republicans spent the bulk of their convention mocking Joe Biden and his presidency. They’re scrambling. Trump is upset that, compared to Kamala Harris, he looks like what he is – a 78-year-old felon in severe cognitive decline who only appeals to bigots, idiots and traitors. Also: the enthusiasm gap is going to be seen very quickly. In fact, we’re already seeing it – Black women locked in within minutes of Pres. Biden’s announcement. It’s been a deeply underreported story, but the enthusiasm has been way down for Trump for several years now. He can’t fill arenas anymore, and his supporters are starting to realize that it’s all a cult and a scam.

Donald Trump donated $5,000 to re-elect Kamala Harris for California Attorney General in 2011.

According to public records, he made an additional donation of $1,000 in 2013. pic.twitter.com/dLt6TkeIiT

— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) July 21, 2024

Something mainstream media won’t report:

There was a Zoom tonight for Black women organizing for Kamala Harris.

The call had a max of 1000 people. They hit it immediately, and got a hold of the Zoom CEO to help.

40,000 people joined. For over 4 hours.

Trump is soooo screwed.

— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) July 22, 2024

Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Avalon Red.

It’s going to be another chaotic week in gossip and world news, but today is also Prince George’s eleventh birthday. He’s now the same age as Drake’s alleged secret daughter! LMAO. To celebrate Prince George’s birthday, the Princess of Wales took a new portrait of her son. Black-and-white, with the child in a suit. It’s a nice photo honestly and it actually looks like it was taken recently, unlike many of the photos released by Kensington Palace this year.

Ever since the Mother’s Day photo fiasco back in March, Kensington Palace no longer releases their photos to photo agencies and media outlets. Their new thing is posting exclusive photos on social media, so now Getty, Reuters, etc, all add disclaimers, saying that they got the photos from KP and they can’t independently verify the photos. I don’t see any glaring problems with this one, except I do wonder if Kate was the one who actually took it. But whatever. They play fast and loose with the photo credits constantly.

George was most recently seen at Trooping the Colour at some football matches with his father. George got to attend the EURO final with his dad and they watched England lose the second EURO final in a row. They say that George is obsessed with football too. It’s also notable that as of yet, he’s not in a boarding school. That might change soon enough – it seems pretty likely that he’ll eventually go to Eton.

Photos courtesy of the Princess of Wales/Kensington Palace, Backgrid, Avalon Red and Cover Images.

Last week we covered Brisket’s Dad (pka Glen Powell) describing the epiphany that led him to adopting Brisket: “I just had the desire to be a father.” Y’all had strong and varying opinions in the comments about whether it was appropriate to use the parent comparison for one’s pet. All points of view are valid! I think the key to remember is that pet relationships are unique to everyone and to respect ones that differ from our own. That preamble aside, researchers from the University of Helsinki are throwing a bone (sorry, not sorry) to those like Brisket’s Dad who feel that their pups are their babies. The study showed that human parents of puppies can get “puppy blues,” akin to “baby blues” when raising a baby. The primary symptoms are anxiety, frustration, and weariness. Unfortunately, there were no results to explain why I’m still carrying the litter weight.

If you’re one of those people who refers to your dogs as your “babies,” a new study is going to make you feel pretty validated. According to researchers at the University of Helsinki, for some new dog owners, the experience of raising a puppy is comparable to the postpartum “baby blues” many human parents experience with their newborns.

The puppy stage gives rise to a variety of worries, mood swings, irritability, and sometimes, difficulty bonding with the dog that feels at odds with what you’re “supposed” to feel raising something so cute.

“Both ‘pet parents’ and human parents describe anxiety and depression-like symptoms triggered by the life change of a new family member, though it typically diminishes over time,” said Aada Ståhl, a psychologist and doctoral student at the University of Helsinki and one of the lead authors of the study.

Puppy blues symptoms play out in three distinct ways, Ståhl told HuffPost, though usually, people experience multiple symptoms at once:

Anxiety: The new puppy owner might seriously doubt their ability to raise the dog or worry about the puppy’s well-being and development. (For instance, maybe they fear creating a yappy, unhousebroken puppy).

Frustration: The challenges and unexpected difficulties of puppy care — poor behavior, an inability to establish an emotional bond — are common stressors, too. Some puppy owners may feel so overwhelmed by their new responsibilities, they may even regret their decision to get a dog or wonder if they should give the puppy up.

Weariness: Fatigue, difficulty sleeping (even if the puppy is sleeping fine), and anxiety about the time and attention the puppy needs are all common among new pet owners.
Ståhl’s interest in this subject began a few years ago when she came across discussions from beleaguered pet parents on dog forums.

“Puppy owners were sharing their struggles with anxiety and frustration and difficulties in forming an attachment to the puppy during this period, and there were a lot of ‘baby blues’ comparisons,” Ståhl said. “As a psychologist, this caught my attention, prompting me to search for existing research, which was lacking at that time.”

The findings of Ståhl’s study are no surprise to Brett Endes, a professional dog trainer and canine behavior consultant in Los Angeles. Many new dog owners are unprepared for the amount of work that goes into raising and training a puppy, he told HuffPost.

“Training, socialization, and establishing a routine are crucial, yet they can be daunting tasks for new owners,” Endes said. “Additionally, some people adopt puppies to fulfill emotional needs, expecting them to provide immediate comfort and companionship.”

In the rush and excitement of getting a new puppy, people tend to underestimate the significant lifestyle adjustments and the constant attention puppies demand.

The reality is, puppies require guidance, patience, and training to develop into well-behaved dogs. This mismatch of expectations and actual experience can lead to disappointment and contribute to the “puppy blues,” Endes said.

[From HuffPost]

I have a confession to make: I’ve never been through the rigors of raising a dog from puppyhood. When I adopted My Girl from a rescue fair, the vet looked at her teeth and estimated that she was about 18 months old. Still young, but not a newborn — which I think worked out best, because whenever I imagine how adorable a teeny tiny My Girl must have looked like, I run the risk of spontaneous combustion. But even without having seen My Girl through her first year-and-a-half of life, I can still vouch for having experienced anxiety, frustration, and weariness in our 11 years of being family. That’s what love does to you! And I wouldn’t trade it for anything. (Even considering that unlike a human baby, puppies basically grow up to be permanent toddlers.)

A note from My Girl: Not that anyone asked, but I’ll have you all know that I feel all those feeling things too a million times a day! There’s the anxiety that I’ll never have another meal. And then the frustration that I haven’t been given another meal. And of course the constant weariness of having to remind Mama to frickin’ give me another meal! And, for the record, the only Brisket I’m interested in is the one that has been doused in gravy and roasted in the oven for a few hours… I’m hungry.

Photos credit: Yogendra Singh on Unsplash, Garrett Karoski, Polina Chistyakova, Valeria Boltneva, Pixabay and Thirdman on Pexels

Deadpool & Wolverine opens in theaters this Friday. For the last few months, we’ve been treated to some delightful interviews with its stars, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. I was somewhat meh on another Deadpool movie until the trailer came out in April. It made the movie look really fun. At the time, I mentioned that the use of Madonna’s “Like A Prayer” fit perfectly in the trailer. Well, it turns out that awesome addition to the trailer required some extra effort to make happen. In an interview with Andy Cohen on Friday, Reynolds, Jackman, and director Shawn Levy revealed that in order to license the song, they had to visit Madge herself to ask for permission in person. I hope she didn’t keep them waiting.

“It did involve a personal visit to Madonna, where we showed Madonna the sequence where ‘Like a Prayer’ would be used,” Levy, 55, explained.

“Also, let’s preface it with the fact that they don’t license — that Madonna doesn’t just license the song, particularly that song,” Reynolds, 47, added.

“It was a big deal to ask for it and certainly a bigger deal to use it,” the Deadpool actor continued. “We went over and met with her and and sort of showed her how it was being used, and where, and why.”

Levy added that it felt like the production team was “meeting royalty,” before Reynolds jokingly said that he asked one of the members of Madonna’s team how to address her when meeting her.

“Like am I allowed to just say, ‘Madonna?’ ” he recalled. “Like, ‘Hello Madonna, I’m Ryan.’ ”

Reynolds also said that not only did Madonna agree to let them use the track (and it helped that her son was a fan of the first two Deadpool films), she also offered them notes on the scene where it would be used.

“She gave a great note,” Reynolds said. “She watched it, and I’m not kidding, [she said], ‘You need to do this.’ And damn it, if she wasn’t like spot on.”

“We literally went into a new recording session within 48 hours to do this note. … It made the sequence better,” Levy added.

[From People]

To be fair to Ryan, I probably would have no idea how to address Madonna in a business meeting either. (Though I think overall, I’d be more intimidated by Mariah Carey, lol.) I wonder if they’re going to use the movie for a fight sequence in the film itself. It would totally fit! It’s kinda cool that she gave them notes that they felt improved the trailer. I’m kinda curious as to what that change was! Also, I didn’t realize that she doesn’t license out “Like a Prayer” without special permission. This reminds me of how it was a big deal when Led Zeppelin gave permission for “Immigrant Song” to be in the trailer for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I believe R.E.M. is also pretty strict with songs they license out too. I get it, though. You don’t want your music to be misused or used by a campaign or group that doesn’t reflect your values. Remember when Neil Young sent a cease and desist to the Trump campaign for using “Rockin’ in the Free World?” I can only imagine what nefarious means people would use “Like A Prayer” for. I’m glad she gave Ryan and Hugh permission. It’s a fun trailer and I can’t wait to see if it’s also used in the movie.

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