The California State Senate has approved a bill that would allow undocumented migrants to apply to the state's first-time homebuying loan program. Lawmakers passed the measure, Assembly Bill 1840, in a 23-11 vote Tuesday. If the bill makes it through a final vote in the state's Assembly, it would expand eligibility requirements for the California Dream for All Shared Appreciation program, which provides residents up to 20 percent in down payment help when purchasing a...

(This story originally appeared on 8.13.15. It has been updated)Drew Brees never did look like your typical NFL quarterback.Though Brees is retired now, the former New Orleans Saint was listed at a generous 6 feet tall, 209 pounds in his playing days, while the average height of a pro quarterback is more like 6'3". He also has a pretty big birthmark placed prominently over his right cheek. File:Drew Brees (49396271982) (1).jpg - Wikipedia en.m.wikipedia.org What happened to Drew Brees' face?Nothing at all!To set the record straight, the mark on Drew Brees' face is indeed a birthmark and not a scar or burn mark. It's been there his whole life.Still, it's easy to see why fans might ask the question. It can be hard for people to wrap their heads around a celebrity having such a glaringly obvious "imperfection." In fact, the first time Oprah met Drew in person, she thought his birthmark was a lipstick smudge and tried to wipe it off. Awkward!Drew was selected to 13 Pro Bowls, led the league in passing yards seven times, and, of course, was named MVP of Super Bowl XLIV in 2010. He retired in 2021 as one of the most decorated athletes to ever play the sport, and has since had stints as a commentator and coach at his alma mater of Purdue. But long before he was an NFL superstar and worldwide celeb, he was just a kid who got made fun of for being different. — (@) "Because of my birthmark, which I was obviously born with, I got all kinds of comments when I was a kid, about 'Wipe that whatever off your face.' ... All kinds of names. People would call me 'Spot,'" Drew told CNN. "I think they were trying to be malicious. They were trying to be hurtful." When he grew up and found his way to fame and fortune, he had a choice: have the birthmark removed or use it to send a message. Drew Brees has, to put it bluntly ... a lot of freaking money. Over the course of his illustrious career, he signed multiple lucrative contracts and most years he earned upwards of $20 million per season. There's no question he could pay for the plastic surgery to have that birthmark removed for good and have plenty of money leftover to enjoy his recovery in a five-star resort on Neptune, if he wanted. But for Drew, this option never even crossed his mind. In his book, "Coming Back Stronger," he writes: "Instead of seeing it as a bad thing, I chose to see it as something that made me unique and special. It set me apart from everyone else. ... Now it's just a part of who I am. I wouldn't consider cutting off my arm. Neither would I cut off my birthmark." As his career blossomed, Drew began using his platform to tell kids like him that they don't need to be ashamed of who they are. "There's lots of kids that may have something that somebody is going to make fun of. Their name, the way they look, the way they talk, the way they laugh. And it's so unfair, but it's reality," he said during his interview with CNN. And in 2010, he teamed up with the It Gets Better movement to put out a message. "Making fun of someone because they're different from you? That's not being tough, it's being ignorant," he said. "I want my fans to know that if you're making fun of someone ... then you are no friend of mine." In Brees' heyday, fans would attend Saints games with fake birthmarks — sometimes stickers, sometimes temporary tattoos, sometimes eye black — on their faces to show their quarterback some love. Life is pretty good as one of the NFL's most revered legends. But every time Drew takes the field or shows up on TV, he's showing kids all over the world that being different is good — and not only will it not hold you back from achieving whatever you want, it might even help you get there. And as for whether he'll ever change his mind and have the mark removed? He told TMZ, "As long as there's no health issues with it, then it stays." Right on, Drew. Right on. Here's Drew on CNN talking about the birthmark, dealing with his bullies, and how he used it as motivation to become great:

Nobody really knows why we celebrate April Fools' Day on the first day of April. Some people believe that it goes back all the way to the Roman Empire when they celebrated Hilaria, a festival of merriment where people dressed up in disguise.Others say that it began in 1583 in France when the country switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar, as called for by the Council of Trent. Folks who were slow on the uptake and didn’t realize that the calendar had moved to January 1 became the butt of jokes and pranks.Regardless, this is your reminder that on April 1, 2022, you should be prepared to prank some people or at least be aware that it’s April Fools' Day so you can avoid being the victim of someone else’s tomfoolery.A Reddit user who goes by the name Never--Mind asked the online forum to share their favorite April Fools' Day pranks and they got a ton of great responses. “Since April Fools day is fast approaching, what have been some of your best April Fool pranks?” they asked.The great thing is that most of them are really easy to pull off. When it comes to pranks, simple is usually best. Simple pranks are harder to detect and easier to accomplish without getting caught.Here are 17 of the best responses to the r/AskReddit question.1."There are 4 doors to our building and my co-worker put a sign on each one that says 'Door broken use other door' with an arrow pointing left." — Proud Turtle.2. "Piece of opaque tape over the laser on everyone's mouse. IT was pretty pissed, I need to take that one to the grave with me." — [deleted]3."I work in Sales, and it seems like we always have a new guy around April. I like to write down on a post-it 'Please follow up with Mr. Baer at...' and then the number for the San Francisco zoo." — mismistu4."Here's mine for this year. I hope it works. I recently purchased an espresso machine that leaves me with little hard pucks of compressed coffee grounds. I intend on covering them in frosting and leaving them on the break room table at work. Muhaha." — FuzzyManPeach5."A greek radio station once said on the news that Greece would quit the euro and go back to their old currency (this was before the whole economy crisis there). The Greek stock market had a crazy and troubled morning until they finally got that it was only an April Fools Joke." — isablaubear6."High school summer, my friend had a habit of getting up at 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I dropped by his place and his mom informed me that he was still sleeping and I should go wake him up. He's a really heavy sleeper so I decided to have a little fun. I moved his cell phone into the center of the floor, about 4 feet from his bed. I crawled under the bed and gave him a call. No response. Called again and I finally heard movement. Hand comes down, can't quite reach the phone. Foot comes down, another foot. He's got the phone sitting down on the edge of the bed.A very groggy, '..hey, what's up man.. what are you up to?'I pull off the best freddy kreuger voice I can muster, and yell out, "I'M UNDER THE BED" and grab his ankles with a vice grip. He jumps halfway across the room, nearly faceplants since I have his feet. He kicks my hands away and half scamper/crawls across the room until he realizes what happened. There was lots of swearing, he didn't think it was as funny as I did." — JMace7."I'm a female kindergarten teacher. I wore a mustache all day long and pretended it wasn't there...even with the parents. Everyone got a kick out of it except for one student who cried because 'I looked scary.'" — HotTamalesYum8."One April 1st I got up before my wife. I went to the kitchen to get some water. I opened the curtains to see that our neighbour's house, across the lane, was on fire. I ran to the bedroom and told my wife. She opened one eye and said, "Sure, sure. Ha ha." She got up seconds later when she could hear the fire trucks. Every April 1st, as a joke, I tell her the same thing." — windy4969."It wasn't mine, but it was my mother's. I was six years old and one day she gave my daily cereal, which was cheerios, in milk. But today it was different. The milk was a teal blue, and luckily my six-year-old self seemed to notice. I asked 'Mommy what's wrong with the milk?' She said 'oh nothing a blue cow just made it.' And I was more excited than terrified and ate it all up. I told all the kids at school I ate a blue cow's milk and they were all jealous as fuuuuuck. it wasn't until later I realized it was dyed, and I felt like a fraud for telling all my friends I ate a blue cow." — randomfactgirl10."Last year I posted on Craigslist under the personals section, listing wfm. Googled "selfie" and found some hot girl and used that on the post. Pretended I had just moved to town, and was looking for a good time around town, and someone who knew how to show a girl a good time. I posted my friend Victor's cell number and said the girl's name was Victoria and went by Vic. I specified at the end of the post that 'I'm kinda picky though, so send me a pic if you think you've got the goods, and you may get one back ;)'Anyway, this was 1 am on 4/1. By 3 am his girlfriend was waking him up saying "someone's blowing up your phone" Vic -"hand it to me." She picks it up, only to see a dick pick that says "hey Vic, here's mine, send me yours." Oh and over 50 more dick shots. By the time he came into work his phone had died twice, and he had over 500 dic pictures sent to him. I deleted the post, told him it was me and we had a good laugh. Still, one of my favorite stories to tell, though I still work with him and I'm scared for this year." — SopwithStrutter11."I replaced a picture of one of my friend's family members with a black and white picture of Boris Johnson." — RugbyTime12."In 3rd grade, the teacher walks into the room with a pissed look. She says the tests from yesterday were horrible and starts telling everyone's super-low grades out loud. She goes on to give us all a piece of paper, saying we are having another test right now. She then proceeds to write the instructions on the board: April's Fool. Super scary moment for me. A girl cried." — Shroomsters13."At the office, fill a bowl with trail mix, but remove all M&M's and replace with Skittles." — cgrant99314."Not necessarily done on April's fool, more like random days throughout the year. One day for uni we went on a bus trip to go check out the cadavers at another uni. Our lecturer was going to meet us down there, so I took this opportunity to buy him a singing Disney Princess birthday card, I got everyone on the bus to sign it and told them all it was his birthday, which of course it wasn't but no one clicked that I was joking, I mean I had been in class with these people for 2 years and if they hadn't figured out I was a smartass, they're not fit and observant enough to be doctors. So I had convinced the class to sing him happy birthday once we got off the bus, which has started a new tradition. Randomly over time with we'd try top that. I once bought him a cake, streamers, banner, hats and party blowers and got my whole year level to barge into one of his classes and sing happy birthday. Everytime he posts a serious post on the Facebook Page for new students, I always post 'happy birthday scott.'" — scottydoeskno 15."A few years ago I bought 200 packets of mayonnaise and hid them all over my boyfriend at the time's room. I tucked them in the pockets of all his clothes, in his board games, behind his wall art- anywhere you could think of there was mayonnaise. He was still finding mayo a couple years later." — AimeeSaysGrowl16."When I was fourteen I came inside and found my parents sitting solemn and serious in the living room. They had me sit down and told me that I was adopted. I was devastated to hear such a thing, and my dad told me how my birth parents had to send me to the United States because it was practically the end of the world for them. They couldn't get away, and so i was smuggled into the US and adopted. Now the time had come for me to know the truth, to inherit the items my birth parents had sent with me, to begin my journey to learn who I really was, and to take on my destiny. . . As the last son of Krypton." — [Deleted]17. "I told my friend I was pregnant as a prank and he offered to marry me and raise the baby together...it didn't feel like a prank anymore." — TheSilverLiningsThis article originally appeared on 4.1.22

Upworthy has covered a few stories about people who decided to live permanently on cruise ships because it's cheaper than living on land or in a nursing home. These stories have connected with millions because they say a lot about the modern cost of living but are also aspirational.Christine Kesteloo has become popular on TikTok with over 680,000 followers because she shares what living on a cruise ship is really like. Kesteloo is the wife of the ship’s Staff Chief Engineer, so she gets to live on the boat for free. She only has to pay for alcohol and soda, which she gets for half off.“I live on a cruise ship for half the year with my husband, and it's often as glamorous as it sounds,” she told Insider. “After all, I don't cook, clean, make my bed, do laundry or pay for food.“Kesteloo’s life seems pretty stress-free. After all, she's basically on a permanent vacation. However, even though she lives on a cruise ship as a “wife on board,” there are a few things she either can’t or shouldn’t do.She shared these four things in a TikTok video with nearly 10 million views. @dutchworld_americangirl I go through four things I can, and cannot do it while living on the cruise ship with my husband #weliveonacruiseship #4things #alaskacruise #cruiseship #cruiseshiplife #cruise #alaska #caribbeancruise #cruiselife #livingstsea #getreadywithme 1. No gambling Kesteloo says she cannot sit at a slot machine and “play my heart out until I win.” She believes it would “look a little weird if I, as the wife of the staff chief engineer, won a big jackpot.” 2. Can’t leave the ship with the guests When the ship arrives at a destination, she can't get off with the guests. She must wait about an hour and exit the vessel with the crew. When returning to the ship, she also has to be on time. “No, they will not wait for us,” she says. And the same goes for her husband, if they “miss the ship, someone else will take over the role.” 3. Sit in a crowded pool Although Kesteloo has access to the pool, gym, and all the ship’s amenities, she’s cautious not to interfere with the guests' good time. She’ll exit the pool if it’s busy because “it’s just the right thing to do.” 4. Must have international traveler insurance She must have insurance in case of a misfortune on the ship. But as a citizen of the Netherlands, they already have coverage and just have to pay a few extra dollars a month. Some of the most popular commenters on the video were from women regretting that they married men who aren’t chief engineers on cruise ships or those who want to know where to find a single one. "OK, can you explain how to marry a cruise ship engineer?" one female commentator wrote. "How. in. the. H E double hockey sticks do I become the wife of a cruise ship engineer???? I don’t have to work AND cruise for free!" Cute_n_catchy added. "Does he have any single friends with same job??? Asking for me." Hannah LaCaze asked. This article originally appeared on 8.23.23

Sure, it’s lovely to see pristine, perfectly curated homes that look like they belong in Architectural Digest. A little inspo never hurt anyone. But as we all know, the spotless life is simply not an achievable reality, especially for those with busy lives and limited budgets (read: most of us). But you know what? Maybe even the messy homes deserve some love. The ones with constant junk piles and unfinished projects and dirty dishes and misplaced toys. The homes that will never grace the cover of a magazine but still do a wonderful job of containing all the moments life has to offer—the big, small, extraordinary, mundane and everywhere in between. Cause at the end of the day, isn’t that a home’s true purpose anyway?Stephanie Murphy, a mom and TikTok creator, seems to think so. Murphy recently took viewers on an “average house tour,” and it was the exact opposite of aspirational..Highlighted in Murphy’s tour are the pantry door that’s remained unpainted for three years, blinds held together with binder clips, air conditioners held in place by duct tape, a full dish rack tray that’s “a permanent fixture” on their countertops, and not one but two junk drawers (honestly, that’s a little low by my count). @steph_murphy Lets normalize “average” because there is nothing wrong with it. Everywhere you look on social media you see big gorgeous houses in perfect condition and its hard not to compare yours to them. But its not the norm and half the time its staged. Our house is lived in, and its filled with love and tons of memories and at the end of the day thats all that matters. ♬ vampire - Olivia Rodrigo You’ll also notice a fridge that is covered in her kid’s artwork and school pictures. Not in any cohesive way, but merely thrown on randomly, as nature intended. Meanwhile, in the master bedroom, Murphy and her husband’s bed have two separate blankets because neither of them like to share. A genius idea, and just another example of how we really, really don’t need to continue with marital sleeping norms that don’t actually feel comfortable. Another way is possible!As for why Murphy decided to showcase her “average, middle-class house,” it’s all in the caption of her video:“Let’s normalize ‘average’ because there is nothing wrong with it. Everywhere you look on social media, you see big gorgeous houses in perfect condition and it’s hard not to compare yours to them. But it’s not the norm and half the time it's staged. Our house is lived in, and it’s filled with love and tons of memories and at the end of the day that's all that matters."Judging from the comments sections of this now-viral post, it seems like other people are ready for more average content.“This is awesome!” one person wrote. “I’m constantly feeling inadequate when people have a perfect house that looks like nobody lives there!” “I feel seen,” added another. Hear, hear. No need to feel inadequate about having a home that’s lived in. Imperfection has its own kind of beauty. This article originally appeared on 8.14.23

You might not think that ventriloquism is the highest art form in the world. But after watching Celia Muñoz deliver an amazing musical act on “America’s Got Talent,” you might be singing a different tune. First off, her skills are incredible. Muñoz revealed to judges that she had previously worked as a professional opera singer in Spain and had picked up the vaudeville act on a whim. “Normally people take about 20 years to learn how to do this,” judge Simon Cowell recalled. Muñoz nailed it in two. Second, Muñoz paid an unexpected tribute to another iconic performer in the process, making it all the more special to watch. Instead of using puppets, Muñoz dressed up the stage to look like a drive-in theater, complete with a shiny red car.Muñoz approaches the car while talking on the phone to her mother (really talking to herself, of course), popcorn and soda in hand. “I can’t talk now!” Munoz says before hanging up the phone and settling in. The “movie” starts playing (again, all voiced by Muñoz) and we realize it's the 1978 classic “Grease.”- YouTubeThen we hear the beginning notes to “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” originally sung by Olivia Newton-John, who recently passed away on Aug. 8 at the age of 73.Muñoz somehow manages to sing the song—beautifully, too—all while sipping her soda and eating her movie munchies. Unreal. The best part comes at the end—with a high note and Muñoz’s mouth absolutely stuffed with popcorn. Though not seen in this video clip, an episode recap featured on Yahoo! Entertainment showed all the judges floored by Muñoz’s uniqueness and touched by the sweet homage.Judge Howie Mandel mused that the performance had “given us a glimpse on what would have been if Olivia Newton-John was born in Spain."No one can say how far Muñoz will go in the competition, but she definitely deserves praise for making the art form entirely her own and giving us new ways to appreciate the classics. This article originally appeared on 8.24.22

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