In an update from a GNN story 15 months ago, this ‘hilariously bad’ artist has raked in thousands from his ‘dad paintings’, after receiving more than 430 commissions from around the world. The 42-year-old began the unusual side hustle accidentally, giving a gag gift to his wife, Kate, in 2024. She posted the funny artwork […] The post Update–Dad’s ‘Terrible’ Paintings Hilariously Earn Thousands in Commissions With 430 Requests Last Year appeared first on Good News Network.

6,500 volunteers worked around the clock to build over 10,000 beds in just 24 hours for kids who don’t have one of their own. Inside the Charlotte Convention Center in North Carolina, Lowe’s store employees rolled up their sleeves alongside thousands of others to reach the big goal—all in support of the charity Sleep in […] The post 6,500 Volunteers Build 10,000 Beds in 24 Hours for Kids Who Don’t Have One of Their Own (WATCH) appeared first on Good News Network.

Have you ever watched a movie or read a book or listened to a piece of music and wondered, “How did they come up with that idea?” The creative process is so enigmatic even artists themselves don’t always know where their ideas come from, so It’s a treat when we get to hear the genesis of a brilliant idea straight from the horse’s mouth. It’s often not what you would expect! If you’ve watched Wicked and wondered where the idea for the friendship between Elphaba (the Wicked Witch) and Glinda (the Good Witch) came from, the author of the book has shared the precise moment it came to him. The many iterations of Wicked The hit movie Wicked is based on the 20-year-old hit stage musical, which is based on the novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West written by Gregory Maguire. It says a lot about how powerful the story is that it has succeeded in so many different mediums and continued to find new audiences that connect with it. While the musical is a simplified version of the 1995 book, the basic storyline—the origins of the two witches from “The Wizard of Oz”—lies at the heart of both. In an interview with BBC, Maguire explained how Elphaba and Glinda’s friendship popped into his head. The moment of inspiration that started it all Maguire was visiting Beatrix Potter’s farm in Cumbria, England (Potter was an author and illustrator who created Peter Rabbit) and thinking about “The Wizard of Oz,” which he had loved as a child and thought could be an interesting basis for a story about evil. “I thought ‘alright, what do we know about ‘The Wizard of Oz’ from our memories,'” he said. “We have the house falling on the witch. What do we know about that witch? All we know about that witch is that she has feet. So I began to think about Glinda and the Wicked Witch of the West… “There is one scene in the 1939 film where Billie Burke [Glinda] comes down looking all pink and fluffy, and Margaret Hamilton [The Wicked Witch] is all crawed and crabbed and she says something like, ‘I might have known you’d be behind this, Glinda!’ This was my memory, and I thought, now why is she using Glinda’s first name? They have known each other. Maybe they’ve known each other for a long time. Maybe they went to college together. And I fell down onto the ground in the Lake District laughing at the thought that they had gone to college together.” Sometimes it’s the crazy idea that works the best Maguire must have thought the idea of Glinda and The Wicked Witch attending college together was absurd at the time. What a kooky idea! But he pursued it nonetheless and, well, the rest is history. In “Wicked,” Glinda and the Wicked Witch, Elphaba, meet as students at Shiz University, a school of wizardry. They get placed as roommates, loathe each other at first, but eventually become best friends. The story grows a lot more complicated from there (and the novel goes darker than the stage play), but it’s the character development of the two witches and their relationship with one another that force us to examine our ideas about good and evil. Watch his explanation and inspiration here: View this post on Instagram Why the Wicked Witch specifically? Maguire also shared with the Denver Center for Performing Arts what had inspired him to use the “Wizard of Oz” characters in the first place. “I was living in London in the early 1990’s during the start of the Gulf War. I was interested to see how my own blood temperature chilled at reading a headline in the usually cautious British newspaper, the Times of London: ‘Sadaam Hussein: The New Hitler?’ I caught myself ready to have a fully formed political opinion about the Gulf War and the necessity of action against Sadaam Hussein on the basis of how that headline made me feel. The use of the word Hitler – what a word! What it evokes! When a few months later several young schoolboys kidnapped and killed a toddler, the British press paid much attention to the nature of the crime. I became interested in the nature of evil, and whether one really could be born bad,” he said. “I considered briefly writing a novel about Hitler but discarded the notion due to my general discomfort with the reality of those times,” he continued. “But when I realized that nobody had ever written about the second most evil character in our collective American subconscious, the Wicked Witch of the West, I thought I had experienced a small moment of inspiration. Everybody in America knows who the Wicked Witch of the West is, but nobody really knows anything about her. There is more to her than meets the eye.” What the story is really about Authors and artists, and their ideas, help hold a mirror up to humanity for us to see and reflect on who we are, and “Wicked” is one of those stories that makes us take a hard look at what we’re seeing in that mirror. Thanks, Gregory Maguire, for launching us on a collective journey that not only entertains but has the potential to change how we see one another. The second Wicked film, For Good, hit theaters in November 2025 and is now streaming on Peacock. This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated.The post ‘Wicked’ author reveals subtle clue in ‘The Wizard of Oz’ that Glinda and Elphaba were friends appeared first on Upworthy.

There are some things you just don’t say. You don’t yell out “bomb!” on an airplane, make jokes about carrying weapons while going through security, or, as Michael Scott from The Office knows, loudly proclaim that a boat you’re currently on is sinking. Those are all pretty obvious examples, but sometimes etiquette and decorum are a little more subtle. If you’re not experienced in the ways of the venue you’re in, you might not know all the unspoken rules. And you might find out the hard way. Cruise ships, for example, have their own very specific set of rules and regulations that guests should abide by. On December 10, 2023, Royal Caribbean’s Serenade to the Seas set sail on the Ultimate World Cruise—a 274-day global trek that visited 11 world wonders and over 60 countries. This incredible trip covered the Americas, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Mediterranean and Europe with a ticket price that ranged from $53,999 to $117,599 per passenger. With such a unique and incredible offering, it’s understandable that Royal Caribbean wanted to invite plenty of influencers to help them get the word out. The TikToker who accidentally broke the biggest rule at sea Aboard the Serenade to the Seas was TikToker Marc Sebastian, who has amassed over 2.5 million followers, documented his experience throughout the journey. In one video with over 5 million views, he revealed what he’s learned over his first few weeks aboard the ship; the biggest was the one word you’re not allowed to say. “So here’s [what] I’ve learned about cruising since I’ve spent 18 nights on this floating retirement home with a Cheesecake Factory attached. First, number one, you’re not supposed to talk about the Titanic,” he says in the clip. Titanic! It’s the ultimate taboo when you’re on a giant ship traversing the ocean. Even after all these years, it’s still too soon to make even lighthearted comparisons or jokes. @marcsebastianf someone get whoopi on the line girl i have some goss for her #ultimateworldcruise #worldcruise #serenadeoftheseas #cruisetok #cruise #9monthcruise #titanic ♬ original sound – Marc Sebastian “Who knew that? I didn’t,” Sebastian said. “I brought it up to an entire room of people having lunch that our ship is only 100 feet longer than the Titanic – when I tell you that utensils dropped. Waiters gasped. It’s dead silent.” The room went completely silent Sebastian was flabbergasted. “It wasn’t in the… handbook,” he joked. “Not that I read the handbook, clearly.” After the unexpected reaction, his cruise friend told him, “You’re not allowed to talk about the Titanic.” It makes sense. Who wants to be reminded of the tragedy that killed around 1,500 people while sinking one of the most impressive engineering feats of the era? More experienced cruisers chimed in that they were familiar with the unique piece of etiquette. “When I went on a cruise, my mom told me saying Titanic was equivalent to screaming ‘bomb’ at an airport,” Mikayla wrote in the comments. “It’s like saying Macbeth in a theatre, it’s an unspoken rule” another commenter added. “I’m sorry you’re telling me you had a Harry Potter like experience saying Voldemort at Hogwarts but it was the titanic on a modern day cruise I’m cryingggg” joked another. Later in the video covering little known cruise facts, Sebastian admits he was surprised to learn that cruise ships have godmothers and that the pools are filled with seawater. So, did he end up staying for all 274 days? In an update from June of 2024, Sebastian explains that he only stayed on the cruise for 18 nights. He was not booked to stay throughout the entire voyage, and for him, that was a relief. He initially jokes that he was kicked off the boat for saving a penguin that had jumped aboard. But in the end, he admits he was more than happy to deboard early. “I walked off that ship not a happy man,” he said, saying the ship was overstimulating and stressful. In another video, he films as the ship navigates the Drake Passage, one of the most notoriously dangerous and choppy stretches of water in the world. It looks stressful indeed, to say the least. Cruising isn’t for everyone, let alone for 274 days straight! But now Sebastian knows the golden rule for his next cruise. This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated. The post Passenger on 274-day cruise is surprised to learn the one word you can’t say on the ship appeared first on Upworthy.

There are just so many ways for important information held on your phone to be swiped—from subscription based apps that secretly send private customer data to Facebook to fake accounts that get your friends to invest in some kind of fake crypto. And of course—this is more than a modern day inconvenience. It poses real threats to democracy and global human rights, which is why so many are calling for more regulations and safeguards. Of course, as with most regulations, change isn’t coming fast. Which isn’t good news, considering how rapidly technology evolves. However, Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Ronan Farrow has an incredibly simple tip for preventing our phones from being hacked: Turn them off more often. Why Ronan Farrow says we should all be ‘freaking out’ While appearing on the Daily Show to promote his new documentary, Surveilled, Farrow told host Desi Lydic that we as a society should be “freaking out” more about the lack of government restraints about spyware technology, saying that it could turn the country “into an Orwellian surveillance state,” affecting anyone who uses a device, essentially—not just political dissidents. But, as Farrow noted, turning your phone off and on every day is an easy way to protect yourself, since most current forms of spyware “will be foiled by a reboot.” And even if you aren’t, say, a journalist or a political activist (i.e. common targets for malware), you’re thwarting apps from monitoring your activity or collecting your data. And better still, you’re making it more difficult for hackers to steal information from your phone. Privacy protection aside, it’s a great way of just keeping your device healthy. Basically, it seems like the age-old solution for virtually all tech issues still holds up. More easy steps you can take right now Remembering to turn it off…that’s a different challenge altogether. Photo credit: Canva There are a few other things worth turning off now and then, such as bluetooth and location devices when you’re not using them, according to the NSA. In addition, Farrow also suggested keeping devices updated, and perhaps most important of all, actually writing to your representative about the issue. However, when it comes to wrapping devices in tinfoil as a makeshift Faraday cage…that might not be the best use of one’s aluminum. “Experts vary on exactly how effective that approach is,” Farrow told Lydic, just before quipping, “we need better policies. Not just better tinfoil.” The documentary that started it all Expanding on Farrow’s 2022 New Yorker investagative exposé on the notorious spyware Pegasus, Surveilled, which is available to stream on Max, delves into the multibillion-dollar industry of commercial spyware and its potential threats, making it evidently clear that this is not an issue for the elite few, or one to ignore until the future. View this post on Instagram On a (slightly) brighter note, Farrow debuted another new work in 2025, this time a true crime investigative podcast, titled Not a Very Good Murderer, which he himself narrates. Find it on Audible. This article originally appeared two years ago. It has been updated. The post Investigative journalist reveals the simple way you can protect your  phone from getting hacked appeared first on Upworthy.